Shriram Rajagopalan
2011-Jun-07 03:30 UTC
[Xen-devel] libxl - API call to return sxpr of a domain?
I am looking into adding Remus support for libxl. The easiest way is to obtain the domain''s sxpr, so that the rest of Remus python code stays as is. Is there an api call in libxl to return a domain''s sxpr ? a grep on the libxl code base returned nothing. Or am I missing something pretty obvious? thanks shriram _______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
Ian Campbell
2011-Jun-07 09:02 UTC
Re: [Xen-devel] libxl - API call to return sxpr of a domain?
On Tue, 2011-06-07 at 04:30 +0100, Shriram Rajagopalan wrote:> I am looking into adding Remus support for libxl. The easiest way is > to obtain the domain''s sxpr, so that the rest of Remus python code > stays as is. > > Is there an api call in libxl to return a domain''s sxpr ? a grep on > the libxl code > base returned nothing. Or am I missing something pretty obvious?xl has some code to do this but libxl doesn''t. An sxpr representation of a domain is rather a xend specific concept which is the only reason xl has it. There are some plans to allow libxl to generate json for any of the IDL defined datastructures, mostly as a convenient pretty-printer but being machine parsable is a handy side-effect. Currently this would just be for individual datastructures though. Where/how does remus use sxp? tools/python/xen/remus/vm.py:domtosxpr() seems to consume a xend datastructure and make a Remus sxp out of it -- can an xl equivalent not be written using the python bindings? (NB bindings may be incomplete, we can fix up as you discover stuff). Are all usages of sxp in Remus of that particular sxp format or are there others? Are sxp''s baked into the Remus wire-protocol? Personally I think moving away from using SXPs internally towards using actual data structures would be a good idea... BTW, is tools/python/xen/remus part of xend or part of Remus? Or does it straddle the boundary? Ian. _______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
Shriram Rajagopalan
2011-Jun-07 15:30 UTC
Re: [Xen-devel] libxl - API call to return sxpr of a domain?
On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 5:02 AM, Ian Campbell <Ian.Campbell@citrix.com>wrote:> On Tue, 2011-06-07 at 04:30 +0100, Shriram Rajagopalan wrote: > > I am looking into adding Remus support for libxl. The easiest way is > > to obtain the domain''s sxpr, so that the rest of Remus python code > > stays as is. > > > > Is there an api call in libxl to return a domain''s sxpr ? a grep on > > the libxl code > > base returned nothing. Or am I missing something pretty obvious? > > xl has some code to do this but libxl doesn''t. An sxpr representation of > a domain is rather a xend specific concept which is the only reason xl > has it. >There are some plans to allow libxl to generate json for any of the IDL> defined datastructures, mostly as a convenient pretty-printer but being > machine parsable is a handy side-effect. Currently this would just be > for individual datastructures though. > > Where/how does remus use sxp? tools/python/xen/remus/vm.py:domtosxpr() > seems to consume a xend datastructure and make a Remus sxp out of it -- > can an xl equivalent not be written using the python bindings? (NB > bindings may be incomplete, we can fix up as you discover stuff). Are > all usages of sxp in Remus of that particular sxp format or are there > others? > >The only reason remus uses sxpr is because xend conveys info in that form. Basically, it only needs the vif device name (vif1.0, etc), the disk device name and the access format (tap/drbd) for proper operation. save.py:MigrationSocket - establish connection with remote machine''s xend daemon vm.VM(domid): get sxpr (dominfo) from xend via xml rpc call. save.py:Saver - image.makeheader(dominfo) - serialize the sxpr and send to remote machine. everything else in vm.py is to parse the sxpr to extract the vif and disk info. self.disks = getdisks(self.dom) self.vifs = getvifs(self.dom) Are sxp''s baked into the Remus wire-protocol? Remus wire-protocol is whatever protocol xend requires. The reason for bypassing the usual xend live migration code path is because of the callbacks, the checkpoint interval based suspend/resume, etc. Now that I know that xl/libxl doesnt use sxpr in its wire-protocol (dunce! :( ), the plan would have to be different. (a) Follow the same implementation style like that with xend (bypass xl''s live migration mechanism) - involves some code duplication probably for communicating with remote machine, in xl''s wire protocol. The advantage is most of remus'' python code (save.py, device.py, qdisc.py, code to install/parse IFB devices, tc rules, etc) stays as is. (b) integrate the remus control flow into xl/libxl stack - I dont know how much work that would be yet.> Personally I think moving > away from using SXPs internally towards using actual data structures > would be a good idea... > >> BTW, is tools/python/xen/remus part of xend or part of Remus? Or does it > straddle the boundary? > > part of Remus stack.> Ian. > > shriram_______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
Ian Campbell
2011-Jun-07 16:16 UTC
Re: [Xen-devel] libxl - API call to return sxpr of a domain?
