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From: Junaid Shahid <junaids@google.com>
To: kvm@vger.kernel.org
Cc: andreslc@google.com, pfeiner@google.com, pbonzini@redhat.com,
	guangrong.xiao@linux.intel.com
Subject: [PATCH v3 8/8] kvm: x86: mmu: Update documentation for fast page fault mechanism
Date: Tue,  6 Dec 2016 16:46:17 -0800	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <1481071577-40250-9-git-send-email-junaids@google.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <1481071577-40250-1-git-send-email-junaids@google.com>

Add a brief description of the lockless access tracking mechanism
to the documentation of fast page faults in locking.txt.

Signed-off-by: Junaid Shahid <junaids@google.com>
---
 Documentation/virtual/kvm/locking.txt | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++----
 1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/locking.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/locking.txt
index e5dd9f4..51c435a 100644
--- a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/locking.txt
+++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/locking.txt
@@ -22,9 +22,16 @@ else is a leaf: no other lock is taken inside the critical sections.
 Fast page fault:
 
 Fast page fault is the fast path which fixes the guest page fault out of
-the mmu-lock on x86. Currently, the page fault can be fast only if the
-shadow page table is present and it is caused by write-protect, that means
-we just need change the W bit of the spte.
+the mmu-lock on x86. Currently, the page fault can be fast in one of the
+following two cases:
+
+1. Access Tracking: The SPTE is not present, but it is marked for access
+tracking i.e. the SPTE_SPECIAL_MASK is set. That means we need to
+restore the saved R/X bits. This is described in more detail later below.
+
+2. Write-Protection: The SPTE is present and the fault is
+caused by write-protect. That means we just need to change the W bit of the 
+spte.
 
 What we use to avoid all the race is the SPTE_HOST_WRITEABLE bit and
 SPTE_MMU_WRITEABLE bit on the spte:
@@ -34,7 +41,8 @@ SPTE_MMU_WRITEABLE bit on the spte:
   page write-protection.
 
 On fast page fault path, we will use cmpxchg to atomically set the spte W
-bit if spte.SPTE_HOST_WRITEABLE = 1 and spte.SPTE_WRITE_PROTECT = 1, this
+bit if spte.SPTE_HOST_WRITEABLE = 1 and spte.SPTE_WRITE_PROTECT = 1, or 
+restore the saved R/X bits if VMX_EPT_TRACK_ACCESS mask is set, or both. This
 is safe because whenever changing these bits can be detected by cmpxchg.
 
 But we need carefully check these cases:
@@ -138,6 +146,21 @@ Since the spte is "volatile" if it can be updated out of mmu-lock, we always
 atomically update the spte, the race caused by fast page fault can be avoided,
 See the comments in spte_has_volatile_bits() and mmu_spte_update().
 
+Lockless Access Tracking:
+
+This is used for Intel CPUs that are using EPT but do not support the EPT A/D
+bits. In this case, when the KVM MMU notifier is called to track accesses to a
+page (via kvm_mmu_notifier_clear_flush_young), it marks the PTE as not-present
+by clearing the RWX bits in the PTE and storing the original R & X bits in
+some unused/ignored bits. In addition, the SPTE_SPECIAL_MASK is also set on the
+PTE (using the ignored bit 62). When the VM tries to access the page later on,
+a fault is generated and the fast page fault mechanism described above is used
+to atomically restore the PTE to a Present state. The W bit is not saved when
+the PTE is marked for access tracking and during restoration to the Present
+state, the W bit is set depending on whether or not it was a write access. If
+it wasn't, then the W bit will remain clear until a write access happens, at 
+which time it will be set using the Dirty tracking mechanism described above.
+
 3. Reference
 ------------
 
