diff mbox series

[RFC,3/7] util: Introduce ThreadContext user-creatable object

Message ID 20220721120732.118133-4-david@redhat.com (mailing list archive)
State New, archived
Headers show
Series hostmem: NUMA-aware memory preallocation using ThreadContext | expand

Commit Message

David Hildenbrand July 21, 2022, 12:07 p.m. UTC
Setting the CPU affinity of QEMU threads is a bit problematic, because
QEMU doesn't always have permissions to set the CPU affinity itself,
for example, with seccomp after initialized by QEMU:
    -sandbox enable=on,resourcecontrol=deny

While upper layers are already aware how to handl;e CPU affinities for
long-lived threads like iothreads or vcpu threads, especially short-lived
threads, as used for memory-backend preallocation, are more involved to
handle. These threads are created on demand and upper layers are not even
able to identify and configure them.

Introduce the concept of a ThreadContext, that is essentially a thread
used for creating new threads. All threads created via that context
thread inherit the configured CPU affinity. Consequently, it's
sufficient to create a ThreadContext and configure it once, and have all
threads created via that ThreadContext inherit the same CPU affinity.

The CPU affinity of a ThreadContext can be configured two ways:

(1) Obtaining the thread id via the "thread-id" property and setting the
    CPU affinity manually.

(2) Setting the "cpu-affinity" property and letting QEMU try set the
    CPU affinity itself. This will fail if QEMU doesn't have permissions
    to do so anymore after seccomp was initialized.

A ThreadContext can be reused, simply be reconfiguring the CPU affinity.

Signed-off-by: David Hildenbrand <david@redhat.com>
---
 include/qemu/thread-context.h |  58 +++++++
 qapi/qom.json                 |  16 ++
 util/meson.build              |   1 +
 util/oslib-posix.c            |   1 +
 util/thread-context.c         | 279 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 5 files changed, 355 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 include/qemu/thread-context.h
 create mode 100644 util/thread-context.c