On Tue, 2011-06-07 at 16:30 +0100, Shriram Rajagopalan wrote:> On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 5:02 AM, Ian Campbell <Ian.Campbell@citrix.com> > wrote: > > On Tue, 2011-06-07 at 04:30 +0100, Shriram Rajagopalan wrote: > > I am looking into adding Remus support for libxl. The > easiest way is > > to obtain the domain''s sxpr, so that the rest of Remus > python code > > stays as is. > > > > Is there an api call in libxl to return a domain''s sxpr ? a > grep on > > the libxl code > > base returned nothing. Or am I missing something pretty > obvious? > > > xl has some code to do this but libxl doesn''t. An sxpr > representation of > a domain is rather a xend specific concept which is the only > reason xl > has it. > There are some plans to allow libxl to generate json for any > of the IDL > defined datastructures, mostly as a convenient pretty-printer > but being > machine parsable is a handy side-effect. Currently this would > just be > for individual datastructures though. > > Where/how does remus use sxp? > tools/python/xen/remus/vm.py:domtosxpr() > seems to consume a xend datastructure and make a Remus sxp out > of it -- > can an xl equivalent not be written using the python bindings? > (NB > bindings may be incomplete, we can fix up as you discover > stuff). Are > all usages of sxp in Remus of that particular sxp format or > are there > others? > > > The only reason remus uses sxpr is because xend conveys info in that > form. Basically, it only needs the vif device name (vif1.0, etc), the > disk device name and the access format (tap/drbd) for proper > operation.ok, this stuff should be available to xl/libxl (as appropriate) pretty easily. [...]> The reason for bypassing the usual xend live migration code path is > because of the callbacks, the checkpoint interval based > suspend/resume, etc. Now that I know that xl/libxl doesnt use sxpr in > its wire-protocol (dunce! :( ), the plan would have to be different. > > (a) Follow the same implementation style like that with xend (bypass > xl''s live migration mechanism) - involves some code duplication > probably for communicating with remote machine, in xl''s wire protocol. > The advantage is most of remus'' python code (save.py, device.py, > qdisc.py, code to install/parse IFB devices, tc rules, etc) stays as > is. > > (b) integrate the remus control flow into xl/libxl stack - I dont know > how much work that would be yet.I don''t know enough about the needs etc of Remus to make much in the way of concrete proposals but in general plan b is the sort of thing we would prefer since all toolstacks can then benefit (at least to some extent). Certainly I would prefer to see libxl functions which provide the necessary interfaces (likely sharing common code within the library) etc to duplication of the code. Perhaps you could quickly explain the Remus architecture within the xend world, which might help us to advise. e.g. How are things different on the tx and rx sides with and without Remus? What additional callbacks and control flow are there etc? Do I gather correctly that the thing on the receiving end is not xend but rather a Remus process? Ian. _______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
Shriram Rajagopalan
2011-Jun-08 15:55 UTC
Re: [Xen-devel] libxl - API call to return sxpr of a domain?
