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Documentation/x86: Add documentation for TDX host support
Add documentation for TDX host kernel support. There is already one file Documentation/x86/tdx.rst containing documentation for TDX guest internals. Also reuse it for TDX host kernel support. Introduce a new level menu "TDX Guest Support" and move existing materials under it, and add a new menu for TDX host kernel support. Signed-off-by: Kai Huang <kai.huang@intel.com> Signed-off-by: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com> Reviewed-by: Dave Hansen <dave.hansen@linux.intel.com> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20231208170740.53979-19-dave.hansen%40intel.com
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Documentation/arch/x86/tdx.rst

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@@ -10,6 +10,191 @@ encrypting the guest memory. In TDX, a special module running in a special
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mode sits between the host and the guest and manages the guest/host
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separation.
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TDX Host Kernel Support
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=======================
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TDX introduces a new CPU mode called Secure Arbitration Mode (SEAM) and
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a new isolated range pointed by the SEAM Ranger Register (SEAMRR). A
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CPU-attested software module called 'the TDX module' runs inside the new
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isolated range to provide the functionalities to manage and run protected
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VMs.
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TDX also leverages Intel Multi-Key Total Memory Encryption (MKTME) to
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provide crypto-protection to the VMs. TDX reserves part of MKTME KeyIDs
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as TDX private KeyIDs, which are only accessible within the SEAM mode.
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BIOS is responsible for partitioning legacy MKTME KeyIDs and TDX KeyIDs.
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Before the TDX module can be used to create and run protected VMs, it
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must be loaded into the isolated range and properly initialized. The TDX
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architecture doesn't require the BIOS to load the TDX module, but the
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kernel assumes it is loaded by the BIOS.
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TDX boot-time detection
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-----------------------
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The kernel detects TDX by detecting TDX private KeyIDs during kernel
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boot. Below dmesg shows when TDX is enabled by BIOS::
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[..] virt/tdx: BIOS enabled: private KeyID range: [16, 64)
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TDX module initialization
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---------------------------------------
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The kernel talks to the TDX module via the new SEAMCALL instruction. The
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TDX module implements SEAMCALL leaf functions to allow the kernel to
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initialize it.
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If the TDX module isn't loaded, the SEAMCALL instruction fails with a
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special error. In this case the kernel fails the module initialization
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and reports the module isn't loaded::
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[..] virt/tdx: module not loaded
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Initializing the TDX module consumes roughly ~1/256th system RAM size to
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use it as 'metadata' for the TDX memory. It also takes additional CPU
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time to initialize those metadata along with the TDX module itself. Both
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are not trivial. The kernel initializes the TDX module at runtime on
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demand.
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Besides initializing the TDX module, a per-cpu initialization SEAMCALL
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must be done on one cpu before any other SEAMCALLs can be made on that
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cpu.
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The kernel provides two functions, tdx_enable() and tdx_cpu_enable() to
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allow the user of TDX to enable the TDX module and enable TDX on local
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cpu respectively.
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Making SEAMCALL requires VMXON has been done on that CPU. Currently only
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KVM implements VMXON. For now both tdx_enable() and tdx_cpu_enable()
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don't do VMXON internally (not trivial), but depends on the caller to
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guarantee that.
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To enable TDX, the caller of TDX should: 1) temporarily disable CPU
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hotplug; 2) do VMXON and tdx_enable_cpu() on all online cpus; 3) call
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tdx_enable(). For example::
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cpus_read_lock();
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on_each_cpu(vmxon_and_tdx_cpu_enable());
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ret = tdx_enable();
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cpus_read_unlock();
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if (ret)
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goto no_tdx;
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// TDX is ready to use
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And the caller of TDX must guarantee the tdx_cpu_enable() has been
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successfully done on any cpu before it wants to run any other SEAMCALL.
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A typical usage is do both VMXON and tdx_cpu_enable() in CPU hotplug
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online callback, and refuse to online if tdx_cpu_enable() fails.
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User can consult dmesg to see whether the TDX module has been initialized.
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If the TDX module is initialized successfully, dmesg shows something
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like below::
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[..] virt/tdx: 262668 KBs allocated for PAMT
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[..] virt/tdx: module initialized
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If the TDX module failed to initialize, dmesg also shows it failed to
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initialize::
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[..] virt/tdx: module initialization failed ...
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TDX Interaction to Other Kernel Components
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------------------------------------------
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TDX Memory Policy
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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TDX reports a list of "Convertible Memory Region" (CMR) to tell the
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kernel which memory is TDX compatible. The kernel needs to build a list
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of memory regions (out of CMRs) as "TDX-usable" memory and pass those
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regions to the TDX module. Once this is done, those "TDX-usable" memory
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regions are fixed during module's lifetime.
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To keep things simple, currently the kernel simply guarantees all pages
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in the page allocator are TDX memory. Specifically, the kernel uses all
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system memory in the core-mm "at the time of TDX module initialization"
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as TDX memory, and in the meantime, refuses to online any non-TDX-memory
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in the memory hotplug.
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Physical Memory Hotplug
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Note TDX assumes convertible memory is always physically present during
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machine's runtime. A non-buggy BIOS should never support hot-removal of
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any convertible memory. This implementation doesn't handle ACPI memory
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removal but depends on the BIOS to behave correctly.