Comments

Michal Prívozník Aug. 5, 2022, 11:01 a.m. UTC | #1
On 7/21/22 14:07, David Hildenbrand wrote:
> Setting the CPU affinity of QEMU threads is a bit problematic, because
> QEMU doesn't always have permissions to set the CPU affinity itself,
> for example, with seccomp after initialized by QEMU:
>     -sandbox enable=on,resourcecontrol=deny
> 
> While upper layers are already aware how to handl;e CPU affinities for
> long-lived threads like iothreads or vcpu threads, especially short-lived
> threads, as used for memory-backend preallocation, are more involved to
> handle. These threads are created on demand and upper layers are not even
> able to identify and configure them.
> 
> Introduce the concept of a ThreadContext, that is essentially a thread
> used for creating new threads. All threads created via that context
> thread inherit the configured CPU affinity. Consequently, it's
> sufficient to create a ThreadContext and configure it once, and have all
> threads created via that ThreadContext inherit the same CPU affinity.
> 
> The CPU affinity of a ThreadContext can be configured two ways:
> 
> (1) Obtaining the thread id via the "thread-id" property and setting the
>     CPU affinity manually.
> 
> (2) Setting the "cpu-affinity" property and letting QEMU try set the
>     CPU affinity itself. This will fail if QEMU doesn't have permissions
>     to do so anymore after seccomp was initialized.
> 
> A ThreadContext can be reused, simply be reconfiguring the CPU affinity.
> 
> Signed-off-by: David Hildenbrand <david@redhat.com>
> ---
>  include/qemu/thread-context.h |  58 +++++++
>  qapi/qom.json                 |  16 ++
>  util/meson.build              |   1 +
>  util/oslib-posix.c            |   1 +
>  util/thread-context.c         | 279 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  5 files changed, 355 insertions(+)
>  create mode 100644 include/qemu/thread-context.h
>  create mode 100644 util/thread-context.c
> 
> diff --git a/include/qemu/thread-context.h b/include/qemu/thread-context.h
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000000..c799cbe7a1
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/include/qemu/thread-context.h
> @@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
> +/*
> + * QEMU Thread Context
> + *
> + * Copyright Red Hat Inc., 2022
> + *
> + * Authors:
> + *  David Hildenbrand <david@redhat.com>
> + *
> + * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
> + * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
> + *
> + */
> +
> +#ifndef SYSEMU_THREAD_CONTEXT_H
> +#define SYSEMU_THREAD_CONTEXT_H
> +
> +#include "qapi/qapi-types-machine.h"
> +#include "qemu/thread.h"
> +#include "qom/object.h"
> +
> +#define TYPE_THREAD_CONTEXT "thread-context"
> +OBJECT_DECLARE_TYPE(ThreadContext, ThreadContextClass,
> +                    THREAD_CONTEXT)
> +
> +struct ThreadContextClass {
> +    ObjectClass parent_class;
> +};
> +
> +struct ThreadContext {
> +    /* private */
> +    Object parent;
> +
> +    /* private */
> +    unsigned int thread_id;
> +    QemuThread thread;
> +
> +    /* Semaphore to wait for context thread action. */
> +    QemuSemaphore sem;
> +    /* Semaphore to wait for action in context thread. */
> +    QemuSemaphore sem_thread;
> +    /* Mutex to synchronize requests. */
> +    QemuMutex mutex;
> +
> +    /* Commands for the thread to execute. */
> +    int thread_cmd;
> +    void *thread_cmd_data;
> +
> +    /* CPU affinity bitmap used for initialization. */
> +    unsigned long *init_cpu_bitmap;
> +    int init_cpu_nbits;
> +};
> +
> +void thread_context_create_thread(ThreadContext *tc, QemuThread *thread,
> +                                  const char *name,
> +                                  void *(*start_routine)(void *), void *arg,
> +                                  int mode);
> +
> +#endif /* SYSEMU_THREAD_CONTEXT_H */
> diff --git a/qapi/qom.json b/qapi/qom.json
> index 80dd419b39..4775a333ed 100644
> --- a/qapi/qom.json
> +++ b/qapi/qom.json
> @@ -830,6 +830,20 @@
>              'reduced-phys-bits': 'uint32',
