[PATCH v2] docs: add PVH specification

[PATCH v2] docs: add PVH specification

[Roger Pau Monne]

Introduce a document that describes the interfaces used on PVH. This
document has been designed from a guest OS point of view (i.e.: what a guest
needs to do in order to support PVH).

Signed-off-by: Roger Pau Monné <roger.pau@citrix.com>
Cc: Jan Beulich <JBeulich@suse.com>
Cc: Mukesh Rathor <mukesh.rathor@oracle.com>
Cc: Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk <konrad.wilk@oracle.com>
Cc: David Vrabel <david.vrabel@citrix.com>
---
The document is still far from complete IMHO, but it might be best to just
commit what we currently have rather than wait for a full document.

I will try to fill the gaps as I go implementing new features on FreeBSD.
---
 docs/misc/pvh.markdown | 369 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 369 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 docs/misc/pvh.markdown

diff --git a/docs/misc/pvh.markdown b/docs/misc/pvh.markdown
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0f075c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/misc/pvh.markdown
@@ -0,0 +1,369 @@
+# PVH Specification #
+
+## Rationale ##
+
+PVH is a new kind of guest that has been introduced on Xen 4.4 as a DomU, and
+on Xen 4.5 as a Dom0. The aim of PVH is to make use of the hardware
+virtualization extensions present in modern x86 CPUs in order to
+improve performance.
+
+PVH is considered a mix between PV and HVM, and can be seen as a PV guest
+that runs inside of an HVM container, or as a PVHVM guest without any emulated
+devices. The design goal of PVH is to provide the best performance possible and
+to reduce the amount of modifications needed for a guest OS to run in this mode
+(compared to pure PV).
+
+This document tries to describe the interfaces used by PVH guests, focusing
+on how an OS should make use of them in order to support PVH.
+
+## Early boot ##
+
+PVH guests use the PV boot mechanism, that means that the kernel is loaded and
+directly launched by Xen (by jumping into the entry point). In order to do this
+Xen ELF Notes need to be added to the guest kernel, so that they contain the
+information needed by Xen. Here is an example of the ELF Notes added to the
+FreeBSD amd64 kernel in order to boot as PVH:
+
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_GUEST_OS,       .asciz, "FreeBSD")
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_GUEST_VERSION,  .asciz, __XSTRING(__FreeBSD_version))
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_XEN_VERSION,    .asciz, "xen-3.0")
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_VIRT_BASE,      .quad,  KERNBASE)
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_PADDR_OFFSET,   .quad,  KERNBASE)
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_ENTRY,          .quad,  xen_start)
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_HYPERCALL_PAGE, .quad,  hypercall_page)
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_HV_START_LOW,   .quad,  HYPERVISOR_VIRT_START)
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_FEATURES,       .asciz, "writable_descriptor_tables|auto_translated_physmap|supervisor_mode_kernel|hvm_callback_vector")
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_PAE_MODE,       .asciz, "yes")
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_L1_MFN_VALID,   .long,  PG_V, PG_V)
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_LOADER,         .asciz, "generic")
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_SUSPEND_CANCEL, .long,  0)
+    ELFNOTE(Xen, XEN_ELFNOTE_BSD_SYMTAB,     .asciz, "yes")
+
+On the linux side, the above can be found in `arch/x86/xen/xen-head.S`.
+
+It is important to highlight the following notes:
+
+  * `XEN_ELFNOTE_ENTRY`: contains the virtual memory address of the kernel entry
+    point.
+  * `XEN_ELFNOTE_HYPERCALL_PAGE`: contains the virtual memory address of the
+    hypercal page inside of the guest kernel (this memory region will be filled
+    by Xen prior to booting).
+  * `XEN_ELFNOTE_FEATURES`: contains the list of features supported by the kernel.
+    In the example above the kernel is only able to boot as a PVH guest, but
+    those options can be mixed with the ones used by pure PV guests in order to
+    have a kernel that supports both PV and PVH (like Linux). The list of
+    options available can be found in the `features.h` public header.
+
+Xen will jump into the kernel entry point defined in `XEN_ELFNOTE_ENTRY` with
+paging enabled (either long mode or protected mode with paging turned on
+depending on the kernel bitness) and some basic page tables setup. An important
