On Wed, May 13, 2026 at 09:44:49AM +0000, Polina Vishneva wrote:
> On Tue, 2026-05-12 at 12:02 -0400, Michael S. Tsirkin wrote:
> > On Tue, May 12, 2026 at 05:39:48PM +0200, Stefano Garzarella wrote:
> > > On Tue, May 12, 2026 at 02:32:14PM +0000, Polina Vishneva wrote:
> > > > On Mon, 2026-05-11 at 17:56 +0200, Stefano Garzarella wrote:
> > > > > On Mon, May 11, 2026 at 04:56:10PM +0200, Polina Vishneva wrote:
> > > > > > From: "Denis V. Lunev" <[email protected]>
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > When the host initiates an AF_VSOCK connect() to a guest that has 
> > > > > > not
> > > > > > yet loaded the virtio-vsock transport (i.e. still booting), the 
> > > > > > caller
> > > > > > blocks for VSOCK_DEFAULT_CONNECT_TIMEOUT (2 seconds), because
> > > > > > vhost_transport_do_send_pkt() silently exits when
> > > > > > vhost_vq_get_backend(vq) returns NULL.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Can SO_VM_SOCKETS_CONNECT_TIMEOUT helps on this?
> > > > 
> > > > It can, but it might be difficult to find a correct timeout.
> > > > 
> > > > And, generally, there's no way to distinguish "the guest hasn't yet 
> > > > initialized
> > > > the vq" from "the guest is up and running, but didn't reply to 
> > > > connect() in
> > > > time". That's exactly what this patch is attempting to fix.
> > > 
> > > Okay, so please mention this in the commit message, I mean why
> > > SO_VM_SOCKETS_CONNECT_TIMEOUT can't really help.
> > > 
> > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > If the guest doesn't start listening within this timeout, connect()
> > > > > > returns ETIMEDOUT.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > This delay is usually pointless and it doesn't well align with our
> > > 
> > > I still don't understand why this is pointless. If an application wants to
> > > wait while sleeping, it can simply increase the timeout long enough to 
> > > wait
> > > for the VM to start up and use a single `connect()` call, instead of
> > > continuing to try and wasting CPU cycles unnecessarily.
> > > 
> > > Hmm, or maybe not, because the driver will definitely be initialized 
> > > before
> > > the application that wants to listen on that port, so it will respond that
> > > no one is listening, and the `connect()` call will fail with an 
> > > `ECONNRESET`
> > > error in any case. Right?
> > > 
> > > If it is the case, is the following line in the commit description 
> > > correct?
> > > 
> > >     If the guest doesn't start listening within this timeout, connect()
> > >     returns ETIMEDOUT.
> > > 
> > > I mean, also if the application starts to listen within the timeout, I 
> > > think
> > > the connect() will fail in any case as I pointed out above (this should be
> > > another point in favour of this change)
> > > 
> > > 
> > > BTW, I think we should explain this more clearly both here and briefly in
> > > the code as well.
> > > 
> > > > > > behavior at other initialization stages: for example, if a 
> > > > > > connection is
> > > > > > attempted when the guest driver is already loaded, but when nothing 
> > > > > > is
> > > > > > listening yet, it returns ECONNRESET immediately without any wait.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Fix this by checking the RX virtqueue backend in
> > > > > > vhost_transport_send_pkt() before queuing. If the backend is NULL,
> > > > > > return -ECONNREFUSED immediately.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > Signed-off-by: Denis V. Lunev <[email protected]>
> > > > > > Co-developed-by: Polina Vishneva <[email protected]>
> > > > > > Signed-off-by: Polina Vishneva <[email protected]>
> > > > > > ---
> > > > > > drivers/vhost/vsock.c | 10 ++++++++++
> > > > > > 1 file changed, 10 insertions(+)
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > diff --git a/drivers/vhost/vsock.c b/drivers/vhost/vsock.c
> > > > > > index 1d8ec6bed53e..a3f218292c3a 100644
> > > > > > --- a/drivers/vhost/vsock.c
> > > > > > +++ b/drivers/vhost/vsock.c
> > > > > > @@ -302,6 +302,16 @@ vhost_transport_send_pkt(struct sk_buff *skb, 
> > > > > > struct net *net)
> > > > > >             return -ENODEV;
> > > > > >     }
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > +   /* Fast-fail if the guest hasn't enabled the RX vq yet. Reading
> > > > > > +    * private_data without vq->mutex is deliberate: even if the 
> > > > > > backend becomes
> > > > > > +    * NULL right after that check, do_send_pkt() checks it under 
> > > > > > the mutex.
> > > > > > +    */
> > > > > > +   if (!data_race(READ_ONCE(vsock->vqs[VSOCK_VQ_RX].private_data)))
> > > > > 
> > > > > Why not using vhost_vq_get_backend() ?
> > > > 
> > > > Because it locks the mutex, which is slow and unacceptable in this hot
> > > > path.
> > > 
> > > ehm, sorry, which mutex are you talking about?
> > > 
> > > I see just a comment about the mutex to be acquired by the caller, but I
> > > don't see any lock there.
> > > 
> > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > Also is READ_ONCE() okay without WRITE_ONCE() where it is set ?
> > > > 
> > > > It's racy, but as described here in the comment and in the commit 
> > > > message,
> > > > any possible race outcome is covered by the subsequent checks.
> > > 
> > > Okay, so what is the point to call READ_ONCE()?
> > > 
> > > > 
> > > > > > {
> > > > > > +           rcu_read_unlock();
> > > > > > +           kfree_skb(skb);
> > > > > > +           return -ECONNREFUSED;
> > > > > 
> > > > > This is a generic send_pkt, is it okay to return ECONNREFUSED in any
> > > > > case?
> > > > 
> > > > EHOSTUNREACH would probably be better.
> > > > All the current send_pkt functions only return ENODEV, but it has 
> > > > different
> > > > semantics: they mean that the local device isn't yet ready, while there 
> > > > we're
> > > > dealing with the opposite end not being ready.
> > > 
> > > In the AF_VSOCK prespective, I see ENODEV like the transport is not ready,
> > > so I think it can eventually fit here too, but also EHOSTUNREACH is fine,
> > > for sure better than ECONNREFUSED.
> > > 
> > > Thanks,
> > > Stefano
> > 
> > I think it's worth trying to do the same thing with e.g. TCP
> > and see what error, if any, we get. Match that.
> 
> This case is not directly applicable to TCP: in TCP, there's no out-of-band 
> way
> to detect the "host up, but not initialized yet and not ready for connections"
> state: this could theoretically be ENOPROTOOPT, but no real TCP stack 
> implement
> this, because replying with ICMP_PROT_UNREACH requires a TCP stack, which is
> exactly the thing that isn't up.
> 
> So, in real world, a similar situation with TCP would result in ETIMEDOUT.

Then it just might be best to keep the current behaviour which seems
to match that pretty closely?


> > 
> > 
> > > > 
> > > > Best regards, Polina.
> > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > Thanks,
> > > > > Stefano
> > > > > 
> > > > > > +   }
> > > > > > +
> > > > > >     if (virtio_vsock_skb_reply(skb))
> > > > > >             atomic_inc(&vsock->queued_replies);
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > base-commit: 8ab992f815d6736b5c7a6f5fd7bfe7bc106bb3dc
> > > > > > --
> > > > > > 2.53.0
> > > > > > 


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