Managing safe removal of a passthrough device in a virtualization system

• US 9,043,789 B2
• Filed: 09/05/2012
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Tsirkin, Michael, Williamson, Alex Lee
• Primary Examiner(s): Puente, Emerson
• Assistant Examiner(s): DO, STEVEN M
• Application Number:
  US13/603,849
• Publication Number:
  US 20140068607A1
• Time in Patent Office: 993 Days
• Field of Search: 718/1
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45579 I/O management, e.g. providing access to device drivers or storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

Methods and systems for managing a removal of a passthrough device from a guest managed by a hypervisor in virtualized computing environment. A hypervisor receives a request from the guest for access to a passthrough device. The hypervisor sets, in a memory, a last accessed state associated with a virtual machine executing the guest. The hypervisor forwards the request to the passthrough device and configures the host CPU to send a subsequent access request directly to the passthrough device. In response to a virtual machine reset, the hypervisor clears the last accessed state and instructs the host CPU to send a post-reset access request to the hypervisor.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a processing device executing a hypervisor, a request from a guest for access to a passthrough device;

setting in a memory, by the hypervisor, a last accessed state associated with a virtual machine executing the guest, wherein the last accessed state indicates whether the guest accessed the passthrough device since a last reset of the virtual machine;

forwarding, by the hypervisor, the request to the passthrough device;

configuring, by the hypervisor, a host central processing unit (CPU) to send a subsequent access request directly to the passthrough device; and

in response to a virtual machine reset, clearing the last accessed state and instructing the host CPU to send a post-reset access request to the hypervisor.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the hypervisor, a request to remove the passthrough device from the guest; and

removing, by the hypervisor, the passthrough device associated with the guest without receiving an acknowledgment from the guest when the last accessed state is clear.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the request to remove the passthrough device is received from a management interface of the hypervisor.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising removing, by the hypervisor, the passthrough device associated with the guest without receiving an acknowledgement from the guest when the virtual machine is reset.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying the guest of the request to remove the passthrough device when the last accessed state is set.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the hypervisor, a first post-reset request from the guest for access to the passthrough device;

setting in the memory, by the hypervisor, the last accessed state associated with the virtual machine executing the guest;

forwarding, by the hypervisor, the first post-reset request to the passthrough device; and

configuring, by the hypervisor, the host CPU to send a subsequent post-reset access request directly to the passthrough device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for access comprises a configuration access request and the passthrough device comprises a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device.

8. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to:

receive, by the processing device executing a hypervisor, a request from a guest for access to a passthrough device;

set in a memory, by the hypervisor, a last accessed state associated with a virtual machine executing the guest, wherein the last accessed state indicates whether the guest accessed the passthrough device since a last reset of the virtual machine;

forward, by the hypervisor, the request to the passthrough device;

configure, by the hypervisor, a host CPU to send a subsequent access request directly to the passthrough device; and

in response to a virtual machine reset, clear the last accessed state and instructing the host CPU to send a post-reset access request to the hypervisor.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, the processing device to:

receive, by the hypervisor, a request to remove the passthrough device from the guest; and

remove, by the hypervisor, the passthrough device associated with the guest without receiving an acknowledgment from the guest when the last accessed state is clear.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the request to remove the passthrough device is received from a management interface of the hypervisor.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, the processing device to notify the guest of the request to remove the passthrough device when the last accessed state is set.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, the processing device to:

receive, by the hypervisor, a first post-reset request from the guest for access to the passthrough device;

set in the memory, by the hypervisor, the last accessed state associated with the virtual machine executing the guest, wherein the last accessed state indicates whether the guest accessed the passthrough device since a last reset of the virtual machine;

forward, by the hypervisor, the first post-reset request to the passthrough device; and

configure, by the hypervisor, the host CPU to send a subsequent post-reset access request directly to the passthrough device.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the request for access comprises a configuration access request and the passthrough device comprises a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device.

14. A computer system comprising:

a memory;

a processing device, operatively coupled to the memory; and

a hypervisor executed by the processing device and having access to the memory, the hypervisor to;

receive a request from a guest for access to a passthrough device,

set in the memory a last accessed state associated with a virtual machine executing the guest, wherein the last accessed state indicates whether the guest accessed the passthrough device since a last reset of the virtual machine,

forward the request to the passthrough device,

configure a host central processing unit (CPU) to send a subsequent access request directly to the passthrough device, and

in response to a virtual machine reset, clear the last accessed state and instruct the host CPU to send a post-reset access request to the hypervisor.

15. The computer system of claim 14, the hypervisor to:

receive a request to remove the passthrough device from the guest, and

remove the passthrough device associated with the guest without receiving an acknowledgment from the guest when the last accessed state is clear.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the request to remove the passthrough device is received from a management interface of the hypervisor.

17. The computer system of claim 14, the hypervisor to notify the guest of the request to remove the passthrough device when the last accessed state is set.

18. The computer system of claim 14, the hypervisor to:

receive a first post-reset request from the guest for access to the passthrough device,

set in the memory the last accessed state associated with the virtual machine executing the guest,

forward the first post-reset request to the passthrough device, and

configure the host CPU to send a subsequent post-reset access request directly to the passthrough device.

19. The computer system of claim 14, wherein the request for access comprises a configuration access request and the passthrough device comprises a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) device.