+distinction for a 64bit PVH is that it is launched at privilege level 0 as
+opposed to a 64bit PV guest which is launched at privilege level 3.
+
+Also, the `rsi` (`esi` on 32bits) register is going to contain the virtual
+memory address were Xen has placed the `start_info` structure. The `rsp` (`esp`
+on 32bits) will point to the top of an initial single page stack, that can be
+used by the guest kernel. The `start_info` structure contains all the info the
+guest needs in order to initialize. More information about the contents can be
+found on the `xen.h` public header.
+
+### Initial amd64 control registers values ###
+
+Initial values for the control registers are set up by Xen before booting the
+guest kernel. The guest kernel can expect to find the following features
+enabled by Xen.
+
+`CR0` has the following bits set by Xen:
+
+  * PE (bit 0): protected mode enable.
+  * ET (bit 4): 387 or newer processor.
+  * PG (bit 31): paging enabled.
+
+`CR4` has the following bits set by Xen:
+
+  * PAE (bit 5): PAE enabled.
+
+And finally in `EFER` the following features are enabled:
+
+  * LME (bit 8): Long mode enable.
+  * LMA (bit 10): Long mode active.
+
+At least the following flags in `EFER` are guaranteed to be disabled:
+
+  * SCE (bit 0): System call extensions disabled.
+  * NXE (bit 11): No-Execute disabled.
+
+There's no guarantee about the state of the other bits in the `EFER` register.
+
+All the segments selectors are set with a flat base at zero.
+
+The `cs` segment selector attributes are set to 0x0a09b, which describes an
+executable and readable code segment only accessible by the most privileged
+level. The segment is also set as a 64-bit code segment (`L` flag set) with a
+default operation size of 16bits (`D` flag unset).
+
+The remaining segment selectors (`ds`, `ss`, `es`, `fs` and `gs`) are all set
+to the same values. The attributes are set to 0x0c093, which implies a read and
+write data segment only accessible by the most privileged level. It is important
+to notice that for the `ss` selector the stack is set to use a 32bit pointer
+(`B` flag set).
+
+The `FS.base` and `GS.base` MSRs are zeroed out.
+
+The `IDT` and `GDT` are also zeroed, so the guest must be specially careful to
+not trigger a fault until after they have been properly set. The way of setting
+the IDT and the GDT is using the native instructions as would be done on bare
+metal.
+
+The `RFLAGS` register is guaranteed to be clear when jumping into the kernel
+entry point.
+
+## Memory ##
+
+Since PVH guests rely on virtualization extensions provided by the CPU, they
+have access to a hardware virtualized MMU, which means page-table related
+operations should use the same instructions used on native.
+
+There are however some differences with native. The usage of native MTRR
+operations is forbidden, and `XENPF_*_memtype` hypercalls should be used
+instead. This can be avoided by simply not using MTRR and setting all the
+memory attributes using PAT, which doesn't require the usage of any hypercalls.
+
+Since PVH doesn't use a BIOS in order to boot, the physical memory map has
+to be retrieved using the `XENMEM_memory_map` hypercall, which will return
+an e820 map. This memory map might contain holes that describe MMIO regions,
+that will be already setup by Xen.
+
+*TODO*: we need to figure out what to do with MMIO regions, right now Xen
+sets all the holes in the native e820 to MMIO regions for Dom0 up to 4GB. We
+need to decide what to do with MMIO regions above 4GB on Dom0, and what to do
+for PVH DomUs with pci-passthrough.
+
+In the case of a guest started with memory != maxmem, the e820 memory map
+returned by Xen will contain the memory up to maxmem. The guest has to be very
+careful to only use the lower memory pages up to the value contained in
+`start_info->nr_pages` because any memory page above that value will not be
+populated.
+
+## Physical devices ##
+
+When running as Dom0 the guest OS has the ability to interact with the physical
+devices present in the system. A note should be made that PVH guests require
+a working IOMMU in order to interact with physical devices.
+
+The first step in order to manipulate the devices is to make Xen aware of
+them. Due to the fact that all the hardware description on x86 comes from
+ACPI, Dom0 is responsible of parsing the ACPI tables and notify Xen about the
+devices it finds. This is done with the `PHYSDEVOP_pci_device_add` hypercall.
+
+*TODO*: explain the way to register the different kinds of PCI devices, like
+devices with virtual functions.
+
+## Interrupts ##
+
+All interrupts on PVH guests are routed over event channels, see