>              '*kernel-hashes': 'bool' } }
>  
> +##
> +# @ThreadContextProperties:
> +#
> +# Properties for thread context objects.
> +#
> +# @cpu-affinity: the CPU affinity for all threads created in the thread
> +#                context (default: QEMU main thread affinity)
> +#
> +# Since: 7.2
> +##
> +{ 'struct': 'ThreadContextProperties',
> +  'data': { '*cpu-affinity': ['uint16'] } }
> +
> +
>  ##
>  # @ObjectType:
>  #
> @@ -882,6 +896,7 @@
>      { 'name': 'secret_keyring',
>        'if': 'CONFIG_SECRET_KEYRING' },
>      'sev-guest',
> +    'thread-context',
>      's390-pv-guest',
>      'throttle-group',
>      'tls-creds-anon',
> @@ -948,6 +963,7 @@
>        'secret_keyring':             { 'type': 'SecretKeyringProperties',
>                                        'if': 'CONFIG_SECRET_KEYRING' },
>        'sev-guest':                  'SevGuestProperties',
> +      'thread-context':             'ThreadContextProperties',
>        'throttle-group':             'ThrottleGroupProperties',
>        'tls-creds-anon':             'TlsCredsAnonProperties',
>        'tls-creds-psk':              'TlsCredsPskProperties',
> diff --git a/util/meson.build b/util/meson.build
> index 5e282130df..e97cd2d779 100644
> --- a/util/meson.build
> +++ b/util/meson.build
> @@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
>  util_ss.add(files('osdep.c', 'cutils.c', 'unicode.c', 'qemu-timer-common.c'))
> +util_ss.add(files('thread-context.c'))
>  if not config_host_data.get('CONFIG_ATOMIC64')
>    util_ss.add(files('atomic64.c'))
>  endif
> diff --git a/util/oslib-posix.c b/util/oslib-posix.c
> index 75e8cdcf3e..fa66f73bf8 100644
> --- a/util/oslib-posix.c
> +++ b/util/oslib-posix.c
> @@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
>  #include "qemu/cutils.h"
>  #include "qemu/compiler.h"
>  #include "qemu/units.h"
> +#include "qemu/thread-context.h"
>  
>  #ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
>  #include <sys/syscall.h>
> diff --git a/util/thread-context.c b/util/thread-context.c
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000000..dcd607c532
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/util/thread-context.c
> @@ -0,0 +1,279 @@
> +/*
> + * QEMU Thread Context
> + *
> + * Copyright Red Hat Inc., 2022
> + *
> + * Authors:
> + *  David Hildenbrand <david@redhat.com>
> + *
> + * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
> + * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
> + *
> + */
> +
> +#include "qemu/osdep.h"
> +#include "qemu/thread-context.h"
> +#include "qapi/error.h"
> +#include "qapi/qapi-builtin-visit.h"
> +#include "qapi/visitor.h"
> +#include "qemu/config-file.h"
> +#include "qapi/qapi-builtin-visit.h"
> +#include "qom/object_interfaces.h"
> +#include "qemu/module.h"
> +#include "qemu/bitmap.h"
> +
> +enum {
> +    TC_CMD_NONE = 0,
> +    TC_CMD_STOP,
> +    TC_CMD_NEW,
> +};
> +
> +typedef struct ThreadContextCmdNew {
> +    QemuThread *thread;
> +    const char *name;
> +    void *(*start_routine)(void *);
> +    void *arg;
> +    int mode;
> +} ThreadContextCmdNew;
> +
> +static void *thread_context_run(void *opaque)
> +{
> +    ThreadContext *tc = opaque;
> +
> +    tc->thread_id = qemu_get_thread_id();
> +    qemu_sem_post(&tc->sem);
> +
> +    while (true) {
> +        /*
> +         * Threads inherit the CPU affinity of the creating thread. For this
> +         * reason, we create new (especially short-lived) threads from our
> +         * persistent context thread.
> +         *
> +         * Especially when QEMU is not allowed to set the affinity itself,
> +         * management tools can simply set the affinity of the context thread
> +         * after creating the context, to have new threads created via
> +         * the context inherit the CPU affinity automatically.
> +         */
> +        switch (tc->thread_cmd) {
> +        case TC_CMD_NONE:
> +            break;
> +        case TC_CMD_STOP:
> +            tc->thread_cmd = TC_CMD_NONE;
> +            qemu_sem_post(&tc->sem);
