diff options
author | Sergio Lopez <slp@redhat.com> | 2019-10-02 08:01:59 +0200 |
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committer | Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com> | 2019-10-22 09:39:54 +0200 |
commit | e00803aab46c6018b695ee63eef41263c15376d9 (patch) | |
tree | dba0269f5b0507895ce4cd5176e49b6ec8a676e5 /docs | |
parent | 0d5fae3e52e8a6b1068e53ebb87e96702246529e (diff) |
docs/microvm.rst: document the new microvm machine type
Document the new microvm machine type.
Signed-off-by: Sergio Lopez <slp@redhat.com>
Reviewed-by: Michael S. Tsirkin <mst@redhat.com>
Reviewed-by: Marc-André Lureau <marcandre.lureau@redhat.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'docs')
-rw-r--r-- | docs/microvm.rst | 108 |
1 files changed, 108 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/microvm.rst b/docs/microvm.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..aae811a922 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/microvm.rst @@ -0,0 +1,108 @@ +==================== +microvm Machine Type +==================== + +``microvm`` is a machine type inspired by ``Firecracker`` and +constructed after its machine model. + +It's a minimalist machine type without ``PCI`` nor ``ACPI`` support, +designed for short-lived guests. microvm also establishes a baseline +for benchmarking and optimizing both QEMU and guest operating systems, +since it is optimized for both boot time and footprint. + + +Supported devices +----------------- + +The microvm machine type supports the following devices: + +- ISA bus +- i8259 PIC (optional) +- i8254 PIT (optional) +- MC146818 RTC (optional) +- One ISA serial port (optional) +- LAPIC +- IOAPIC (with kernel-irqchip=split by default) +- kvmclock (if using KVM) +- fw_cfg +- Up to eight virtio-mmio devices (configured by the user) + + +Limitations +----------- + +Currently, microvm does *not* support the following features: + + - PCI-only devices. + - Hotplug of any kind. + - Live migration across QEMU versions. + + +Using the microvm machine type +------------------------------ + +Machine-specific options +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +It supports the following machine-specific options: + +- microvm.x-option-roms=bool (Set off to disable loading option ROMs) +- microvm.pit=OnOffAuto (Enable i8254 PIT) +- microvm.isa-serial=bool (Set off to disable the instantiation an ISA serial port) +- microvm.pic=OnOffAuto (Enable i8259 PIC) +- microvm.rtc=OnOffAuto (Enable MC146818 RTC) +- microvm.auto-kernel-cmdline=bool (Set off to disable adding virtio-mmio devices to the kernel cmdline) + + +Boot options +~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +By default, microvm uses ``qboot`` as its BIOS, to obtain better boot +times, but it's also compatible with ``SeaBIOS``. + +As no current FW is able to boot from a block device using +``virtio-mmio`` as its transport, a microvm-based VM needs to be run +using a host-side kernel and, optionally, an initrd image. + + +Running a microvm-based VM +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +By default, microvm aims for maximum compatibility, enabling both +legacy and non-legacy devices. In this example, a VM is created +without passing any additional machine-specific option, using the +legacy ``ISA serial`` device as console:: + + $ qemu-system-x86_64 -M microvm \ + -enable-kvm -cpu host -m 512m -smp 2 \ + -kernel vmlinux -append "earlyprintk=ttyS0 console=ttyS0 root=/dev/vda" \ + -nodefaults -no-user-config -nographic \ + -serial stdio \ + -drive id=test,file=test.img,format=raw,if=none \ + -device virtio-blk-device,drive=test \ + -netdev tap,id=tap0,script=no,downscript=no \ + -device virtio-net-device,netdev=tap0 + +While the example above works, you might be interested in reducing the +footprint further by disabling some legacy devices. If you're using +``KVM``, you can disable the ``RTC``, making the Guest rely on +``kvmclock`` exclusively. Additionally, if your host's CPUs have the +``TSC_DEADLINE`` feature, you can also disable both the i8259 PIC and +the i8254 PIT (make sure you're also emulating a CPU with such feature +in the guest). + +This is an example of a VM with all optional legacy features +disabled:: + + $ qemu-system-x86_64 \ + -M microvm,x-option-roms=off,pit=off,pic=off,isa-serial=off,rtc=off \ + -enable-kvm -cpu host -m 512m -smp 2 \ + -kernel vmlinux -append "console=hvc0 root=/dev/vda" \ + -nodefaults -no-user-config -nographic \ + -chardev stdio,id=virtiocon0 \ + -device virtio-serial-device \ + -device virtconsole,chardev=virtiocon0 \ + -drive id=test,file=test.img,format=raw,if=none \ + -device virtio-blk-device,drive=test \ + -netdev tap,id=tap0,script=no,downscript=no \ + -device virtio-net-device,netdev=tap0 |