lguest: documentation IV: Launcher

Documentation: The Launcher

Signed-off-by: Rusty Russell <rusty@rustcorp.com.au>
Signed-off-by: Andrew Morton <akpm@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>

1 files changed, 555 insertions, 44 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/lguest/lguest.c b/Documentation/lguest/lguest.c
index fc1bf70abfb1..d7e26f025959 100644
--- a/Documentation/lguest/lguest.c
+++ b/Documentation/lguest/lguest.c
@@ -34,12 +34,20 @@
 #include <termios.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <zlib.h>
+/*L:110 We can ignore the 28 include files we need for this program, but I do
+ * want to draw attention to the use of kernel-style types.
+ *
+ * As Linus said, "C is a Spartan language, and so should your naming be."  I
+ * like these abbreviations and the header we need uses them, so we define them
+ * here.
+ */
 typedef unsigned long long u64;
 typedef uint32_t u32;
 typedef uint16_t u16;
 typedef uint8_t u8;
 #include "../../include/linux/lguest_launcher.h"
 #include "../../include/asm-i386/e820.h"
+/*:*/
 
 #define PAGE_PRESENT 0x7        /* Present, RW, Execute */
 #define NET_PEERNUM 1
@@ -48,33 +56,52 @@ typedef uint8_t u8;
 #define SIOCBRADDIF     0x89a2          /* add interface to bridge      */
 #endif
 
+/*L:120 verbose is both a global flag and a macro.  The C preprocessor allows
+ * this, and although I wouldn't recommend it, it works quite nicely here. */
 static bool verbose;
 #define verbose(args...) \
         do { if (verbose) printf(args); } while(0)
+/*:*/
+
+/* The pipe to send commands to the waker process */
 static int waker_fd;
+/* The top of guest physical memory. */
 static u32 top;
 
+/* This is our list of devices. */
 struct device_list
 {
+        /* Summary information about the devices in our list: ready to pass to
+         * select() to ask which need servicing.*/
         fd_set infds;
         int max_infd;
 
+        /* The descriptor page for the devices. */
         struct lguest_device_desc *descs;
+
+        /* A single linked list of devices. */
         struct device *dev;
+        /* ... And an end pointer so we can easily append new devices */
         struct device **lastdev;
 };
 
+/* The device structure describes a single device. */
 struct device
 {
+        /* The linked-list pointer. */
         struct device *next;
+        /* The descriptor for this device, as mapped into the Guest. */
         struct lguest_device_desc *desc;
+        /* The memory page(s) of this device, if any.  Also mapped in Guest. */
         void *mem;
 
-        /* Watch this fd if handle_input non-NULL. */
+        /* If handle_input is set, it wants to be called when this file
+         * descriptor is ready. */
         int fd;
         bool (*handle_input)(int fd, struct device *me);
 
-        /* Watch DMA to this key if handle_input non-NULL. */
+        /* If handle_output is set, it wants to be called when the Guest sends
+         * DMA to this key. */
         unsigned long watch_key;
         u32 (*handle_output)(int fd, const struct iovec *iov,
                              unsigned int num, struct device *me);
@@ -83,6 +110,11 @@ struct device
         void *priv;
 };
 
+/*L:130
+ * Loading the Kernel.
+ *
+ * We start with couple of simple helper routines.  open_or_die() avoids
+ * error-checking code cluttering the callers: */
 static int open_or_die(const char *name, int flags)
 {
         int fd = open(name, flags);
@@ -91,26 +123,38 @@ static int open_or_die(const char *name, int flags)
         return fd;
 }
 
+/* map_zeroed_pages() takes a (page-aligned) address and a number of pages. */
 static void *map_zeroed_pages(unsigned long addr, unsigned int num)
 {
+        /* We cache the /dev/zero file-descriptor so we only open it once. */
         static int fd = -1;
 
         if (fd == -1)
                 fd = open_or_die("/dev/zero", O_RDONLY);
 
+        /* We use a private mapping (ie. if we write to the page, it will be
+         * copied), and obviously we insist that it be mapped where we ask. */
         if (mmap((void *)addr, getpagesize() * num,
                  PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC, MAP_FIXED|MAP_PRIVATE, fd, 0)
             != (void *)addr)
                 err(1, "Mmaping %u pages of /dev/zero @%p", num, (void *)addr);
+
+        /* Returning the address is just a courtesy: can simplify callers. */
         return (void *)addr;
 }
 
