Re: [PATCH] KVM/x86: Do not clear SIPI while in SMM

From: boris . ostrovsky
Date: Tue Apr 16 2024 - 18:56:54 EST


(Sorry, need to resend)

On 4/16/24 6:03 PM, Paolo Bonzini wrote:
On Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 10:57 PM <boris.ostrovsky@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On 4/16/24 4:53 PM, Paolo Bonzini wrote:
On 4/16/24 22:47, Boris Ostrovsky wrote:
Keeping the SIPI pending avoids this scenario.

This is incorrect - it's yet another ugly legacy facet of x86, but we
have to live with it. SIPI is discarded because the code is supposed
to retry it if needed ("INIT-SIPI-SIPI").

I couldn't find in the SDM/APM a definitive statement about whether SIPI
is supposed to be dropped.

I think the manual is pretty consistent that SIPIs are never latched,
they're only ever used in wait-for-SIPI state.

The sender should set a flag as early as possible in the SIPI code so
that it's clear that it was not received; and an extra SIPI is not a
problem, it will be ignored anyway and will not cause trouble if
there's a race.

What is the reproducer for this?

Hotplugging/unplugging cpus in a loop, especially if you oversubscribe
the guest, will get you there in 10-15 minutes.

Typically (although I think not always) this is happening when OVMF if
trying to rendezvous and a processor is missing and is sent an extra SMI.

Can you go into more detail? I wasn't even aware that OVMF's SMM
supported hotplug - on real hardware I think there's extra work from
the BMC to coordinate all SMIs across both existing and hotplugged
packages(*)


It's been supported by OVMF for a couple of years (in fact, IIRC you were part of at least initial conversations about this, at least for the unplug part).

During hotplug QEMU gathers all cpus in OVMF from (I think) ich9_apm_ctrl_changed() and they are all waited for in SmmCpuRendezvous()->SmmWaitForApArrival(). Occasionally it may so happen that the SMI from QEMU is not delivered to a processor that was *just* successfully hotplugged and so it is pinged again (https://github.com/tianocore/edk2/blob/fcfdbe29874320e9f876baa7afebc3fca8f4a7df/UefiCpuPkg/PiSmmCpuDxeSmm/MpService.c#L304).

At the same time this processor is now being brought up by kernel and is being sent INIT-SIPI-SIPI. If these (or at least the SIPIs) arrive after the SMI reaches the processor then that processor is not going to have a good day.



What should happen is that SMIs are blocked on the new CPUs, so that
only existing CPUs answer. These restore the 0x30000 segment to
prepare for the SMI on the new CPUs, and send an INIT-SIPI to start
the SMI on the new CPUs. Does OVMF do anything like that?
You mean this: https://github.com/tianocore/edk2/blob/fcfdbe29874320e9f876baa7afebc3fca8f4a7df/OvmfPkg/CpuHotplugSmm/Smbase.c#L272 ?


-boris