| 'microvm' virtual platform (``microvm``) |
| ======================================== |
| |
| ``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 |
| |
| |
| Triggering a guest-initiated shut down |
| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
| |
| As the microvm machine type includes just a small set of system |
| devices, some x86 mechanisms for rebooting or shutting down the |
| system, like sending a key sequence to the keyboard or writing to an |
| ACPI register, doesn't have any effect in the VM. |
| |
| The recommended way to trigger a guest-initiated shut down is by |
| generating a ``triple-fault``, which will cause the VM to initiate a |
| reboot. Additionally, if the ``-no-reboot`` argument is present in the |
| command line, QEMU will detect this event and terminate its own |
| execution gracefully. |
| |
| Linux does support this mechanism, but by default will only be used |
| after other options have been tried and failed, causing the reboot to |
| be delayed by a small number of seconds. It's possible to instruct it |
| to try the triple-fault mechanism first, by adding ``reboot=t`` to the |
| kernel's command line. |