-/* Find magic string marking entry point, return entry point. */
+/* To find out where to start we look for the magic Guest string, which marks
+ * the code we see in lguest_asm.S.  This is a hack which we are currently
+ * plotting to replace with the normal Linux entry point. */
 static unsigned long entry_point(void *start, void *end,
                                  unsigned long page_offset)
 {
         void *p;
 
+        /* The scan gives us the physical starting address.  We want the
+         * virtual address in this case, and fortunately, we already figured
+         * out the physical-virtual difference and passed it here in
+         * "page_offset". */
         for (p = start; p < end; p++)
                 if (memcmp(p, "GenuineLguest", strlen("GenuineLguest")) == 0)
                         return (long)p + strlen("GenuineLguest") + page_offset;
@@ -118,7 +162,17 @@ static unsigned long entry_point(void *start, void *end,
         err(1, "Is this image a genuine lguest?");
 }
 
-/* Returns the entry point */
+/* This routine takes an open vmlinux image, which is in ELF, and maps it into
+ * the Guest memory.  ELF = Embedded Linking Format, which is the format used
+ * by all modern binaries on Linux including the kernel.
+ *
+ * The ELF headers give *two* addresses: a physical address, and a virtual
+ * address.  The Guest kernel expects to be placed in memory at the physical
+ * address, and the page tables set up so it will correspond to that virtual
+ * address.  We return the difference between the virtual and physical
+ * addresses in the "page_offset" pointer.
+ *
+ * We return the starting address. */
 static unsigned long map_elf(int elf_fd, const Elf32_Ehdr *ehdr,
                              unsigned long *page_offset)
 {
@@ -127,40 +181,61 @@ static unsigned long map_elf(int elf_fd, const Elf32_Ehdr *ehdr,
         unsigned int i;
         unsigned long start = -1UL, end = 0;
 
-        /* Sanity checks. */
+        /* Sanity checks on the main ELF header: an x86 executable with a
+         * reasonable number of correctly-sized program headers. */
         if (ehdr->e_type != ET_EXEC
             || ehdr->e_machine != EM_386
             || ehdr->e_phentsize != sizeof(Elf32_Phdr)
             || ehdr->e_phnum < 1 || ehdr->e_phnum > 65536U/sizeof(Elf32_Phdr))
                 errx(1, "Malformed elf header");
 
+        /* An ELF executable contains an ELF header and a number of "program"
+         * headers which indicate which parts ("segments") of the program to
+         * load where. */
+
+        /* We read in all the program headers at once: */
         if (lseek(elf_fd, ehdr->e_phoff, SEEK_SET) < 0)
                 err(1, "Seeking to program headers");
         if (read(elf_fd, phdr, sizeof(phdr)) != sizeof(phdr))
                 err(1, "Reading program headers");
 
+        /* We don't know page_offset yet. */
         *page_offset = 0;
-        /* We map the loadable segments at virtual addresses corresponding
-         * to their physical addresses (our virtual == guest physical). */
+
+        /* Try all the headers: there are usually only three.  A read-only one,
+         * a read-write one, and a "note" section which isn't loadable. */
         for (i = 0; i < ehdr->e_phnum; i++) {
+                /* If this isn't a loadable segment, we ignore it */
                 if (phdr[i].p_type != PT_LOAD)
                         continue;
 
                 verbose("Section %i: size %i addr %p\n",
                         i, phdr[i].p_memsz, (void *)phdr[i].p_paddr);
 
-                /* We expect linear address space. */
+                /* We expect a simple linear address space: every segment must
+                 * have the same difference between virtual (p_vaddr) and
+                 * physical (p_paddr) address. */
                 if (!*page_offset)
                         *page_offset = phdr[i].p_vaddr - phdr[i].p_paddr;
                 else if (*page_offset != phdr[i].p_vaddr - phdr[i].p_paddr)
                         errx(1, "Page offset of section %i different", i);
 
+                /* We track the first and last address we mapped, so we can
+                 * tell entry_point() where to scan. */
                 if (phdr[i].p_paddr < start)
                         start = phdr[i].p_paddr;
                 if (phdr[i].p_paddr + phdr[i].p_filesz > end)
                         end = phdr[i].p_paddr + phdr[i].p_filesz;
 
