[PATCH v8 0/9] Introduce device group and device management

From
Michael S. Tsirkin <>
Date
2022-11-22T19:32:00+00:00
ID
Thread
[PATCH v8 0/9] Introduce device group and device management
On Tue, Nov 22, 2022 at 02:14:23PM +0100, Cornelia Huck wrote:
> On Sun, Nov 20 2022, "Michael S. Tsirkin" <> wrote:
>
>
> The admin virtqueues will be the first interface to issue admin commands.
> >
>
> Currently virtio specification defines control virtqueue to manipulate
>
> features and configuration of the device it operates on. However,
>
> control virtqueue commands are device type specific, which makes it very
>
> difficult to extend for device agnostic commands.
> >
>
> To support this requirement in a more generic way, this patch introduces
>
> a new admin virtqueue interface.
> >
>
> We also support more than one admin virtqueue, for QoS and
>
> scalability requirements.
> >
>
> Signed-off-by: Max Gurtovoy <>
>
> Signed-off-by: Michael S. Tsirkin <>
> > ---
>
>  admin.tex
| 53 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>  content.tex |  6 ++++--
>
>  2 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> >
>
> diff --git a/admin.tex b/admin.tex
>
> index 507e188..bfa63a2 100644
> > --- a/admin.tex
> > +++ b/admin.tex
> > @@ -128,3 +128,56 @@ \subsection{Group administration commands}\label{sec:Basic Facilities of a Virti
>
>  other
& -
& group administration command error  \\
> >  \hline
> >  \end{tabular}
> > +
> > +\section{Administration Virtqueues}\label{sec:Basic Facilities of a Virtio Device / Administration Virtqueues}
> > +
> > +An administration virtqueue of an owner device is used to submit
> > +group administration commands. An owner device can have more
> > +than one administration virtqueue.
> > +
> > +Administration virtqueues exists for a certain owner device if
> > +VIRTIO_F_ADMIN_VQ feature has been negotiated. The index of the
> > +first administration virtqueue and their number is exposed by the
> > +owner device in a transport specific manner.
>
> (Do we always expect admin virtqueues to use a range of indices, i.e. no
> holes? That seems a bit limiting.)

For the device?
I frankly feel it's enough, yea.
> What about
>
> "If VIRTIO_F_ADMIN_VQ has been negotiated, an owner device exposes one
> or more adminstration virtqueues. The number and locations of the
> administration virtqueues is exposed by the owner device in a transport
> specific manner."

> > +
> > +The driver submits commands by queueing them to an arbitrary
> > +administration virtqueue, and they are processed by the
> > +device in the order in which they are queued. It is the
> > +responsibility of the driver to ensure ordering for commands
> > +placed on different administration virtqueues, because they will
> > +be executed with no order constraints.
>
> Are all admin vqs supposed to be equal? Could a device expose e.g. a
> high prio admin vq and a normal prio admin vq?

ATM yes, for priority we'll need a separate capability. Work on top?

> > +
> > +Administration virtqueues are used as follows:
> > +\begin{itemize}
> > +\item Driver submits the command using the \field{struct virtio_admin_cmd}
>
> s/Driver/The driver/
>
> > +structure using two buffers: a device-readable one followed by a
> > +device-writable one.
> > +\item the device-readable buffer includes fields from \field{opcode}
> > +through \field{command_specific_data}.
> > +\item the device-writeable buffer includes fields from \field{status}
> > +through \field{command_specific_result} inclusive.
> > +\end{itemize}
> > +
> > +It is legal for the driver to submit commands with
> > +device-writeable and device-readable structures with buffer
> > +length both shorter or longer than the length of the
> > +\field{command_specific_data} structure described in this
> > +specification. Device silently truncates the structures to the
>
> s/Device/The device/
>
> > +shorter of the two lengths (submitted by driver and described in this
> > +specification).
>
> "...to either the length submitted by the driver, or the length
> described in this specification, whichever is shorter."
>
>
> Device silently ignores any data falling outside
>
> s/Device/The device/
>
> > +the shorter of the two lengths. Any missing fields are assumed to be
> > +set to zero.
> > +
> > +Similarly, it is legal for the device to use, for a specific
> > +command, a shorter part of the \field{command_specific_result}
> > +buffer than the length of the structure described in this
> > +specification. Driver silently ignores any data falling outside
>
> s/Driver/The driver/
>
> > +the used buffer length reported by the device.  Any missing
> > +fields are assumed to be set to zero.
> > +
> > +This simplifies driver implementations since the driver can
> > +simply maintain a single large C structure for a command and its
> > +result. As new versions of the specification are designed,
> > +new fields can be added to the tail of a structure,
> > +with driver using the full structure without concern
>
> s/driver/the driver/
>
> > +for versioning.
>
> diff --git a/content.tex b/content.tex
>
> index 9deacbf..d2fd1de 100644
> > --- a/content.tex
> > +++ b/content.tex
> > @@ -99,10 +99,10 @@ \section{Feature Bits}\label{sec:Basic Facilities of a Virtio Device / Feature B
> >  \begin{description}
> >  \item[0 to 23, and 50 to 127] Feature bits for the specific device type
> >
> > -\item[24 to 40] Feature bits reserved for extensions to the queue and
> > +\item[24 to 41] Feature bits reserved for extensions to the queue and
>
>
feature negotiation mechanisms
> >
> > -\item[41 to 49, and 128 and above] Feature bits reserved for future extensions.
> > +\item[42 to 49, and 128 and above] Feature bits reserved for future extensions.
> >  \end{description}
> >
> >  \begin{note}
> > @@ -6985,6 +6985,8 @@ \chapter{Reserved Feature Bits}\label{sec:Reserved Feature Bits}
>
>
that the driver can reset a queue individually.
>
>
See \ref{sec:Basic Facilities of a Virtio Device / Virtqueues / Virtqueue Reset}.
> >
> > +  \item[VIRTIO_F_ADMIN_VQ (41)] This feature indicates that an administration virtqueue is supported.
>
> "This feature indicates that the device exposes one or more
> administration virtqueues." ?
>
> > +
> >  \end{description}
> >
> >  \drivernormative{\section}{Reserved Feature Bits}{Reserved Feature Bits}

other looks good will adopt, thanks!