> +            return NULL;
> +        case TC_CMD_NEW: {
> +            ThreadContextCmdNew *cmd_new = tc->thread_cmd_data;
> +
> +            qemu_thread_create(cmd_new->thread, cmd_new->name,
> +                               cmd_new->start_routine, cmd_new->arg,
> +                               cmd_new->mode);
> +            tc->thread_cmd = TC_CMD_NONE;
> +            tc->thread_cmd_data = NULL;
> +            qemu_sem_post(&tc->sem);
> +            break;
> +        }
> +        default:
> +            g_assert_not_reached();
> +        }
> +        qemu_sem_wait(&tc->sem_thread);
> +    }
> +}
> +
> +static void thread_context_set_cpu_affinity(Object *obj, Visitor *v,
> +                                            const char *name, void *opaque,
> +                                            Error **errp)
> +{
> +    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(obj);
> +    uint16List *l, *host_cpus = NULL;
> +    unsigned long *bitmap = NULL;
> +    int nbits = 0, ret;
> +    Error *err = NULL;
> +
> +    visit_type_uint16List(v, name, &host_cpus, &err);
> +    if (err) {
> +        error_propagate(errp, err);
> +        return;
> +    }
> +
> +    if (!host_cpus) {
> +        error_setg(errp, "CPU list is empty");
> +        goto out;
> +    }
> +
> +    for (l = host_cpus; l; l = l->next) {
> +        nbits = MAX(nbits, l->value + 1);
> +    }
> +    bitmap = bitmap_new(nbits);
> +    for (l = host_cpus; l; l = l->next) {
> +        set_bit(l->value, bitmap);
> +    }
> +
> +    if (tc->thread_id != -1) {
> +        /*
> +         * Note: we won't be adjusting the affinity of any thread that is still
> +         * around, but only the affinity of the context thread.
> +         */
> +        ret = qemu_thread_set_affinity(&tc->thread, bitmap, nbits);
> +        if (ret) {
> +            error_setg(errp, "Setting CPU affinity failed: %s", strerror(ret));
> +        }
> +    } else {
> +        tc->init_cpu_bitmap = bitmap;
> +        bitmap = NULL;
> +        tc->init_cpu_nbits = nbits;
> +    }
> +out:
> +    g_free(bitmap);
> +    qapi_free_uint16List(host_cpus);
> +}
> +
> +static void thread_context_get_cpu_affinity(Object *obj, Visitor *v,
> +                                            const char *name, void *opaque,
> +                                            Error **errp)
> +{
> +    unsigned long *bitmap, nbits, value;
> +    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(obj);
> +    uint16List *host_cpus = NULL;
> +    uint16List **tail = &host_cpus;
> +    int ret;
> +
> +    if (tc->thread_id == -1) {
> +        error_setg(errp, "Object not initialized yet");
> +        return;
> +    }
> +
> +    ret = qemu_thread_get_affinity(&tc->thread, &bitmap, &nbits);
> +    if (ret) {
> +        error_setg(errp, "Getting CPU affinity failed: %s", strerror(ret));
> +        return;
> +    }
> +
> +    value = find_first_bit(bitmap, nbits);
> +    while (value < nbits) {
> +        QAPI_LIST_APPEND(tail, value);
> +
> +        value = find_next_bit(bitmap, nbits, value + 1);
> +    }
> +    g_free(bitmap);
> +
> +    visit_type_uint16List(v, name, &host_cpus, errp);
> +    qapi_free_uint16List(host_cpus);
> +}
> +
> +static void thread_context_get_thread_id(Object *obj, Visitor *v,
> +                                         const char *name, void *opaque,
> +                                         Error **errp)
> +{
> +    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(obj);
> +    uint64_t value = tc->thread_id;
> +
> +    visit_type_uint64(v, name, &value, errp);
> +}
> +
> +static void thread_context_instance_complete(UserCreatable *uc, Error **errp)
> +{
> +    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(uc);
> +    char *thread_name;
> +    int ret;
> +
> +    thread_name = g_strdup_printf("TC %s",
> +                               object_get_canonical_path_component(OBJECT(uc)));
> +    qemu_thread_create(&tc->thread, thread_name, thread_context_run, tc,
> +                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);