-                /* We map everything private, writable. */
+                /* We map this section of the file at its physical address.  We
+                 * map it read & write even if the header says this segment is
+                 * read-only.  The kernel really wants to be writable: it
+                 * patches its own instructions which would normally be
+                 * read-only.
+                 *
+                 * MAP_PRIVATE means that the page won't be copied until a
+                 * write is done to it.  This allows us to share much of the
+                 * kernel memory between Guests. */
                 addr = mmap((void *)phdr[i].p_paddr,
                             phdr[i].p_filesz,
                             PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE|PROT_EXEC,
@@ -174,7 +249,31 @@ static unsigned long map_elf(int elf_fd, const Elf32_Ehdr *ehdr,
         return entry_point((void *)start, (void *)end, *page_offset);
 }
 
-/* This is amazingly reliable. */
+/*L:170 Prepare to be SHOCKED and AMAZED.  And possibly a trifle nauseated.
+ *
+ * We know that CONFIG_PAGE_OFFSET sets what virtual address the kernel expects
+ * to be.  We don't know what that option was, but we can figure it out
+ * approximately by looking at the addresses in the code.  I chose the common
+ * case of reading a memory location into the %eax register:
+ *
+ *  movl <some-address>, %eax
+ *
+ * This gets encoded as five bytes: "0xA1 <4-byte-address>".  For example,
+ * "0xA1 0x18 0x60 0x47 0xC0" reads the address 0xC0476018 into %eax.
+ *
+ * In this example can guess that the kernel was compiled with
+ * CONFIG_PAGE_OFFSET set to 0xC0000000 (it's always a round number).  If the
+ * kernel were larger than 16MB, we might see 0xC1 addresses show up, but our
+ * kernel isn't that bloated yet.
+ *
+ * Unfortunately, x86 has variable-length instructions, so finding this
+ * particular instruction properly involves writing a disassembler.  Instead,
+ * we rely on statistics.  We look for "0xA1" and tally the different bytes
+ * which occur 4 bytes later (the "0xC0" in our example above).  When one of
+ * those bytes appears three times, we can be reasonably confident that it
+ * forms the start of CONFIG_PAGE_OFFSET.
+ *
+ * This is amazingly reliable. */
 static unsigned long intuit_page_offset(unsigned char *img, unsigned long len)
 {
         unsigned int i, possibilities[256] = { 0 };
@@ -187,30 +286,52 @@ static unsigned long intuit_page_offset(unsigned char *img, unsigned long len)
         errx(1, "could not determine page offset");
 }
 
+/*L:160 Unfortunately the entire ELF image isn't compressed: the segments
+ * which need loading are extracted and compressed raw.  This denies us the
+ * information we need to make a fully-general loader. */
 static unsigned long unpack_bzimage(int fd, unsigned long *page_offset)
 {
         gzFile f;
         int ret, len = 0;
+        /* A bzImage always gets loaded at physical address 1M.  This is
+         * actually configurable as CONFIG_PHYSICAL_START, but as the comment
+         * there says, "Don't change this unless you know what you are doing".
+         * Indeed. */
         void *img = (void *)0x100000;
 
+        /* gzdopen takes our file descriptor (carefully placed at the start of
+         * the GZIP header we found) and returns a gzFile. */
         f = gzdopen(fd, "rb");
+        /* We read it into memory in 64k chunks until we hit the end. */
         while ((ret = gzread(f, img + len, 65536)) > 0)
                 len += ret;
         if (ret < 0)
                 err(1, "reading image from bzImage");
 
         verbose("Unpacked size %i addr %p\n", len, img);
+
+        /* Without the ELF header, we can't tell virtual-physical gap.  This is
+         * CONFIG_PAGE_OFFSET, and people do actually change it.  Fortunately,
+         * I have a clever way of figuring it out from the code itself.  */
         *page_offset = intuit_page_offset(img, len);
 
         return entry_point(img, img + len, *page_offset);
 }
 
+/*L:150 A bzImage, unlike an ELF file, is not meant to be loaded.  You're
+ * supposed to jump into it and it will unpack itself.  We can't do that
+ * because the Guest can't run the unpacking code, and adding features to
+ * lguest kills puppies, so we don't want to.
+ *
+ * The bzImage is formed by putting the decompressing code in front of the
+ * compressed kernel code.  So we can simple scan through it looking for the
+ * first "gzip" header, and start decompressing from there. */
 static unsigned long load_bzimage(int fd, unsigned long *page_offset)
 {
         unsigned char c;
         int state = 0;
 
