qemu/docs/pr-manager.rst
Paolo Bonzini 7c9e527659 scsi, file-posix: add support for persistent reservation management
It is a common requirement for virtual machine to send persistent
reservations, but this currently requires either running QEMU with
CAP_SYS_RAWIO, or using out-of-tree patches that let an unprivileged
QEMU bypass Linux's filter on SG_IO commands.

As an alternative mechanism, the next patches will introduce a
privileged helper to run persistent reservation commands without
expanding QEMU's attack surface unnecessarily.

The helper is invoked through a "pr-manager" QOM object, to which
file-posix.c passes SG_IO requests for PERSISTENT RESERVE OUT and
PERSISTENT RESERVE IN commands.  For example:

  $ qemu-system-x86_64
      -device virtio-scsi \
      -object pr-manager-helper,id=helper0,path=/var/run/qemu-pr-helper.sock
      -drive if=none,id=hd,driver=raw,file.filename=/dev/sdb,file.pr-manager=helper0
      -device scsi-block,drive=hd

or:

  $ qemu-system-x86_64
      -device virtio-scsi \
      -object pr-manager-helper,id=helper0,path=/var/run/qemu-pr-helper.sock
      -blockdev node-name=hd,driver=raw,file.driver=host_device,file.filename=/dev/sdb,file.pr-manager=helper0
      -device scsi-block,drive=hd

Multiple pr-manager implementations are conceivable and possible, though
only one is implemented right now.  For example, a pr-manager could:

- talk directly to the multipath daemon from a privileged QEMU
  (i.e. QEMU links to libmpathpersist); this makes reservation work
  properly with multipath, but still requires CAP_SYS_RAWIO

- use the Linux IOC_PR_* ioctls (they require CAP_SYS_ADMIN though)

- more interestingly, implement reservations directly in QEMU
  through file system locks or a shared database (e.g. sqlite)

Signed-off-by: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
2017-09-22 01:06:51 +02:00

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======================================
Persistent reservation managers
======================================
SCSI persistent Reservations allow restricting access to block devices
to specific initiators in a shared storage setup. When implementing
clustering of virtual machines, it is a common requirement for virtual
machines to send persistent reservation SCSI commands. However,
the operating system restricts sending these commands to unprivileged
programs because incorrect usage can disrupt regular operation of the
storage fabric.
For this reason, QEMU's SCSI passthrough devices, ``scsi-block``
and ``scsi-generic`` (both are only available on Linux) can delegate
implementation of persistent reservations to a separate object,
the "persistent reservation manager". Only PERSISTENT RESERVE OUT and
PERSISTENT RESERVE IN commands are passed to the persistent reservation
manager object; other commands are processed by QEMU as usual.
-----------------------------------------
Defining a persistent reservation manager
-----------------------------------------
A persistent reservation manager is an instance of a subclass of the
"pr-manager" QOM class.
Right now only one subclass is defined, ``pr-manager-helper``, which
forwards the commands to an external privileged helper program
over Unix sockets. The helper program only allows sending persistent
reservation commands to devices for which QEMU has a file descriptor,
so that QEMU will not be able to effect persistent reservations
unless it has access to both the socket and the device.
``pr-manager-helper`` has a single string property, ``path``, which
accepts the path to the helper program's Unix socket. For example,
the following command line defines a ``pr-manager-helper`` object and
attaches it to a SCSI passthrough device::
$ qemu-system-x86_64
-device virtio-scsi \
-object pr-manager-helper,id=helper0,path=/var/run/qemu-pr-helper.sock
-drive if=none,id=hd,driver=raw,file.filename=/dev/sdb,file.pr-manager=helper0
-device scsi-block,drive=hd
Alternatively, using ``-blockdev``::
$ qemu-system-x86_64
-device virtio-scsi \
-object pr-manager-helper,id=helper0,path=/var/run/qemu-pr-helper.sock
-blockdev node-name=hd,driver=raw,file.driver=host_device,file.filename=/dev/sdb,file.pr-manager=helper0
-device scsi-block,drive=hd