On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 12:16 PM, Ian Campbell <Ian.Campbell@eu.citrix.com>wrote:> On Tue, 2011-06-07 at 16:30 +0100, Shriram Rajagopalan wrote: > > On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 5:02 AM, Ian Campbell <Ian.Campbell@citrix.com> > > wrote: > > > > On Tue, 2011-06-07 at 04:30 +0100, Shriram Rajagopalan wrote: > > > I am looking into adding Remus support for libxl. The > > easiest way is > > > to obtain the domain''s sxpr, so that the rest of Remus > > python code > > > stays as is. > > > > > > Is there an api call in libxl to return a domain''s sxpr ? a > > grep on > > > the libxl code > > > base returned nothing. Or am I missing something pretty > > obvious? > > > > > > xl has some code to do this but libxl doesn''t. An sxpr > > representation of > > a domain is rather a xend specific concept which is the only > > reason xl > > has it. > > There are some plans to allow libxl to generate json for any > > of the IDL > > defined datastructures, mostly as a convenient pretty-printer > > but being > > machine parsable is a handy side-effect. Currently this would > > just be > > for individual datastructures though. > > > > Where/how does remus use sxp? > > tools/python/xen/remus/vm.py:domtosxpr() > > seems to consume a xend datastructure and make a Remus sxp out > > of it -- > > can an xl equivalent not be written using the python bindings? > > (NB > > bindings may be incomplete, we can fix up as you discover > > stuff). Are > > all usages of sxp in Remus of that particular sxp format or > > are there > > others? > > > > > > The only reason remus uses sxpr is because xend conveys info in that > > form. Basically, it only needs the vif device name (vif1.0, etc), the > > disk device name and the access format (tap/drbd) for proper > > operation. > > ok, this stuff should be available to xl/libxl (as appropriate) pretty > easily. > > [...] > > The reason for bypassing the usual xend live migration code path is > > because of the callbacks, the checkpoint interval based > > suspend/resume, etc. Now that I know that xl/libxl doesnt use sxpr in > > its wire-protocol (dunce! :( ), the plan would have to be different. > > > > (a) Follow the same implementation style like that with xend (bypass > > xl''s live migration mechanism) - involves some code duplication > > probably for communicating with remote machine, in xl''s wire protocol. > > The advantage is most of remus'' python code (save.py, device.py, > > qdisc.py, code to install/parse IFB devices, tc rules, etc) stays as > > is. > > > > (b) integrate the remus control flow into xl/libxl stack - I dont know > > how much work that would be yet. > > I don''t know enough about the needs etc of Remus to make much in the way > of concrete proposals but in general plan b is the sort of thing we > would prefer since all toolstacks can then benefit (at least to some > extent). > > Certainly I would prefer to see libxl functions which provide the > necessary interfaces (likely sharing common code within the library) etc > to duplication of the code. > > Perhaps you could quickly explain the Remus architecture within the xend > world, which might help us to advise. e.g. How are things different on > the tx and rx sides with and without Remus? What additional callbacks > and control flow are there etc? > > Do I gather correctly that the thing on the receiving end is not xend > but rather a Remus process? > > On the receiving end, there is "no" Remus receiver process.Well, there are some remus related patches, that have long been integrated into xc_domain_restore, but apart from that, everything else is as-is. The only remus specific part on rx side, is the blktap2 userspace driver (block-remus), which again gets activated by usual Xend control flow (as it tries to create a tap device). But I dont think this needs special treatment as long as xl can parse/accept spec like tap:remus:backupHost:port|aio:/dev/foo (or tap2:remus:.. ). and launch the appropriate blktap2 backend driver (this system is already in place, afaik). The bulk of Remus transmission data is in libxc and hence is agnostic to both xend/xl. It basically prolongs the last iteration for eternity. It supplies a callback handler for checkpoint, which adds the "wait" time before the next suspend (e.g., suspend every 50ms). In case of Xend, the checkpoint handler is not supplied and hence the domain is suspended as soon as the previous iteration finishes. (a) On the sending side, without Remus, Xend control flow is as follows: xm migrate --live <domain> <host> (i) XendCheckpoint:save [which writes the signature record, sxp to the socket] and issues "xc_save <params>" (ii) xc_save calls xc_domain_save