Linux with kvm-intel locks up VMplayer guest is started
i`d like to give a comment about those claims in this thread (see below), vmware kernel part would be closed source or binary module.
i think, they arenŽt. they just are not available via public/opensource code repository.
just go and download workstation 6.5 beta from:
http://download3.vmware.com/software/wkst/VMware-workstation-e.x.p-91182.i386.tar.gz
(you may need register for that)
unpack and take a look at vmware-distrib/lib/modules/source - there is source for 6 independent kernel modules in those .tar files:
vmblock, vmci, vmmon, vmnet, vmppuser and vsock. (~3MB alltogether)
regards
roland
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i think what he's saying is that VMWare is a closed binary blob executing in the kernel; so there's no way to certify anything with this.
as soon as you put some unknown (and unknowable, unverifiable, untrustable) code in the kernel, you can't know what will work and what won't.
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So ask vmware. They have source to both parts we don't."
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If the VMware code was upstream, then we could work together to make a software arbitration mechanism. It's not, and worse yet, it's closed source so there's no chance it will be. Even if someone wrote an arbitration mechanism and got VMware to use it, it still shouldn't be merged because KVM would be the only thing using that mechanism upstream. I'm not interested in adding kernel infrastructure to support external binary kernel modules.
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VMware is a binary kernel module that's out of kernel. KVM is not misbehaving and the fact that VMware breaks when the KVM module is loaded isn't our problem. If they submitted their code for inclusion in mainline, we could possibly come up with solution for arbitrating who is using VT.
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Quoted 6 lines · [email protected] wrote:
i`d like to give a comment about those claims in this thread (see below), vmware kernel part would be closed source or binary module.
i think, they arenŽt. they just are not available via public/opensource code repository.
just go and download workstation 6.5 beta from:
Quoted 8 lines
http://download3.vmware.com/software/wkst/VMware-workstation-e.x.p-91182.i386.tar.gz
(you may need register for that)unpack and take a look at vmware-distrib/lib/modules/source - there is source for 6 independent kernel modules in those .tar files:
vmblock, vmci, vmmon, vmnet, vmppuser and vsock. (~3MB alltogether)
vmmon is sort of a stub that loads the actual monitor which is a binary blob.
Regards,
Anthony Liguori
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regards
roland------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quoted 10 lines
i think what he's saying is that VMWare is a closed binary blob executing in the kernel; so there's no way to certify anything with this.
as soon as you put some unknown (and unknowable, unverifiable, untrustable) code in the kernel, you can't know what will work and what won't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quoted 2 lines
So ask vmware. They have source to both parts we don't."
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Quoted 2 lines
If the VMware code was upstream, then we could work together to make a software arbitration mechanism. It's not, and worse yet, it's closed source so there's no chance it will be. Even if someone wrote an arbitration mechanism and got VMware to use it, it still shouldn't be merged because KVM would be the only thing using that mechanism upstream. I'm not interested in adding kernel infrastructure to support external binary kernel modules.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quoted 2 lines
VMware is a binary kernel module that's out of kernel. KVM is not misbehaving and the fact that VMware breaks when the KVM module is loaded isn't our problem. If they submitted their code for inclusion in mainline, we could possibly come up with solution for arbitrating who is using VT.
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_______________________________________________________________________
Jetzt neu! Schützen Sie Ihren PC mit McAfee und WEB.DE. 30 Tage kostenlos testen. http://www.pc-sicherheit.web.de/startseite/?mc=022220
Hi Martin,
This lockup is fixed in the latest dot releases of Workstation, Player, and Server.
The vmmon module now checks if VT is already enabled (actually it just tests if CR4.VMXE is set since checking if the cpu is in VMX mode is a pain). The vmmon module enables VMX mode when world switching to our monitor and disables it when world switching back to the host. The kvm-intel module puts the cpu(s) in VMX mode and does not exit VMX mode until the module is unloaded, so if you want to run player and kvm you need to first unload the kvm-intel module. However, this only works with very recent kvm modules. If you're using a kvm-intel module that doesn't contain the patch I submitted a couple weeks ago then even unloading the kvm-intel module is not enough since it leaves CR4.VMXE set. So for "old" modules you need to not load the kvm-intel module in the first place.
Note that the above is only relevant to kvm-intel. The vmmon and kvm-amd modules do not need exclusive access to SVM mode. I've run VMs on kvm-69 and Workstation 6.5 beta simultaneously on an AMD-V host without any issues.
Also note that this issue is relevant for any software that wants to use
VT: QEMU, VirtualBox, Parallels, etc. won't be able to if the host (via the kvm-intel module) has already claimed it.
Thanks,
Eli