-        /* Ugly brute force search for gzip header. */
+        /* GZIP header is 0x1F 0x8B <method> <flags>... <compressed-by>. */
         while (read(fd, &c, 1) == 1) {
                 switch (state) {
                 case 0:
@@ -227,8 +348,10 @@ static unsigned long load_bzimage(int fd, unsigned long *page_offset)
                         state++;
                         break;
                 case 9:
+                        /* Seek back to the start of the gzip header. */
                         lseek(fd, -10, SEEK_CUR);
-                        if (c != 0x03) /* Compressed under UNIX. */
+                        /* One final check: "compressed under UNIX". */
+                        if (c != 0x03)
                                 state = -1;
                         else
                                 return unpack_bzimage(fd, page_offset);
@@ -237,25 +360,43 @@ static unsigned long load_bzimage(int fd, unsigned long *page_offset)
         errx(1, "Could not find kernel in bzImage");
 }
 
+/*L:140 Loading the kernel is easy when it's a "vmlinux", but most kernels
+ * come wrapped up in the self-decompressing "bzImage" format.  With some funky
+ * coding, we can load those, too. */
 static unsigned long load_kernel(int fd, unsigned long *page_offset)
 {
         Elf32_Ehdr hdr;
 
+        /* Read in the first few bytes. */
         if (read(fd, &hdr, sizeof(hdr)) != sizeof(hdr))
                 err(1, "Reading kernel");
 
+        /* If it's an ELF file, it starts with "\177ELF" */
         if (memcmp(hdr.e_ident, ELFMAG, SELFMAG) == 0)
                 return map_elf(fd, &hdr, page_offset);
 
+        /* Otherwise we assume it's a bzImage, and try to unpack it */
         return load_bzimage(fd, page_offset);
 }
 
+/* This is a trivial little helper to align pages.  Andi Kleen hated it because
+ * it calls getpagesize() twice: "it's dumb code."
+ *
+ * Kernel guys get really het up about optimization, even when it's not
+ * necessary.  I leave this code as a reaction against that. */
 static inline unsigned long page_align(unsigned long addr)
 {
+        /* Add upwards and truncate downwards. */
         return ((addr + getpagesize()-1) & ~(getpagesize()-1));
 }
 
-/* initrd gets loaded at top of memory: return length. */
+/*L:180 An "initial ram disk" is a disk image loaded into memory along with
+ * the kernel which the kernel can use to boot from without needing any
+ * drivers.  Most distributions now use this as standard: the initrd contains
+ * the code to load the appropriate driver modules for the current machine.
+ *
+ * Importantly, James Morris works for RedHat, and Fedora uses initrds for its
+ * kernels.  He sent me this (and tells me when I break it). */
 static unsigned long load_initrd(const char *name, unsigned long mem)
 {
         int ifd;
@@ -264,21 +405,35 @@ static unsigned long load_initrd(const char *name, unsigned long mem)
         void *iaddr;
 
         ifd = open_or_die(name, O_RDONLY);
+        /* fstat() is needed to get the file size. */
         if (fstat(ifd, &st) < 0)
                 err(1, "fstat() on initrd '%s'", name);
 
+        /* The length needs to be rounded up to a page size: mmap needs the
+         * address to be page aligned. */
         len = page_align(st.st_size);
+        /* We map the initrd at the top of memory. */
         iaddr = mmap((void *)mem - len, st.st_size,
                      PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC|PROT_WRITE,
                      MAP_FIXED|MAP_PRIVATE, ifd, 0);
         if (iaddr != (void *)mem - len)
                 err(1, "Mmaping initrd '%s' returned %p not %p",
                     name, iaddr, (void *)mem - len);
+        /* Once a file is mapped, you can close the file descriptor.  It's a
+         * little odd, but quite useful. */
         close(ifd);
         verbose("mapped initrd %s size=%lu @ %p\n", name, st.st_size, iaddr);
+
+        /* We return the initrd size. */
         return len;
 }
 
+/* Once we know how much memory we have, and the address the Guest kernel
+ * expects, we can construct simple linear page tables which will get the Guest
+ * far enough into the boot to create its own.
+ *
+ * We lay them out of the way, just below the initrd (which is why we need to
+ * know its size). */
 static unsigned long setup_pagetables(unsigned long mem,
                                       unsigned long initrd_size,
                                       unsigned long page_offset)
@@ -287,23 +442,32 @@ static unsigned long setup_pagetables(unsigned long mem,
         unsigned int mapped_pages, i, linear_pages;
         unsigned int ptes_per_page = getpagesize()/sizeof(u32);
 
