diff --git a/docs/pci-hotplug.html.in b/docs/pci-hotplug.html.in new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..809e36f5d9 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/pci-hotplug.html.in @@ -0,0 +1,164 @@ + + + + +PCI topology and hotplug
+ +
+ Perhaps surprisingly, most libvirt guests support only limited PCI + device hotplug out of the box, or even none at all. +
++ The reason for this apparent limitation is the fact that each + hotplugged PCI device might require additional PCI controllers to + be added to the guest, and libvirt has no way of knowing in advance + how many devices will be hotplugged during the guest's lifetime, + thus making it impossible to automatically provide the right amount + of PCI controllers: any arbitrary number would end up being too big + for some users, and too small for others. +
++ Ultimately, the user is the only one who knows how much the guest + will need to grow dynamically, so the responsibility of planning + a suitable PCI topology in advance falls on them. +
++ This document aims at providing all the information needed to + successfully plan the PCI topology of a guest. Note that the + details can vary a lot between architectures and even machine + types, hence the way it's organized. +
+ ++ This is a PCI Express native machine type. The default PCI topology + looks like +
+ ++<controller type='pci' index='0' model='pcie-root'/> +<controller type='pci' index='1' model='pcie-root-port'> + <model name='pcie-root-port'/> + <target chassis='1' port='0x10'/> + <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x0'/> +</controller>+ +
+ and supports hotplugging a single PCI Express device, either + emulated or assigned from the host. +
+
+ Slots on the pcie-root controller do not support
+ hotplug, so the device will be hotplugged into the
+ pcie-root-port controller. If you plan to hotplug
+ more than a single PCI Express device, you should add a suitable
+ number of pcie-root-port controllers when defining
+ the guest: for example, add
+
+<controller type='pci' model='pcie-root-port'/> +<controller type='pci' model='pcie-root-port'/> +<controller type='pci' model='pcie-root-port'/>+ +
+ if you expect to hotplug up to three PCI Express devices, + either emulated or assigned from the host. That's all the + information you need to provide: libvirt will fill in the + remaining details automatically. +
++ If you expect to hotplug legacy PCI devices, then you will need + specialized controllers, since all those mentioned above are + intended for PCI Express devices only: add +
+ ++<controller type='pci' model='dmi-to-pci-bridge'/> +<controller type='pci' model='pci-bridge'/>+ +
+ and you'll be able to hotplug up to 31 legacy PCI devices, + either emulated or assigned from the host. +
+ ++ This is a legacy PCI native machine type. The default PCI + topology looks like +
+ ++<controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>+ +
+ where each of the 31 slots on the pci-root
+ controller is hotplug capable and can accept a legacy PCI
+ device, either emulated or assigned from the guest.
+
+ The default PCI topology for the pseries machine
+ type looks like
+
+<controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'> + <model name='spapr-pci-host-bridge'/> + <target index='0'/> +</controller>+ +
+ The 31 slots on a pci-root controller are all
+ hotplug capable and, despite the name suggesting otherwise,
+ starting with QEMU 2.9 all of them can accept PCI Express
+ devices in addition to legacy PCI devices; however,
+ libvirt will only place emulated devices on the default
+ pci-root controller.
+
+ In order to take advantage of improved error reporting and
+ recovering capabilities, PCI devices assigned from the
+ host need to be isolated by placing each on a separate
+ pci-root controller, which has to be prepared
+ in advance for hotplug to work: for example, add
+
+<controller type='pci' model='pci-root'/> +<controller type='pci' model='pci-root'/> +<controller type='pci' model='pci-root'/>+ +
+ if you expect to hotplug up to three PCI devices assigned + from the host. +
+ ++ This machine type mostly behaves the same as the + q35 machine type, so you can just + refer to that section for information. +
+
+ The only difference worth mentioning is that using legacy
+ PCI for mach-virt guests is extremely uncommon,
+ so you'll probably never need to add controllers other than
+ pcie-root-port.
+