[libvirt PATCH] qemu_firmware: don't error out for unknown firmware features

Pavel Hrdina posted 1 patch 2 years, 11 months ago
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git fetch https://github.com/patchew-project/libvirt tags/patchew/0537120d36cec911d65d50392425af4f4387bcff.1620652543.git.phrdina@redhat.com
src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c | 12 ++++++------
1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
[libvirt PATCH] qemu_firmware: don't error out for unknown firmware features
Posted by Pavel Hrdina 2 years, 11 months ago
When QEMU introduces new firmware features libvirt will fail until we
list that feature in our code as well which doesn't sound right.

We should simply ignore the new feature until we add a proper support
for it.

Reported-by: Laszlo Ersek <lersek@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Pavel Hrdina <phrdina@redhat.com>
---
 src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c | 12 ++++++------
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c b/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
index 94e88ebe4b..e37a7edefa 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
@@ -567,6 +567,7 @@ qemuFirmwareFeatureParse(const char *path,
     virJSONValue *featuresJSON;
     g_autoptr(qemuFirmwareFeature) features = NULL;
     size_t nfeatures;
+    size_t nparsed = 0;
     size_t i;
 
     if (!(featuresJSON = virJSONValueObjectGetArray(doc, "features"))) {
@@ -586,17 +587,16 @@ qemuFirmwareFeatureParse(const char *path,
         int tmp;
 
         if ((tmp = qemuFirmwareFeatureTypeFromString(tmpStr)) <= 0) {
-            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-                           _("unknown feature %s"),
-                           tmpStr);
-            return -1;
+            VIR_DEBUG("unknown feature %s", tmpStr);
+            continue;
         }
 
-        features[i] = tmp;
+        features[nparsed] = tmp;
+        nparsed++;
     }
 
     fw->features = g_steal_pointer(&features);
-    fw->nfeatures = nfeatures;
+    fw->nfeatures = nparsed;
     return 0;
 }
 
-- 
2.30.2

Re: [libvirt PATCH] qemu_firmware: don't error out for unknown firmware features
Posted by Daniel P. Berrangé 2 years, 2 months ago
On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 03:16:11PM +0200, Pavel Hrdina wrote:
> When QEMU introduces new firmware features libvirt will fail until we
> list that feature in our code as well which doesn't sound right.
> 
> We should simply ignore the new feature until we add a proper support
> for it.
> 
> Reported-by: Laszlo Ersek <lersek@redhat.com>
> Signed-off-by: Pavel Hrdina <phrdina@redhat.com>
> ---
>  src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c | 12 ++++++------
>  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

Re-visiting this patch....

During guest startup, libvirt parses all firmware descriptors and
treats any errors during parsing as fatal.

The problem we were fixing here was that on the QEMU / EDK2 side a
new firmware feature called 'amd-sev-es' was added which libvirt
didn't know about, so all libvirt guests using <os firmware='efi'/>
broke when a distro shipped a descriptor.

We semi-future proofed ourselves by ignoring unknown features
hereafter.

I'm now coming to introduce a new feature in the firmware descriptors
to allow for OVMF builds which have a read-only CODE and *NOT* VARs
file at all.

Currently the firmware descriptor treats nvram path as mandatory
and libvirt validates that.

IOW, as soon as I make the nvram path optional and some distro
ships a firmware descriptor taking advantage of that, libvirt again
breaks for all guests using <os firmware='efi'/>.  I've thought about
various different ways to handle this but can't figure out any way
to support an VARs-free firmware descriptor in a way that's backwards
compatible with libvirt's current parsing code.

This is my current qemu patch:

  https://listman.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2022-January/msg01316.html

We weren't future proofed enough.

It is nice reporting errors when parsing firmware descriptors because
it highlights real world mistakes.

It is bad reporting errors when parsing firmware descriptors because
it introduces potential for bogus failure scenarios any time the spec
is extended.


If we quit reporting errors and simply log a warning and ignore the
firmware descriptor we couldn't parse entirely, then we are more
robust if a completely new firmware descriptor is introduced - we
can still parse existing firmware descriptor files and probably
do something sensible.

On the flipside, if an existing firmware descriptor is modified and
we ignore it due to some unexpected data being present, we cause
a regression.

I feel like we're in a bit of a no-win situation here wrt error
reporting and future proofing.

My gut feeling is that we have little choice but to rely on the OS
distro not to introduce firmware descriptors with fields that
libvirt is too old to support, except in limited scenarios like
the features enum case below where we can reasonably ignore a
very specific error.

Anyone have other ideas ?