-        /* If we can map all of memory above page_offset, we do so. */
+        /* Ideally we map all physical memory starting at page_offset.
+         * However, if page_offset is 0xC0000000 we can only map 1G of physical
+         * (0xC0000000 + 1G overflows). */
         if (mem <= -page_offset)
                 mapped_pages = mem/getpagesize();
         else
                 mapped_pages = -page_offset/getpagesize();
 
-        /* Each linear PTE page can map ptes_per_page pages. */
+        /* Each PTE page can map ptes_per_page pages: how many do we need? */
         linear_pages = (mapped_pages + ptes_per_page-1)/ptes_per_page;
 
-        /* We lay out top-level then linear mapping immediately below initrd */
+        /* We put the toplevel page directory page at the top of memory. */
         pgdir = (void *)mem - initrd_size - getpagesize();
+
+        /* Now we use the next linear_pages pages as pte pages */
         linear = (void *)pgdir - linear_pages*getpagesize();
 
+        /* Linear mapping is easy: put every page's address into the mapping in
+         * order.  PAGE_PRESENT contains the flags Present, Writable and
+         * Executable. */
         for (i = 0; i < mapped_pages; i++)
                 linear[i] = ((i * getpagesize()) | PAGE_PRESENT);
 
-        /* Now set up pgd so that this memory is at page_offset */
+        /* The top level points to the linear page table pages above.  The
+         * entry representing page_offset points to the first one, and they
+         * continue from there. */
         for (i = 0; i < mapped_pages; i += ptes_per_page) {
                 pgdir[(i + page_offset/getpagesize())/ptes_per_page]
                         = (((u32)linear + i*sizeof(u32)) | PAGE_PRESENT);
@@ -312,9 +476,13 @@ static unsigned long setup_pagetables(unsigned long mem,
         verbose("Linear mapping of %u pages in %u pte pages at %p\n",
                 mapped_pages, linear_pages, linear);
 
+        /* We return the top level (guest-physical) address: the kernel needs
+         * to know where it is. */
         return (unsigned long)pgdir;
 }
 
+/* Simple routine to roll all the commandline arguments together with spaces
+ * between them. */
 static void concat(char *dst, char *args[])
 {
         unsigned int i, len = 0;
@@ -328,6 +496,10 @@ static void concat(char *dst, char *args[])
         dst[len] = '\0';
 }
 
+/* This is where we actually tell the kernel to initialize the Guest.  We saw
+ * the arguments it expects when we looked at initialize() in lguest_user.c:
+ * the top physical page to allow, the top level pagetable, the entry point and
+ * the page_offset constant for the Guest. */
 static int tell_kernel(u32 pgdir, u32 start, u32 page_offset)
 {
         u32 args[] = { LHREQ_INITIALIZE,
@@ -337,8 +509,11 @@ static int tell_kernel(u32 pgdir, u32 start, u32 page_offset)
         fd = open_or_die("/dev/lguest", O_RDWR);
         if (write(fd, args, sizeof(args)) < 0)
                 err(1, "Writing to /dev/lguest");
+
+        /* We return the /dev/lguest file descriptor to control this Guest */
         return fd;
 }
+/*:*/
 
 static void set_fd(int fd, struct device_list *devices)
 {
@@ -347,61 +522,108 @@ static void set_fd(int fd, struct device_list *devices)
                 devices->max_infd = fd;
 }
 
-/* When input arrives, we tell the kernel to kick lguest out with -EAGAIN. */
+/*L:200
+ * The Waker.
+ *
+ * With a console and network devices, we can have lots of input which we need
+ * to process.  We could try to tell the kernel what file descriptors to watch,
+ * but handing a file descriptor mask through to the kernel is fairly icky.
+ *
+ * Instead, we fork off a process which watches the file descriptors and writes
+ * the LHREQ_BREAK command to the /dev/lguest filedescriptor to tell the Host
+ * loop to stop running the Guest.  This causes it to return from the
+ * /dev/lguest read with -EAGAIN, where it will write to /dev/lguest to reset
+ * the LHREQ_BREAK and wake us up again.
+ *
+ * This, of course, is merely a different *kind* of icky.
+ */
 static void wake_parent(int pipefd, int lguest_fd, struct device_list *devices)
 {
+        /* Add the pipe from the Launcher to the fdset in the device_list, so
+         * we watch it, too. */
         set_fd(pipefd, devices);
 
         for (;;) {
                 fd_set rfds = devices->infds;
                 u32 args[] = { LHREQ_BREAK, 1 };
 
