[PATCH v4] qapi: net: deprecate vhostforce option

Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy posted 1 patch 1 week, 3 days ago
Failed in applying to current master (apply log)
There is a newer version of this series
docs/about/deprecated.rst     | 11 +++++++++++
qapi/net.json                 | 20 ++++++++++++++++----
qemu-options.hx               | 13 +++++--------
tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c |  2 +-
4 files changed, 33 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
[PATCH v4] qapi: net: deprecate vhostforce option
Posted by Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy 1 week, 3 days ago
This option for tap and vhost-user netdevs doesn't make sense
since long ago (10 years!), starting from commits:

 1e7398a140f7a6 ("vhost: enable vhost without without MSI-X")
 24f938a682d934 ("vhost user:support vhost user nic for non msi guests")

Prior these commits, to enable kernel vhost-net, or vhost-user-net for
some specific kind of guests (that don't have MSI-X support), you should
have set vhostforce=on.

Now guest type doesn't matter, all guests are equal for these
options logic.

For tap the current logic is:
  vhost=on / vhost=off : vhostforce ignored, doesn't make sense
  vhost unset : vhostforce counts, enabling vhost

So you may enable vhost for tap several ways:
- vhost=on
- vhostforce=on
- vhost=on + vhostforce=on
- and even vhost=on + vhostforce=off

- they are all equal.

For vhost-user we simply ignore the vhostforce option at all in the
code.

Let's finally deprecate the extra options.

Also, fix @vhostforce documentation everywhere to show the real picture,
and update vhost-user test to not use deprecated option.

Signed-off-by: Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru>
---

v4:
- update documentation
- deprecate also similar option for vhost-user net

v3 was "[PATCH v3] qapi: net/tap: deprecate vhostforce option":
Supersedes: <20250901153943.65235-1-vsementsov@yandex-team.ru>

 docs/about/deprecated.rst     | 11 +++++++++++
 qapi/net.json                 | 20 ++++++++++++++++----
 qemu-options.hx               | 13 +++++--------
 tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c |  2 +-
 4 files changed, 33 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/about/deprecated.rst b/docs/about/deprecated.rst
index 98361f5832..2882603b20 100644
--- a/docs/about/deprecated.rst
+++ b/docs/about/deprecated.rst
@@ -487,6 +487,17 @@ Stream ``reconnect`` (since 9.2)
 The ``reconnect`` option only allows specifying second granularity timeouts,
 which is not enough for all types of use cases, use ``reconnect-ms`` instead.
 
+TAP ``vhostforce`` (since 10.2)
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+The ``vhostforce`` option is redundant with the ``vhost`` option.
+If they conflict, ``vhost`` takes precedence.  Just use ``vhost``.
+
+Vhost-user ``vhostforce`` (since 10.2)
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+The ``vhostforce`` option is a no-op.  Do not use it.
+
 CPU device properties
 '''''''''''''''''''''
 
diff --git a/qapi/net.json b/qapi/net.json
index 60d196afe5..531b360e46 100644
--- a/qapi/net.json
+++ b/qapi/net.json
@@ -346,13 +346,20 @@
 # @vhostfds: file descriptors of multiple already opened vhost net
 #     devices
 #
-# @vhostforce: vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests
+# @vhostforce: enable vhost-net network accelerator.  Ignored when
+#    @vhost is set.
 #
 # @queues: number of queues to be created for multiqueue capable tap
 #
 # @poll-us: maximum number of microseconds that could be spent on busy
 #     polling for tap (since 2.7)
 #
+# Features:
+#
+# @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.  The @vhostforce
+#    option is redundant with the @vhost option. If they conflict,
+#    @vhost takes precedence.  Just use @vhost.
+#
 # Since: 1.2
 ##
 { 'struct': 'NetdevTapOptions',
@@ -369,7 +376,7 @@
     '*vhost':      'bool',
     '*vhostfd':    'str',
     '*vhostfds':   'str',
-    '*vhostforce': 'bool',
+    '*vhostforce': { 'type': 'bool', 'features': [ 'deprecated' ] },
     '*queues':     'uint32',
     '*poll-us':    'uint32'} }
 