+[Event Channel Internals][event_channels] for more detailed information about
+event channels. In order to inject interrupts into the guest an IDT vector is
+used. This is the same mechanism used on PVHVM guests, and allows having
+per-cpu interrupts that can be used to deliver timers or IPIs.
+
+In order to register the callback IDT vector the `HVMOP_set_param` hypercall
+is used with the following values:
+
+    domid = DOMID_SELF
+    index = HVM_PARAM_CALLBACK_IRQ
+    value = (0x2 << 56) | vector_value
+
+In order to know which event channel has fired, we need to look into the
+information provided in the `shared_info` structure. The `evtchn_pending`
+array is used as a bitmap in order to find out which event channel has
+fired. Event channels can also be masked by setting it's port value in the
+`shared_info->evtchn_mask` bitmap.
+
+### Interrupts from physical devices ###
+
+When running as Dom0 (or when using pci-passthrough) interrupts from physical
+devices are routed over event channels. There are 3 different kind of
+physical interrupts that can be routed over event channels by Xen: IO APIC,
+MSI and MSI-X interrupts.
+
+Since physical interrupts usually need EOI (End Of Interrupt), Xen allows the
+registration of a memory region that will contain whether a physical interrupt
+needs EOI from the guest or not. This is done with the
+`PHYSDEVOP_pirq_eoi_gmfn_v2` hypercall that takes a parameter containing the
+physical address of the memory page that will act as a bitmap. Then in order to
+find out if an IRQ needs EOI or not, the OS can perform a simple bit test on the
+memory page using the PIRQ value.
+
+### IO APIC interrupt routing ###
+
+IO APIC interrupts can be routed over event channels using `PHYSDEVOP`
+hypercalls. First the IRQ is registered using the `PHYSDEVOP_map_pirq`
+hypercall, as an example IRQ#9 is used here:
+
+    domid = DOMID_SELF
+    type = MAP_PIRQ_TYPE_GSI
+    index = 9
+    pirq = 9
+
+The IRQ#9 is now registered as PIRQ#9. The triggering and polarity can also
+be configured using the `PHYSDEVOP_setup_gsi` hypercall:
+
+    gsi = 9 # This is the IRQ value.
+    triggering = 0
+    polarity = 0
+
+In this example the IRQ would be configured to use edge triggering and high
+polarity.
+
+Finally the PIRQ can be bound to an event channel using the
+`EVTCHNOP_bind_pirq`, that will return the event channel port the PIRQ has been
+assigned. After this the event channel will be ready for delivery.
+
+*NOTE*: when running as Dom0, the guest has to parse the interrupt overrides
+found on the ACPI tables and notify Xen about them.
+
+### MSI ###
+
+In order to configure MSI interrupts for a device, Xen must be made aware of
+it's presence first by using the `PHYSDEVOP_pci_device_add` as described above.
+Then the `PHYSDEVOP_map_pirq` hypercall is used:
+
+    domid = DOMID_SELF
+    type = MAP_PIRQ_TYPE_MSI_SEG or MAP_PIRQ_TYPE_MULTI_MSI
+    index = -1
+    pirq = -1
+    bus = pci_device_bus
+    devfn = pci_device_function
+    entry_nr = number of MSI interrupts
+
+The type has to be set to `MAP_PIRQ_TYPE_MSI_SEG` if only one MSI interrupt
+source is being configured. On devices that support MSI interrupt groups
+`MAP_PIRQ_TYPE_MULTI_MSI` can be used to configure them by also placing the
+number of MSI interrupts in the `entry_nr` field.
+
+The values in the `bus` and `devfn` field should be the same as the ones used
+when registering the device with `PHYSDEVOP_pci_device_add`.
+
+### MSI-X ###
+
+*TODO*: how to register/use them.
+
+## Event timers and timecounters ##
+
+Since some hardware is not available on PVH (like the local APIC), Xen provides
+the OS with suitable replacements in order to get the same functionality. One
+of them is the timer interface. Using a set of hypercalls, a guest OS can set
+event timers that will deliver and event channel interrupt to the guest.
+
+In order to use the timer provided by Xen the guest OS first needs to register
+a VIRQ event channel to be used by the timer to deliver the interrupts. The
+event channel is registered using the `EVTCHNOP_bind_virq` hypercall, that
+only takes two parameters:
+
+    virq = VIRQ_TIMER
+    vcpu = vcpu_id
+
+The port that's going to be used by Xen in order to deliver the interrupt is
+returned in the `port` field. Once the interrupt is set, the timer can be
+programmed using the `VCPUOP_set_singleshot_timer` hypercall.
+
+    flags = VCPU_SSHOTTMR_future
+    timeout_abs_ns = absolute value when the timer should fire
+
+It is important to notice that the `VCPUOP_set_singleshot_timer` hypercall must
