linux-kernel - Re: [Xen-devel] [PATCH v1 04/12] xen/hvmlite: Bootstrap HVMlite guest

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Date:	Sat, 23 Jan 2016 10:28:25 -0800
From:	"H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>
To:	Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk <konrad.wilk@...cle.com>,
	Andrew Cooper <andrew.cooper3@...rix.com>,
	"Luis R. Rodriguez" <mcgrof@...e.com>,
	Roger Pau Monné <roger.pau@...rix.com>
CC:	Juergen Gross <jgross@...e.com>,
	Jeremy Fitzhardinge <jeremy@...p.org>,
	Rusty Russell <rusty@...tcorp.com.au>,
	"linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	Andy Lutomirski <luto@...capital.net>,
	David Vrabel <david.vrabel@...rix.com>,
	xen-devel@...ts.xenproject.org,
	Boris Ostrovsky <boris.ostrovsky@...cle.com>,
	Borislav Petkov <bp@...e.de>
Subject: Re: [Xen-devel] [PATCH v1 04/12] xen/hvmlite: Bootstrap HVMlite	guest

On January 23, 2016 8:12:23 AM PST, Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk <konrad.wilk@...cle.com> wrote:
>On January 23, 2016 11:01:06 AM EST, "H. Peter Anvin" <hpa@...or.com>
>wrote:
>>On January 23, 2016 7:34:33 AM PST, Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk
>><konrad.wilk@...cle.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>However, this stub belongs in Linux, not in the Xen toolstack.  That
>>>>way, when the Linux boot protocol is modified, both sides can be
>>>>updated
>>>>accordingly.
>>>
>>>I would add that this idea is borrowed from the EFI stub code that
>>>Linux has which also constructs the boot parameter structure when
>>>invoked (either from firmware or from EFI shell).
>>
>>There is a huge difference though: EFI is a widely used multivendor
>>industry standard.  You are taking about something Xen-specific, and
>>which in good Xen tradition isn't even documented, apparently (did we
>>ever get documentation for the hypervisor ABI?)
>>
>>Asking "why burden Xen with something Linux-specific" is a pretty
>>extreme case of the tail wagging the dog.
>>
>>That being said, before any code can be put anywhere, it needs to be
>>written.  We can argue where to put it later.  We went through this
>>process with the EFI stub, too: a standalone implementation (efilinux)
>>first.
>
>http://lists.xenproject.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2015-12/msg01793.html
>
>I believe is the latest version. Roger (CCed) has probably an updated
>one.

I suspect you should write a noninteractive bootloader as a reference implementation, and then consider porting Grub2 and maybe Syslinux to your ABI for those that want a full featured interactive bootloader compatible with the normal management.
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