diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt | 77 |
1 files changed, 53 insertions, 24 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt index 7de9eee73fcd..67068c47c591 100644 --- a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt +++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt @@ -5,25 +5,32 @@ The Definitive KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) API Documentation ---------------------- The kvm API is a set of ioctls that are issued to control various aspects -of a virtual machine. The ioctls belong to three classes +of a virtual machine. The ioctls belong to three classes: - System ioctls: These query and set global attributes which affect the whole kvm subsystem. In addition a system ioctl is used to create - virtual machines + virtual machines. - VM ioctls: These query and set attributes that affect an entire virtual machine, for example memory layout. In addition a VM ioctl is used to - create virtual cpus (vcpus). + create virtual cpus (vcpus) and devices. - Only run VM ioctls from the same process (address space) that was used - to create the VM. + VM ioctls must be issued from the same process (address space) that was + used to create the VM. - vcpu ioctls: These query and set attributes that control the operation of a single virtual cpu. - Only run vcpu ioctls from the same thread that was used to create the - vcpu. + vcpu ioctls should be issued from the same thread that was used to create + the vcpu, except for asynchronous vcpu ioctl that are marked as such in + the documentation. Otherwise, the first ioctl after switching threads + could see a performance impact. + - device ioctls: These query and set attributes that control the operation + of a single device. + + device ioctls must be issued from the same process (address space) that + was used to create the VM. 2. File descriptors ------------------- @@ -32,17 +39,34 @@ The kvm API is centered around file descriptors. An initial open("/dev/kvm") obtains a handle to the kvm subsystem; this handle can be used to issue system ioctls. A KVM_CREATE_VM ioctl on this handle will create a VM file descriptor which can be used to issue VM -ioctls. A KVM_CREATE_VCPU ioctl on a VM fd will create a virtual cpu -and return a file descriptor pointing to it. Finally, ioctls on a vcpu -fd can be used to control the vcpu, including the important task of -actually running guest code. +ioctls. A KVM_CREATE_VCPU or KVM_CREATE_DEVICE ioctl on a VM fd will +create a virtual cpu or device and return a file descriptor pointing to +the new resource. Finally, ioctls on a vcpu or device fd can be used +to control the vcpu or device. For vcpus, this includes the important +task of actually running guest code. In general file descriptors can be migrated among processes by means of fork() and the SCM_RIGHTS facility of unix domain socket. These kinds of tricks are explicitly not supported by kvm. While they will not cause harm to the host, their actual behavior is not guaranteed by -the API. The only supported use is one virtual machine per process, -and one vcpu per thread. +the API. See "General description" for details on the ioctl usage +model that is supported by KVM. + +It is important to note that althought VM ioctls may only be issued from +the process that created the VM, a VM's lifecycle is associated with its +file descriptor, not its creator (process). In other words, the VM and +its resources, *including the associated address space*, are not freed +until the last reference to the VM's file descriptor has been released. +For example, if fork() is issued after ioctl(KVM_CREATE_VM), the VM will +not be freed until both the parent (original) process and its child have +put their references to the VM's file descriptor. + +Because a VM's resources are not freed until the last reference to its +file descriptor is released, creating additional references to a VM via +via fork(), dup(), etc... without careful consideration is strongly +discouraged and may have unwanted side effects, e.g. memory allocated +by and on behalf of the VM's process may not be freed/unaccounted when +the VM is shut down. It is important to note that althought VM ioctls may only be issued from @@ -515,11 +539,15 @@ c) KVM_INTERRUPT_SET_LEVEL Note that any value for 'irq' other than the ones stated above is invalid and incurs unexpected behavior. +This is an asynchronous vcpu ioctl and can be invoked from any thread. + MIPS: Queues an external interrupt to be injected into the virtual CPU. A negative interrupt number dequeues the interrupt. +This is an asynchronous vcpu ioctl and can be invoked from any thread. + 4.17 KVM_DEBUG_GUEST @@ -1086,14 +1114,12 @@ struct kvm_userspace_memory_region { #define KVM_MEM_LOG_DIRTY_PAGES (1UL << 0) #define KVM_MEM_READONLY (1UL << 1) -This ioctl allows the user to create or modify a guest physical memory -slot. When changing an existing slot, it may be moved in the guest -physical memory space, or its flags may be modified. It may not be -resized. Slots may not overlap in guest physical address space. -Bits 0-15 of "slot" specifies the slot id and this value should be -less than the maximum number of user memory slots supported per VM. -The maximum allowed slots can be queried using KVM_CAP_NR_MEMSLOTS, -if this capability is supported by the architecture. +This ioctl allows the user to create, modify or delete a guest physical +memory slot. Bits 0-15 of "slot" specify the slot id and this value +should be less than the maximum number of user memory slots supported per +VM. The maximum allowed slots can be queried using KVM_CAP_NR_MEMSLOTS, +if this capability is supported by the architecture. Slots may not +overlap in guest physical address space. If KVM_CAP_MULTI_ADDRESS_SPACE is available, bits 16-31 of "slot" specifies the address space which is being modified. They must be @@ -1102,6 +1128,10 @@ KVM_CAP_MULTI_ADDRESS_SPACE capability. Slots in separate address spaces are unrelated; the restriction on overlapping slots only applies within each address space. +Deleting a slot is done by passing zero for memory_size. When changing +an existing slot, it may be moved in the guest physical memory space, +or its flags may be modified, but it may not be resized. + Memory for the region is taken starting at the address denoted by the field userspace_addr, which must point at user addressable memory for the entire memory slot size. Any object may back this memory, including @@ -2493,7 +2523,7 @@ KVM_S390_MCHK (vm, vcpu) - machine check interrupt; cr 14 bits in parm, machine checks needing further payload are not supported by this ioctl) -Note that the vcpu ioctl is asynchronous to vcpu execution. +This is an asynchronous vcpu ioctl and can be invoked from any thread. 4.78 KVM_PPC_GET_HTAB_FD @@ -3042,8 +3072,7 @@ KVM_S390_INT_EMERGENCY - sigp emergency; parameters in .emerg KVM_S390_INT_EXTERNAL_CALL - sigp external call; parameters in .extcall KVM_S390_MCHK - machine check interrupt; parameters in .mchk - -Note that the vcpu ioctl is asynchronous to vcpu execution. +This is an asynchronous vcpu ioctl and can be invoked from any thread. 4.94 KVM_S390_GET_IRQ_STATE |