This ^^^^ (see my comment to 7/7)

> +    g_free(thread_name);
> +
> +    /* Wait until initialization of the thread is done. */
> +    while (tc->thread_id == -1) {
> +        qemu_sem_wait(&tc->sem);
> +    }
> +
> +    if (tc->init_cpu_bitmap) {
> +        ret = qemu_thread_set_affinity(&tc->thread, tc->init_cpu_bitmap,
> +                                       tc->init_cpu_nbits);
> +        if (ret) {
> +            error_setg(errp, "Setting CPU affinity failed: %s", strerror(ret));
> +        }
> +        g_free(tc->init_cpu_bitmap);
> +        tc->init_cpu_bitmap = NULL;
> +    }
> +}

Michal
diff mbox series

Patch

diff --git a/include/qemu/thread-context.h b/include/qemu/thread-context.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c799cbe7a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/qemu/thread-context.h
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@ 
+/*
+ * QEMU Thread Context
+ *
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc., 2022
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  David Hildenbrand <david@redhat.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ *
+ */
+
+#ifndef SYSEMU_THREAD_CONTEXT_H
+#define SYSEMU_THREAD_CONTEXT_H
+
+#include "qapi/qapi-types-machine.h"
+#include "qemu/thread.h"
+#include "qom/object.h"
+
+#define TYPE_THREAD_CONTEXT "thread-context"
+OBJECT_DECLARE_TYPE(ThreadContext, ThreadContextClass,
+                    THREAD_CONTEXT)
+
+struct ThreadContextClass {
+    ObjectClass parent_class;
+};
+
+struct ThreadContext {
+    /* private */
+    Object parent;
+
+    /* private */
+    unsigned int thread_id;
+    QemuThread thread;
+
+    /* Semaphore to wait for context thread action. */
+    QemuSemaphore sem;
+    /* Semaphore to wait for action in context thread. */
+    QemuSemaphore sem_thread;
+    /* Mutex to synchronize requests. */
+    QemuMutex mutex;
+
+    /* Commands for the thread to execute. */
+    int thread_cmd;
+    void *thread_cmd_data;
+
+    /* CPU affinity bitmap used for initialization. */
+    unsigned long *init_cpu_bitmap;
+    int init_cpu_nbits;
+};
+
+void thread_context_create_thread(ThreadContext *tc, QemuThread *thread,
+                                  const char *name,
+                                  void *(*start_routine)(void *), void *arg,
+                                  int mode);
+
+#endif /* SYSEMU_THREAD_CONTEXT_H */
diff --git a/qapi/qom.json b/qapi/qom.json
index 80dd419b39..4775a333ed 100644
--- a/qapi/qom.json
+++ b/qapi/qom.json
@@ -830,6 +830,20 @@ 
             'reduced-phys-bits': 'uint32',
             '*kernel-hashes': 'bool' } }
 
