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| 1 | +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 |
| 2 | +
|
| 3 | +=============================== |
| 4 | +vCPU feature selection on arm64 |
| 5 | +=============================== |
| 6 | + |
| 7 | +KVM/arm64 provides two mechanisms that allow userspace to configure |
| 8 | +the CPU features presented to the guest. |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT |
| 11 | +================= |
| 12 | + |
| 13 | +The ``KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT`` ioctl accepts a bitmap of feature flags |
| 14 | +(``struct kvm_vcpu_init::features``). Features enabled by this interface are |
| 15 | +*opt-in* and may change/extend UAPI. See :ref:`KVM_ARM_VCPU_INIT` for complete |
| 16 | +documentation of the features controlled by the ioctl. |
| 17 | + |
| 18 | +Otherwise, all CPU features supported by KVM are described by the architected |
| 19 | +ID registers. |
| 20 | + |
| 21 | +The ID Registers |
| 22 | +================ |
| 23 | + |
| 24 | +The Arm architecture specifies a range of *ID Registers* that describe the set |
| 25 | +of architectural features supported by the CPU implementation. KVM initializes |
| 26 | +the guest's ID registers to the maximum set of CPU features supported by the |
| 27 | +system. The ID register values may be VM-scoped in KVM, meaning that the |
| 28 | +values could be shared for all vCPUs in a VM. |
| 29 | + |
| 30 | +KVM allows userspace to *opt-out* of certain CPU features described by the ID |
| 31 | +registers by writing values to them via the ``KVM_SET_ONE_REG`` ioctl. The ID |
| 32 | +registers are mutable until the VM has started, i.e. userspace has called |
| 33 | +``KVM_RUN`` on at least one vCPU in the VM. Userspace can discover what fields |
| 34 | +are mutable in the ID registers using the ``KVM_ARM_GET_REG_WRITABLE_MASKS``. |
| 35 | +See the :ref:`ioctl documentation <KVM_ARM_GET_REG_WRITABLE_MASKS>` for more |
| 36 | +details. |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +Userspace is allowed to *limit* or *mask* CPU features according to the rules |
| 39 | +outlined by the architecture in DDI0487J.a D19.1.3 'Principles of the ID |
| 40 | +scheme for fields in ID register'. KVM does not allow ID register values that |
| 41 | +exceed the capabilities of the system. |
| 42 | + |
| 43 | +.. warning:: |
| 44 | + It is **strongly recommended** that userspace modify the ID register values |
| 45 | + before accessing the rest of the vCPU's CPU register state. KVM may use the |
| 46 | + ID register values to control feature emulation. Interleaving ID register |
| 47 | + modification with other system register accesses may lead to unpredictable |
| 48 | + behavior. |
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