-- 
2.8.0.rc3.226.g39d4020


      parent reply	other threads:[~2016-12-07  0:46 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 56+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2016-10-27  2:19 [PATCH 0/4] Lockless Access Tracking for Intel CPUs without EPT A bits Junaid Shahid
2016-10-27  2:19 ` [PATCH 1/4] kvm: x86: mmu: Use symbolic constants for EPT Violation Exit Qualifications Junaid Shahid
2016-11-02 18:03   ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-11-02 21:40     ` Junaid Shahid
2016-10-27  2:19 ` [PATCH 2/4] kvm: x86: mmu: Rename spte_is_locklessly_modifiable() Junaid Shahid
2016-10-27  2:19 ` [PATCH 3/4] kvm: x86: mmu: Fast Page Fault path retries Junaid Shahid
2016-10-27  2:19 ` [PATCH 4/4] kvm: x86: mmu: Lockless access tracking for Intel CPUs without EPT A bits Junaid Shahid
2016-11-02 18:01   ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-11-02 21:42     ` Junaid Shahid
2016-11-08 23:00 ` [PATCH v2 0/5] Lockless Access Tracking " Junaid Shahid
2016-11-08 23:00   ` [PATCH v2 1/5] kvm: x86: mmu: Use symbolic constants for EPT Violation Exit Qualifications Junaid Shahid
2016-11-21 13:06     ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-11-08 23:00   ` [PATCH v2 2/5] kvm: x86: mmu: Rename spte_is_locklessly_modifiable() Junaid Shahid
2016-11-21 13:07     ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-11-08 23:00   ` [PATCH v2 3/5] kvm: x86: mmu: Fast Page Fault path retries Junaid Shahid
2016-11-21 13:13     ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-11-08 23:00   ` [PATCH v2 4/5] kvm: x86: mmu: Lockless access tracking for Intel CPUs without EPT A bits Junaid Shahid
2016-11-21 14:42     ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-11-24  3:50       ` Junaid Shahid
2016-11-25  9:45         ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-11-29  2:43           ` Junaid Shahid
2016-11-29  8:09             ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-11-30  0:59               ` Junaid Shahid
2016-11-30 11:09                 ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-12-01 22:54       ` Junaid Shahid
2016-12-02  8:33         ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-12-05 22:57           ` Junaid Shahid
2016-11-08 23:00   ` [PATCH v2 5/5] kvm: x86: mmu: Update documentation for fast page fault mechanism Junaid Shahid
2016-12-07  0:46 ` [PATCH v3 0/8] Lockless Access Tracking for Intel CPUs without EPT A bits Junaid Shahid
2016-12-07  0:46   ` [PATCH v3 1/8] kvm: x86: mmu: Use symbolic constants for EPT Violation Exit Qualifications Junaid Shahid
2016-12-15  6:50     ` Xiao Guangrong
2016-12-15 23:06       ` Junaid Shahid
2016-12-07  0:46   ` [PATCH v3 2/8] kvm: x86: mmu: Rename spte_is_locklessly_modifiable() Junaid Shahid
2016-12-15  6:51     ` Xiao Guangrong
2016-12-07  0:46   ` [PATCH v3 3/8] kvm: x86: mmu: Fast Page Fault path retries Junaid Shahid
2016-12-15  7:20     ` Xiao Guangrong
2016-12-15 23:36       ` Junaid Shahid
2016-12-16 13:13         ` Xiao Guangrong
2016-12-17  0:36           ` Junaid Shahid
2016-12-07  0:46   ` [PATCH v3 4/8] kvm: x86: mmu: Refactor accessed/dirty checks in mmu_spte_update/clear Junaid Shahid
2016-12-07  0:46   ` [PATCH v3 5/8] kvm: x86: mmu: Introduce a no-tracking version of mmu_spte_update Junaid Shahid
2016-12-07  0:46   ` [PATCH v3 6/8] kvm: x86: mmu: Do not use bit 63 for tracking special SPTEs Junaid Shahid
2016-12-07  0:46   ` [PATCH v3 7/8] kvm: x86: mmu: Lockless access tracking for Intel CPUs without EPT A bits Junaid Shahid
2016-12-14 16:28     ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-12-14 22:36       ` Junaid Shahid
2016-12-14 23:35         ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-12-16 13:04     ` Xiao Guangrong
2016-12-16 15:23       ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-12-17  0:01         ` Junaid Shahid
2016-12-21  9:49         ` Xiao Guangrong
2016-12-21 18:00           ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-12-17  2:04       ` Junaid Shahid
2016-12-17 14:19         ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-12-20  3:36           ` Junaid Shahid
2016-12-20  9:01             ` Paolo Bonzini
2016-12-07  0:46   ` Junaid Shahid [this message]

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