@@ -606,17 +613,22 @@
 #
 # @chardev: name of a unix socket chardev
 #
-# @vhostforce: vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests (default: false).
+# @vhostforce: no-op (default: false).
 #
 # @queues: number of queues to be created for multiqueue vhost-user
 #     (default: 1) (Since 2.5)
 #
+# Features:
+#
+# @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.  The @vhostforce
+#    option is ignored in code and does nothing.  Don't use it.
+#
 # Since: 2.1
 ##
 { 'struct': 'NetdevVhostUserOptions',
   'data': {
     'chardev':        'str',
-    '*vhostforce':    'bool',
+    '*vhostforce': { 'type': 'bool', 'features': [ 'deprecated' ] },
     '*queues':        'int' } }
 
 ##
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index 0223ceffeb..35a70096e8 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -2882,7 +2882,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
 #else
     "-netdev tap,id=str[,fd=h][,fds=x:y:...:z][,ifname=name][,script=file][,downscript=dfile]\n"
     "         [,br=bridge][,helper=helper][,sndbuf=nbytes][,vnet_hdr=on|off][,vhost=on|off]\n"
-    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,vhostforce=on|off][,queues=n]\n"
+    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,queues=n]\n"
     "         [,poll-us=n]\n"
     "                configure a host TAP network backend with ID 'str'\n"
     "                connected to a bridge (default=" DEFAULT_BRIDGE_INTERFACE ")\n"
@@ -2898,9 +2898,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
     "                default is disabled 'sndbuf=0' to enable flow control set 'sndbuf=1048576')\n"
     "                use vnet_hdr=off to avoid enabling the IFF_VNET_HDR tap flag\n"
     "                use vnet_hdr=on to make the lack of IFF_VNET_HDR support an error condition\n"
-    "                use vhost=on to enable experimental in kernel accelerator\n"
-    "                    (only has effect for virtio guests which use MSIX)\n"
-    "                use vhostforce=on to force vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests\n"
+    "                use vhost=on to enable in kernel accelerator\n"
     "                use 'vhostfd=h' to connect to an already opened vhost net device\n"
     "                use 'vhostfds=x:y:...:z to connect to multiple already opened vhost net devices\n"
     "                use 'queues=n' to specify the number of queues to be created for multiqueue TAP\n"
@@ -2991,7 +2989,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
     "                use 'start-queue=m' to specify the first queue that should be used\n"
 #endif
 #ifdef CONFIG_POSIX
-    "-netdev vhost-user,id=str,chardev=dev[,vhostforce=on|off]\n"
+    "-netdev vhost-user,id=str,chardev=dev\n"
     "                configure a vhost-user network, backed by a chardev 'dev'\n"
 #endif
 #ifdef __linux__
@@ -3882,12 +3880,11 @@ SRST
     for insertion into the socket map.  The combination of 'map-path' and
     'sock-fds' together is not supported.
 
-``-netdev vhost-user,chardev=id[,vhostforce=on|off][,queues=n]``
+``-netdev vhost-user,chardev=id[,queues=n]``
     Establish a vhost-user netdev, backed by a chardev id. The chardev
     should be a unix domain socket backed one. The vhost-user uses a
     specifically defined protocol to pass vhost ioctl replacement
-    messages to an application on the other end of the socket. On
-    non-MSIX guests, the feature can be forced with vhostforce. Use
+    messages to an application on the other end of the socket. Use
     'queues=n' to specify the number of queues to be created for
     multiqueue vhost-user.
 
diff --git a/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c b/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c
index 609ff24059..a4862d7087 100644
--- a/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c
+++ b/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 #define QEMU_CMD_SHM    " -m %d -object memory-backend-shm,id=mem,size=%dM," \
                         " -numa node,memdev=mem"
 #define QEMU_CMD_CHR    " -chardev socket,id=%s,path=%s%s"
-#define QEMU_CMD_NETDEV " -netdev vhost-user,id=hs0,chardev=%s,vhostforce=on"
+#define QEMU_CMD_NETDEV " -netdev vhost-user,id=hs0,chardev=%s"
 
 #define HUGETLBFS_MAGIC       0x958458f6
 
-- 
2.48.1
Re: [PATCH v4] qapi: net: deprecate vhostforce option
Posted by Markus Armbruster via Devel 1 week, 2 days ago
Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru> writes:

> This option for tap and vhost-user netdevs doesn't make sense
> since long ago (10 years!), starting from commits:
>
>  1e7398a140f7a6 ("vhost: enable vhost without without MSI-X")
>  24f938a682d934 ("vhost user:support vhost user nic for non msi guests")
>
> Prior these commits, to enable kernel vhost-net, or vhost-user-net for
> some specific kind of guests (that don't have MSI-X support), you should
> have set vhostforce=on.
>
> Now guest type doesn't matter, all guests are equal for these
> options logic.
>
> For tap the current logic is:
>   vhost=on / vhost=off : vhostforce ignored, doesn't make sense
>   vhost unset : vhostforce counts, enabling vhost
>
> So you may enable vhost for tap several ways:
> - vhost=on
> - vhostforce=on
> - vhost=on + vhostforce=on
> - and even vhost=on + vhostforce=off
>
> - they are all equal.
>
> For vhost-user we simply ignore the vhostforce option at all in the
> code.
>
> Let's finally deprecate the extra options.
>
> Also, fix @vhostforce documentation everywhere to show the real picture,
> and update vhost-user test to not use deprecated option.
>
> Signed-off-by: Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru>
> ---
>
> v4:
> - update documentation
> - deprecate also similar option for vhost-user net
>
> v3 was "[PATCH v3] qapi: net/tap: deprecate vhostforce option":
> Supersedes: <20250901153943.65235-1-vsementsov@yandex-team.ru>
>
>  docs/about/deprecated.rst     | 11 +++++++++++
>  qapi/net.json                 | 20 ++++++++++++++++----
>  qemu-options.hx               | 13 +++++--------
>  tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c |  2 +-
>  4 files changed, 33 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/docs/about/deprecated.rst b/docs/about/deprecated.rst
> index 98361f5832..2882603b20 100644
> --- a/docs/about/deprecated.rst
> +++ b/docs/about/deprecated.rst
> @@ -487,6 +487,17 @@ Stream ``reconnect`` (since 9.2)
>  The ``reconnect`` option only allows specifying second granularity timeouts,
>  which is not enough for all types of use cases, use ``reconnect-ms`` instead.
>  
> +TAP ``vhostforce`` (since 10.2)
> +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> +
> +The ``vhostforce`` option is redundant with the ``vhost`` option.
> +If they conflict, ``vhost`` takes precedence.  Just use ``vhost``.
> +
> +Vhost-user ``vhostforce`` (since 10.2)
> +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> +
> +The ``vhostforce`` option is a no-op.  Do not use it.
> +
>  CPU device properties
>  '''''''''''''''''''''
>  
> diff --git a/qapi/net.json b/qapi/net.json
> index 60d196afe5..531b360e46 100644
> --- a/qapi/net.json
> +++ b/qapi/net.json
> @@ -346,13 +346,20 @@
>  # @vhostfds: file descriptors of multiple already opened vhost net
>  #     devices
>  #
> -# @vhostforce: vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests
> +# @vhostforce: enable vhost-net network accelerator.  Ignored when
> +#    @vhost is set.
>  #
>  # @queues: number of queues to be created for multiqueue capable tap
>  #
>  # @poll-us: maximum number of microseconds that could be spent on busy
>  #     polling for tap (since 2.7)
>  #
> +# Features:
> +#
> +# @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.  The @vhostforce
> +#    option is redundant with the @vhost option. If they conflict,
> +#    @vhost takes precedence.  Just use @vhost.

Behavior should be discussed in the descriptions instead.  I think what
we already have there ("Ignored when @vhost is set") suffices.

Let's use the common phrasing here:

   # @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.  Use @vhost instead.

> +#
>  # Since: 1.2
>  ##
>  { 'struct': 'NetdevTapOptions',
> @@ -369,7 +376,7 @@
>      '*vhost':      'bool',
>      '*vhostfd':    'str',
>      '*vhostfds':   'str',
> -    '*vhostforce': 'bool',
> +    '*vhostforce': { 'type': 'bool', 'features': [ 'deprecated' ] },
>      '*queues':     'uint32',
>      '*poll-us':    'uint32'} }
>  
> @@ -606,17 +613,22 @@
>  #
>  # @chardev: name of a unix socket chardev
>  #
> -# @vhostforce: vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests (default: false).
> +# @vhostforce: no-op (default: false).

Suggest

   # @vhostforce: silently ignored, exists just for backward
   #     compatibility.

>  #
>  # @queues: number of queues to be created for multiqueue vhost-user
>  #     (default: 1) (Since 2.5)
>  #
> +# Features:
> +#
> +# @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.  The @vhostforce
> +#    option is ignored in code and does nothing.  Don't use it.