> 
> diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c b/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
> index 94e88ebe4b..e37a7edefa 100644
> --- a/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
> +++ b/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
> @@ -567,6 +567,7 @@ qemuFirmwareFeatureParse(const char *path,
>      virJSONValue *featuresJSON;
>      g_autoptr(qemuFirmwareFeature) features = NULL;
>      size_t nfeatures;
> +    size_t nparsed = 0;
>      size_t i;
>  
>      if (!(featuresJSON = virJSONValueObjectGetArray(doc, "features"))) {
> @@ -586,17 +587,16 @@ qemuFirmwareFeatureParse(const char *path,
>          int tmp;
>  
>          if ((tmp = qemuFirmwareFeatureTypeFromString(tmpStr)) <= 0) {
> -            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
> -                           _("unknown feature %s"),
> -                           tmpStr);
> -            return -1;
> +            VIR_DEBUG("unknown feature %s", tmpStr);
> +            continue;
>          }
>  
> -        features[i] = tmp;
> +        features[nparsed] = tmp;
> +        nparsed++;
>      }
>  
>      fw->features = g_steal_pointer(&features);
> -    fw->nfeatures = nfeatures;
> +    fw->nfeatures = nparsed;
>      return 0;
>  }
>  
> -- 
> 2.30.2
> 

Regards,
Daniel
-- 
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Re: [libvirt PATCH] qemu_firmware: don't error out for unknown firmware features
Posted by Michal Prívozník 2 years, 2 months ago
On 1/31/22 14:18, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:
> On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 03:16:11PM +0200, Pavel Hrdina wrote:
>> When QEMU introduces new firmware features libvirt will fail until we
>> list that feature in our code as well which doesn't sound right.
>>
>> We should simply ignore the new feature until we add a proper support
>> for it.
>>
>> Reported-by: Laszlo Ersek <lersek@redhat.com>
>> Signed-off-by: Pavel Hrdina <phrdina@redhat.com>
>> ---
>>  src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c | 12 ++++++------
>>  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
> 
> Re-visiting this patch....
> 
> During guest startup, libvirt parses all firmware descriptors and
> treats any errors during parsing as fatal.
> 
> The problem we were fixing here was that on the QEMU / EDK2 side a
> new firmware feature called 'amd-sev-es' was added which libvirt
> didn't know about, so all libvirt guests using <os firmware='efi'/>
> broke when a distro shipped a descriptor.
> 
> We semi-future proofed ourselves by ignoring unknown features
> hereafter.
> 
> I'm now coming to introduce a new feature in the firmware descriptors
> to allow for OVMF builds which have a read-only CODE and *NOT* VARs
> file at all.
> 
> Currently the firmware descriptor treats nvram path as mandatory
> and libvirt validates that.
> 
> IOW, as soon as I make the nvram path optional and some distro
> ships a firmware descriptor taking advantage of that, libvirt again
> breaks for all guests using <os firmware='efi'/>.  I've thought about
> various different ways to handle this but can't figure out any way
> to support an VARs-free firmware descriptor in a way that's backwards
> compatible with libvirt's current parsing code.
> 
> This is my current qemu patch:
> 
>   https://listman.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2022-January/msg01316.html
> 
> We weren't future proofed enough.
> 
> It is nice reporting errors when parsing firmware descriptors because
> it highlights real world mistakes.
> 
> It is bad reporting errors when parsing firmware descriptors because
> it introduces potential for bogus failure scenarios any time the spec
> is extended.
> 
> 
> If we quit reporting errors and simply log a warning and ignore the
> firmware descriptor we couldn't parse entirely, then we are more
> robust if a completely new firmware descriptor is introduced - we
> can still parse existing firmware descriptor files and probably
> do something sensible.
> 
> On the flipside, if an existing firmware descriptor is modified and
> we ignore it due to some unexpected data being present, we cause
> a regression.
> 
> I feel like we're in a bit of a no-win situation here wrt error
> reporting and future proofing.
> 
> My gut feeling is that we have little choice but to rely on the OS
> distro not to introduce firmware descriptors with fields that
> libvirt is too old to support, except in limited scenarios like
> the features enum case below where we can reasonably ignore a
> very specific error.
> 
> Anyone have other ideas ?

I think it's sane requirement for distros to ship FW descriptors that
libvirt understands. Or backport patches for libvirt. One way or
another, if a mgmt app would want to use SEV it would need bleeding edge
libvirt anyway. And we can use those number prefixes to make new
firmware files de-prioritized so that users who don't care are not
affected.