+                /* Wait until input is ready from one of the devices. */
                 select(devices->max_infd+1, &rfds, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+                /* Is it a message from the Launcher? */
                 if (FD_ISSET(pipefd, &rfds)) {
                         int ignorefd;
+                        /* If read() returns 0, it means the Launcher has
+                         * exited.  We silently follow. */
                         if (read(pipefd, &ignorefd, sizeof(ignorefd)) == 0)
                                 exit(0);
+                        /* Otherwise it's telling us there's a problem with one
+                         * of the devices, and we should ignore that file
+                         * descriptor from now on. */
                         FD_CLR(ignorefd, &devices->infds);
-                } else
+                } else /* Send LHREQ_BREAK command. */
                         write(lguest_fd, args, sizeof(args));
         }
 }
 
+/* This routine just sets up a pipe to the Waker process. */
 static int setup_waker(int lguest_fd, struct device_list *device_list)
 {
         int pipefd[2], child;
 
+        /* We create a pipe to talk to the waker, and also so it knows when the
+         * Launcher dies (and closes pipe). */
         pipe(pipefd);
         child = fork();
         if (child == -1)
                 err(1, "forking");
 
         if (child == 0) {
+                /* Close the "writing" end of our copy of the pipe */
                 close(pipefd[1]);
                 wake_parent(pipefd[0], lguest_fd, device_list);
         }
+        /* Close the reading end of our copy of the pipe. */
         close(pipefd[0]);
 
+        /* Here is the fd used to talk to the waker. */
         return pipefd[1];
 }
 
+/*L:210
+ * Device Handling.
+ *
+ * When the Guest sends DMA to us, it sends us an array of addresses and sizes.
+ * We need to make sure it's not trying to reach into the Launcher itself, so
+ * we have a convenient routine which check it and exits with an error message
+ * if something funny is going on:
+ */
 static void *_check_pointer(unsigned long addr, unsigned int size,
                             unsigned int line)
 {
+        /* We have to separately check addr and addr+size, because size could
+         * be huge and addr + size might wrap around. */
         if (addr >= top || addr + size >= top)
                 errx(1, "%s:%i: Invalid address %li", __FILE__, line, addr);
+        /* We return a pointer for the caller's convenience, now we know it's
+         * safe to use. */
         return (void *)addr;
 }
+/* A macro which transparently hands the line number to the real function. */
 #define check_pointer(addr,size) _check_pointer(addr, size, __LINE__)
 
-/* Returns pointer to dma->used_len */
+/* The Guest has given us the address of a "struct lguest_dma".  We check it's
+ * OK and convert it to an iovec (which is a simple array of ptr/size
+ * pairs). */
 static u32 *dma2iov(unsigned long dma, struct iovec iov[], unsigned *num)
 {
         unsigned int i;
         struct lguest_dma *udma;
 
+        /* First we make sure that the array memory itself is valid. */
         udma = check_pointer(dma, sizeof(*udma));
+        /* Now we check each element */
         for (i = 0; i < LGUEST_MAX_DMA_SECTIONS; i++) {
+                /* A zero length ends the array. */
                 if (!udma->len[i])
                         break;
 
@@ -409,9 +631,15 @@ static u32 *dma2iov(unsigned long dma, struct iovec iov[], unsigned *num)
                 iov[i].iov_len = udma->len[i];
         }
         *num = i;
+
+        /* We return the pointer to where the caller should write the amount of
+         * the buffer used. */
         return &udma->used_len;
 }
 
+/* This routine gets a DMA buffer from the Guest for a given key, and converts
+ * it to an iovec array.  It returns the interrupt the Guest wants when we're
+ * finished, and a pointer to the "used_len" field to fill in. */
 static u32 *get_dma_buffer(int fd, void *key,
                            struct iovec iov[], unsigned int *num, u32 *irq)
 {
@@ -419,16 +647,21 @@ static u32 *get_dma_buffer(int fd, void *key,
         unsigned long udma;
         u32 *res;
 