with appropriate callback handlers for suspend & switch_qemu_logdirty only. These handlers are in libxc/xcutils/xc_save.c. (iv) xc_domain_save: send dirty pages for max_iters if (last_iter) suspend_callback() send final set of dirty pages send tailbuf data The callback structure has two other handlers (postcopy aka postresume, checkpoint) that is used by Remus. ************************* (b) On sending side, with Remus remus <domain> <host> (i) tools/remus/remus: - calls tools/python/xen/remus/vm.py:VM(domid) - vm.py:VM issues xmlrpc call to Xend to obtain domid''s sxpr and extract out the disk/vif info. (ii) create the "buffers" for disk & vif. (iii) Connect with remote host''s Xend socket and send the sxp info. [same as (i) for non Remus case] (iv) tools/python/xen/remus/save.py:Saver uses libcheckpoint to initiate checkpointing. tools/python/xen/lowlevel/checkpoint: has suspend/resume handlers similar to xc_save.c trampoline functions to bounce the callbacks for suspend, postcopy and checkpoint to their python equivalents. tools/python/xen/lowlevel/checkpoint/libcheckpoint.c:checkpoint_start calls xc_domain_save with all needed callback handlers. ---> functionally equivalent to (ii) in non-Remus case. (v) xc_domain_save: (after the initial iterations) copypages: send dirty pages & tailbuf data postcopy_callback() [resumes domain] checkpoint_callback() netbuffer_checkpoint() [python - communicates via netlink to sch_plug] diskbuffer_checkpoint() [python - communicates via fifo to block-remus] sleep(50ms) [or whatever checkpoint interval] return suspend_callback() goto copypages Hope that explains the control flow. shriram> Ian. > >_______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
Ian Campbell
2011-Jun-09 11:34 UTC
Re: [Xen-devel] libxl - API call to return sxpr of a domain?
On Wed, 2011-06-08 at 16:55 +0100, Shriram Rajagopalan wrote:> On the receiving end, there is "no" Remus receiver process. > Well, there are some remus related patches, that have long been > integrated into xc_domain_restore, but apart from that, everything > else is as-is.OK.> The only remus specific part on rx side, is the blktap2 userspace > driver (block-remus), which again gets activated by usual Xend control > flow (as it tries to create a tap device). But I dont think this needs > special treatment as long as xl can parse/accept spec like > tap:remus:backupHost:port|aio:/dev/foo (or tap2:remus:.. ). > and launch the appropriate blktap2 backend driver (this system is > already in place, afaik).Hmm. Please see docs/misc/xl-disk-configuration.txt for the configuration syntax understood by xl. Also note that IanJ has a series outstanding which improves the syntax, including compat with xend syntaxes and makes it more extensible for the future. The series includes an updated version of the doc, you''d be better off reading the new version than what is currently in the tree. A pre-patched version is attached. It doesn''t currently support "remus:" and the "foo:" prefixes are in general deprecated. It looks like "remus:" will fall into the category of things which are supported via the script= directive. We''ve also grandfathered some "foo:" prefixes as shorthand for the script syntax (this is also how xend implemented them), so I think this will continue to work (assuming calling a script is how this works in xend, if not such a script might be needed). The "foo|bar" syntax is completely new to me (and I suspect anyone else not familiar with remus). How does it work? Is the full "backupHost:port|aio:/dev/foo" considered the argument to Remus (in which case I think it can work via the Remus script as above) or does xend somehow parse this into "remus:backupHost:port" and "aio:/dev/foo"? In the latter case I''ve no idea what to suggest! Have you considered making Remus a more top-level domain configuration option rather than disk specific? i.e. adding remus_backup = "..." to the cfg. This would allow libxl to do the right thing internally and setup the disks in the right way etc etc. Doing The Right thing is something we are striving towards with libxl, especially with disk config which is unnecessarily complex for users. e.g. it should not be necessary for a user to specifically ask for tap or phy etc, rather they should present the path to the thing and libxl should figure out if blkback or blktap is needed. For example if Remus were enabled then it should DTRT and always select blktap even if blkback is otherwise suitable.