Again, discussion of behavior does not belong here.  I think

   # @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.

suffices.

> +#
>  # Since: 2.1
>  ##
>  { 'struct': 'NetdevVhostUserOptions',
>    'data': {
>      'chardev':        'str',
> -    '*vhostforce':    'bool',
> +    '*vhostforce': { 'type': 'bool', 'features': [ 'deprecated' ] },
>      '*queues':        'int' } }
>  
>  ##
> diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
> index 0223ceffeb..35a70096e8 100644
> --- a/qemu-options.hx
> +++ b/qemu-options.hx
> @@ -2882,7 +2882,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>  #else
>      "-netdev tap,id=str[,fd=h][,fds=x:y:...:z][,ifname=name][,script=file][,downscript=dfile]\n"
>      "         [,br=bridge][,helper=helper][,sndbuf=nbytes][,vnet_hdr=on|off][,vhost=on|off]\n"
> -    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,vhostforce=on|off][,queues=n]\n"
> +    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,queues=n]\n"
>      "         [,poll-us=n]\n"
>      "                configure a host TAP network backend with ID 'str'\n"
>      "                connected to a bridge (default=" DEFAULT_BRIDGE_INTERFACE ")\n"
> @@ -2898,9 +2898,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>      "                default is disabled 'sndbuf=0' to enable flow control set 'sndbuf=1048576')\n"
>      "                use vnet_hdr=off to avoid enabling the IFF_VNET_HDR tap flag\n"
>      "                use vnet_hdr=on to make the lack of IFF_VNET_HDR support an error condition\n"
> -    "                use vhost=on to enable experimental in kernel accelerator\n"
> -    "                    (only has effect for virtio guests which use MSIX)\n"
> -    "                use vhostforce=on to force vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests\n"
> +    "                use vhost=on to enable in kernel accelerator\n"

So the kernel's accelerator is no longer experimental?

