Re: [PATCH] KVM: x86/tsc: Update guest tsc_offset again before vcpu first runs

[Sean Christopherson]

+Oliver

On Fri, Jun 30, 2023, Like Xu wrote:
> From: Like Xu <likexu@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> When a new vcpu is created and subsequently restored by vcpu snapshot,
> apply kvm_vcpu_write_tsc_offset() before vcpu runs for the first time.
> 
> Before a vcpu runs for the first time, the user space (VMM) sets the guest
> tsc as it wants, which may triggers the time synchronization mechanism with
> other vcpus (if any). In a scenario where a vcpu snapshot is used to
> restore, like the bugzilla report [*], the newly target guest tsc (e.g.
> at the time of vcpu restoration) is synchronized with its the most
> primitive guest timestamp initialized at the time of vcpu creation.
> 
> Furthermore, the VMM can actually update the target guest tsc multiple
> times before the vcpu actually gets running, which requires the tsc_offset
> to be updated every time it is set. In this scenario, it can be considered
> as unstable tsc (even this vcpu has not yet even started ticking to follow
> the intended logic of KVM timer emulation).
> 
> It is only necessary to delay this step until kvm_arch_vcpu_load() to
> catch up with guest expectation with the help of kvm_vcpu_has_run(),
> and the change is expected to not break any of the cumbersome existing
> virt timer features.

"expected to not break" and "does not break" are two different statements.

> Reported-by: Yong He <alexyonghe@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Closes: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=217423 [*] 
> Tested-by: Jinrong Liang <cloudliang@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Signed-off-by: Like Xu <likexu@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> ---
>  arch/x86/kvm/x86.c | 2 +-
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
> index 439312e04384..616940fc3791 100644
> --- a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
> +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
> @@ -4818,7 +4818,7 @@ void kvm_arch_vcpu_load(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, int cpu)
>  		if (tsc_delta < 0)
>  			mark_tsc_unstable("KVM discovered backwards TSC");
>  
> -		if (kvm_check_tsc_unstable()) {
> +		if (kvm_check_tsc_unstable() || !kvm_vcpu_has_run(vcpu)) {
>  			u64 offset = kvm_compute_l1_tsc_offset(vcpu,
>  						vcpu->arch.last_guest_tsc);
>  			kvm_vcpu_write_tsc_offset(vcpu, offset);

Doing this on every vCPU load feels all kinds of wrong, e.g. it will override the
value set by userspace via KVM_VCPU_TSC_OFFSET.  One could argue the KVM is "helping"
userspace by providing a more up-to-date offset for the guest, but "helping"
userspace by silently overriding userspace rarely ends well.

Can't we instead just fix the heuristic that tries to detect synchronization?

---
 arch/x86/kvm/x86.c | 6 +++---
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
index c30364152fe6..43d40f058a41 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/x86.c
@@ -2721,14 +2721,14 @@ static void kvm_synchronize_tsc(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, u64 data)
 			 * kvm_clock stable after CPU hotplug
 			 */
 			synchronizing = true;
-		} else {
+		} else if (kvm_vcpu_has_run(vcpu)) {
 			u64 tsc_exp = kvm->arch.last_tsc_write +
 						nsec_to_cycles(vcpu, elapsed);
 			u64 tsc_hz = vcpu->arch.virtual_tsc_khz * 1000LL;
 			/*
 			 * Special case: TSC write with a small delta (1 second)
-			 * of virtual cycle time against real time is
-			 * interpreted as an attempt to synchronize the CPU.
+			 * of virtual cycle time against real time on a running
+			 * vCPU is interpreted as an attempt to synchronize.
 			 */
 			synchronizing = data < tsc_exp + tsc_hz &&
 					data + tsc_hz > tsc_exp;

base-commit: 2d6f036579d4ef5a09b0b45f66e34406290dfa1e
--