> The bulk of Remus transmission data is in libxc and hence is agnostic > to both xend/xl. It basically prolongs the last iteration for > eternity. It supplies a callback handler for checkpoint, which adds > the "wait" time before the next suspend (e.g., suspend every 50ms). In > case of Xend, the checkpoint handler is not supplied and hence the > domain is suspended as soon as the previous iteration finishes.I think exposing such a callback is within the scope of the libxl API. For example libxl_domain_checkpoint(...., callback) and libxl_domain_suspend(...) can probably backend onto the same internal function. Another option to the callbacks might be to integrate with the libxl event handling mechanism. Note that IanJ wants to overhall this from its current state. I''m less sure whether this would make sense.> > (a) On the sending side, without Remus, Xend control flow is as > follows:[...] looks mostly the same as xl, except xl does all the xc_domain_save stuff in process rather than indirecting via an external binary. Also xl has to take care of starting a receiver process on the other end and has a bit more of a protocol interlock surrounding the actual migration to try and ensure the other end really is ready and hasn''t failed etc.> The callback structure has two other handlers (postcopy aka > postresume, checkpoint) that > is used by Remus. > ************************* > (b) On sending side, with Remus > remus <domain> <host>I suppose here there is a choice between adding libxl/xl support to this remus binary or implementing "xl remus <domain> <host>".> (i) tools/remus/remus: > - calls tools/python/xen/remus/vm.py:VM(domid) > - vm.py:VM issues xmlrpc call to Xend to obtain domid''s > sxpr and extract out the disk/vif info.Could be done via the libxl python bindings in the xl case?> (ii) create the "buffers" for disk & vif.Stays the same, I guess, if you stick with the remus tool.> (iii) Connect with remote host''s Xend socket and send the sxp > info. [same as (i) for non Remus case]Hrm, this would involve duplicating a bunch of xl functionality to start the receiver, and run the xl protocol etc. That rather suggests that at least this bit should be in xl itself rather than remus. This needn''t necessarily involve putting everything in xl, but just forking xl for this bit.> (iv) tools/python/xen/remus/save.py:Saver uses libcheckpoint > to initiate checkpointing. > tools/python/xen/lowlevel/checkpoint: has > suspend/resume handlers similar to xc_save.c > trampoline functions to bounce the callbacks for > suspend, postcopy and checkpoint to their > python equivalents.I think either handling these inside libxl or bouncing them to the caller (depending on the nature of the callback) would be reasonable.> > > tools/python/xen/lowlevel/checkpoint/libcheckpoint.c:checkpoint_start > calls xc_domain_save with > all needed callback handlers. > ---> functionally equivalent to (ii) in non-Remus > case. > (v) xc_domain_save: (after the initial iterations) > copypages: > send dirty pages & tailbuf data > postcopy_callback() [resumes domain] > checkpoint_callback() > netbuffer_checkpoint() [python - communicates via > netlink to sch_plug] > diskbuffer_checkpoint() [python - communicates via > fifo to block-remus] > sleep(50ms) [or whatever checkpoint interval] > return > suspend_callback() > goto copypages > > Hope that explains the control flow.I think so. Thanks. Hopefully some of the suggestions even make sense and demonstrate my new understanding ;-)> > shriram > > Ian. > >_______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
Shriram Rajagopalan
2011-Jun-09 23:59 UTC
Re: [Xen-devel] libxl - API call to return sxpr of a domain?
On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 7:34 AM, Ian Campbell <Ian.Campbell@eu.citrix.com>wrote:> On Wed, 2011-06-08 at 16:55 +0100, Shriram Rajagopalan wrote: > > > On the receiving end, there is "no" Remus receiver process. > > Well, there are some remus related patches, that have long been > > integrated into xc_domain_restore, but apart from that, everything > > else is as-is. > > OK. > > > The only remus specific part on rx side, is the blktap2 userspace > > driver (block-remus), which again gets activated by usual Xend control > > flow (as it tries to create a tap device). But I dont think this needs > > special treatment as long as xl can parse/accept spec like > > tap:remus:backupHost:port|aio:/dev/foo (or tap2:remus:.. ). > > and launch the appropriate blktap2 backend driver (this system is > > already in place, afaik). > > Hmm. Please see docs/misc/xl-disk-configuration.txt for the > configuration syntax understood by xl. Also note that IanJ has a series > outstanding which improves the syntax, including compat with xend > syntaxes and makes it more extensible for the future. The series > includes an updated version of the doc, you''d be better off reading the > new version than what is currently in the tree. A pre-patched