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authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2019-03-15 15:00:28 -0700
committerLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>2019-03-15 15:00:28 -0700
commit636deed6c0bc137a7c4f4a97ae1fcf0ad75323da (patch)
tree7bd27189b8e30e3c1466f7730831a08db65f8646 /Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt
parentaa2e3ac64ace127f403be85aa4d6015b859385f2 (diff)
parent4a605bc08e98381d8df61c30a4acb2eac15eb7da (diff)
Merge tag 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/virt/kvm/kvm
Pull KVM updates from Paolo Bonzini: "ARM: - some cleanups - direct physical timer assignment - cache sanitization for 32-bit guests s390: - interrupt cleanup - introduction of the Guest Information Block - preparation for processor subfunctions in cpu models PPC: - bug fixes and improvements, especially related to machine checks and protection keys x86: - many, many cleanups, including removing a bunch of MMU code for unnecessary optimizations - AVIC fixes Generic: - memcg accounting" * tag 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/virt/kvm/kvm: (147 commits) kvm: vmx: fix formatting of a comment KVM: doc: Document the life cycle of a VM and its resources MAINTAINERS: Add KVM selftests to existing KVM entry Revert "KVM/MMU: Flush tlb directly in the kvm_zap_gfn_range()" KVM: PPC: Book3S: Add count cache flush parameters to kvmppc_get_cpu_char() KVM: PPC: Fix compilation when KVM is not enabled KVM: Minor cleanups for kvm_main.c KVM: s390: add debug logging for cpu model subfunctions KVM: s390: implement subfunction processor calls arm64: KVM: Fix architecturally invalid reset value for FPEXC32_EL2 KVM: arm/arm64: Remove unused timer variable KVM: PPC: Book3S: Improve KVM reference counting KVM: PPC: Book3S HV: Fix build failure without IOMMU support Revert "KVM: Eliminate extra function calls in kvm_get_dirty_log_protect()" x86: kvmguest: use TSC clocksource if invariant TSC is exposed KVM: Never start grow vCPU halt_poll_ns from value below halt_poll_ns_grow_start KVM: Expose the initial start value in grow_halt_poll_ns() as a module parameter KVM: grow_halt_poll_ns() should never shrink vCPU halt_poll_ns KVM: x86/mmu: Consolidate kvm_mmu_zap_all() and kvm_mmu_zap_mmio_sptes() KVM: x86/mmu: WARN if zapping a MMIO spte results in zapping children ...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt17
1 files changed, 17 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt
index 356156f5c52d..7de9eee73fcd 100644
--- a/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt
+++ b/Documentation/virtual/kvm/api.txt
@@ -45,6 +45,23 @@ the API. The only supported use is one virtual machine per process,
and one vcpu per thread.
+It is important to note that althought VM ioctls may only be issued from
+the process that created the VM, a VM's lifecycle is associated with its
+file descriptor, not its creator (process). In other words, the VM and
+its resources, *including the associated address space*, are not freed
+until the last reference to the VM's file descriptor has been released.
+For example, if fork() is issued after ioctl(KVM_CREATE_VM), the VM will
+not be freed until both the parent (original) process and its child have
+put their references to the VM's file descriptor.
+
+Because a VM's resources are not freed until the last reference to its
+file descriptor is released, creating additional references to a VM via
+via fork(), dup(), etc... without careful consideration is strongly
+discouraged and may have unwanted side effects, e.g. memory allocated
+by and on behalf of the VM's process may not be freed/unaccounted when
+the VM is shut down.
+
+
3. Extensions
-------------