>      "                use 'vhostfd=h' to connect to an already opened vhost net device\n"
>      "                use 'vhostfds=x:y:...:z to connect to multiple already opened vhost net devices\n"
>      "                use 'queues=n' to specify the number of queues to be created for multiqueue TAP\n"
> @@ -2991,7 +2989,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>      "                use 'start-queue=m' to specify the first queue that should be used\n"
>  #endif
>  #ifdef CONFIG_POSIX
> -    "-netdev vhost-user,id=str,chardev=dev[,vhostforce=on|off]\n"
> +    "-netdev vhost-user,id=str,chardev=dev\n"
>      "                configure a vhost-user network, backed by a chardev 'dev'\n"
>  #endif
>  #ifdef __linux__
> @@ -3882,12 +3880,11 @@ SRST
>      for insertion into the socket map.  The combination of 'map-path' and
>      'sock-fds' together is not supported.
>  
> -``-netdev vhost-user,chardev=id[,vhostforce=on|off][,queues=n]``
> +``-netdev vhost-user,chardev=id[,queues=n]``
>      Establish a vhost-user netdev, backed by a chardev id. The chardev
>      should be a unix domain socket backed one. The vhost-user uses a
>      specifically defined protocol to pass vhost ioctl replacement
> -    messages to an application on the other end of the socket. On
> -    non-MSIX guests, the feature can be forced with vhostforce. Use
> +    messages to an application on the other end of the socket. Use
>      'queues=n' to specify the number of queues to be created for
>      multiqueue vhost-user.
>  
> diff --git a/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c b/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c
> index 609ff24059..a4862d7087 100644
> --- a/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c
> +++ b/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c
> @@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
>  #define QEMU_CMD_SHM    " -m %d -object memory-backend-shm,id=mem,size=%dM," \
>                          " -numa node,memdev=mem"
>  #define QEMU_CMD_CHR    " -chardev socket,id=%s,path=%s%s"
> -#define QEMU_CMD_NETDEV " -netdev vhost-user,id=hs0,chardev=%s,vhostforce=on"
> +#define QEMU_CMD_NETDEV " -netdev vhost-user,id=hs0,chardev=%s"
>  
>  #define HUGETLBFS_MAGIC       0x958458f6
Re: [PATCH v4] qapi: net: deprecate vhostforce option
Posted by Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy 1 week, 2 days ago
On 16.10.25 11:48, Markus Armbruster wrote:
> Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru> writes:
> 
>> This option for tap and vhost-user netdevs doesn't make sense
>> since long ago (10 years!), starting from commits:
>>
>>   1e7398a140f7a6 ("vhost: enable vhost without without MSI-X")
>>   24f938a682d934 ("vhost user:support vhost user nic for non msi guests")
>>
>> Prior these commits, to enable kernel vhost-net, or vhost-user-net for
>> some specific kind of guests (that don't have MSI-X support), you should
>> have set vhostforce=on.
>>
>> Now guest type doesn't matter, all guests are equal for these
>> options logic.
>>
>> For tap the current logic is:
>>    vhost=on / vhost=off : vhostforce ignored, doesn't make sense
>>    vhost unset : vhostforce counts, enabling vhost
>>
>> So you may enable vhost for tap several ways:
>> - vhost=on
>> - vhostforce=on
>> - vhost=on + vhostforce=on
>> - and even vhost=on + vhostforce=off
>>
>> - they are all equal.
>>
>> For vhost-user we simply ignore the vhostforce option at all in the
>> code.
>>
>> Let's finally deprecate the extra options.
>>
>> Also, fix @vhostforce documentation everywhere to show the real picture,
>> and update vhost-user test to not use deprecated option.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru>
>> ---
>>
>> v4:
>> - update documentation
>> - deprecate also similar option for vhost-user net
>>
>> v3 was "[PATCH v3] qapi: net/tap: deprecate vhostforce option":
>> Supersedes: <20250901153943.65235-1-vsementsov@yandex-team.ru>
>>
>>   docs/about/deprecated.rst     | 11 +++++++++++
>>   qapi/net.json                 | 20 ++++++++++++++++----
>>   qemu-options.hx               | 13 +++++--------
>>   tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c |  2 +-
>>   4 files changed, 33 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/docs/about/deprecated.rst b/docs/about/deprecated.rst
>> index 98361f5832..2882603b20 100644
>> --- a/docs/about/deprecated.rst
>> +++ b/docs/about/deprecated.rst
>> @@ -487,6 +487,17 @@ Stream ``reconnect`` (since 9.2)
>>   The ``reconnect`` option only allows specifying second granularity timeouts,
>>   which is not enough for all types of use cases, use ``reconnect-ms`` instead.
>>   
>> +TAP ``vhostforce`` (since 10.2)
>> +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> +
>> +The ``vhostforce`` option is redundant with the ``vhost`` option.
>> +If they conflict, ``vhost`` takes precedence.  Just use ``vhost``.
>> +
>> +Vhost-user ``vhostforce`` (since 10.2)
>> +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> +
>> +The ``vhostforce`` option is a no-op.  Do not use it.
>> +
>>   CPU device properties
>>   '''''''''''''''''''''
>>   
>> diff --git a/qapi/net.json b/qapi/net.json
>> index 60d196afe5..531b360e46 100644
>> --- a/qapi/net.json
>> +++ b/qapi/net.json
>> @@ -346,13 +346,20 @@
>>   # @vhostfds: file descriptors of multiple already opened vhost net
>>   #     devices
>>   #
>> -# @vhostforce: vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests
>> +# @vhostforce: enable vhost-net network accelerator.  Ignored when
>> +#    @vhost is set.
>>   #
>>   # @queues: number of queues to be created for multiqueue capable tap
>>   #
>>   # @poll-us: maximum number of microseconds that could be spent on busy
>>   #     polling for tap (since 2.7)
>>   #
>> +# Features:
>> +#
>> +# @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.  The @vhostforce
>> +#    option is redundant with the @vhost option. If they conflict,
>> +#    @vhost takes precedence.  Just use @vhost.
> 
> Behavior should be discussed in the descriptions instead.  I think what
> we already have there ("Ignored when @vhost is set") suffices.
> 
> Let's use the common phrasing here:
> 
>     # @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.  Use @vhost instead.

