Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

[Henry Wang]

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Hi everyone,

This is the reminder that we are currently in the feature freeze. I apologise
for the delay.

I decided to make the code freeze date on Fri Sep 22, 2023, to give people more
time to react because of my late reminder about feature freeze. The hard code
freeze date will remain unchanged, i.e. Fri Oct 6, 2023. So currently we have 2
weeks before code freeze and another 4 weeks before hard code freeze. If
everything goes well, we can cut 4.18 rc1 at Fri Sep 29, 2023.

Also, below is the critical items on my list for 4.18 release:
1. [PATCH 0/7] tools: More Python 3 fixes (part 1 of N)
https://gitlab.com/xen-project/xen/-/issues/114

2. tools: Switch to non-truncating XENVER_* ops
https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230117135336.11662-1-andrew.cooper3@citrix.com/

3. dom0less vs xenstored setup race Was: xen | Failed pipeline for staging | 6a47ba2f
https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977
https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283

4. The proper eIBRS support for x86
https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/ec8e75da-743b-50dc-4665-854c446c974e@citrix.com/

5. [PATCH 1/2] credit: Limit load balancing to once per millisecond
https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230630113756.672607-1-george.dunlap@cloud.com/

6. [PATCH 0/2]  Revoke IOMEM/IO port/IRQ permissions on PCI detach for HVM guest
https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230809103305.30561-1-julien@xen.org/

7. [PATCH v2 0/8] Fixes to debugging facilities
https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/21cc28b9-91d1-1e6e-23ac-00c44f3ec08e@gmail.com/

Kind regards,
Henry

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Re: Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

[Jan Beulich]

On 11.09.2023 03:08, Henry Wang wrote:
> Also, below is the critical items on my list for 4.18 release:
> 1. [PATCH 0/7] tools: More Python 3 fixes (part 1 of N)
> https://gitlab.com/xen-project/xen/-/issues/114
> 
> 2. tools: Switch to non-truncating XENVER_* ops
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230117135336.11662-1-andrew.cooper3@citrix.com/
> 
> 3. dom0less vs xenstored setup race Was: xen | Failed pipeline for staging | 6a47ba2f
> https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977
> https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283
> 
> 4. The proper eIBRS support for x86
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/ec8e75da-743b-50dc-4665-854c446c974e@citrix.com/

In this same are of speculation control goes "x86/spec-ctrl: IBPB improvements"
(v4: https://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2023-02/msg00748.html).

> 5. [PATCH 1/2] credit: Limit load balancing to once per millisecond
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230630113756.672607-1-george.dunlap@cloud.com/
> 
> 6. [PATCH 0/2]  Revoke IOMEM/IO port/IRQ permissions on PCI detach for HVM guest
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230809103305.30561-1-julien@xen.org/
> 
> 7. [PATCH v2 0/8] Fixes to debugging facilities
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/21cc28b9-91d1-1e6e-23ac-00c44f3ec08e@gmail.com/

Other x86 items that among the x86 maintainers we've marked 4.18 material:

- x86: reduce cache flushing overhead
(v2: https://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2023-05/msg00242.html)

- DOITM (Andrew meaning to post an alternative to
https://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2022-09/msg01132.html, which
likely would derive from
https://github.com/xenserver/xen.pg/blob/XS-8.3.x/patches/x86-Activate-Data-Operand-Invariant-Timing-Mode-by-d.patch)

Plus, affecting all architectures:

- runstate/time area registration by (guest) physical address
(v3: https://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2023-05/msg00304.html)

- annotate entry points with type and size
(v4: https://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2023-08/msg00470.html)

Jan

Re: Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

[Ayan Kumar Halder]

