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authorPaolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>2022-03-22 12:07:11 +0100
committerPaolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>2022-03-29 19:21:20 +0200
commit45016721de3c714902c6f475b705e10ae0bdd801 (patch)
tree1464ac76fed7b5e26548c39d9a3b39d443d541a5 /Documentation/virt
parentDocumentation: KVM: add separate directories for architecture-specific docume... (diff)
downloadlinux-45016721de3c714902c6f475b705e10ae0bdd801.tar.xz
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Documentation: KVM: add virtual CPU errata documentation
Add a file to document all the different ways in which the virtual CPU emulation is imperfect. Include an example to show how to document such errata. Signed-off-by: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com> Reviewed-by: Jim Mattson <jmattson@google.com> Reviewed-by: Oliver Upton <oupton@google.com> Message-Id: <20220322110712.222449-3-pbonzini@redhat.com> Signed-off-by: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/virt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/virt/kvm/x86/errata.rst39
-rw-r--r--Documentation/virt/kvm/x86/index.rst1
2 files changed, 40 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/virt/kvm/x86/errata.rst b/Documentation/virt/kvm/x86/errata.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..806f049b6975
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/virt/kvm/x86/errata.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+
+=======================================
+Known limitations of CPU virtualization
+=======================================
+
+Whenever perfect emulation of a CPU feature is impossible or too hard, KVM
+has to choose between not implementing the feature at all or introducing
+behavioral differences between virtual machines and bare metal systems.
+
+This file documents some of the known limitations that KVM has in
+virtualizing CPU features.
+
+x86
+===
+
+``KVM_GET_SUPPORTED_CPUID`` issues
+----------------------------------
+
+x87 features
+~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Unlike most other CPUID feature bits, CPUID[EAX=7,ECX=0]:EBX[6]
+(FDP_EXCPTN_ONLY) and CPUID[EAX=7,ECX=0]:EBX]13] (ZERO_FCS_FDS) are
+clear if the features are present and set if the features are not present.
+
+Clearing these bits in CPUID has no effect on the operation of the guest;
+if these bits are set on hardware, the features will not be present on
+any virtual machine that runs on that hardware.
+
+**Workaround:** It is recommended to always set these bits in guest CPUID.
+Note however that any software (e.g ``WIN87EM.DLL``) expecting these features
+to be present likely predates these CPUID feature bits, and therefore
+doesn't know to check for them anyway.
+
+Nested virtualization features
+------------------------------
+
+TBD
+
diff --git a/Documentation/virt/kvm/x86/index.rst b/Documentation/virt/kvm/x86/index.rst
index 55ede8e070b6..7ff588826b9f 100644
--- a/Documentation/virt/kvm/x86/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/virt/kvm/x86/index.rst
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ KVM for x86 systems
amd-memory-encryption
cpuid
+ errata
halt-polling
hypercalls
mmu