+        /* Ask the kernel for a DMA buffer corresponding to this key. */
         udma = write(fd, buf, sizeof(buf));
+        /* They haven't registered any, or they're all used? */
         if (udma == (unsigned long)-1)
                 return NULL;
 
-        /* Kernel stashes irq in ->used_len. */
+        /* Convert it into our iovec array */
         res = dma2iov(udma, iov, num);
+        /* The kernel stashes irq in ->used_len to get it out to us. */
         *irq = *res;
+        /* Return a pointer to ((struct lguest_dma *)udma)->used_len. */
         return res;
 }
 
+/* This is a convenient routine to send the Guest an interrupt. */
 static void trigger_irq(int fd, u32 irq)
 {
         u32 buf[] = { LHREQ_IRQ, irq };
@@ -436,6 +669,10 @@ static void trigger_irq(int fd, u32 irq)
                 err(1, "Triggering irq %i", irq);
 }
 
+/* This simply sets up an iovec array where we can put data to be discarded.
+ * This happens when the Guest doesn't want or can't handle the input: we have
+ * to get rid of it somewhere, and if we bury it in the ceiling space it will
+ * start to smell after a week. */
 static void discard_iovec(struct iovec *iov, unsigned int *num)
 {
         static char discard_buf[1024];
@@ -444,19 +681,24 @@ static void discard_iovec(struct iovec *iov, unsigned int *num)
         iov->iov_len = sizeof(discard_buf);
 }
 
+/* Here is the input terminal setting we save, and the routine to restore them
+ * on exit so the user can see what they type next. */
 static struct termios orig_term;
 static void restore_term(void)
 {
         tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &orig_term);
 }
 
+/* We associate some data with the console for our exit hack. */
 struct console_abort
 {
+        /* How many times have they hit ^C? */
         int count;
+        /* When did they start? */
         struct timeval start;
 };
 
-/* We DMA input to buffer bound at start of console page. */
+/* This is the routine which handles console input (ie. stdin). */
 static bool handle_console_input(int fd, struct device *dev)
 {
         u32 irq = 0, *lenp;
@@ -465,24 +707,38 @@ static bool handle_console_input(int fd, struct device *dev)
         struct iovec iov[LGUEST_MAX_DMA_SECTIONS];
         struct console_abort *abort = dev->priv;
 
+        /* First we get the console buffer from the Guest.  The key is dev->mem
+         * which was set to 0 in setup_console(). */
         lenp = get_dma_buffer(fd, dev->mem, iov, &num, &irq);
         if (!lenp) {
+                /* If it's not ready for input, warn and set up to discard. */
                 warn("console: no dma buffer!");
                 discard_iovec(iov, &num);
         }
 
+        /* This is why we convert to iovecs: the readv() call uses them, and so
+         * it reads straight into the Guest's buffer. */
         len = readv(dev->fd, iov, num);
         if (len <= 0) {
+                /* This implies that the console is closed, is /dev/null, or
+                 * something went terribly wrong.  We still go through the rest
+                 * of the logic, though, especially the exit handling below. */
                 warnx("Failed to get console input, ignoring console.");
                 len = 0;
         }
 
+        /* If we read the data into the Guest, fill in the length and send the
+         * interrupt. */
         if (lenp) {
                 *lenp = len;
                 trigger_irq(fd, irq);
         }
 
-        /* Three ^C within one second?  Exit. */
+        /* Three ^C within one second?  Exit.
+         *
+         * This is such a hack, but works surprisingly well.  Each ^C has to be
+         * in a buffer by itself, so they can't be too fast.  But we check that
+         * we get three within about a second, so they can't be too slow. */
         if (len == 1 && ((char *)iov[0].iov_base)[0] == 3) {
                 if (!abort->count++)
                         gettimeofday(&abort->start, NULL);
@@ -490,43 +746,60 @@ static bool handle_console_input(int fd, struct device *dev)
                         struct timeval now;
                         gettimeofday(&now, NULL);
                         if (now.tv_sec <= abort->start.tv_sec+1) {
-                                /* Make sure waker is not blocked in BREAK */
                                 u32 args[] = { LHREQ_BREAK, 0 };
+                                /* Close the fd so Waker will know it has to
+                                 * exit. */
                                 close(waker_fd);
+                                /* Just in case waker is blocked in BREAK, send
+                                 * unbreak now. */
                                 write(fd, args, sizeof(args));
                                 exit(2);
                         }
                         abort->count = 0;
                 }
         } else
+                /* Any other key resets the abort counter. */
                 abort->count = 0;
 
