summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Documentation/virt/kvm/arm/vcpu-features.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/virt/kvm/arm/vcpu-features.rst')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/virt/kvm/arm/vcpu-features.rst48
1 files changed, 48 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/virt/kvm/arm/vcpu-features.rst b/Documentation/virt/kvm/arm/vcpu-features.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f7cc6d8d8b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/virt/kvm/arm/vcpu-features.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+===============================
+vCPU feature selection on arm64
+===============================
+
+KVM/arm64 provides two mechanisms that allow userspace to configure
+the CPU features presented to the guest.
+
+KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT
+=================
+
+The ``KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT`` ioctl accepts a bitmap of feature flags
+(``struct kvm_vcpu_init::features``). Features enabled by this interface are
+*opt-in* and may change/extend UAPI. See :ref:`KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT` for complete
+documentation of the features controlled by the ioctl.
+
+Otherwise, all CPU features supported by KVM are described by the architected
+ID registers.
+
+The ID Registers
+================
+
+The Arm architecture specifies a range of *ID Registers* that describe the set
+of architectural features supported by the CPU implementation. KVM initializes
+the guest's ID registers to the maximum set of CPU features supported by the
+system. The ID register values may be VM-scoped in KVM, meaning that the
+values could be shared for all vCPUs in a VM.
+
+KVM allows userspace to *opt-out* of certain CPU features described by the ID
+registers by writing values to them via the ``KVM_SET_ONE_REG`` ioctl. The ID
+registers are mutable until the VM has started, i.e. userspace has called
+``KVM_RUN`` on at least one vCPU in the VM. Userspace can discover what fields
+are mutable in the ID registers using the ``KVM_ARM_GET_REG_WRITABLE_MASKS``.
+See the :ref:`ioctl documentation <KVM_ARM_GET_REG_WRITABLE_MASKS>` for more
+details.
+
+Userspace is allowed to *limit* or *mask* CPU features according to the rules
+outlined by the architecture in DDI0487J.a D19.1.3 'Principles of the ID
+scheme for fields in ID register'. KVM does not allow ID register values that
+exceed the capabilities of the system.
+
+.. warning::
+ It is **strongly recommended** that userspace modify the ID register values
+ before accessing the rest of the vCPU's CPU register state. KVM may use the
+ ID register values to control feature emulation. Interleaving ID register
+ modification with other system register accesses may lead to unpredictable
+ behavior.