Re: Binding Devices to Windows PV Drivers

[Paul Leiber <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Am 05.01.2023 um 08:00 schrieb nihal dede bagci:
> Actually, I want to understand the usage of Windows PV drivers starting 
> with network. I understand that by using bridges, I can connect PV 
> network driver to NIC right?
According to my limited knowledge, each PV driver consists of a backend 
provided by Xen (e.g. netback) and a frontend running in the DomU (e.g. 
netfront). The backend is responsible for the communication with the 
hardware, e.g. via the network bridge. The frontend provides the device 
which appears as a ordinary network device in the DomU. Both communicate 
with each other to provide functionality. For more information, please 
have a look at the available documentation, e.g. 
https://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Xen_Networking.
> What about other Windows PV drivers defined in
> https://xenproject.org/downloads/windows-pv-drivers/windows-pv-drivers-9-series/windows-pv-drivers-9-0-0/
>  
> <https://xenproject.org/downloads/windows-pv-drivers/windows-pv-drivers-9-series/windows-pv-drivers-9-0-0/> ?
>
> For example how to connect console devices (/dev/ttyS)? Do I need to 
> write driver for that?
> For non-PCI devices defined in BIOS ACPI, what should be done to control 
> them on Windows DomU?
> Thanks,
Sorry, these questions go beyond my knowledge. I am not sure that what I 
understand you want to achieve is possible with out-of-the-box Xen 
resources. However, as already pointed out, the Xen wiki would probably 
be a good first information source for you.
May I also kindly point you to the mailing list netiquette, where among 
other things it is suggested to use bottom-posting? 
https://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Xen_Users_Netiquette
> Am 04.01.2023 um 09:31 schrieb nihal dede bagci:
>  > Dear Xen Users,
>  >
>  > I want to bind one of my network interfaces to the network PV driver on
>  > Windows Guest OS. Dom0 OS is Ubuntu. I can do PCIe passthrough but this
>  > is not what I want.
>  >
>  > Can you help me or share if there is such documentation related to that?
>  > Thanks,
>
> If I understand your goal correctly, you need to create a networking
> bridge, assign the NIC to this bridge, and assign this bridge to the
> Windows DomU. If you don't assign this bridge to any other DomU or Dom0,
> no other VM than the Windows DomU will use the NIC.
>
> https://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Xen_Networking 
> <https://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Xen_Networking>
> Just out of curiosity: Why don't you want to use PCI passthrough?