From: Rick Edgecombe <rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com>
To: bp@alien8.de, dave.hansen@intel.com, hpa@zytor.com,
kas@kernel.org, kvm@vger.kernel.org, linux-coco@lists.linux.dev,
linux-doc@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
mingo@redhat.com, nik.borisov@suse.com, pbonzini@redhat.com,
seanjc@google.com, tglx@kernel.org, vannapurve@google.com,
x86@kernel.org, chao.gao@intel.com, yan.y.zhao@intel.com,
kai.huang@intel.com, tony.lindgren@linux.intel.com,
binbin.wu@intel.com
Cc: rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com, Binbin Wu <binbin.wu@linux.intel.com>
Subject: [PATCH v7 10/11] Documentation/x86: Add documentation for TDX's Dynamic PAMT
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:44:59 -0700 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260718014500.2231262-11-rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260718014500.2231262-1-rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com>
From: "Kirill A. Shutemov" <kirill.shutemov@linux.intel.com>
Expand TDX documentation to include information on the Dynamic PAMT
feature.
The new section explains PAMT support in the TDX module and how Dynamic
PAMT affects the kernel memory use.
AI was used under supervision to review the docs.
Signed-off-by: Kirill A. Shutemov <kirill.shutemov@linux.intel.com>
Co-developed-by: Rick Edgecombe <rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com>
Signed-off-by: Rick Edgecombe <rick.p.edgecombe@intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Binbin Wu <binbin.wu@linux.intel.com>
Reviewed-by: Tony Lindgren <tony.lindgren@linux.intel.com>
---
v7:
- Spell out PAMT acronym (Binbin)
- Drop Assisted-by tag and cover AI use in log (Dave)
- Add info about kernel parameter
v6:
- Add missing word (Binbin)
- Use "::" instead of ":"
- Make format of dmesg example accurate
---
.../admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt | 3 ++
Documentation/arch/x86/tdx.rst | 28 +++++++++++++++++++
2 files changed, 31 insertions(+)
diff --git a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
index be4928489b02f..7c8627ce07eb4 100644
--- a/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
+++ b/Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.txt
@@ -1328,6 +1328,9 @@ Kernel parameters
Valid parameters: "on", "off"
Default: "off"
+ For details see:
+ Documentation/arch/x86/tdx.rst
+
reg_file_data_sampling=
[X86] Controls mitigation for Register File Data
Sampling (RFDS) vulnerability. RFDS is a CPU
diff --git a/Documentation/arch/x86/tdx.rst b/Documentation/arch/x86/tdx.rst
index 3303499ad4c6f..a1c2309230580 100644
--- a/Documentation/arch/x86/tdx.rst
+++ b/Documentation/arch/x86/tdx.rst
@@ -200,6 +200,34 @@ reflects the TCB of the currently running TDX module and therefore
changes after an update. By contrast, TEE_TCB_SVN reflects the TCB at TD
launch time and is not affected.
+Dynamic PAMT
+------------
+
+Physical Address Metadata Table (PAMT) is memory that the TDX module needs
+to keep data about each page (think like struct page). It needs to be handed
+to the TDX module for its exclusive use. For normal PAMT, this is installed
+when the TDX module is first loaded and comes to about 0.4% of system memory.
+
+Dynamic PAMT is a TDX module feature that allows VMM to allocate part of the
+PAMT as needed (the parts for tracking 4KB size pages). The other page sizes
+(1GB and 2MB) are still allocated statically at the time of TDX module
+initialization. This reduces the amount of memory that TDX uses while TDs are
+not in use.
+
+When Dynamic PAMT is in use, dmesg shows it like::
+
+ [..] virt/tdx: Enable Dynamic PAMT
+ [..] virt/tdx: 10092 KB allocated for PAMT
+ [..] virt/tdx: TDX-Module initialized
+
+Dynamic PAMT is only enabled when supported and the ``tdx_dpamt=`` kernel
+parameter is set to "on". The feature is off by default because TDX module
+internal details prevent Dynamic PAMT from working on all keyid partitioning
+configurations. When the TDX module is fixed to include these constraints in
+its enumeration of Dynamic PAMT support, kernel support can be changed to
+default on. For more information, consult the Intel TDX documentation about
+Dynamic PAMT.
+
TDX Interaction to Other Kernel Components
------------------------------------------
--
2.54.0
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-07-18 1:45 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 12+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-07-18 1:44 [PATCH v7 00/11] Dynamic PAMT Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` [PATCH v7 01/11] x86/virt/tdx: Simplify PAMT layout calculation Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` [PATCH v7 02/11] x86/virt/tdx: Allocate page bitmap for Dynamic PAMT Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` [PATCH v7 03/11] x86/virt/tdx: Add tdx_alloc/free_control_page() helpers Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` [PATCH v7 04/11] x86/virt/tdx: Allocate refcounts for Dynamic PAMT memory Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` [PATCH v7 05/11] x86/virt/tdx: Handle multiple callers in tdx_pamt_get/put() Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` [PATCH v7 06/11] KVM: TDX: Allocate PAMT memory for TD and vCPU control structures Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` [PATCH v7 07/11] x86/tdx: Add APIs to support Dynamic PAMT ops from KVM's fault path Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` [PATCH v7 08/11] KVM: TDX: Get/put PAMT pages when (un)mapping private memory Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` [PATCH v7 09/11] x86/virt/tdx: Enable Dynamic PAMT Rick Edgecombe
2026-07-18 1:44 ` Rick Edgecombe [this message]
2026-07-18 1:45 ` [PATCH v7 11/11] x86/virt/tdx: Optimize tdx_pamt_get/put() Rick Edgecombe
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