Michal

Re: [libvirt PATCH] qemu_firmware: don't error out for unknown firmware features
Posted by Daniel P. Berrangé 2 years, 2 months ago
On Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 03:19:46PM +0100, Michal Prívozník wrote:
> On 1/31/22 14:18, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:
> > On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 03:16:11PM +0200, Pavel Hrdina wrote:
> >> When QEMU introduces new firmware features libvirt will fail until we
> >> list that feature in our code as well which doesn't sound right.
> >>
> >> We should simply ignore the new feature until we add a proper support
> >> for it.
> >>
> >> Reported-by: Laszlo Ersek <lersek@redhat.com>
> >> Signed-off-by: Pavel Hrdina <phrdina@redhat.com>
> >> ---
> >>  src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c | 12 ++++++------
> >>  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
> > 
> > Re-visiting this patch....
> > 
> > During guest startup, libvirt parses all firmware descriptors and
> > treats any errors during parsing as fatal.
> > 
> > The problem we were fixing here was that on the QEMU / EDK2 side a
> > new firmware feature called 'amd-sev-es' was added which libvirt
> > didn't know about, so all libvirt guests using <os firmware='efi'/>
> > broke when a distro shipped a descriptor.
> > 
> > We semi-future proofed ourselves by ignoring unknown features
> > hereafter.
> > 
> > I'm now coming to introduce a new feature in the firmware descriptors
> > to allow for OVMF builds which have a read-only CODE and *NOT* VARs
> > file at all.
> > 
> > Currently the firmware descriptor treats nvram path as mandatory
> > and libvirt validates that.
> > 
> > IOW, as soon as I make the nvram path optional and some distro
> > ships a firmware descriptor taking advantage of that, libvirt again
> > breaks for all guests using <os firmware='efi'/>.  I've thought about
> > various different ways to handle this but can't figure out any way
> > to support an VARs-free firmware descriptor in a way that's backwards
> > compatible with libvirt's current parsing code.
> > 
> > This is my current qemu patch:
> > 
> >   https://listman.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2022-January/msg01316.html
> > 
> > We weren't future proofed enough.
> > 
> > It is nice reporting errors when parsing firmware descriptors because
> > it highlights real world mistakes.
> > 
> > It is bad reporting errors when parsing firmware descriptors because
> > it introduces potential for bogus failure scenarios any time the spec
> > is extended.
> > 
> > 
> > If we quit reporting errors and simply log a warning and ignore the
> > firmware descriptor we couldn't parse entirely, then we are more
> > robust if a completely new firmware descriptor is introduced - we
> > can still parse existing firmware descriptor files and probably
> > do something sensible.
> > 
> > On the flipside, if an existing firmware descriptor is modified and
> > we ignore it due to some unexpected data being present, we cause
> > a regression.
> > 
> > I feel like we're in a bit of a no-win situation here wrt error
> > reporting and future proofing.
> > 
> > My gut feeling is that we have little choice but to rely on the OS
> > distro not to introduce firmware descriptors with fields that
> > libvirt is too old to support, except in limited scenarios like
> > the features enum case below where we can reasonably ignore a
> > very specific error.
> > 
> > Anyone have other ideas ?
> 
> I think it's sane requirement for distros to ship FW descriptors that
> libvirt understands. Or backport patches for libvirt. One way or
> another, if a mgmt app would want to use SEV it would need bleeding edge
> libvirt anyway. And we can use those number prefixes to make new
> firmware files de-prioritized so that users who don't care are not
> affected.

Oh, I hadn't checked how number prioritization affects it. So you're
saying that we stop parsing the firmware file as soon as we find a
valid match. That does indeed limit the impact of the change.


Regards,
Daniel
-- 
|: https://berrange.com      -o-    https://www.flickr.com/photos/dberrange :|
|: https://libvirt.org         -o-            https://fstop138.berrange.com :|
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Re: [libvirt PATCH] qemu_firmware: don't error out for unknown firmware features
Posted by Michal Prívozník 2 years, 2 months ago
On 1/31/22 15:38, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:

> 
> Oh, I hadn't checked how number prioritization affects it. So you're
> saying that we stop parsing the firmware file as soon as we find a
> valid match. That does indeed limit the impact of the change.

Ah, my memory is failing me. We don't do that. Sorry for the noise. But
changing the code to do that should be easy enough.

Michal

Re: [libvirt PATCH] qemu_firmware: don't error out for unknown firmware features
Posted by Pavel Hrdina 2 years, 2 months ago
On Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 03:45:18PM +0100, Michal Prívozník wrote:
> On 1/31/22 15:38, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:
> 
> > 
> > Oh, I hadn't checked how number prioritization affects it. So you're
> > saying that we stop parsing the firmware file as soon as we find a
> > valid match. That does indeed limit the impact of the change.
> 
> Ah, my memory is failing me. We don't do that. Sorry for the noise. But
> changing the code to do that should be easy enough.

I was just checking that but we do parse all files.