Hi Henry,

On 11/09/2023 02:08, Henry Wang wrote:
> CAUTION: This message has originated from an External Source. Please 
> use proper judgment and caution when opening attachments, clicking 
> links, or responding to this email.
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> This is the reminder that we are currently in the feature freeze. I 
> apologise
>
> for the delay.
>
> I decided to make the code freeze date on Fri Sep 22, 2023, to give 
> people more
>
> time to react because of my late reminder about feature freeze. The 
> hard code
>
> freeze date will remain unchanged, i.e. Fri Oct 6, 2023. So currently 
> we have 2
>
> weeks before code freeze and another 4 weeks before hard code freeze. If
>
> everything goes well, we can cut 4.18 rc1 at Fri Sep 29, 2023.
>
> Also, below is the critical items on my list for 4.18 release:
>
> 1. [PATCH 0/7] tools: More Python 3 fixes (part 1 of N)
>
> https://gitlab.com/xen-project/xen/-/issues/114
>
> 2. tools: Switch to non-truncating XENVER_* ops
>
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230117135336.11662-1-andrew.cooper3@citrix.com/
>
> 3. dom0less vs xenstored setup race Was: xen | Failed pipeline for 
> staging | 6a47ba2f
>
> https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977 
> <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977>
>
> https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283 
> <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283>
>
> 4. The proper eIBRS support for x86
>
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/ec8e75da-743b-50dc-4665-854c446c974e@citrix.com/
>
> 5. [PATCH 1/2] credit: Limit load balancing to once per millisecond
>
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230630113756.672607-1-george.dunlap@cloud.com/
>
> 6. [PATCH 0/2]  Revoke IOMEM/IO port/IRQ permissions on PCI detach for 
> HVM guest
>
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230809103305.30561-1-julien@xen.org/
>
> 7. [PATCH v2 0/8] Fixes to debugging facilities
>
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/21cc28b9-91d1-1e6e-23ac-00c44f3ec08e@gmail.com/
>

Did you miss "[PATCH v6 00/13] xen/arm: Split MMU code as the prepration 
of MPU work" ?

It see that patches from [PATCH v6 06/13] xen/arm: Split page table 
related code to mmu/pt.c ... are yet to be reviewed and committed.

- Ayan

> Kind regards,
>
> Henry
>

Re: Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

[Julien Grall]

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On Mon, 11 Sep 2023 at 09:02, Ayan Kumar Halder <ayankuma@amd.com> wrote:

> Hi Henry,
>
> On 11/09/2023 02:08, Henry Wang wrote:
> > CAUTION: This message has originated from an External Source. Please
> > use proper judgment and caution when opening attachments, clicking
> > links, or responding to this email.
> >
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > This is the reminder that we are currently in the feature freeze. I
> > apologise
> >
> > for the delay.
> >
> > I decided to make the code freeze date on Fri Sep 22, 2023, to give
> > people more
> >
> > time to react because of my late reminder about feature freeze. The
> > hard code
> >
> > freeze date will remain unchanged, i.e. Fri Oct 6, 2023. So currently
> > we have 2
> >
> > weeks before code freeze and another 4 weeks before hard code freeze. If
> >
> > everything goes well, we can cut 4.18 rc1 at Fri Sep 29, 2023.
> >
> > Also, below is the critical items on my list for 4.18 release:
> >
> > 1. [PATCH 0/7] tools: More Python 3 fixes (part 1 of N)
> >
> > https://gitlab.com/xen-project/xen/-/issues/114
> >
> > 2. tools: Switch to non-truncating XENVER_* ops
> >
> >
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230117135336.11662-1-andrew.cooper3@citrix.com/
> >
> > 3. dom0less vs xenstored setup race Was: xen | Failed pipeline for
> > staging | 6a47ba2f
> >
> > https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977
> > <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977>
> >
> > https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283
> > <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283>
> >
> > 4. The proper eIBRS support for x86
> >
> >
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/ec8e75da-743b-50dc-4665-854c446c974e@citrix.com/
> >
> > 5. [PATCH 1/2] credit: Limit load balancing to once per millisecond
> >
> >
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230630113756.672607-1-george.dunlap@cloud.com/
> >
> > 6. [PATCH 0/2]  Revoke IOMEM/IO port/IRQ permissions on PCI detach for
> > HVM guest
> >
> > https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230809103305.30561-1-julien@xen.org/
> >
> > 7. [PATCH v2 0/8] Fixes to debugging facilities
> >
> >
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/21cc28b9-91d1-1e6e-23ac-00c44f3ec08e@gmail.com/
> >
>
> Did you miss "[PATCH v6 00/13] xen/arm: Split MMU code as the prepration
> of MPU work" ?