version is > attached. > > It doesn''t currently support "remus:" and the "foo:" prefixes are in > general deprecated. It looks like "remus:" will fall into the category > of things which are supported via the script= directive. We''ve also > grandfathered some "foo:" prefixes as shorthand for the script syntax > (this is also how xend implemented them), so I think this will continue > to work (assuming calling a script is how this works in xend, if not > such a script might be needed). > > The "foo|bar" syntax is completely new to me (and I suspect anyone else > not familiar with remus). How does it work? Is the full > "backupHost:port|aio:/dev/foo" considered the argument to Remus (in > which case I think it can work via the Remus script as above) or does > xend somehow parse this into "remus:backupHost:port" and "aio:/dev/foo"? > In the latter case I''ve no idea what to suggest! > > I dont think the script= directive is going to work (or evennecessary). The entire "foo|bar" part is handled by the blktap2 code base. IOW, if the disk spec is tap:remus:host:port|aio:/dev/abc, then xl invokes the blktap2 code and passes remus:host:port|aio:/dev/abc , which gets parsed and both remus and aio drivers are created (remus driver on top of aio). Have you considered making Remus a more top-level domain configuration> option rather than disk specific? i.e. adding remus_backup = "..." to > the cfg. This would allow libxl to do the right thing internally and > setup the disks in the right way etc etc. > > Yes I have, several times. Wading through xend code was not so much fun :(.With xl, as long as it can construct the "remus:host:port|aio:/dev/abc" arg and pass it to the blktap2 code, things should be fine. With a DRBD based backend, nothing of this sort is required. Xend automatically invokes the block-drbd script, which does the rest. If xl does the same, then things should be fine.> Doing The Right thing is something we are striving towards with libxl, > especially with disk config which is unnecessarily complex for users. > > e.g. it should not be necessary for a user to specifically ask for tap > or phy etc, rather they should present the path to the thing and libxl > should figure out if blkback or blktap is needed. For example if Remus > were enabled then it should DTRT and always select blktap even if > blkback is otherwise suitable.> The bulk of Remus transmission data is in libxc and hence is agnostic > > to both xend/xl. It basically prolongs the last iteration for > > eternity. It supplies a callback handler for checkpoint, which adds > > the "wait" time before the next suspend (e.g., suspend every 50ms). In > > case of Xend, the checkpoint handler is not supplied and hence the > > domain is suspended as soon as the previous iteration finishes. > > I think exposing such a callback is within the scope of the libxl API. > For example libxl_domain_checkpoint(...., callback) and > libxl_domain_suspend(...) can probably backend onto the same internal > function. > > Another option to the callbacks might be to integrate with the libxl > event handling mechanism. Note that IanJ wants to overhall this from its > current state. I''m less sure whether this would make sense. > > > > > (a) On the sending side, without Remus, Xend control flow is as > > follows: > [...] > > looks mostly the same as xl, except xl does all the xc_domain_save stuff > in process rather than indirecting via an external binary.Do you mean that xl does all the xend stuff ? Because xl still calls xc_domain_save in libxl_dom.c:libxl__domain_suspend_common> Also xl has > to take care of starting a receiver process on the other end and has a > bit more of a protocol interlock surrounding the actual migration to try > and ensure the other end really is ready and hasn''t failed etc. > > > The callback structure has two other handlers (postcopy aka > > postresume, checkpoint) that > > is used by Remus. > > ************************* > > (b) On sending side, with Remus > > remus <domain> <host> > > I suppose here there is a choice between adding libxl/xl support to this > remus binary or implementing "xl remus <domain> <host>". > > The latter is what I wanted to do.