Re: [PATCH] i386: revert defaults to 'legacy-vm-type=true' for SEV(-ES) guests

[Daniel P . Berrangé]

Ping, any comments for this ?

On Fri, Jun 14, 2024 at 11:39:24AM +0100, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:
> The KVM_SEV_INIT2 ioctl was only introduced in Linux 6.10, which will
> only have been released for a bit over a month when QEMU 9.1 is
> released.
> 
> The SEV(-ES) support in QEMU has been present since 2.12 dating back
> to 2018. With this in mind, the overwhealming majority of users of
> SEV(-ES) are unlikely to be running Linux >= 6.10, any time in the
> forseeable future.
> 
> IOW, defaulting new QEMU to 'legacy-vm-type=false' means latest QEMU
> machine types will be broken out of the box for most SEV(-ES) users.
> Even if the kernel is new enough, it also affects the guest measurement,
> which means that their existing tools for validating measurements will
> also be broken by the new default.
> 
> This is not a sensible default choice at this point in time. Revert to
> the historical behaviour which is compatible with what most users are
> currently running.
> 
> This can be re-evaluated a few years down the line, though it is more
> likely that all attention will be on SEV-SNP by this time. Distro
> vendors may still choose to change this default downstream to align
> with their new major releases where they can guarantee the kernel
> will always provide the required functionality.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>
> ---
>  hw/i386/pc.c      |  1 -
>  qapi/qom.json     | 12 ++++++------
>  target/i386/sev.c |  7 +++++++
>  3 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/hw/i386/pc.c b/hw/i386/pc.c
> index 0469af00a7..b65843c559 100644
> --- a/hw/i386/pc.c
> +++ b/hw/i386/pc.c
> @@ -82,7 +82,6 @@
>  GlobalProperty pc_compat_9_0[] = {
>      { TYPE_X86_CPU, "x-l1-cache-per-thread", "false" },
>      { TYPE_X86_CPU, "guest-phys-bits", "0" },
> -    { "sev-guest", "legacy-vm-type", "true" },
>      { TYPE_X86_CPU, "legacy-multi-node", "on" },
>  };
>  const size_t pc_compat_9_0_len = G_N_ELEMENTS(pc_compat_9_0);
> diff --git a/qapi/qom.json b/qapi/qom.json
> index 8bd299265e..714ebeec8b 100644
> --- a/qapi/qom.json
> +++ b/qapi/qom.json
> @@ -912,12 +912,12 @@
>  # @handle: SEV firmware handle (default: 0)
>  #
>  # @legacy-vm-type: Use legacy KVM_SEV_INIT KVM interface for creating the VM.
> -#                  The newer KVM_SEV_INIT2 interface syncs additional vCPU
> -#                  state when initializing the VMSA structures, which will
> -#                  result in a different guest measurement. Set this to
> -#                  maintain compatibility with older QEMU or kernel versions
> -#                  that rely on legacy KVM_SEV_INIT behavior.
> -#                  (default: false) (since 9.1)
> +#                  The newer KVM_SEV_INIT2 interface, from Linux >= 6.10, 
> syncs
> +#                  additional vCPU state when initializing the VMSA 
> structures,
> +#                  which will result in a different guest measurement. Toggle
> +#                  this to control compatibility with older QEMU or kernel
> +#                  versions that rely on legacy KVM_SEV_INIT behavior.
> +#                  (default: true) (since 9.1)
>  #
>  # Since: 2.12
>  ##
> diff --git a/target/i386/sev.c b/target/i386/sev.c
> index 004c667ac1..16029282b7 100644
> --- a/target/i386/sev.c
> +++ b/target/i386/sev.c
> @@ -2086,6 +2086,13 @@ sev_guest_instance_init(Object *obj)
>      object_property_add_uint32_ptr(obj, "policy", &sev_guest->policy,
>                                     OBJ_PROP_FLAG_READWRITE);
>      object_apply_compat_props(obj);
> +
> +    /*
> +     * KVM_SEV_INIT2 was only introduced in Linux 6.10. Avoid
> +     * breaking existing users of SEV, since the overwhealming
> +     * majority won't have a new enough kernel for a long time
> +     */
> +    sev_guest->legacy_vm_type = true;
>  }
>  
>  /* guest info specific sev/sev-es */
> -- 
> 2.45.1
> 

With regards,
Daniel
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