Anyway I was wondering that we could modify the code to make the
`nvram-template` mandatory base on the firmware mode or if there is no
firmware mode specified.

That way we would keep the current behavior for old firmware descriptors
where no firmware mode exists and with the new mode we could do the
right thing. Unless I'm missing someting.

Pavel
Re: [libvirt PATCH] qemu_firmware: don't error out for unknown firmware features
Posted by Daniel P. Berrangé 2 years, 11 months ago
On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 03:16:11PM +0200, Pavel Hrdina wrote:
> When QEMU introduces new firmware features libvirt will fail until we
> list that feature in our code as well which doesn't sound right.
> 
> We should simply ignore the new feature until we add a proper support
> for it.
> 
> Reported-by: Laszlo Ersek <lersek@redhat.com>
> Signed-off-by: Pavel Hrdina <phrdina@redhat.com>
> ---
>  src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c | 12 ++++++------
>  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c b/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
> index 94e88ebe4b..e37a7edefa 100644
> --- a/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
> +++ b/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
> @@ -567,6 +567,7 @@ qemuFirmwareFeatureParse(const char *path,
>      virJSONValue *featuresJSON;
>      g_autoptr(qemuFirmwareFeature) features = NULL;
>      size_t nfeatures;
> +    size_t nparsed = 0;
>      size_t i;
>  
>      if (!(featuresJSON = virJSONValueObjectGetArray(doc, "features"))) {
> @@ -586,17 +587,16 @@ qemuFirmwareFeatureParse(const char *path,
>          int tmp;
>  
>          if ((tmp = qemuFirmwareFeatureTypeFromString(tmpStr)) <= 0) {
> -            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
> -                           _("unknown feature %s"),
> -                           tmpStr);
> -            return -1;
> +            VIR_DEBUG("unknown feature %s", tmpStr)

I'd suggest "ignoring unknown QEMU firmware feature '%s'"

> +            continue;
>          }
>  
> -        features[i] = tmp;
> +        features[nparsed] = tmp;
> +        nparsed++;
>      }
>  
>      fw->features = g_steal_pointer(&features);
> -    fw->nfeatures = nfeatures;
> +    fw->nfeatures = nparsed;
>      return 0;
>  }

Reviewed-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>

Regards,
Daniel
-- 
|: https://berrange.com      -o-    https://www.flickr.com/photos/dberrange :|
|: https://libvirt.org         -o-            https://fstop138.berrange.com :|
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Re: [libvirt PATCH] qemu_firmware: don't error out for unknown firmware features
Posted by Pavel Hrdina 2 years, 11 months ago
On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 02:24:49PM +0100, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:
> On Mon, May 10, 2021 at 03:16:11PM +0200, Pavel Hrdina wrote:
> > When QEMU introduces new firmware features libvirt will fail until we
> > list that feature in our code as well which doesn't sound right.
> > 
> > We should simply ignore the new feature until we add a proper support
> > for it.
> > 
> > Reported-by: Laszlo Ersek <lersek@redhat.com>
> > Signed-off-by: Pavel Hrdina <phrdina@redhat.com>
> > ---
> >  src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c | 12 ++++++------
> >  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
> > 
> > diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c b/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
> > index 94e88ebe4b..e37a7edefa 100644
> > --- a/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
> > +++ b/src/qemu/qemu_firmware.c
> > @@ -567,6 +567,7 @@ qemuFirmwareFeatureParse(const char *path,
> >      virJSONValue *featuresJSON;
> >      g_autoptr(qemuFirmwareFeature) features = NULL;
> >      size_t nfeatures;
> > +    size_t nparsed = 0;
> >      size_t i;
> >  
> >      if (!(featuresJSON = virJSONValueObjectGetArray(doc, "features"))) {
> > @@ -586,17 +587,16 @@ qemuFirmwareFeatureParse(const char *path,
> >          int tmp;
> >  
> >          if ((tmp = qemuFirmwareFeatureTypeFromString(tmpStr)) <= 0) {
> > -            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR,
> > -                           _("unknown feature %s"),
> > -                           tmpStr);
> > -            return -1;
> > +            VIR_DEBUG("unknown feature %s", tmpStr)
> 
> I'd suggest "ignoring unknown QEMU firmware feature '%s'"

That's better, thanks, I'll change it before pushing.

> > +            continue;
> >          }
> >  
> > -        features[i] = tmp;
> > +        features[nparsed] = tmp;
> > +        nparsed++;
> >      }
> >  
> >      fw->features = g_steal_pointer(&features);
> > -    fw->nfeatures = nfeatures;
> > +    fw->nfeatures = nparsed;
> >      return 0;
> >  }
> 
> Reviewed-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>

Pavel