> > (i) tools/remus/remus: > > - calls tools/python/xen/remus/vm.py:VM(domid) > > - vm.py:VM issues xmlrpc call to Xend to obtain domid''s > > sxpr and extract out the disk/vif info. > > Could be done via the libxl python bindings in the xl case? > > yep> > (ii) create the "buffers" for disk & vif. > > Stays the same, I guess, if you stick with the remus tool. > > > (iii) Connect with remote host''s Xend socket and send the sxp > > info. [same as (i) for non Remus case] > > Hrm, this would involve duplicating a bunch of xl functionality to start > the receiver, and run the xl protocol etc. > > That rather suggests that at least this bit should be in xl itself > rather than remus. This needn''t necessarily involve putting everything > in xl, but just forking xl for this bit. > > > (iv) tools/python/xen/remus/save.py:Saver uses libcheckpoint > > to initiate checkpointing. > > tools/python/xen/lowlevel/checkpoint: has > > suspend/resume handlers similar to xc_save.c > > trampoline functions to bounce the callbacks for > > suspend, postcopy and checkpoint to their > > python equivalents. > > I think either handling these inside libxl or bouncing them to the > caller (depending on the nature of the callback) would be reasonable. > > > > > > > tools/python/xen/lowlevel/checkpoint/libcheckpoint.c:checkpoint_start > > calls xc_domain_save with > > all needed callback handlers. > > ---> functionally equivalent to (ii) in non-Remus > > case. > > (v) xc_domain_save: (after the initial iterations) > > copypages: > > send dirty pages & tailbuf data > > postcopy_callback() [resumes domain] > > checkpoint_callback() > > netbuffer_checkpoint() [python - communicates via > > netlink to sch_plug] > > diskbuffer_checkpoint() [python - communicates via > > fifo to block-remus] > > sleep(50ms) [or whatever checkpoint interval] > > return > > suspend_callback() > > goto copypages > > > > Hope that explains the control flow. > > I think so. Thanks. > > Hopefully some of the suggestions even make sense and demonstrate my new > understanding ;-) > > > > > shriram > > > > Ian. > > > > > > shriram_______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
Ian Campbell
2011-Jun-10 06:27 UTC
Re: [Xen-devel] libxl - API call to return sxpr of a domain?
(FYI, I''m about to disappear for a long weekend, back on Tuesday) On Fri, 2011-06-10 at 00:59 +0100, Shriram Rajagopalan wrote:> On Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 7:34 AM, Ian Campbell > <Ian.Campbell@eu.citrix.com> wrote:> The "foo|bar" syntax is completely new to me (and I suspect > anyone else not familiar with remus). How does it work? Is the > full "backupHost:port|aio:/dev/foo" considered the argument to > Remus (in which case I think it can work via the Remus script > as above) or does xend somehow parse this into > "remus:backupHost:port" and "aio:/dev/foo"? > In the latter case I''ve no idea what to suggest! > > I dont think the script= directive is going to work (or even > necessary). The entire "foo|bar" part is handled by the blktap2 code > base. IOW, if the disk spec is tap:remus:host:port|aio:/dev/abc, then > xl invokes the blktap2 code and passes remus:host:port|aio:/dev/abc , > which gets parsed and both remus and aio drivers are created (remus > driver on top of aio).OK, so in the terminology of xl-disk-configuration.txt "remus:host:port| aio:/dev/abc" is the "target" and could potentially be handled internally when libxl creates a blktap backend. You mention below that block-drdb works so I very much expect that block-remus would work too, even if ultimately it was just a thin wrapper around tapctl etc. In that case I think the target would end up just being "host:port|aio:/dev/abc" because the remus: would be a shortcut for script=remus.> Have you considered making Remus a more top-level domain > configuration option rather than disk specific? i.e. adding > remus_backup = "..." to the cfg. This would allow libxl to do > the right thing internally and setup the disks in the right > way etc etc.> > Yes I have, several times. Wading through xend code was not so much > fun :(.Yeah, I didn''t mean for xend...> With xl, as long as it can construct the "remus:host:port| > aio:/dev/abc" arg and pass it to the blktap2 code, things should be > fine. > With a DRBD based backend, nothing of this sort is required. Xend > automatically invokes the block-drbd script, which does the rest. If > xl does the same, then things should be fine.[...]> looks mostly the same as xl, except xl does all the > xc_domain_save stuff > in process rather than indirecting via an external binary. > Do you mean that xl does all the xend stuff ? Because xl still calls > xc_domain_save > in libxl_dom.c:libxl__domain_suspend_commonWhat I meant was that in xend the xc_domain_save happens in a separate helper process (xc_save) while in xl the xc_domain_save happens in the original xl process itself (via libxl which calls libxc). libxl uses libxc to do the low level stuff, like make hypercalls and do migrations etc. Users of libxl (e.g. xl) don''t get to see libxc though, it is abstracted away. Ian. _______________________________________________ Xen-devel mailing list Xen-devel@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel