From: Fred Griffoul <griffoul@gmail.com>
To: kvm@vger.kernel.org
Cc: seanjc@google.com, pbonzini@redhat.com, vkuznets@redhat.com,
shuah@kernel.org, dwmw@amazon.co.uk,
linux-kselftest@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
Fred Griffoul <fgriffo@amazon.co.uk>
Subject: [PATCH v4 01/10] KVM: nVMX: Implement cache for L1 MSR bitmap
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2026 14:24:20 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260102142429.896101-2-griffoul@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260102142429.896101-1-griffoul@gmail.com>
From: Fred Griffoul <fgriffo@amazon.co.uk>
Introduce a gfn_to_pfn_cache to optimize L1 MSR bitmap access by
replacing map/unmap operations. This optimization reduces overhead
during L2 VM-entry where nested_vmx_prepare_msr_bitmap() merges L1's MSR
intercepts with L0's requirements.
Current implementation using kvm_vcpu_map_readonly() and
kvm_vcpu_unmap() creates significant performance impact, mostly with
unmanaged guest memory.
The cache is initialized when entering VMX operation and deactivated
when VMX operation ends.
Signed-off-by: Fred Griffoul <fgriffo@amazon.co.uk>
---
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c | 42 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.h | 2 ++
2 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c
index 6137e5307d0f..f05828aca7e5 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/nested.c
@@ -316,6 +316,34 @@ static void vmx_switch_vmcs(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, struct loaded_vmcs *vmcs)
vcpu->arch.regs_dirty = 0;
}
+/*
+ * Maps a single guest page starting at @gpa and lock the cache for access.
+ */
+static int nested_gpc_lock(struct gfn_to_pfn_cache *gpc, gpa_t gpa)
+{
+ int err;
+
+ if (!PAGE_ALIGNED(gpa))
+ return -EINVAL;
+retry:
+ read_lock(&gpc->lock);
+ if (!kvm_gpc_check(gpc, PAGE_SIZE) || (gpc->gpa != gpa)) {
+ read_unlock(&gpc->lock);
+ err = kvm_gpc_activate(gpc, gpa, PAGE_SIZE);
+ if (err)
+ return err;
+
+ goto retry;
+ }
+
+ return 0;
+}
+
+static void nested_gpc_unlock(struct gfn_to_pfn_cache *gpc)
+{
+ read_unlock(&gpc->lock);
+}
+
static void nested_put_vmcs12_pages(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
{
struct vcpu_vmx *vmx = to_vmx(vcpu);
@@ -345,6 +373,9 @@ static void free_nested(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
vmx->nested.vmxon = false;
vmx->nested.smm.vmxon = false;
vmx->nested.vmxon_ptr = INVALID_GPA;
+
+ kvm_gpc_deactivate(&vmx->nested.msr_bitmap_cache);
+
free_vpid(vmx->nested.vpid02);
vmx->nested.posted_intr_nv = -1;
vmx->nested.current_vmptr = INVALID_GPA;
@@ -629,7 +660,7 @@ static inline bool nested_vmx_prepare_msr_bitmap(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
int msr;
unsigned long *msr_bitmap_l1;
unsigned long *msr_bitmap_l0 = vmx->nested.vmcs02.msr_bitmap;
- struct kvm_host_map map;
+ struct gfn_to_pfn_cache *gpc;
/* Nothing to do if the MSR bitmap is not in use. */
if (!cpu_has_vmx_msr_bitmap() ||
@@ -652,10 +683,11 @@ static inline bool nested_vmx_prepare_msr_bitmap(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
return true;
}
- if (kvm_vcpu_map_readonly(vcpu, gpa_to_gfn(vmcs12->msr_bitmap), &map))
+ gpc = &vmx->nested.msr_bitmap_cache;
+ if (nested_gpc_lock(gpc, vmcs12->msr_bitmap))
return false;
- msr_bitmap_l1 = (unsigned long *)map.hva;
+ msr_bitmap_l1 = (unsigned long *)gpc->khva;
/*
* To keep the control flow simple, pay eight 8-byte writes (sixteen
@@ -743,7 +775,7 @@ static inline bool nested_vmx_prepare_msr_bitmap(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
nested_vmx_set_intercept_for_msr(vmx, msr_bitmap_l1, msr_bitmap_l0,
MSR_IA32_PL3_SSP, MSR_TYPE_RW);
- kvm_vcpu_unmap(vcpu, &map);
+ nested_gpc_unlock(gpc);
vmx->nested.force_msr_bitmap_recalc = false;
@@ -5440,6 +5472,8 @@ static int enter_vmx_operation(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
vmx->nested.vpid02 = allocate_vpid();
+ kvm_gpc_init(&vmx->nested.msr_bitmap_cache, vcpu->kvm);
+
vmx->nested.vmcs02_initialized = false;
vmx->nested.vmxon = true;
diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.h b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.h
index bc3ed3145d7e..a6268cddc937 100644
--- a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.h
+++ b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.h
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ struct nested_vmx {
struct loaded_vmcs vmcs02;
+ struct gfn_to_pfn_cache msr_bitmap_cache;
+
/*
* Guest pages referred to in the vmcs02 with host-physical
* pointers, so we must keep them pinned while L2 runs.
--
2.43.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-01-02 14:24 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 16+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-01-02 14:24 [PATCH v4 00/10] KVM: nVMX: Improve performance for unmanaged guest memory Fred Griffoul
2026-01-02 14:24 ` Fred Griffoul [this message]
2026-05-11 23:08 ` [PATCH v4 01/10] KVM: nVMX: Implement cache for L1 MSR bitmap Sean Christopherson
2026-01-02 14:24 ` [PATCH v4 02/10] KVM: pfncache: Restore guest-uses-pfn support Fred Griffoul
2026-01-02 14:24 ` [PATCH v4 03/10] KVM: x86: Add nested state validation for pfncache support Fred Griffoul
2026-01-02 14:24 ` [PATCH v4 04/10] KVM: nVMX: Implement cache for L1 APIC pages Fred Griffoul
2026-05-11 23:35 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-01-02 14:24 ` [PATCH v4 05/10] KVM: selftests: Add nested VMX APIC cache invalidation test Fred Griffoul
2026-01-02 14:24 ` [PATCH v4 06/10] KVM: nVMX: Cache evmcs fields to ensure consistency during VM-entry Fred Griffoul
2026-01-02 15:40 ` Vitaly Kuznetsov
2026-01-02 14:24 ` [PATCH v4 07/10] KVM: nVMX: Replace evmcs kvm_host_map with pfncache Fred Griffoul
2026-01-02 14:24 ` [PATCH v4 08/10] KVM: x86: Add nested context management Fred Griffoul
2026-05-12 0:13 ` Sean Christopherson
2026-01-02 14:24 ` [PATCH v4 09/10] KVM: nVMX: Use nested context for pfncache persistence Fred Griffoul
2026-01-02 14:24 ` [PATCH v4 10/10] KVM: selftests: Add L2 vcpu context switch test Fred Griffoul
2026-05-11 23:56 ` [PATCH v4 00/10] KVM: nVMX: Improve performance for unmanaged guest memory Sean Christopherson
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