Re: [PATCH v3 4/6] KVM: x86: Make use of kvm_read_cr*_bits() when testing bits

[Zhi Wang]

On Wed, 8 Feb 2023 10:11:30 +0100
Mathias Krause <minipli@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> On 07.02.23 14:05, Zhi Wang wrote:
> > On Wed,  1 Feb 2023 20:46:02 +0100
> > Mathias Krause <minipli@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >   
> >> Make use of the kvm_read_cr{0,4}_bits() helper functions when we only
> >> want to know the state of certain bits instead of the whole register.
> >>
> >> This not only makes the intend cleaner, it also avoids a VMREAD in case  
>                            ~~~~~~
> Oh, this should have been "intent". Will fix in v4, if there's a need for.
> 
> >> the tested bits aren't guest owned.  
> >                     ^
> > The patch comment is a little confusing. Not sure if I misunderstood here:  
> 
> Sorry, lets try to clarify.
> 
> > Check the code of kvm_read_cr0_bits
> > 
> > static inline ulong kvm_read_cr0_bits(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, ulong mask)
> > {
> >         ulong tmask = mask & KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS;
> >         if ((tmask & vcpu->arch.cr0_guest_owned_bits) &&
> >             !kvm_register_is_available(vcpu, VCPU_EXREG_CR0))
> >                 static_call(kvm_x86_cache_reg)(vcpu, VCPU_EXREG_CR0);
> >         return vcpu->arch.cr0 & mask;
> > }
> > 
> > I suppose the conditions that can avoids a VMREAD is to avoid the vmread in
> > static_call(kvm_x86_cache_reg):  
> 
> Correct, that's what this patch is trying to do: It tries to avoid the
> static_call(kvm_x86_cache_reg)(...) by making the compiler aware of the
> actually used bits in 'mask'. If those don't intersect with the guest
> owned bits, the first part of the condition wont be true and we simply
> can make use of 'vcpu->arch.cr0'.
> 
> Maybe it gets clearer when looking at kvm_read_cr0() too which is just this:
> 
> static inline ulong kvm_read_cr0(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
> {
>     return kvm_read_cr0_bits(vcpu, ~0UL);
> }
> 
> So the 'mask' passed to kvm_read_cr0_bits() will always include all
> (possible) guest owned bits (KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS & ~0UL ==
> KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS) and the compiler cannot do the optimization
> mentioned above.
> 
> If we, however, use kvm_read_cr0_bits(..., MASK) directly instead of
> using kvm_read_cr0() & MASK, it can, like for all bits not in
> KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS & vcpu->arch.cr0_guest_owned_bits.
> 
> > Conditions are not triggering vmread:
> > 
> > 1) The test bits are guest_owned_bits and cache register is available.
> > 2) The test bits are *not* guest_owned bits.  
> 
> For case 1 the patch would make only a minor difference, by concluding
> earlier that it can simply make use of vcpu->arch.cr0. But it's case 2
> I'm after.
>

Thanks for the explanation. Now I got it. 
 
> If you look up KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS, which is the upper bound for
> guest owned CR0 bits, you'll find before patch 6:
> 
> #define KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS X86_CR0_TS
> 
> and after patch 6:
> 
> #define KVM_LAZY_CR0_GUEST_BITS     X86_CR0_WP
> #define KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS (X86_CR0_TS|KVM_LAZY_CR0_GUEST_BITS)
> 
> So the upper bound would be 'X86_CR0_TS|X86_CR0_WP'. Every bit outside
> that set can directly be read from the 'vcpu' cached register value and
> that's (mostly) the case for the users this patch is changing, see below.
> 
> > I agree that this makes the intend cleaner, but not sure the later statement
> > is true in the patch comment. If the test bits are not guest owned, it will
> > not reach static_call(kvm_x86_cache_reg).  
> 
> Correct, but that's no different from what I'm saying. My description
> just set 'static_call(kvm_x86_cache_reg)' mentally equivalent to VMREAD,
> which abstracts the static_call quite well, IMHO. But maybe I should
> clarify that 'tested bits' means the bits used by the changed call side?
> Though, I think that's rather obvious from the change itself. I can
> factor in the caching aspect, though.
> 
> Maybe something like this?:
> 
>     This not only makes the intent cleaner, it also avoids a potential
>     VMREAD in case the tested bits aren't guest owned.
> 
> I've added "potential" but left the remainder as is.
> 
> >>
> >> Signed-off-by: Mathias Krause <minipli@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> ---
> >>  arch/x86/kvm/pmu.c     | 4 ++--
> >>  arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c | 4 ++--
> >>  2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
> >>
> >> diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/pmu.c b/arch/x86/kvm/pmu.c
> >> index d939d3b84e6f..d9922277df67 100644
> >> --- a/arch/x86/kvm/pmu.c
> >> +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/pmu.c
> >> @@ -439,9 +439,9 @@ int kvm_pmu_rdpmc(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, unsigned idx, u64 *data)
> >>  	if (!pmc)
> >>  		return 1;
> >>  
> >> -	if (!(kvm_read_cr4(vcpu) & X86_CR4_PCE) &&
> >> +	if (!(kvm_read_cr4_bits(vcpu, X86_CR4_PCE)) &&  
> 
> X86_CR4_PCE & KVM_POSSIBLE_CR4_GUEST_BITS == X86_CR4_PCE, therefore can
> only be optimized if X86_CR4_PCE would be dropped from
> 'vcpu->arch.cr4_guest_owned_bits' as well. But AFAICS we don't do that.
> So here you're right that this only clears up the intent, not the actual
> behavior at runtime.
> 
> >>  	    (static_call(kvm_x86_get_cpl)(vcpu) != 0) &&
> >> -	    (kvm_read_cr0(vcpu) & X86_CR0_PE))
> >> +	    (kvm_read_cr0_bits(vcpu, X86_CR0_PE)))  
> 
> X86_CR0_PE & KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS == 0, therefore this can be
> optimized.
> 
> >>  		return 1;
> >>  
> >>  	*data = pmc_read_counter(pmc) & mask;
> >> diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c
> >> index c8198c8a9b55..d3b49e0b6c32 100644
> >> --- a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c
> >> +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/vmx.c
> >> @@ -5487,7 +5487,7 @@ static int handle_cr(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
> >>  		break;
> >>  	case 3: /* lmsw */
> >>  		val = (exit_qualification >> LMSW_SOURCE_DATA_SHIFT) & 0x0f;
> >> -		trace_kvm_cr_write(0, (kvm_read_cr0(vcpu) & ~0xful) | val);
> >> +		trace_kvm_cr_write(0, (kvm_read_cr0_bits(vcpu, ~0xful) | val));  
> 
> ~0xful & KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS is 0 prior to patch 6 and
> X86_CR0_WP afterwards, therefore this might be optimized, depending on
> the runtime setting of 'enable_lazy_cr0', possibly capping the guest
> owned CR0 bits to exclude X86_CR0_WP again.
> 
> >>  		kvm_lmsw(vcpu, val);
> >>  
> >>  		return kvm_skip_emulated_instruction(vcpu);
> >> @@ -7547,7 +7547,7 @@ static u8 vmx_get_mt_mask(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, gfn_t gfn, bool is_mmio)
> >>  	if (!kvm_arch_has_noncoherent_dma(vcpu->kvm))
> >>  		return (MTRR_TYPE_WRBACK << VMX_EPT_MT_EPTE_SHIFT) | VMX_EPT_IPAT_BIT;
> >>  
> >> -	if (kvm_read_cr0(vcpu) & X86_CR0_CD) {
> >> +	if (kvm_read_cr0_bits(vcpu, X86_CR0_CD)) {  
> 
> X86_CR0_CD & KVM_POSSIBLE_CR0_GUEST_BITS == 0, therefore this can be
> optimized as well.
> 
> >>  		if (kvm_check_has_quirk(vcpu->kvm, KVM_X86_QUIRK_CD_NW_CLEARED))
> >>  			cache = MTRR_TYPE_WRBACK;
> >>  		else  
> >   
> 
> Thanks,
> Mathias