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CPU Hotplug
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~~~~~~~~~~~
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TDX module requires the per-cpu initialization SEAMCALL must be done on
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one cpu before any other SEAMCALLs can be made on that cpu. The kernel
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provides tdx_cpu_enable() to let the user of TDX to do it when the user
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wants to use a new cpu for TDX task.
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TDX doesn't support physical (ACPI) CPU hotplug. During machine boot,
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TDX verifies all boot-time present logical CPUs are TDX compatible before
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enabling TDX. A non-buggy BIOS should never support hot-add/removal of
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physical CPU. Currently the kernel doesn't handle physical CPU hotplug,
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but depends on the BIOS to behave correctly.
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Note TDX works with CPU logical online/offline, thus the kernel still
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allows to offline logical CPU and online it again.
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Kexec()
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~~~~~~~
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TDX host support currently lacks the ability to handle kexec. For
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simplicity only one of them can be enabled in the Kconfig. This will be
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fixed in the future.
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Erratum
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~~~~~~~
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The first few generations of TDX hardware have an erratum. A partial
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write to a TDX private memory cacheline will silently "poison" the
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line. Subsequent reads will consume the poison and generate a machine
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check.
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A partial write is a memory write where a write transaction of less than
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cacheline lands at the memory controller. The CPU does these via
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non-temporal write instructions (like MOVNTI), or through UC/WC memory
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mappings. Devices can also do partial writes via DMA.
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Theoretically, a kernel bug could do partial write to TDX private memory
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and trigger unexpected machine check. What's more, the machine check
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code will present these as "Hardware error" when they were, in fact, a
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software-triggered issue. But in the end, this issue is hard to trigger.
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If the platform has such erratum, the kernel prints additional message in
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machine check handler to tell user the machine check may be caused by
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kernel bug on TDX private memory.
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Interaction vs S3 and deeper states
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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TDX cannot survive from S3 and deeper states. The hardware resets and
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disables TDX completely when platform goes to S3 and deeper. Both TDX
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guests and the TDX module get destroyed permanently.
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The kernel uses S3 for suspend-to-ram, and use S4 and deeper states for
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hibernation. Currently, for simplicity, the kernel chooses to make TDX
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mutually exclusive with S3 and hibernation.
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The kernel disables TDX during early boot when hibernation support is
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available::
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[..] virt/tdx: initialization failed: Hibernation support is enabled
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Add 'nohibernate' kernel command line to disable hibernation in order to
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use TDX.
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ACPI S3 is disabled during kernel early boot if TDX is enabled. The user
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needs to turn off TDX in the BIOS in order to use S3.
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TDX Guest Support
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=================
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Since the host cannot directly access guest registers or memory, much
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normal functionality of a hypervisor must be moved into the guest. This is
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implemented using a Virtualization Exception (#VE) that is handled by the
@@ -20,7 +205,7 @@ TDX includes new hypercall-like mechanisms for communicating from the
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guest to the hypervisor or the TDX module.
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New TDX Exceptions
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==================
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------------------
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TDX guests behave differently from bare-metal and traditional VMX guests.
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In TDX guests, otherwise normal instructions or memory accesses can cause
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details for these instructions are discussed below.
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Instruction-based #VE
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---------------------
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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- Port I/O (INS, OUTS, IN, OUT)
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- HLT
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- CPUID*
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Instruction-based #GP
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---------------------
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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- All VMX instructions: INVEPT, INVVPID, VMCLEAR, VMFUNC, VMLAUNCH,
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VMPTRLD, VMPTRST, VMREAD, VMRESUME, VMWRITE, VMXOFF, VMXON
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- RDMSR*,WRMSR*
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RDMSR/WRMSR Behavior
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--------------------
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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MSR access behavior falls into three categories:
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@@ -73,7 +258,7 @@ trapping and handling in the TDX module. Other than possibly being slow,
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these MSRs appear to function just as they would on bare metal.
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CPUID Behavior
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--------------
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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For some CPUID leaves and sub-leaves, the virtualized bit fields of CPUID
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return values (in guest EAX/EBX/ECX/EDX) are configurable by the
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value with a hypercall.
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#VE on Memory Accesses
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======================
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----------------------
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There are essentially two classes of TDX memory: private and shared.
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Private memory receives full TDX protections. Its content is protected
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information in shared memory, exposing it to the untrusted hypervisor.
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#VE on Shared Memory
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--------------------
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Access to shared mappings can cause a #VE. The hypervisor ultimately
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controls whether a shared memory access causes a #VE, so the guest must be
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handle a #VE.
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#VE on Private Pages
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--------------------
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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An access to private mappings can also cause a #VE. Since all kernel
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memory is also private memory, the kernel might theoretically need to
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to handle the exception.
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Linux #VE handler
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=================
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-----------------
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Just like page faults or #GP's, #VE exceptions can be either handled or be
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fatal. Typically, an unhandled userspace #VE results in a SIGSEGV.
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which is not recoverable.
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MMIO handling
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=============
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-------------
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In non-TDX VMs, MMIO is usually implemented by giving a guest access to a
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mapping which will cause a VMEXIT on access, and then the hypervisor
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oops.
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Shared Memory Conversions
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=========================
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-------------------------
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All TDX guest memory starts out as private at boot. This memory can not
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be accessed by the hypervisor. However, some kernel users like device

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