[RFC PATCH 0/8] vfio/pci: Support dynamic allocation of MSI-X interrupts

From: Reinette Chatre
Date: Wed Mar 15 2023 - 17:00:28 EST


== Cover letter ==

Qemu allocates interrupts incrementally at the time the guest unmasks an
interrupt, for example each time a Linux guest runs request_irq().

Dynamic allocation of MSI-X interrupts was not possible until v6.2 [1].
This prompted Qemu to, when allocating a new interrupt, first release all
previously allocated interrupts (including disable of MSI-X) followed
by re-allocation of all interrupts that includes the new interrupt.
Please see [2] for a detailed discussion about this issue.

Releasing and re-allocating interrupts may be acceptable if all
interrupts are unmasked during device initialization. If unmasking of
interrupts occur during runtime this may result in lost interrupts.
For example, consider an accelerator device with multiple work queues,
each work queue having a dedicated interrupt. A work queue can be
enabled at any time with its associated interrupt unmasked while other
work queues are already active. Having all interrupts released and MSI-X
disabled to enable the new work queue will impact active work queues.

This series builds on the recent interrupt sub-system core changes
that added support for dynamic MSI-X allocation after initial MSI-X
enabling.

Add support for dynamic MSI-X allocation to vfio-pci. A flag
indicating lack of support for dynamic allocation already exist:
VFIO_IRQ_INFO_NORESIZE and has always been set for MSI and MSI-X. With
support for dynamic MSI-X the flag is cleared for MSI-X, enabling
Qemu to modify its behavior.

== Why is this an RFC ? ==

vfio support for dynamic MSI-X needs to work with existing user space
as well as upcoming user space that takes advantage of this feature.
I would appreciate guidance on the expectations and requirements
surrounding error handling when considering existing user space.

For example, consider the following scenario:
Start: Consider a passthrough device that supports 10 MSI-X interrupts
(0 to 9) and existing Qemu allocated interrupts 0 to 4.

Scenario: Qemu (hypothetically) attempts to associate a new action to
interrupts 0 to 7. Early checking of this range in
vfio_set_irqs_validate_and_prepare() will pass since it
is a valid range for the device. What happens after the
early checking is considered next:

Current behavior (before this series): Since the provided range, 0 - 7,
exceeds the allocated range, no action will be taken on existing
allocated interrupts 0 - 4 and the Qemu request will fail without
making any state changes.

New behavior (with this series): Since vfio supports dynamic MSI-X new
interrupts will be allocated for vectors 5, 6, and 7. Please note
that this changes the behavior encountered by unmodified Qemu: new
interrupts are allocated instead of returning an error. Even more,
since the range provided by Qemu spans 0 - 7, a failure during
allocation of 5, 6, or 7 will result in release of entire range.

This series aims to maintain existing error behavior for MSI (please see
"vfio/pci: Remove interrupt context counter") but I would appreciate your
guidance on whether existing error behavior should be maintained for MSI-X
and how to do so if it is a requirement.

Any feedback is appreciated

Reinette

[1] commit 34026364df8e ("PCI/MSI: Provide post-enable dynamic allocation interfaces for MSI-X")
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/kvm/MWHPR11MB188603D0D809C1079F5817DC8C099@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/#t

Reinette Chatre (8):
vfio/pci: Consolidate irq cleanup on MSI/MSI-X disable
vfio/pci: Remove negative check on unsigned vector
vfio/pci: Prepare for dynamic interrupt context storage
vfio/pci: Use xarray for interrupt context storage
vfio/pci: Remove interrupt context counter
vfio/pci: Move to single error path
vfio/pci: Support dynamic MSI-x
vfio/pci: Clear VFIO_IRQ_INFO_NORESIZE for MSI-X

drivers/vfio/pci/vfio_pci_core.c | 3 +-
drivers/vfio/pci/vfio_pci_intrs.c | 376 ++++++++++++++++++++++--------
include/linux/vfio_pci_core.h | 3 +-
include/uapi/linux/vfio.h | 3 +
4 files changed, 286 insertions(+), 99 deletions(-)


base-commit: eeac8ede17557680855031c6f305ece2378af326
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2.34.1