From: Fernand Sieber <sieberf@amazon.com>
To: <peterz@infradead.org>
Cc: <abusse@amazon.de>, <bp@alien8.de>, <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com>,
<dwmw@amazon.co.uk>, <hborghor@amazon.de>, <hpa@zytor.com>,
<jschoenh@amazon.de>, <kvm@vger.kernel.org>,
<linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org>, <mingo@redhat.com>,
<nh-open-source@amazon.com>, <nsaenz@amazon.com>,
<pbonzini@redhat.com>, <seanjc@google.com>, <sieberf@amazon.com>,
<stable@vger.kernel.org>, <tglx@linutronix.de>, <x86@kernel.org>
Subject: [PATCH v2] perf/x86/intel: Do not enable BTS for guests
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:36:04 +0200 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20251211183604.868641-1-sieberf@amazon.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20251210111655.GB3911114@noisy.programming.kicks-ass.net>
By default when users program perf to sample branch instructions
(PERF_COUNT_HW_BRANCH_INSTRUCTIONS) with a sample period of 1, perf
interprets this as a special case and enables BTS (Branch Trace Store)
as an optimization to avoid taking an interrupt on every branch.
Since BTS doesn't virtualize, this optimization doesn't make sense when
the request originates from a guest. Add an additional check that
prevents this optimization for virtualized events (exclude_host).
Reported-by: Jan H. Schönherr <jschoenh@amazon.de>
Suggested-by: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
Signed-off-by: Fernand Sieber <sieberf@amazon.com>
---
arch/x86/events/perf_event.h | 13 +++++++++++--
1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/arch/x86/events/perf_event.h b/arch/x86/events/perf_event.h
index 3161ec0a3416..f2e2d9b03367 100644
--- a/arch/x86/events/perf_event.h
+++ b/arch/x86/events/perf_event.h
@@ -1574,13 +1574,22 @@ static inline bool intel_pmu_has_bts_period(struct perf_event *event, u64 period
struct hw_perf_event *hwc = &event->hw;
unsigned int hw_event, bts_event;
- if (event->attr.freq)
+ /*
+ * Only use BTS for fixed rate period==1 events.
+ */
+ if (event->attr.freq || period != 1)
+ return false;
+
+ /*
+ * BTS doesn't virtualize.
+ */
+ if (event->attr.exclude_host)
return false;
hw_event = hwc->config & INTEL_ARCH_EVENT_MASK;
bts_event = x86_pmu.event_map(PERF_COUNT_HW_BRANCH_INSTRUCTIONS);
- return hw_event == bts_event && period == 1;
+ return hw_event == bts_event;
}
static inline bool intel_pmu_has_bts(struct perf_event *event)
--
2.43.0
Amazon Development Centre (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited
29 Gogosoa Street, Observatory, Cape Town, Western Cape, 7925, South Africa
Registration Number: 2004 / 034463 / 07
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2025-12-11 18:36 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 16+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2025-12-01 14:23 [PATCH] KVM: x86/pmu: Do not accidentally create BTS events Fernand Sieber
2025-12-01 14:26 ` kernel test robot
2025-12-01 14:45 ` Woodhouse, David
2025-12-02 9:35 ` Peter Zijlstra
2025-12-02 9:59 ` Fernand Sieber
2025-12-02 10:03 ` Peter Zijlstra
2025-12-02 12:44 ` Peter Zijlstra
2025-12-02 16:03 ` Sean Christopherson
2025-12-10 10:11 ` Fernand Sieber
2025-12-10 11:16 ` Peter Zijlstra
2025-12-11 18:36 ` Fernand Sieber [this message]
2025-12-11 18:38 ` [PATCH v2] perf/x86/intel: Do not enable BTS for guests kernel test robot
2026-01-14 17:25 ` David Woodhouse
2026-01-21 13:57 ` Fernand Sieber
2026-01-21 15:31 ` Peter Zijlstra
2026-01-21 15:50 ` [tip: perf/urgent] " tip-bot2 for Fernand Sieber
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