nvx: prototype nested KVM guests - #121
Draft
Pedro Henrique Penna (ppenna) wants to merge 1 commit into
Draft
Pedro Henrique Penna (ppenna) wants to merge 1 commit into
Pedro Henrique Penna (ppenna) wants to merge 1 commit into
Conversation
Build Intel and AMD KVM host support into the NVX guest kernel and validate that generated artifacts retain the required options. Add an opt-in --nested-virt switch to nvx run so OpenVMM exposes VMX/SVM to supported guests. Extend Windows/WHP benchmarks with an explicit nested-virtualization control, thread it through cold boot, capture, and restore commands, and record the mode in lifecycle and workload metadata. Add focused CLI, command-construction, metadata, and kernel-configuration coverage together with user and design documentation. Pin OpenVMM to c345138ddedeb9b2c4b153d6eec5055ad8375969 from nanvix/openvmm#82. This remains a draft experiment: the guest-visible CPU contract is still labeled ABI v2, KVM nested processor state is not snapshot-capable, and MSHV remains unsupported. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot started reviewing on behalf of
Pedro Henrique Penna (ppenna)
September 19, 2026 01:13
View session
Contributor
There was a problem hiding this comment.
Copilot review overview
🔵 Needs a closer look
Nested results can currently be mixed with and persisted into ordinary ABI-v2 history, while Linux/KVM runtime coverage remains pending.
Review effort: Balanced
Findings: 1
What changed in this PR
Prototypes nested KVM guests by enabling guest KVM support and forwarding nested virtualization through NVX and WHP benchmarks.
Changes:
- Enable Intel and AMD KVM guest-host support.
- Add nested virtualization CLI forwarding, benchmark metadata, and tests.
- Update documentation and pin the supporting OpenVMM revision.
| File | Description |
|---|---|
doc/design/configuration-boundary.md |
Documents nested virtualization boundaries. |
doc/design/current-limits.md |
Records ABI, snapshot, and persistence limitations. |
doc/usage.md |
Documents new CLI options. |
kernel/config-microvm |
Enables KVM host drivers. |
openvmm |
Pins the supporting OpenVMM revision. |
scripts/nvx.py |
Forwards nested virtualization for runs. |
scripts/nvx_tools/benchmark.py |
Adds benchmark forwarding and metadata. |
scripts/nvx_tools/build.py |
Validates required KVM configuration. |
scripts/nvx_tools/release.py |
Verifies release kernel configuration. |
scripts/test_nvx_tools.py |
Adds nested virtualization tests. |
💡 Configure MCP servers for context-aware, tailored reviews. Learn more in the docs.
| "suite": args.suite, | ||
| "platform": platform, | ||
| "backend": backend, | ||
| "nested_virtualization": nested_virt_requested(args), |
This file contains hidden or bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment
Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.This suggestion is invalid because no changes were made to the code.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is closed.Suggestions cannot be applied while viewing a subset of changes.Only one suggestion per line can be applied in a batch.Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.Applying suggestions on deleted lines is not supported.You must change the existing code in this line in order to create a valid suggestion.Outdated suggestions cannot be applied.This suggestion has been applied or marked resolved.Suggestions cannot be applied from pending reviews.Suggestions cannot be applied on multi-line comments.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is queued to merge.Suggestion cannot be applied right now. Please check back later.
Summary
--nested-virtforwarding tonvx runOpenVMM dependency
c345138ddedeb9b2c4b153d6eec5055ad8375969or patch-equivalence claim is needed
git verify-commitLocal validation
python scripts\nvx.py verifyThe earlier feasibility probe exposed VMX, created
/dev/kvm, reported KVM APIversion 12, created an L2 VM and vCPU, and completed
KVM_RUNwithKVM_EXIT_HLT.CI-equivalent nested benchmarks on this host collected 36 one-vCPU metrics and
2/4/8-vCPU restore results. Representative p50 values:
Scope and exclusions
This is intentionally a draft proof of concept. It does not:
/dev/kvminside the private sandbox workload/devLinux/KVM runtime coverage is pending a nested-capable Linux host or CI.
Submitted head
725f49852b00123a6a291e93104eac2a297ee966