On Mon, 2026-05-04 at 17:30 -0700, Dongli Zhang wrote:
> The KVM_CLOCK_REALTIME has been introduced to help track the downtime of
> live migration. KVM uses that realtime value to advance guest clock, but
> the same blackout is not reflected in KVM steal time.
> 
> Account that same delta in steal time directly in kvm_vm_ioctl_set_clock(),
> only when KVM_CLOCK_REALTIME is used. This keeps the KVM-only solution
> self-contained and avoids adding a new KVM ioctl or requiring additional
> userspace changes (i.e. QEMU).
> 
> Record the per-VM downtime delta when KVM_SET_CLOCK receives
> KVM_CLOCK_REALTIME, and fold it into the existing x86 steal accounting
> path. Initialize each vCPU's local cursor
> (vcpu->arch.st.last_downtime_steal) when the guest enables
> MSR_KVM_STEAL_TIME so previously accumulated blackout is not charged.
> 
> Note that this means a vCPU may observe additional steal time after
> blackout even if the host side contribution from current->sched_info
> did not increase during that interval.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Dongli Zhang <[email protected]>

I really don't want to see KVM_CLOCK_REALTIME used for anything more
than it already is. Or, indeed, even for that.

There is precisely *one* place where it's OK to use 'real time' as a
comparator, and that's when setting the guest's TSC. And even then it
should be using TAI not UTC unless you like your guests' clocks jumping
around by a second if you migrate at the wrong time. KVM_CLOCK_REALTIME
was never the right thing to use, for anything.

The KVM clock is a function of the guest's TSC (see
KVM_SET_CLOCK_GUEST), and steal time is a function of that (as it's
measured in nanoseconds).

Don't bring UTC into it *anywhere*.


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