+##
+# @ThreadContextProperties:
+#
+# Properties for thread context objects.
+#
+# @cpu-affinity: the CPU affinity for all threads created in the thread
+#                context (default: QEMU main thread affinity)
+#
+# Since: 7.2
+##
+{ 'struct': 'ThreadContextProperties',
+  'data': { '*cpu-affinity': ['uint16'] } }
+
+
 ##
 # @ObjectType:
 #
@@ -882,6 +896,7 @@ 
     { 'name': 'secret_keyring',
       'if': 'CONFIG_SECRET_KEYRING' },
     'sev-guest',
+    'thread-context',
     's390-pv-guest',
     'throttle-group',
     'tls-creds-anon',
@@ -948,6 +963,7 @@ 
       'secret_keyring':             { 'type': 'SecretKeyringProperties',
                                       'if': 'CONFIG_SECRET_KEYRING' },
       'sev-guest':                  'SevGuestProperties',
+      'thread-context':             'ThreadContextProperties',
       'throttle-group':             'ThrottleGroupProperties',
       'tls-creds-anon':             'TlsCredsAnonProperties',
       'tls-creds-psk':              'TlsCredsPskProperties',
diff --git a/util/meson.build b/util/meson.build
index 5e282130df..e97cd2d779 100644
--- a/util/meson.build
+++ b/util/meson.build
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@ 
 util_ss.add(files('osdep.c', 'cutils.c', 'unicode.c', 'qemu-timer-common.c'))
+util_ss.add(files('thread-context.c'))
 if not config_host_data.get('CONFIG_ATOMIC64')
   util_ss.add(files('atomic64.c'))
 endif
diff --git a/util/oslib-posix.c b/util/oslib-posix.c
index 75e8cdcf3e..fa66f73bf8 100644
--- a/util/oslib-posix.c
+++ b/util/oslib-posix.c
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ 
 #include "qemu/cutils.h"
 #include "qemu/compiler.h"
 #include "qemu/units.h"
+#include "qemu/thread-context.h"
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_LINUX
 #include <sys/syscall.h>
diff --git a/util/thread-context.c b/util/thread-context.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dcd607c532
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/thread-context.c
@@ -0,0 +1,279 @@ 
+/*
+ * QEMU Thread Context
+ *
+ * Copyright Red Hat Inc., 2022
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  David Hildenbrand <david@redhat.com>
+ *
+ * This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+ * See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include "qemu/osdep.h"
+#include "qemu/thread-context.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
+#include "qapi/qapi-builtin-visit.h"
+#include "qapi/visitor.h"
+#include "qemu/config-file.h"
+#include "qapi/qapi-builtin-visit.h"
+#include "qom/object_interfaces.h"
+#include "qemu/module.h"
+#include "qemu/bitmap.h"
+
+enum {
+    TC_CMD_NONE = 0,
+    TC_CMD_STOP,
+    TC_CMD_NEW,
+};
+
+typedef struct ThreadContextCmdNew {
+    QemuThread *thread;
+    const char *name;
+    void *(*start_routine)(void *);
+    void *arg;
+    int mode;
+} ThreadContextCmdNew;
+
+static void *thread_context_run(void *opaque)
+{
+    ThreadContext *tc = opaque;
+
+    tc->thread_id = qemu_get_thread_id();
+    qemu_sem_post(&tc->sem);
+
+    while (true) {
+        /*
+         * Threads inherit the CPU affinity of the creating thread. For this
+         * reason, we create new (especially short-lived) threads from our
+         * persistent context thread.
+         *
+         * Especially when QEMU is not allowed to set the affinity itself,
+         * management tools can simply set the affinity of the context thread
+         * after creating the context, to have new threads created via
+         * the context inherit the CPU affinity automatically.
+         */
+        switch (tc->thread_cmd) {
+        case TC_CMD_NONE:
+            break;
+        case TC_CMD_STOP:
+            tc->thread_cmd = TC_CMD_NONE;
+            qemu_sem_post(&tc->sem);
+            return NULL;
+        case TC_CMD_NEW: {
+            ThreadContextCmdNew *cmd_new = tc->thread_cmd_data;
+
+            qemu_thread_create(cmd_new->thread, cmd_new->name,
+                               cmd_new->start_routine, cmd_new->arg,
+                               cmd_new->mode);
+            tc->thread_cmd = TC_CMD_NONE;
+            tc->thread_cmd_data = NULL;
+            qemu_sem_post(&tc->sem);
+            break;
+        }
+        default:
+            g_assert_not_reached();
+        }
+        qemu_sem_wait(&tc->sem_thread);
+    }
+}
+
+static void thread_context_set_cpu_affinity(Object *obj, Visitor *v,
+                                            const char *name, void *opaque,
+                                            Error **errp)
+{
+    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(obj);
+    uint16List *l, *host_cpus = NULL;
+    unsigned long *bitmap = NULL;
+    int nbits = 0, ret;
+    Error *err = NULL;
+
+    visit_type_uint16List(v, name, &host_cpus, &err);
+    if (err) {
+        error_propagate(errp, err);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    if (!host_cpus) {
+        error_setg(errp, "CPU list is empty");
+        goto out;
+    }
+
+    for (l = host_cpus; l; l = l->next) {
+        nbits = MAX(nbits, l->value + 1);
+    }
+    bitmap = bitmap_new(nbits);
+    for (l = host_cpus; l; l = l->next) {
+        set_bit(l->value, bitmap);
+    }
+
+    if (tc->thread_id != -1) {
+        /*
+         * Note: we won't be adjusting the affinity of any thread that is still
