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
next prev 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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