diff options
| author | Jim Mattson <jmattson@google.com> | 2025-06-25 17:12:22 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com> | 2025-07-09 09:33:37 -0700 |
| commit | a7cec20845a67ff4f3c924255519341f37d993f9 (patch) | |
| tree | 811488f265b42965466ce53a200c2dee0ce867c0 /Documentation/virt/kvm/api.rst | |
| parent | 6fbef8615d3588450045f014c6015d0beeff6cf2 (diff) | |
KVM: x86: Provide a capability to disable APERF/MPERF read intercepts
Allow a guest to read the physical IA32_APERF and IA32_MPERF MSRs
without interception.
The IA32_APERF and IA32_MPERF MSRs are not virtualized. Writes are not
handled at all. The MSR values are not zeroed on vCPU creation, saved
on suspend, or restored on resume. No accommodation is made for
processor migration or for sharing a logical processor with other
tasks. No adjustments are made for non-unit TSC multipliers. The MSRs
do not account for time the same way as the comparable PMU events,
whether the PMU is virtualized by the traditional emulation method or
the new mediated pass-through approach.
Nonetheless, in a properly constrained environment, this capability
can be combined with a guest CPUID table that advertises support for
CPUID.6:ECX.APERFMPERF[bit 0] to induce a Linux guest to report the
effective physical CPU frequency in /proc/cpuinfo. Moreover, there is
no performance cost for this capability.
Signed-off-by: Jim Mattson <jmattson@google.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20250530185239.2335185-3-jmattson@google.com
Reviewed-by: Xiaoyao Li <xiaoyao.li@intel.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20250626001225.744268-3-seanjc@google.com
Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/virt/kvm/api.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virt/kvm/api.rst | 23 |
1 files changed, 23 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/virt/kvm/api.rst b/Documentation/virt/kvm/api.rst index f0d961436d0f..6be1ddedec49 100644 --- a/Documentation/virt/kvm/api.rst +++ b/Documentation/virt/kvm/api.rst @@ -7844,6 +7844,7 @@ Valid bits in args[0] are:: #define KVM_X86_DISABLE_EXITS_HLT (1 << 1) #define KVM_X86_DISABLE_EXITS_PAUSE (1 << 2) #define KVM_X86_DISABLE_EXITS_CSTATE (1 << 3) + #define KVM_X86_DISABLE_EXITS_APERFMPERF (1 << 4) Enabling this capability on a VM provides userspace with a way to no longer intercept some instructions for improved latency in some @@ -7854,6 +7855,28 @@ all such vmexits. Do not enable KVM_FEATURE_PV_UNHALT if you disable HLT exits. +Virtualizing the ``IA32_APERF`` and ``IA32_MPERF`` MSRs requires more +than just disabling APERF/MPERF exits. While both Intel and AMD +document strict usage conditions for these MSRs--emphasizing that only +the ratio of their deltas over a time interval (T0 to T1) is +architecturally defined--simply passing through the MSRs can still +produce an incorrect ratio. + +This erroneous ratio can occur if, between T0 and T1: + +1. The vCPU thread migrates between logical processors. +2. Live migration or suspend/resume operations take place. +3. Another task shares the vCPU's logical processor. +4. C-states lower than C0 are emulated (e.g., via HLT interception). +5. The guest TSC frequency doesn't match the host TSC frequency. + +Due to these complexities, KVM does not automatically associate this +passthrough capability with the guest CPUID bit, +``CPUID.6:ECX.APERFMPERF[bit 0]``. Userspace VMMs that deem this +mechanism adequate for virtualizing the ``IA32_APERF`` and +``IA32_MPERF`` MSRs must set the guest CPUID bit explicitly. + + 7.14 KVM_CAP_S390_HPAGE_1M -------------------------- |