+be executed from the same vCPU where the timer should fire, or else Xen will
+refuse to set it. This is a single-shot timer, so it must be set by the OS
+every time it fires if a periodic timer is desired.
+
+Xen also shares a memory region with the guest OS that contains time related
+values that are updated periodically. This values can be used to implement a
+timecounter or to obtain the current time. This information is placed inside of
+`shared_info->vcpu_info[vcpu_id].time`. The uptime (time since the guest has
+been launched) can be calculated using the following expression and the values
+stored in the `vcpu_time_info` struct:
+
+    system_time + ((((tsc - tsc_timestamp) << tsc_shift) * tsc_to_system_mul) >> 32)
+
+The timeout that is passed to `VCPUOP_set_singleshot_timer` has to be
+calculated using the above value, plus the timeout the system wants to set.
+
+If the OS also wants to obtain the current wallclock time, the value calculated
+above has to be added to the values found in `shared_info->wc_sec` and
+`shared_info->wc_nsec`.
+
+## SMP discover and bring up ##
+
+The process of bringing up secondary CPUs is obviously different from native,
+since PVH doesn't have a local APIC. The first thing to do is to figure out
+how many vCPUs the guest has. This is done using the `VCPUOP_is_up` hypercall,
+using for example this simple loop:
+
+    for (i = 0; i < MAXCPU; i++) {
+        ret = HYPERVISOR_vcpu_op(VCPUOP_is_up, i, NULL);
+        if (ret >= 0)
+            /* vCPU#i is present */
+    }
+
+Note than when running as Dom0, the ACPI tables might report a different number
+of available CPUs. This is because the value on the ACPI tables is the
+number of physical CPUs the host has, and it might bear no resemblance with the
+number of vCPUs Dom0 actually has so it should be ignored.
+
+In order to bring up the secondary vCPUs they must be configured first. This is
+achieved using the `VCPUOP_initialise` hypercall. A valid context has to be
+passed to the vCPU in order to boot. The relevant fields for PVH guests are
+the following:
+
+  * `flags`: contains `VGCF_*` flags (see `arch-x86/xen.h` public header).
+  * `user_regs`: struct that contains the register values that will be set on
+    the vCPU before booting. All GPRs are available to be set, however, the
+    most relevant ones are `rip` and `rsp` in order to set the start address
+    and the stack. Please note, all selectors must be null.
+  * `ctrlreg[3]`: contains the address of the page tables that will be used by
+    the vCPU. Other control registers should be set to zero, or else the
+    hypercall will fail with -EINVAL.
+
+After the vCPU is initialized with the proper values, it can be started by
+using the `VCPUOP_up` hypercall. The values of the other control registers of
+the vCPU will be the same as the ones described in the `control registers`
+section.
+
+Examples about how to bring up secondary CPUs can be found on the FreeBSD
+code base in `sys/x86/xen/pv.c` and on Linux `arch/x86/xen/smp.c`.
+
+## Control operations (reboot/shutdown) ##
+
+Reboot and shutdown operations on PVH guests are performed using hypercalls.
+In order to issue a reboot, a guest must use the `SHUTDOWN_reboot` hypercall.
+In order to perform a power off from a guest DomU, the `SHUTDOWN_poweroff`
+hypercall should be used.
+
+The way to perform a full system power off from Dom0 is different than what's
+done in a DomU guest. In order to perform a power off from Dom0 the native
+ACPI path should be followed, but the guest should not write the `SLP_EN`
+bit to the Pm1Control register. Instead the `XENPF_enter_acpi_sleep` hypercall
+should be used, filling the following data in the `xen_platform_op` struct:
+
+    cmd = XENPF_enter_acpi_sleep
+    interface_version = XENPF_INTERFACE_VERSION
+    u.enter_acpi_sleep.pm1a_cnt_val = Pm1aControlValue
+    u.enter_acpi_sleep.pm1b_cnt_val = Pm1bControlValue
+
+This will allow Xen to do it's clean up and to power off the system. If the
+host is using hardware reduced ACPI, the following field should also be set:
+
+    u.enter_acpi_sleep.flags = XENPF_ACPI_SLEEP_EXTENDED (0x1)
+
+## CPUID ##
+
+*TDOD*: describe which cpuid flags a guest should ignore and also which flags
+describe features can be used. It would also be good to describe the set of
+cpuid flags that will always be present when running as PVH.
+
+## Final notes ##
+
+All the other hardware functionality not described in this document should be
+assumed to be performed in the same way as native.
+
+[event_channels]: http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Event_Channel_Internals
-- 
1.8.5.2 (Apple Git-48)