AFAIU Henry listed all the critical series for 4.18. Can you explain why do
you think this is one?

Cheers,


>
> It see that patches from [PATCH v6 06/13] xen/arm: Split page table
> related code to mmu/pt.c ... are yet to be reviewed and committed.
>
> - Ayan
>
> > Kind regards,
> >
> > Henry
> >
>

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Re: Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

[Henry Wang]

Hi Julien and Ayan,

Replying to both in the same email.

> On Sep 11, 2023, at 16:09, Julien Grall <julien.grall.oss@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Mon, 11 Sep 2023 at 09:02, Ayan Kumar Halder <ayankuma@amd.com> wrote:
> Hi Henry,
> 
> On 11/09/2023 02:08, Henry Wang wrote:
> 
> Did you miss "[PATCH v6 00/13] xen/arm: Split MMU code as the prepration 
> of MPU work" ?
> 
> AFAIU Henry listed all the critical series for 4.18.

Yes Julien’s understanding is correct. I only listed critical/blocker items.

> Can you explain why do you think this is one?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> It see that patches from [PATCH v6 06/13] xen/arm: Split page table 
> related code to mmu/pt.c ... are yet to be reviewed and committed.

Although I would say this series is eligible to be included in the 4.18 release
since it is just doing some refactoring instead of introducing a new feature, I
think the progress of the series should be considered based on the best effort
basis of the reviewers/maintainers. I will try my best to respin the series
whenever possible, hopefully we can catch the release.

Kind regards,
Henry

> 
> - Ayan
> 
> > Kind regards,
> >
> > Henry
> >

Re: Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

[Ayan Kumar Halder]

Hi Julien,

On 11/09/2023 09:09, Julien Grall wrote:
>
>
> On Mon, 11 Sep 2023 at 09:02, Ayan Kumar Halder <ayankuma@amd.com> wrote:
>
>     Hi Henry,
>
>     On 11/09/2023 02:08, Henry Wang wrote:
>     > CAUTION: This message has originated from an External Source.
>     Please
>     > use proper judgment and caution when opening attachments, clicking
>     > links, or responding to this email.
>     >
>     > Hi everyone,
>     >
>     > This is the reminder that we are currently in the feature freeze. I
>     > apologise
>     >
>     > for the delay.
>     >
>     > I decided to make the code freeze date on Fri Sep 22, 2023, to give
>     > people more
>     >
>     > time to react because of my late reminder about feature freeze. The
>     > hard code
>     >
>     > freeze date will remain unchanged, i.e. Fri Oct 6, 2023. So
>     currently
>     > we have 2
>     >
>     > weeks before code freeze and another 4 weeks before hard code
>     freeze. If
>     >
>     > everything goes well, we can cut 4.18 rc1 at Fri Sep 29, 2023.
>     >
>     > Also, below is the critical items on my list for 4.18 release:
>     >
>     > 1. [PATCH 0/7] tools: More Python 3 fixes (part 1 of N)
>     >
>     > https://gitlab.com/xen-project/xen/-/issues/114
>     >
>     > 2. tools: Switch to non-truncating XENVER_* ops
>     >
>     >
>     https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230117135336.11662-1-andrew.cooper3@citrix.com/
>     >
>     > 3. dom0less vs xenstored setup race Was: xen | Failed pipeline for
>     > staging | 6a47ba2f
>     >
>     > https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977
>     <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977>
>     > <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977
>     <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977>>
>     >
>     > https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283
>     <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283>
>     > <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283
>     <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283>>
>     >
>     > 4. The proper eIBRS support for x86
>     >
>     >
>     https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/ec8e75da-743b-50dc-4665-854c446c974e@citrix.com/
>     >
>     > 5. [PATCH 1/2] credit: Limit load balancing to once per millisecond
>     >
>     >
>     https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230630113756.672607-1-george.dunlap@cloud.com/
>     >
>     > 6. [PATCH 0/2]  Revoke IOMEM/IO port/IRQ permissions on PCI
>     detach for
>     > HVM guest
>     >
>     >
>     https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230809103305.30561-1-julien@xen.org/
>     >
>     > 7. [PATCH v2 0/8] Fixes to debugging facilities
>     >
>     >
>     https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/21cc28b9-91d1-1e6e-23ac-00c44f3ec08e@gmail.com/
>     >
>
>     Did you miss "[PATCH v6 00/13] xen/arm: Split MMU code as the
>     prepration
>     of MPU work" ?
>
>
> AFAIU Henry listed all the critical series for 4.18. Can you explain 
> why do you think this is one?

