Is PCI pass-through possible with host+kvm on latest linux but guest on an older linux?

Is PCI pass-through possible with host+kvm on latest linux but guest on an older linux?

[Chigurupati, Chaks]

Hi folks,

If my hardware is VT-d capable and the host is latest linux+kvm with all
the needed VT-d support but the guest is an older linux (say 2.6.27), will
I be able to use PCI pass-through to hot-plug a PCI device from one guest
to another guest? Any comments/thoughts are appreciated.

Thx
Chaks


============================================================
The information contained in this message may be privileged
and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader
of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee
or agent responsible for delivering this message to the
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any reproduction,
dissemination or distribution of this communication is strictly
prohibited. If you have received this communication in error,
please notify us immediately by replying to the message and
deleting it from your computer. Thank you. Tellabs
============================================================

Re: Is PCI pass-through possible with host+kvm on latest linux but guest on an older linux?

[Chris Wright]

* Chigurupati, Chaks (chaks@wichorus.com) wrote:
> If my hardware is VT-d capable and the host is latest linux+kvm with all
> the needed VT-d support but the guest is an older linux (say 2.6.27), will
> I be able to use PCI pass-through to hot-plug a PCI device from one guest
> to another guest? Any comments/thoughts are appreciated.

The basic requirement in the guest to do what you describe is that
it has hotplug capability and has the driver for the device you want
to assign to it.  All the rest of the requirements are on the host sw
and hw (linux+kvm capable of device assignment, which latest should be,
and hw VT-d or AMD IOMMU).

thanks,
-chris

Re: Is PCI pass-through possible with host+kvm on latest linux but guest on an older linux?

[Chigurupati, Chaks]

Thanks Chris.

On 2/23/11 10:30 AM, "Chris Wright" <chrisw@sous-sol.org> wrote:

>* Chigurupati, Chaks (chaks@wichorus.com) wrote:
>> If my hardware is VT-d capable and the host is latest linux+kvm with all
>> the needed VT-d support but the guest is an older linux (say 2.6.27),
>>will
>> I be able to use PCI pass-through to hot-plug a PCI device from one
>>guest
>> to another guest? Any comments/thoughts are appreciated.
>
>The basic requirement in the guest to do what you describe is that
>it has hotplug capability and has the driver for the device you want
>to assign to it.  All the rest of the requirements are on the host sw
>and hw (linux+kvm capable of device assignment, which latest should be,
>and hw VT-d or AMD IOMMU).
>
>thanks,
>-chris
>


============================================================
The information contained in this message may be privileged
and confidential and protected from disclosure. If the reader
of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee
or agent responsible for delivering this message to the
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any reproduction,
dissemination or distribution of this communication is strictly
prohibited. If you have received this communication in error,
please notify us immediately by replying to the message and
deleting it from your computer. Thank you. Tellabs
============================================================