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Re: [PATCH v2] docs: add PVH specification

[David Vrabel]

On 18/09/14 16:27, Roger Pau Monne wrote:
> Introduce a document that describes the interfaces used on PVH. This
> document has been designed from a guest OS point of view (i.e.: what a guest
> needs to do in order to support PVH).

This looks like an excellent initial document to me. Thanks for putting
this together, Roger.

In the sense that it documents bits of relevance to Linux:

Acked-by: David Vrabel <david.vrabel@citrix.com>

David

Re: [PATCH v2] docs: add PVH specification

[Jan Beulich]

>>> On 18.09.14 at 17:27, <roger.pau@citrix.com> wrote:
> +All the segments selectors are set with a flat base at zero.
> +
> +The `cs` segment selector attributes are set to 0x0a09b, which describes an
> +executable and readable code segment only accessible by the most privileged
> +level. The segment is also set as a 64-bit code segment (`L` flag set) with a
> +default operation size of 16bits (`D` flag unset).

There's no such thing - the L bit set requires the D bit to be clear
_without_ this meaning a default operation size of 16 bits.

> +The remaining segment selectors (`ds`, `ss`, `es`, `fs` and `gs`) are all set
> +to the same values. The attributes are set to 0x0c093, which implies a read and
> +write data segment only accessible by the most privileged level. It is important
> +to notice that for the `ss` selector the stack is set to use a 32bit pointer
> +(`B` flag set).

The B bit really has no meaning in 64-bit mode, and the stack pointer
will always be a 64-bit one.

> +The `RFLAGS` register is guaranteed to be clear when jumping into the kernel
> +entry point.

Kind of: The reserved bit 1 will always be set.

Jan

Re: [PATCH v2] docs: add PVH specification

[David Vrabel]

On 18/09/14 16:57, Jan Beulich wrote:
>>>> On 18.09.14 at 17:27, <roger.pau@citrix.com> wrote:
>> +All the segments selectors are set with a flat base at zero.
>> +
>> +The `cs` segment selector attributes are set to 0x0a09b, which describes an
>> +executable and readable code segment only accessible by the most privileged
>> +level. The segment is also set as a 64-bit code segment (`L` flag set) with a
>> +default operation size of 16bits (`D` flag unset).
> 
> There's no such thing - the L bit set requires the D bit to be clear
> _without_ this meaning a default operation size of 16 bits.
> 
>> +The remaining segment selectors (`ds`, `ss`, `es`, `fs` and `gs`) are all set
>> +to the same values. The attributes are set to 0x0c093, which implies a read and
>> +write data segment only accessible by the most privileged level. It is important
>> +to notice that for the `ss` selector the stack is set to use a 32bit pointer
>> +(`B` flag set).
> 
> The B bit really has no meaning in 64-bit mode, and the stack pointer
> will always be a 64-bit one.

Perhaps this doc should avoid explaining what the bits mean?  The Intel
or AMD reference manuals can be used for this.

David

Re: [PATCH v2] docs: add PVH specification

[Jan Beulich]

>>> On 18.09.14 at 18:03, <david.vrabel@citrix.com> wrote:
> On 18/09/14 16:57, Jan Beulich wrote:
>>>>> On 18.09.14 at 17:27, <roger.pau@citrix.com> wrote:
>>> +All the segments selectors are set with a flat base at zero.
>>> +
>>> +The `cs` segment selector attributes are set to 0x0a09b, which describes an
>>> +executable and readable code segment only accessible by the most privileged
>>> +level. The segment is also set as a 64-bit code segment (`L` flag set) with 
> a
>>> +default operation size of 16bits (`D` flag unset).
>> 
>> There's no such thing - the L bit set requires the D bit to be clear
>> _without_ this meaning a default operation size of 16 bits.
>> 
>>> +The remaining segment selectors (`ds`, `ss`, `es`, `fs` and `gs`) are all 
> set
>>> +to the same values. The attributes are set to 0x0c093, which implies a read 
> and
>>> +write data segment only accessible by the most privileged level. It is 
> important
>>> +to notice that for the `ss` selector the stack is set to use a 32bit 
> pointer
>>> +(`B` flag set).
>> 
>> The B bit really has no meaning in 64-bit mode, and the stack pointer
>> will always be a 64-bit one.
> 
> Perhaps this doc should avoid explaining what the bits mean?  The Intel
> or AMD reference manuals can be used for this.

Perhaps, but in that case specifying the attributes as raw hex
number is probably sub-optimal.

Jan