Sorry, if I misunderstood something.

I assumed we were aiming for R82 MMU rework to be included in 4.18 release.

- Ayan

>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
>     It see that patches from [PATCH v6 06/13] xen/arm: Split page table
>     related code to mmu/pt.c ... are yet to be reviewed and committed.
>
>     - Ayan
>
>     > Kind regards,
>     >
>     > Henry
>     >
>

Re: Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

[Julien Grall]

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On Mon, 11 Sep 2023 at 09:23, Ayan Kumar Halder <ayankuma@amd.com> wrote:

> Hi Julien,
>
> On 11/09/2023 09:09, Julien Grall wrote:
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 11 Sep 2023 at 09:02, Ayan Kumar Halder <ayankuma@amd.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >     Hi Henry,
> >
> >     On 11/09/2023 02:08, Henry Wang wrote:
> >     > CAUTION: This message has originated from an External Source.
> >     Please
> >     > use proper judgment and caution when opening attachments, clicking
> >     > links, or responding to this email.
> >     >
> >     > Hi everyone,
> >     >
> >     > This is the reminder that we are currently in the feature freeze. I
> >     > apologise
> >     >
> >     > for the delay.
> >     >
> >     > I decided to make the code freeze date on Fri Sep 22, 2023, to give
> >     > people more
> >     >
> >     > time to react because of my late reminder about feature freeze. The
> >     > hard code
> >     >
> >     > freeze date will remain unchanged, i.e. Fri Oct 6, 2023. So
> >     currently
> >     > we have 2
> >     >
> >     > weeks before code freeze and another 4 weeks before hard code
> >     freeze. If
> >     >
> >     > everything goes well, we can cut 4.18 rc1 at Fri Sep 29, 2023.
> >     >
> >     > Also, below is the critical items on my list for 4.18 release:
> >     >
> >     > 1. [PATCH 0/7] tools: More Python 3 fixes (part 1 of N)
> >     >
> >     > https://gitlab.com/xen-project/xen/-/issues/114
> >     >
> >     > 2. tools: Switch to non-truncating XENVER_* ops
> >     >
> >     >
> >
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230117135336.11662-1-andrew.cooper3@citrix.com/
> >     >
> >     > 3. dom0less vs xenstored setup race Was: xen | Failed pipeline for
> >     > staging | 6a47ba2f
> >     >
> >     > https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977
> >     <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977>
> >     > <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977
> >     <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977>>
> >     >
> >     > https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283
> >     <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283>
> >     > <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283
> >     <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283>>
> >     >
> >     > 4. The proper eIBRS support for x86
> >     >
> >     >
> >
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/ec8e75da-743b-50dc-4665-854c446c974e@citrix.com/
> >     >
> >     > 5. [PATCH 1/2] credit: Limit load balancing to once per millisecond
> >     >
> >     >
> >
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230630113756.672607-1-george.dunlap@cloud.com/
> >     >
> >     > 6. [PATCH 0/2]  Revoke IOMEM/IO port/IRQ permissions on PCI
> >     detach for
> >     > HVM guest
> >     >
> >     >
> >
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230809103305.30561-1-julien@xen.org/
> >     >
> >     > 7. [PATCH v2 0/8] Fixes to debugging facilities
> >     >
> >     >
> >
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/21cc28b9-91d1-1e6e-23ac-00c44f3ec08e@gmail.com/
> >     >
> >
> >     Did you miss "[PATCH v6 00/13] xen/arm: Split MMU code as the
> >     prepration
> >     of MPU work" ?
> >
> >
> > AFAIU Henry listed all the critical series for 4.18. Can you explain
> > why do you think this is one?
>
> Sorry, if I misunderstood something.
>
> I assumed we were aiming for R82 MMU rework to be included in 4.18 release.


