linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH next V2] KVM: VMX: use __always_inline for is_td_vcpu and is

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Message-ID: <20250527134714.GC20019@noisy.programming.kicks-ass.net>
Date: Tue, 27 May 2025 15:47:14 +0200
From: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@...radead.org>
To: "Huang, Kai" <kai.huang@...el.com>
Cc: "eadavis@...com" <eadavis@...com>,
	"seanjc@...gle.com" <seanjc@...gle.com>,
	"bp@...en8.de" <bp@...en8.de>,
	"dave.hansen@...ux.intel.com" <dave.hansen@...ux.intel.com>,
	"binbin.wu@...ux.intel.com" <binbin.wu@...ux.intel.com>,
	"hpa@...or.com" <hpa@...or.com>,
	"mingo@...hat.com" <mingo@...hat.com>,
	"linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org" <linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org>,
	"tglx@...utronix.de" <tglx@...utronix.de>,
	"pbonzini@...hat.com" <pbonzini@...hat.com>,
	"kvm@...r.kernel.org" <kvm@...r.kernel.org>,
	"x86@...nel.org" <x86@...nel.org>
Subject: Re: [PATCH next V2] KVM: VMX: use __always_inline for is_td_vcpu and
 is_td

On Tue, May 27, 2025 at 12:34:07PM +0000, Huang, Kai wrote:
> On Tue, 2025-05-27 at 13:07 +0200, Peter Zijlstra wrote:
> > On Tue, May 27, 2025 at 04:44:37PM +0800, Edward Adam Davis wrote:
> > > is_td() and is_td_vcpu() run in no instrumentation, so use __always_inline
> > > to replace inline.
> > > 
> > > [1]
> > > vmlinux.o: error: objtool: vmx_handle_nmi+0x47:
> > >         call to is_td_vcpu.isra.0() leaves .noinstr.text section
> > > 
> > > Fixes: 7172c753c26a ("KVM: VMX: Move common fields of struct vcpu_{vmx,tdx} to a struct")
> > > Signed-off-by: Edward Adam Davis <eadavis@...com>
> > > ---
> > > V1 -> V2: using __always_inline to replace noinstr
> > > 
> > >  arch/x86/kvm/vmx/common.h | 4 ++--
> > >  1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> > > 
> > > diff --git a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/common.h b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/common.h
> > > index 8f46a06e2c44..a0c5e8781c33 100644
> > > --- a/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/common.h
> > > +++ b/arch/x86/kvm/vmx/common.h
> > > @@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ static __always_inline bool is_td_vcpu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
> > >  
> > >  #else
> > >  
> > > -static inline bool is_td(struct kvm *kvm) { return false; }
> > > -static inline bool is_td_vcpu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu) { return false; }
> > > +static __always_inline bool is_td(struct kvm *kvm) { return false; }
> > > +static __always_inline bool is_td_vcpu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu) { return false; }
> > >  
> > >  #endif
> > 
> > Right; this is the 'right' fix. Although the better fix would be for the
> > compiler to not be stupid :-)

FWIW, the thing that typically happens is that the compiler first
inserts instrumentation (think *SAN) into the trivial stub function and
then figures its too big to inline.

> Hi Peter,
> 
> Just out of curiosity, I have a related question.
> 
> I just learned there's a 'flatten' attribute ('__flatten' in linux kernel)
> supported by both gcc and clang.  IIUC it forces all function calls inside one
> function to be inlined if that function is annotated with this attribute.
> 
> However, it seems gcc and clang handles "recursive inlining" differently.  gcc
> seems supports recursive inlining with flatten, but clang seems not.
> 
> This is the gcc doc [1] says, which explicitly tells recursive inlining is
> supported IIUC:
> 
>   flatten
>   
>   Generally, inlining into a function is limited. For a function marked with 
>   this attribute, every call inside this function is inlined including the calls
>   such inlining introduces to the function (but not recursive calls to the 
>   function itself), if possible.
> 
> And this is the clang doc [2] says, which doesn't say about recursive inlining:
> 
>   flatten
> 
>   The flatten attribute causes calls within the attributed function to be 
>   inlined unless it is impossible to do so, for example if the body of the 
>   callee is unavailable or if the callee has the noinline attribute.
> 
> Also, one "AI Overview" provided by google also says below:
> 
>   Compiler Behavior:
>   While GCC supports recursive inlining with flatten, other compilers like  
>   Clang might only perform a single level of inlining.
> 
> Just wondering whether you can happen to confirm this?
> 
> That also being said, if the __flatten could always be "recursive inlining", it
> seems to me that __flatten would be a better annotation when we want some
> function to be noinstr.  But if it's behaviour is compiler dependent, it seems
> it's not a good idea to use it.
> 
> What's your opinion on this?

I am somewhat conflicted on this; using __flatten, while convenient,
would take away the immediate insight into what gets pulled in. Having
to explicitly mark functions with __always_inline is somewhat
inconvenient, but at least you don't pull in stuff by accident.