OK

> 
>> +#
>>   # Since: 1.2
>>   ##
>>   { 'struct': 'NetdevTapOptions',
>> @@ -369,7 +376,7 @@
>>       '*vhost':      'bool',
>>       '*vhostfd':    'str',
>>       '*vhostfds':   'str',
>> -    '*vhostforce': 'bool',
>> +    '*vhostforce': { 'type': 'bool', 'features': [ 'deprecated' ] },
>>       '*queues':     'uint32',
>>       '*poll-us':    'uint32'} }
>>   
>> @@ -606,17 +613,22 @@
>>   #
>>   # @chardev: name of a unix socket chardev
>>   #
>> -# @vhostforce: vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests (default: false).
>> +# @vhostforce: no-op (default: false).
> 
> Suggest
> 
>     # @vhostforce: silently ignored, exists just for backward
>     #     compatibility.

Sounds good, OK

> 
>>   #
>>   # @queues: number of queues to be created for multiqueue vhost-user
>>   #     (default: 1) (Since 2.5)
>>   #
>> +# Features:
>> +#
>> +# @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.  The @vhostforce
>> +#    option is ignored in code and does nothing.  Don't use it.
> 
> Again, discussion of behavior does not belong here.  I think
> 
>     # @deprecated: Member @vhostforce is deprecated.
> 
> suffices.

✓

> 
>> +#
>>   # Since: 2.1
>>   ##
>>   { 'struct': 'NetdevVhostUserOptions',
>>     'data': {
>>       'chardev':        'str',
>> -    '*vhostforce':    'bool',
>> +    '*vhostforce': { 'type': 'bool', 'features': [ 'deprecated' ] },
>>       '*queues':        'int' } }
>>   
>>   ##
>> diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
>> index 0223ceffeb..35a70096e8 100644
>> --- a/qemu-options.hx
>> +++ b/qemu-options.hx
>> @@ -2882,7 +2882,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>>   #else
>>       "-netdev tap,id=str[,fd=h][,fds=x:y:...:z][,ifname=name][,script=file][,downscript=dfile]\n"
>>       "         [,br=bridge][,helper=helper][,sndbuf=nbytes][,vnet_hdr=on|off][,vhost=on|off]\n"
>> -    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,vhostforce=on|off][,queues=n]\n"
>> +    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,queues=n]\n"
>>       "         [,poll-us=n]\n"
>>       "                configure a host TAP network backend with ID 'str'\n"
>>       "                connected to a bridge (default=" DEFAULT_BRIDGE_INTERFACE ")\n"
>> @@ -2898,9 +2898,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>>       "                default is disabled 'sndbuf=0' to enable flow control set 'sndbuf=1048576')\n"
>>       "                use vnet_hdr=off to avoid enabling the IFF_VNET_HDR tap flag\n"
>>       "                use vnet_hdr=on to make the lack of IFF_VNET_HDR support an error condition\n"
>> -    "                use vhost=on to enable experimental in kernel accelerator\n"
>> -    "                    (only has effect for virtio guests which use MSIX)\n"
>> -    "                use vhostforce=on to force vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests\n"
>> +    "                use vhost=on to enable in kernel accelerator\n"
> 
> So the kernel's accelerator is no longer experimental?

Reading this, I heard the first time that vhost-net is experimental.
It's about 15 years old, and used in production. I think "experimental"
is inappropriate word here)



> 
>>       "                use 'vhostfd=h' to connect to an already opened vhost net device\n"
>>       "                use 'vhostfds=x:y:...:z to connect to multiple already opened vhost net devices\n"
>>       "                use 'queues=n' to specify the number of queues to be created for multiqueue TAP\n"
>> @@ -2991,7 +2989,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>>       "                use 'start-queue=m' to specify the first queue that should be used\n"
>>   #endif
>>   #ifdef CONFIG_POSIX
>> -    "-netdev vhost-user,id=str,chardev=dev[,vhostforce=on|off]\n"
>> +    "-netdev vhost-user,id=str,chardev=dev\n"
>>       "                configure a vhost-user network, backed by a chardev 'dev'\n"
>>   #endif
>>   #ifdef __linux__
>> @@ -3882,12 +3880,11 @@ SRST
>>       for insertion into the socket map.  The combination of 'map-path' and
>>       'sock-fds' together is not supported.
>>   
>> -``-netdev vhost-user,chardev=id[,vhostforce=on|off][,queues=n]``
>> +``-netdev vhost-user,chardev=id[,queues=n]``
>>       Establish a vhost-user netdev, backed by a chardev id. The chardev
>>       should be a unix domain socket backed one. The vhost-user uses a
>>       specifically defined protocol to pass vhost ioctl replacement
>> -    messages to an application on the other end of the socket. On
>> -    non-MSIX guests, the feature can be forced with vhostforce. Use
>> +    messages to an application on the other end of the socket. Use
>>       'queues=n' to specify the number of queues to be created for
>>       multiqueue vhost-user.
>>   
>> diff --git a/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c b/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c
>> index 609ff24059..a4862d7087 100644
>> --- a/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c
>> +++ b/tests/qtest/vhost-user-test.c
>> @@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
>>   #define QEMU_CMD_SHM    " -m %d -object memory-backend-shm,id=mem,size=%dM," \
>>                           " -numa node,memdev=mem"
>>   #define QEMU_CMD_CHR    " -chardev socket,id=%s,path=%s%s"
>> -#define QEMU_CMD_NETDEV " -netdev vhost-user,id=hs0,chardev=%s,vhostforce=on"
>> +#define QEMU_CMD_NETDEV " -netdev vhost-user,id=hs0,chardev=%s"
>>   
>>   #define HUGETLBFS_MAGIC       0x958458f6
> 