That was the aim. But due to timing, it didn’t get reviewed before the
feature freeze.

Even if technically this is not a new feature, I am a bit cautious in
trying to refactor the code too late. They are large patches and therefore
not entirely risk free.

I am happy to continue to review them in order to merge them when the tree
re-open.

Cheers,


>
> - Ayan
>
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> >
> >
> >     It see that patches from [PATCH v6 06/13] xen/arm: Split page table
> >     related code to mmu/pt.c ... are yet to be reviewed and committed.
> >
> >     - Ayan
> >
> >     > Kind regards,
> >     >
> >     > Henry
> >     >
> >
>

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Re: Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

[Andrew Cooper]

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On 11/09/2023 2:08 am, Henry Wang wrote:
> Also, below is the critical items on my list for 4.18 release:
>
> 1. [PATCH 0/7] tools: More Python 3 fixes (part 1 of N)
>
> https://gitlab.com/xen-project/xen/-/issues/114
>

I've committed all the work so far, which means it's nearly done.

There's one more bugfix still in testing (which will be fine to take at
a later point), and one TODO over xenpvnetboot which I'm tempted to fix
deleting it - it uses modules deprecated in Py2 and fully removed from
Py3, so it's very clear it's never been used in an up-to-date distro.

> 3. dom0less vs xenstored setup race Was: xen | Failed pipeline for
> staging | 6a47ba2f
>
> https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977
> <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312468808977>
>
> https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283
> <https://marc.info/?l=xen-devel&m=168312687610283>
>

Sadly not started.

> 4. The proper eIBRS support for x86
>
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/ec8e75da-743b-50dc-4665-854c446c974e@citrix.com/
>

Also not started yet.  All of the time I was going to spend on these two
ended up getting spent making XSA-439 work correctly.

At this point it's too late for either to get done for 4.18.

~Andrew

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Re: Xen 4.18 release: Reminder about feature/code freeze

[George Dunlap]

On Mon, Sep 11, 2023 at 2:08 AM Henry Wang <Henry.Wang@arm.com> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
>
>
> This is the reminder that we are currently in the feature freeze. I apologise
>
> for the delay.
>
>
>
> I decided to make the code freeze date on Fri Sep 22, 2023, to give people more
>
> time to react because of my late reminder about feature freeze. The hard code
>
> freeze date will remain unchanged, i.e. Fri Oct 6, 2023. So currently we have 2
>
> weeks before code freeze and another 4 weeks before hard code freeze. If
>
> everything goes well, we can cut 4.18 rc1 at Fri Sep 29, 2023.
>
>
>
> Also, below is the critical items on my list for 4.18 release:
[snip]
> 5. [PATCH 1/2] credit: Limit load balancing to once per millisecond
>
> https://lore.kernel.org/xen-devel/20230630113756.672607-1-george.dunlap@cloud.com/

This has been checked in, thanks.

 -George