[Xen-devel] Xen 4.3 development update RC2 imminent

[George Dunlap <George.Dunlap@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lots of good bugs getting fixed, but still more being found!  Please
take a look at the list and see if there are things that you can help
out with.

This information will be mirrored on the Xen 4.3 Roadmap wiki page:
 http://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Xen_Roadmap/4.3

Please start testing and reporting bugs

The key goals we're focusing on now, in order, are as follows:
 1. Have a bug-free 4.3 release
 2. Have an awesome 4.3 release
 3. Have a 4.3 release that happens on schedule (ready by June 15th)

The most important thing in making a case is to answer the question,
"If there are bugs in this patch, will they be discovered before the
June 15th release?"  The second most important thing is to consider the
cost/benefit analysis of bugs that are found: what is the risk of
introducing a bug which will delay the release, vs the benefit it will
have in making the release better?

= Timeline =

We are planning on a 9-month release cycle.  Based on that, below are
our estimated dates:
* Feature freeze: 25 March 2013
* Code freezing point: 15 April 2013
* First RC: 6 May 2013 <== WE ARE HERE
* Release: 17 June 2013

The RCs and release will of course depend on stability and bugs, and
will therefore be fairly unpredictable.  Each new feature will be
considered on a case-by-case basis.

The June 17th release is both an estimate and a goal.  At this point,
Xen 4.3 can be released whenever it's actually ready.  In fact, the
sooner we release, the sooner we can open the tree up for new
development and get on to 4.4 -- so keep fixing those bugs!

Last updated: 20 May 2013

== Completed ==

* Default to QEMU upstream (partial)
 - pci pass-thru (external)
 - enable dirtybit tracking during migration (external)
 - xl cd-{insert,eject} (external)

* openvswitch toostack integration
  To label "tech-preview" unless we get good testing (>10 individuals)

* NUMA scheduler affinity

* Install into /usr/local by default
  owner: Ian Campbell

* Persistent grants for blk (external)
 - Linux
 - qemu

* Allow XSM to override IS_PRIV checks in the hypervisor

* vTPM updates

* Scalability: 16TiB of RAM

* CPUID-based idle (don't rely on ACPI info f/ dom0)

* Serial console improvements
  -EHCI debug port

== Bugs fixed since last update ==

* docs: xl cd-insert accepts "filename", but docs say "type:filename" in help

* Seabios compile failure

* No changeset reported when using git

* xl cd-insert doesn't fail on a missing file

* AMD NPT performance regression after c/s 24770:7f79475d3de7

* Race condition in claim hypercall

== Open bugs ==

* mac address changes on reboot if not specified in config file
  owner: ??

* Windows 2003 fails to install in Xen-unstable tip
  > Narrowed down to c/s 2fe82ac11fd078485388fe7c5e8bc3b6ac9185b0
  owner: Jan Beulich
  status: Patches posted

* Revert Jan's debugging patch (commit bd9be94)
  owner: Jan Beulich
  status: Few instances collected; removal late in release cycle

* Update 4.3-rc to 4.3 in README; add tag bragging about 4.3
  owner: George

* XSA-46 regression in PV pass-through?
  > Seems to be a xend issue; therefore not a 4.3 blocker
  owner: Jan Beulich
  status: patch posted (libxc enforces 1:1 mapping of pirqs)

* Scan through qemu-upstream changesets looking for important fixes
  (particularly for stubdoms) for qemu-traditional
  owner: Anthony

* qxl not actually working
  > qxl apparently not enabled during compile by default
  > Appear to be some other bugs even when it is working:
  >   http://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2012-11/msg00713.html
  owner: ? (Anthony was going to take a look)
  We need to either fix both of these problems or disable qxl for 4.3

* Migration w/ qemu-upstream causes stuck clock
 > http://osdir.com/ml/general/2013-05/msg30029.html

* qemu-traditional: build on gcc 2.17
  owner: ??

* acpi-related xenstore entries not propagated on migrate

* early acpi event prevents subsequent acpi functionality
 > http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/xen/devel/282467

* qemu-upstream MMIO hole issue
 > http://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2013-03/msg00559.html
 > "You can reproduce it when a VM has a big pci hole size (such as
   512MB), e.g. create a VM with a virtual device which has a 512MB
   pci BAR."

* qemu-upstream not freeing pirq
 > http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/xen/devel/281498

== Not yet complete ==

* ARM v7 server port (basic)
* ARM v8 server port (basic)
 - Goal: Good Arndale support for 4.3
 - Regressions here will not slip the release, so development is ongoing

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