-- 
Best regards,
Vladimir

Re: [PATCH v4] qapi: net: deprecate vhostforce option
Posted by Markus Armbruster 1 week, 2 days ago
Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru> writes:

> On 16.10.25 11:48, Markus Armbruster wrote:
>> Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru> writes:
>> 
>>> This option for tap and vhost-user netdevs doesn't make sense
>>> since long ago (10 years!), starting from commits:
>>>
>>>   1e7398a140f7a6 ("vhost: enable vhost without without MSI-X")
>>>   24f938a682d934 ("vhost user:support vhost user nic for non msi guests")
>>>
>>> Prior these commits, to enable kernel vhost-net, or vhost-user-net for
>>> some specific kind of guests (that don't have MSI-X support), you should
>>> have set vhostforce=on.
>>>
>>> Now guest type doesn't matter, all guests are equal for these
>>> options logic.
>>>
>>> For tap the current logic is:
>>>    vhost=on / vhost=off : vhostforce ignored, doesn't make sense
>>>    vhost unset : vhostforce counts, enabling vhost
>>>
>>> So you may enable vhost for tap several ways:
>>> - vhost=on
>>> - vhostforce=on
>>> - vhost=on + vhostforce=on
>>> - and even vhost=on + vhostforce=off
>>>
>>> - they are all equal.
>>>
>>> For vhost-user we simply ignore the vhostforce option at all in the
>>> code.
>>>
>>> Let's finally deprecate the extra options.
>>>
>>> Also, fix @vhostforce documentation everywhere to show the real picture,
>>> and update vhost-user test to not use deprecated option.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru>

[...]

>>> diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
>>> index 0223ceffeb..35a70096e8 100644
>>> --- a/qemu-options.hx
>>> +++ b/qemu-options.hx
>>> @@ -2882,7 +2882,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>>>  #else
>>>      "-netdev tap,id=str[,fd=h][,fds=x:y:...:z][,ifname=name][,script=file][,downscript=dfile]\n"
>>>      "         [,br=bridge][,helper=helper][,sndbuf=nbytes][,vnet_hdr=on|off][,vhost=on|off]\n"
>>> -    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,vhostforce=on|off][,queues=n]\n"
>>> +    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,queues=n]\n"
>>>      "         [,poll-us=n]\n"
>>>      "                configure a host TAP network backend with ID 'str'\n"
>>>      "                connected to a bridge (default=" DEFAULT_BRIDGE_INTERFACE ")\n"
>>> @@ -2898,9 +2898,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>>>      "                default is disabled 'sndbuf=0' to enable flow control set 'sndbuf=1048576')\n"
>>>      "                use vnet_hdr=off to avoid enabling the IFF_VNET_HDR tap flag\n"
>>>      "                use vnet_hdr=on to make the lack of IFF_VNET_HDR support an error condition\n"
>>> -    "                use vhost=on to enable experimental in kernel accelerator\n"
>>> -    "                    (only has effect for virtio guests which use MSIX)\n"
>>> -    "                use vhostforce=on to force vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests\n"
>>> +    "                use vhost=on to enable in kernel accelerator\n"
>> 
>> So the kernel's accelerator is no longer experimental?
>
> Reading this, I heard the first time that vhost-net is experimental.
> It's about 15 years old, and used in production. I think "experimental"
> is inappropriate word here)

Just double-checking :)

The text you adjust is from 2010 (commit 82b0d80ef6a).  I guess the
accelerator was experimental back then.

