xref: /qemu/docs/system/cpu-hotplug.rst (revision d051d0e1) 
1===================
2Virtual CPU hotplug
3===================
4
5A complete example of vCPU hotplug (and hot-unplug) using QMP
6``device_add`` and ``device_del``.
7
8vCPU hotplug
9------------
10
11(1) Launch QEMU as follows (note that the "maxcpus" is mandatory to
12    allow vCPU hotplug)::
13
14      $ qemu-system-x86_64 -display none -no-user-config -m 2048 \
15          -nodefaults -monitor stdio -machine pc,accel=kvm,usb=off \
16          -smp 1,maxcpus=2 -cpu IvyBridge-IBRS \
17          -qmp unix:/tmp/qmp-sock,server=on,wait=off
18
19(2) Run 'qmp-shell' (located in the source tree, under: "scripts/qmp/)
20    to connect to the just-launched QEMU::
21
22      $> ./qmp-shell -p -v /tmp/qmp-sock
23      [...]
24      (QEMU)
25
26(3) Find out which CPU types could be plugged, and into which sockets::
27
28      (QEMU) query-hotpluggable-cpus
29      {
30          "execute": "query-hotpluggable-cpus",
31          "arguments": {}
32      }
33      {
34          "return": [
35              {
36                  "type": "IvyBridge-IBRS-x86_64-cpu",
37                  "vcpus-count": 1,
38                  "props": {
39                      "socket-id": 1,
40                      "core-id": 0,
41                      "thread-id": 0
42                  }
43              },
44              {
45                  "qom-path": "/machine/unattached/device[0]",
46                  "type": "IvyBridge-IBRS-x86_64-cpu",
47                  "vcpus-count": 1,
48                  "props": {
49                      "socket-id": 0,
50                      "core-id": 0,
51                      "thread-id": 0
52                  }
53              }
54          ]
55      }
56      (QEMU)
57
58(4) The ``query-hotpluggable-cpus`` command returns an object for CPUs
59    that are present (containing a "qom-path" member) or which may be
60    hot-plugged (no "qom-path" member).  From its output in step (3), we
61    can see that ``IvyBridge-IBRS-x86_64-cpu`` is present in socket 0,
62    while hot-plugging a CPU into socket 1 requires passing the listed
63    properties to QMP ``device_add``::
64
65      (QEMU) device_add id=cpu-2 driver=IvyBridge-IBRS-x86_64-cpu socket-id=1 core-id=0 thread-id=0
66      {
67          "execute": "device_add",
68          "arguments": {
69              "socket-id": 1,
70              "driver": "IvyBridge-IBRS-x86_64-cpu",
71              "id": "cpu-2",
72              "core-id": 0,
73              "thread-id": 0
74          }
75      }
76      {
77          "return": {}
78      }
79      (QEMU)
80
81(5) Optionally, run QMP ``query-cpus-fast`` for some details about the
82    vCPUs::
83
84      (QEMU) query-cpus-fast
85      {
86          "execute": "query-cpus-fast",
87          "arguments": {}
88      }
89      {
90          "return": [
91              {
92                  "qom-path": "/machine/unattached/device[0]",
93                  "target": "x86_64",
94                  "thread-id": 11534,
95                  "cpu-index": 0,
96                  "props": {
97                      "socket-id": 0,
98                      "core-id": 0,
99                      "thread-id": 0
100                  },
101                  "arch": "x86"
102              },
103              {
104                  "qom-path": "/machine/peripheral/cpu-2",
105                  "target": "x86_64",
106                  "thread-id": 12106,
107                  "cpu-index": 1,
108                  "props": {
109                      "socket-id": 1,
110                      "core-id": 0,
111                      "thread-id": 0
112                  },
113                  "arch": "x86"
114              }
115          ]
116      }
117      (QEMU)
118
119vCPU hot-unplug
120---------------
121
122From the 'qmp-shell', invoke the QMP ``device_del`` command::
123
124      (QEMU) device_del id=cpu-2
125      {
126          "execute": "device_del",
127          "arguments": {
128              "id": "cpu-2"
129          }
130      }
131      {
132          "return": {}
133      }
134      (QEMU)
135
136.. note::
137    vCPU hot-unplug requires guest cooperation; so the ``device_del``
138    command above does not guarantee vCPU removal -- it's a "request to
139    unplug".  At this point, the guest will get a System Control
140    Interrupt (SCI) and calls the ACPI handler for the affected vCPU
141    device.  Then the guest kernel will bring the vCPU offline and tell
142    QEMU to unplug it.
143