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From: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
To: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>,
	Ingo Molnar <mingo@redhat.com>,
	 Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@kernel.org>,
	Namhyung Kim <namhyung@kernel.org>,
	Thomas Gleixner <tglx@kernel.org>,
	 Borislav Petkov <bp@alien8.de>,
	Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com>,
	x86@kernel.org,  Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>,
	Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
Cc: linux-perf-users@vger.kernel.org, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org,
	 kvm@vger.kernel.org, Jim Mattson <jmattson@google.com>,
	 Mingwei Zhang <mizhang@google.com>,
	Stephane Eranian <eranian@google.com>,
	 Dapeng Mi <dapeng1.mi@linux.intel.com>
Subject: [PATCH 2/4] perf/x86/intel: Don't context switch DS_AREA (and PEBS config) if PEBS is unused
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2026 12:14:23 -0700	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260414191425.2697918-3-seanjc@google.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260414191425.2697918-1-seanjc@google.com>

When filling the list of MSRs to be loaded by KVM on VM-Enter and VM-Exit,
insert DS_AREA and (conditionally) MSR_PEBS_DATA_CFG into the list if and
only if PEBS will be active in the guest, i.e. only if a PEBS record may be
generated while running the guest.  As shown by the !x86_pmu.pebs_ept path,
it's perfectly safe to run with the host's DS_AREA, so long as PEBS-enabled
counters are disabled via PERF_GLOBAL_CTRL.

Omitting DS_AREA and MSR_PEBS_DATA_CFG when PEBS is unused saves two MSR
writes per MSR on each VMX transition, i.e. eliminates two/four pointless
MSR writes on each VMX roundtrip when PEBS isn't being used by the guest.

Fixes: c59a1f106f5c ("KVM: x86/pmu: Add IA32_PEBS_ENABLE MSR emulation for extended PEBS")
Cc: Jim Mattson <jmattson@google.com>
Cc: Mingwei Zhang <mizhang@google.com>
Cc: Stephane Eranian <eranian@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Sean Christopherson <seanjc@google.com>
---
 arch/x86/events/intel/core.c | 41 ++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

diff --git a/arch/x86/events/intel/core.c b/arch/x86/events/intel/core.c
index 002d809f82ef..20a153aa33cb 100644
--- a/arch/x86/events/intel/core.c
+++ b/arch/x86/events/intel/core.c
@@ -5037,23 +5037,14 @@ static struct perf_guest_switch_msr *intel_guest_get_msrs(int *nr, void *data)
 		return arr;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * If the guest won't use PEBS or the CPU doesn't support PEBS in the
+	 * guest, then there's nothing more to do as disabling PMCs via
+	 * PERF_GLOBAL_CTRL is sufficient on CPUs with guest/host isolation.
+	 */
 	if (!kvm_pmu || !x86_pmu.pebs_ept)
 		return arr;
 
-	arr[(*nr)++] = (struct perf_guest_switch_msr){
-		.msr = MSR_IA32_DS_AREA,
-		.host = (unsigned long)cpuc->ds,
-		.guest = kvm_pmu->ds_area,
-	};
-
-	if (x86_pmu.intel_cap.pebs_baseline) {
-		arr[(*nr)++] = (struct perf_guest_switch_msr){
-			.msr = MSR_PEBS_DATA_CFG,
-			.host = cpuc->active_pebs_data_cfg,
-			.guest = kvm_pmu->pebs_data_cfg,
-		};
-	}
-
 	/*
 	 * Disable counters where the guest PMC is different than the host PMC
 	 * being used on behalf of the guest, as the PEBS record includes
@@ -5065,6 +5056,28 @@ static struct perf_guest_switch_msr *intel_guest_get_msrs(int *nr, void *data)
 	if (pebs_mask & ~cpuc->intel_ctrl_guest_mask)
 		guest_pebs_mask = 0;
 
+	/*
+	 * Context switch DS_AREA and PEBS_DATA_CFG if and only if PEBS will be
+	 * active in the guest; if no records will be generated while the guest
+	 * is running, then running with host values is safe (see above).
+	 */
+	if (!guest_pebs_mask)
+		return arr;
+
+	arr[(*nr)++] = (struct perf_guest_switch_msr){
+		.msr = MSR_IA32_DS_AREA,
+		.host = (unsigned long)cpuc->ds,
+		.guest = kvm_pmu->ds_area,
+	};
+
+	if (x86_pmu.intel_cap.pebs_baseline) {
+		arr[(*nr)++] = (struct perf_guest_switch_msr){
+			.msr = MSR_PEBS_DATA_CFG,
+			.host = cpuc->active_pebs_data_cfg,
+			.guest = kvm_pmu->pebs_data_cfg,
+		};
+	}
+
 	/*
 	 * Do NOT mess with PEBS_ENABLED.  As above, disabling counters via
 	 * PERF_GLOBAL_CTRL is sufficient, and loading a stale PEBS_ENABLED,
-- 
2.54.0.rc0.605.g598a273b03-goog


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-04-14 19:14 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 13+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-04-14 19:14 [PATCH 0/4] perf/x86: Don't write PEBS_ENABLED on KVM transitions Sean Christopherson
2026-04-14 19:14 ` [PATCH 1/4] perf/x86/intel: Don't write PEBS_ENABLED on host<=>guest xfers if CPU has isolation Sean Christopherson
2026-04-16 18:24   ` Namhyung Kim
2026-04-16 19:38     ` Sean Christopherson
2026-04-16 23:51       ` Namhyung Kim
2026-04-17  0:23         ` Sean Christopherson
2026-04-14 19:14 ` Sean Christopherson [this message]
2026-04-14 21:31   ` [PATCH 2/4] perf/x86/intel: Don't context switch DS_AREA (and PEBS config) if PEBS is unused Jim Mattson
2026-04-14 22:49     ` Sean Christopherson
2026-04-15 13:00       ` Jim Mattson
2026-04-14 19:14 ` [PATCH 3/4] perf/x86/intel: Make @data a mandatory param for intel_guest_get_msrs() Sean Christopherson
2026-04-14 22:29   ` Jim Mattson
2026-04-14 19:14 ` [PATCH 4/4] perf/x86: KVM: Have perf define a dedicated struct for getting guest PEBS data Sean Christopherson

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