Mention the correction in the commit message?

[...]
Re: [PATCH v4] qapi: net: deprecate vhostforce option
Posted by Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy 1 week, 2 days ago
On 16.10.25 13:38, Markus Armbruster wrote:
> Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru> writes:
> 
>> On 16.10.25 11:48, Markus Armbruster wrote:
>>> Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru> writes:
>>>
>>>> This option for tap and vhost-user netdevs doesn't make sense
>>>> since long ago (10 years!), starting from commits:
>>>>
>>>>    1e7398a140f7a6 ("vhost: enable vhost without without MSI-X")
>>>>    24f938a682d934 ("vhost user:support vhost user nic for non msi guests")
>>>>
>>>> Prior these commits, to enable kernel vhost-net, or vhost-user-net for
>>>> some specific kind of guests (that don't have MSI-X support), you should
>>>> have set vhostforce=on.
>>>>
>>>> Now guest type doesn't matter, all guests are equal for these
>>>> options logic.
>>>>
>>>> For tap the current logic is:
>>>>     vhost=on / vhost=off : vhostforce ignored, doesn't make sense
>>>>     vhost unset : vhostforce counts, enabling vhost
>>>>
>>>> So you may enable vhost for tap several ways:
>>>> - vhost=on
>>>> - vhostforce=on
>>>> - vhost=on + vhostforce=on
>>>> - and even vhost=on + vhostforce=off
>>>>
>>>> - they are all equal.
>>>>
>>>> For vhost-user we simply ignore the vhostforce option at all in the
>>>> code.
>>>>
>>>> Let's finally deprecate the extra options.
>>>>
>>>> Also, fix @vhostforce documentation everywhere to show the real picture,
>>>> and update vhost-user test to not use deprecated option.
>>>>
>>>> Signed-off-by: Vladimir Sementsov-Ogievskiy <vsementsov@yandex-team.ru>
> 
> [...]
> 
>>>> diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
>>>> index 0223ceffeb..35a70096e8 100644
>>>> --- a/qemu-options.hx
>>>> +++ b/qemu-options.hx
>>>> @@ -2882,7 +2882,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>>>>   #else
>>>>       "-netdev tap,id=str[,fd=h][,fds=x:y:...:z][,ifname=name][,script=file][,downscript=dfile]\n"
>>>>       "         [,br=bridge][,helper=helper][,sndbuf=nbytes][,vnet_hdr=on|off][,vhost=on|off]\n"
>>>> -    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,vhostforce=on|off][,queues=n]\n"
>>>> +    "         [,vhostfd=h][,vhostfds=x:y:...:z][,queues=n]\n"
>>>>       "         [,poll-us=n]\n"
>>>>       "                configure a host TAP network backend with ID 'str'\n"
>>>>       "                connected to a bridge (default=" DEFAULT_BRIDGE_INTERFACE ")\n"
>>>> @@ -2898,9 +2898,7 @@ DEF("netdev", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_netdev,
>>>>       "                default is disabled 'sndbuf=0' to enable flow control set 'sndbuf=1048576')\n"
>>>>       "                use vnet_hdr=off to avoid enabling the IFF_VNET_HDR tap flag\n"
>>>>       "                use vnet_hdr=on to make the lack of IFF_VNET_HDR support an error condition\n"
>>>> -    "                use vhost=on to enable experimental in kernel accelerator\n"
>>>> -    "                    (only has effect for virtio guests which use MSIX)\n"
>>>> -    "                use vhostforce=on to force vhost on for non-MSIX virtio guests\n"
>>>> +    "                use vhost=on to enable in kernel accelerator\n"
>>>
>>> So the kernel's accelerator is no longer experimental?
>>
>> Reading this, I heard the first time that vhost-net is experimental.
>> It's about 15 years old, and used in production. I think "experimental"
>> is inappropriate word here)
> 
> Just double-checking :)
> 
> The text you adjust is from 2010 (commit 82b0d80ef6a).  I guess the
> accelerator was experimental back then.
> 
> Mention the correction in the commit message?
> 

Will do


-- 
Best regards,
Vladimir