Re: [PATCH v2 7/8] vfio/migration: Add migration blocker if VM memory is too large to cause unmap_bitmap failure

["Cédric Le Goater" <clg@redhat.com>]

On 10/17/25 10:22, Zhenzhong Duan wrote:
> With default config, kernel VFIO type1 driver limits dirty bitmap to 256MB


... VFIO IOMMU Type1 ...

> for unmap_bitmap ioctl so the maximum guest memory region is no more than
> 8TB size for the ioctl to succeed.
> 
> Be conservative here to limit total guest memory to 8TB or else add a
> migration blocker. IOMMUFD backend doesn't have such limit, one can use
> IOMMUFD backed device if there is a need to migration such large VM.
> 
> Suggested-by: Yi Liu <yi.l.liu@intel.com>
> Signed-off-by: Zhenzhong Duan <zhenzhong.duan@intel.com>
> ---
>   hw/vfio/migration.c | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>   1 file changed, 37 insertions(+)
> 
> diff --git a/hw/vfio/migration.c b/hw/vfio/migration.c
> index 4c06e3db93..1106ca7857 100644
> --- a/hw/vfio/migration.c
> +++ b/hw/vfio/migration.c
> @@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
>   #include <sys/ioctl.h>
>   
>   #include "system/runstate.h"
> +#include "hw/boards.h"
>   #include "hw/vfio/vfio-device.h"
>   #include "hw/vfio/vfio-migration.h"
>   #include "migration/misc.h"
> @@ -1152,6 +1153,35 @@ static bool vfio_viommu_preset(VFIODevice *vbasedev)
>       return vbasedev->bcontainer->space->as != &address_space_memory;
>   }
>   
> +static bool vfio_dirty_tracking_exceed_limit(VFIODevice *vbasedev)
> +{
> +    VFIOContainer *bcontainer = vbasedev->bcontainer;
> +    uint64_t max_size, page_size;
> +
> +    if (!object_dynamic_cast(OBJECT(bcontainer), TYPE_VFIO_IOMMU_LEGACY)) {
> +        return false;
> +    }


Could we set in the IOMMUFD backend 'dirty_pgsizes' and
'max_dirty_bitmap_size'to avoid the object_dynamic_cast() ?


Thanks,

C.


> +    if (!bcontainer->dirty_pages_supported) {
> +        return true;
> +    }
> +    /*
> +     * VFIO type1 driver has a limitation of bitmap size on unmap_bitmap
> +     * ioctl(), calculate the limit and compare with guest memory size to
> +     * catch dirty tracking failure early.
> +     *
> +     * This limit is 8TB with default kernel and QEMU config, we are a bit
> +     * conservative here as VM memory layout may be nonconsecutive or VM
> +     * can run with vIOMMU enabled so the limitation could be relaxed. One
> +     * can also switch to use IOMMUFD backend if there is a need to migrate
> +     * large VM.
> +     */
> +    page_size = 1 << ctz64(bcontainer->dirty_pgsizes);
> +    max_size = bcontainer->max_dirty_bitmap_size * BITS_PER_BYTE * page_size;
> +
> +    return current_machine->ram_size > max_size;
> +}
> +
>   /*
>    * Return true when either migration initialized or blocker registered.
>    * Currently only return false when adding blocker fails which will
> @@ -1208,6 +1238,13 @@ bool vfio_migration_realize(VFIODevice *vbasedev, Error **errp)
>           goto add_blocker;
>       }
>   
> +    if (vfio_dirty_tracking_exceed_limit(vbasedev)) {
> +        error_setg(&err, "%s: Migration is currently not supported with "
> +                   "large memory VM due to dirty tracking limitation in "
> +                   "VFIO type1 driver", vbasedev->name);
> +        goto add_blocker;
> +    }
> +
>       trace_vfio_migration_realize(vbasedev->name);
>       return true;
>