+         * around, but only the affinity of the context thread.
+         */
+        ret = qemu_thread_set_affinity(&tc->thread, bitmap, nbits);
+        if (ret) {
+            error_setg(errp, "Setting CPU affinity failed: %s", strerror(ret));
+        }
+    } else {
+        tc->init_cpu_bitmap = bitmap;
+        bitmap = NULL;
+        tc->init_cpu_nbits = nbits;
+    }
+out:
+    g_free(bitmap);
+    qapi_free_uint16List(host_cpus);
+}
+
+static void thread_context_get_cpu_affinity(Object *obj, Visitor *v,
+                                            const char *name, void *opaque,
+                                            Error **errp)
+{
+    unsigned long *bitmap, nbits, value;
+    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(obj);
+    uint16List *host_cpus = NULL;
+    uint16List **tail = &host_cpus;
+    int ret;
+
+    if (tc->thread_id == -1) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Object not initialized yet");
+        return;
+    }
+
+    ret = qemu_thread_get_affinity(&tc->thread, &bitmap, &nbits);
+    if (ret) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Getting CPU affinity failed: %s", strerror(ret));
+        return;
+    }
+
+    value = find_first_bit(bitmap, nbits);
+    while (value < nbits) {
+        QAPI_LIST_APPEND(tail, value);
+
+        value = find_next_bit(bitmap, nbits, value + 1);
+    }
+    g_free(bitmap);
+
+    visit_type_uint16List(v, name, &host_cpus, errp);
+    qapi_free_uint16List(host_cpus);
+}
+
+static void thread_context_get_thread_id(Object *obj, Visitor *v,
+                                         const char *name, void *opaque,
+                                         Error **errp)
+{
+    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(obj);
+    uint64_t value = tc->thread_id;
+
+    visit_type_uint64(v, name, &value, errp);
+}
+
+static void thread_context_instance_complete(UserCreatable *uc, Error **errp)
+{
+    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(uc);
+    char *thread_name;
+    int ret;
+
+    thread_name = g_strdup_printf("TC %s",
+                               object_get_canonical_path_component(OBJECT(uc)));
+    qemu_thread_create(&tc->thread, thread_name, thread_context_run, tc,
+                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+    g_free(thread_name);
+
+    /* Wait until initialization of the thread is done. */
+    while (tc->thread_id == -1) {
+        qemu_sem_wait(&tc->sem);
+    }
+
+    if (tc->init_cpu_bitmap) {
+        ret = qemu_thread_set_affinity(&tc->thread, tc->init_cpu_bitmap,
+                                       tc->init_cpu_nbits);
+        if (ret) {
+            error_setg(errp, "Setting CPU affinity failed: %s", strerror(ret));
+        }
+        g_free(tc->init_cpu_bitmap);
+        tc->init_cpu_bitmap = NULL;
+    }
+}
+
+static void thread_context_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
+{
+    UserCreatableClass *ucc = USER_CREATABLE_CLASS(oc);
+
+    ucc->complete = thread_context_instance_complete;
+    object_class_property_add(oc, "thread-id", "int",
+                              thread_context_get_thread_id, NULL, NULL,
+                              NULL);
+    object_class_property_add(oc, "cpu-affinity", "int",
+                              thread_context_get_cpu_affinity,
+                              thread_context_set_cpu_affinity, NULL, NULL);
+}
+
+static void thread_context_instance_init(Object *obj)
+{
+    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(obj);
+
+    tc->thread_id = -1;
+    qemu_sem_init(&tc->sem, 0);
+    qemu_sem_init(&tc->sem_thread, 0);
+    qemu_mutex_init(&tc->mutex);
+}
+
+static void thread_context_instance_finalize(Object *obj)
+{
+    ThreadContext *tc = THREAD_CONTEXT(obj);
+
+    if (tc->thread_id != -1) {
+        tc->thread_cmd = TC_CMD_STOP;
+        qemu_sem_post(&tc->sem_thread);
+        qemu_thread_join(&tc->thread);
+    }
+    qemu_sem_destroy(&tc->sem);
+    qemu_sem_destroy(&tc->sem_thread);
+    qemu_mutex_destroy(&tc->mutex);
+}
+
+static const TypeInfo thread_context_info = {
+    .name = TYPE_THREAD_CONTEXT,
+    .parent = TYPE_OBJECT,
+    .class_init = thread_context_class_init,
+    .instance_size = sizeof(ThreadContext),
+    .instance_init = thread_context_instance_init,
+    .instance_finalize = thread_context_instance_finalize,
+    .interfaces = (InterfaceInfo[]) {
+        { TYPE_USER_CREATABLE },
+        { }
+    }
+};
+
+static void thread_context_register_types(void)
+{
+    type_register_static(&thread_context_info);
+}
+type_init(thread_context_register_types)
+
+void thread_context_create_thread(ThreadContext *tc, QemuThread *thread,
+                                  const char *name,
+                                  void *(*start_routine)(void *), void *arg,
+                                  int mode)
+{
+    ThreadContextCmdNew data = {
+        .thread = thread,
+        .name = name,
+        .start_routine = start_routine,
+        .arg = arg,
+        .mode = mode,
+    };
+
+    qemu_mutex_lock(&tc->mutex);
+    tc->thread_cmd = TC_CMD_NEW;
+    tc->thread_cmd_data = &data;
+    qemu_sem_post(&tc->sem_thread);
+
+    while (tc->thread_cmd != TC_CMD_NONE) {
+        qemu_sem_wait(&tc->sem);
+    }
+    qemu_mutex_unlock(&tc->mutex);
+}