@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ the feature can be combined with guest_memfd support in Firecracker.
122122
123123### Limitations
124124
125- - High snapshot latency on 5.4+ host kernels due to cgroups V1 . We strongly
125+ - High snapshot restoration latency when cgroups V1 are in use . We strongly
126126 recommend to deploy snapshots on cgroups V2 enabled hosts for the implied
127127 kernel versions -
128128 [ related issue] ( https://github.com/firecracker-microvm/firecracker/issues/2129 ) .
@@ -145,10 +145,11 @@ the feature can be combined with guest_memfd support in Firecracker.
145145 resumed from snapshot load memory on-demand from the snapshot and
146146 copy-on-write to anonymous memory.
147147- Resuming from a snapshot is optimized for speed, while taking a snapshot
148- involves some extra CPU cycles for synchronously writing dirty memory pages to
149- the memory snapshot file. Taking a snapshot of a fresh microVM, on which dirty
150- pages tracking is not enabled, results in the full contents of guest memory
151- being written to the snapshot.
148+ involves some extra CPU cycles for synchronously writing memory pages to the
149+ memory snapshot file. Taking a full snapshot of a microVM, on which dirty page
150+ tracking is not enabled, results in the full contents of guest memory being
151+ written to the snapshot, and particularly, in all guest memory being faulted
152+ in.
152153- The _ memory file_ and _ microVM state file_ are generated by Firecracker on
153154 snapshot creation. The disk contents are _ not_ explicitly flushed to their
154155 backing files.
@@ -356,10 +357,12 @@ Enabling this support enables KVM dirty page tracking, so it comes at a cost
356357(which consists of CPU cycles spent by KVM accounting for dirtied pages); it
357358should only be used when needed.
358359
359- Creating a snapshot will ** not** influence state, will ** not** stop or end the
360- microVM, it can be used as before, so the microVM can be resumed if you still
361- want to use it. At this point, in case you plan to continue using the current
362- microVM, you should make sure to also copy the disk backing files.
360+ Creating a snapshot has some minor effects on the currently running microVM:
361+
362+ - The vsock device is [ reset] ( #vsock-device-reset ) , causing the driver to
363+ terminate connection on resumption.
364+ - On x86_64, a notification for KVM-clock is injected to notify the guest about
365+ being paused.
363366
364367### Resuming the microVM
365368
@@ -384,8 +387,8 @@ ignored (microVM remains in the running state). **Effects**:
384387### Loading snapshots
385388
386389If you want to load a snapshot, you can do that only ** before** the microVM is
387- configured (the only resources that can be configured prior are the Logger and
388- the Metrics systems) by sending the following API command:
390+ configured (the only resources that can be configured prior are the logger and
391+ the metrics systems) by sending the following API command:
389392
390393``` bash
391394curl --unix-socket /tmp/firecracker.socket -i \
@@ -472,28 +475,10 @@ to the new Firecracker process as they were to the original one.
472475- _ on failure_ : A specific error is reported and then the current Firecracker
473476 process is ended (as it might be in an invalid state).
474477
475- * Notes* : Please, keep in mind that only by setting to true
476- ` enable_diff_snapshots ` , when loading a snapshot, or ` track_dirty_pages ` , when
477- configuring the machine on a fresh microVM, you can then create a ` diff `
478- snapshot. Also, ` track_dirty_pages ` is not saved when creating a snapshot, so
479- you need to explicitly set ` enable_diff_snapshots ` when sending
480- ` LoadSnapshot ` command if you want to be able to do diff snapshots from a loaded
481- microVM. Another thing that you should be aware of is the following: if a fresh
482- microVM can create diff snapshots, then if you create a ** full** snapshot, the
483- memory file contains the whole guest memory, while if you create a ** diff** one,
484- that file is sparse and only contains the guest dirtied pages. With these in
485- mind, some possible snapshotting scenarios are the following:
486-
487- - ` Boot from a fresh microVM ` -> ` Pause ` -> ` Create snapshot ` -> ` Resume ` ->
488- ` Pause ` -> ` Create snapshot ` -> ... ;
489- - ` Boot from a fresh microVM ` -> ` Pause ` -> ` Create snapshot ` -> ` Resume ` ->
490- ` Pause ` -> ` Resume ` -> ... -> ` Pause ` -> ` Create snapshot ` -> ... ;
491- - ` Load snapshot ` -> ` Resume ` -> ` Pause ` -> ` Create snapshot ` -> ` Resume ` ->
492- ` Pause ` -> ` Create snapshot ` -> ... ;
493- - ` Load snapshot ` -> ` Resume ` -> ` Pause ` -> ` Create snapshot ` -> ` Resume ` ->
494- ` Pause ` -> ` Resume ` -> ... -> ` Pause ` -> ` Create snapshot ` -> ... ; where
495- ` Create snapshot ` can refer to either a full or a diff snapshot for all the
496- aforementioned flows.
478+ * Notes* : The ` track_dirty_pages ` configuration is not saved when creating a
479+ snapshot, so you need to explicitly set ` track_dirty_pages ` again when sending
480+ the ` LoadSnapshot ` command if you want to be able to do dirty page tracking
481+ based diff snapshots from a loaded microVM.
497482
498483It is also worth knowing, a microVM that is restored from snapshot will be
499484resumed with the guest OS wall-clock continuing from the moment of the snapshot
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