+        /* Now, if we didn't read anything, put the input terminal back and
+         * return failure (meaning, don't call us again). */
         if (!len) {
                 restore_term();
                 return false;
         }
+        /* Everything went OK! */
         return true;
 }
 
+/* Handling console output is much simpler than input. */
 static u32 handle_console_output(int fd, const struct iovec *iov,
                                  unsigned num, struct device*dev)
 {
+        /* Whatever the Guest sends, write it to standard output.  Return the
+         * number of bytes written. */
         return writev(STDOUT_FILENO, iov, num);
 }
 
+/* Guest->Host network output is also pretty easy. */
 static u32 handle_tun_output(int fd, const struct iovec *iov,
                              unsigned num, struct device *dev)
 {
-        /* Now we've seen output, we should warn if we can't get buffers. */
+        /* We put a flag in the "priv" pointer of the network device, and set
+         * it as soon as we see output.  We'll see why in handle_tun_input() */
         *(bool *)dev->priv = true;
+        /* Whatever packet the Guest sent us, write it out to the tun
+         * device. */
         return writev(dev->fd, iov, num);
 }
 
+/* This matches the peer_key() in lguest_net.c.  The key for any given slot
+ * is the address of the network device's page plus 4 * the slot number. */
 static unsigned long peer_offset(unsigned int peernum)
 {
         return 4 * peernum;
 }
 
+/* This is where we handle a packet coming in from the tun device */
 static bool handle_tun_input(int fd, struct device *dev)
 {
         u32 irq = 0, *lenp;
@@ -534,17 +807,28 @@ static bool handle_tun_input(int fd, struct device *dev)
         unsigned num;
         struct iovec iov[LGUEST_MAX_DMA_SECTIONS];
 
+        /* First we get a buffer the Guest has bound to its key. */
         lenp = get_dma_buffer(fd, dev->mem+peer_offset(NET_PEERNUM), iov, &num,
                               &irq);
         if (!lenp) {
+                /* Now, it's expected that if we try to send a packet too
+                 * early, the Guest won't be ready yet.  This is why we set a
+                 * flag when the Guest sends its first packet.  If it's sent a
+                 * packet we assume it should be ready to receive them.
+                 *
+                 * Actually, this is what the status bits in the descriptor are
+                 * for: we should *use* them.  FIXME! */
                 if (*(bool *)dev->priv)
                         warn("network: no dma buffer!");
                 discard_iovec(iov, &num);
         }
 
+        /* Read the packet from the device directly into the Guest's buffer. */
         len = readv(dev->fd, iov, num);
         if (len <= 0)
                 err(1, "reading network");
+
+        /* Write the used_len, and trigger the interrupt for the Guest */
         if (lenp) {
                 *lenp = len;
                 trigger_irq(fd, irq);
@@ -552,9 +836,13 @@ static bool handle_tun_input(int fd, struct device *dev)
         verbose("tun input packet len %i [%02x %02x] (%s)\n", len,
                 ((u8 *)iov[0].iov_base)[0], ((u8 *)iov[0].iov_base)[1],
                 lenp ? "sent" : "discarded");
+        /* All good. */
         return true;
 }
 
+/* The last device handling routine is block output: the Guest has sent a DMA
+ * to the block device.  It will have placed the command it wants in the
+ * "struct lguest_block_page". */
 static u32 handle_block_output(int fd, const struct iovec *iov,
                                unsigned num, struct device *dev)
 {
@@ -564,36 +852,64 @@ static u32 handle_block_output(int fd, const struct iovec *iov,
         struct iovec reply[LGUEST_MAX_DMA_SECTIONS];
         off64_t device_len, off = (off64_t)p->sector * 512;
 
+        /* First we extract the device length from the dev->priv pointer. */
         device_len = *(off64_t *)dev->priv;
 
+        /* We first check that the read or write is within the length of the
+         * block file. */
         if (off >= device_len)
                 err(1, "Bad offset %llu vs %llu", off, device_len);
+        /* Move to the right location in the block file.  This shouldn't fail,
+         * but best to check. */
         if (lseek64(dev->fd, off, SEEK_SET) != off)
                 err(1, "Bad seek to sector %i", p->sector);
 
         verbose("Block: %s at offset %llu\n", p->type ? "WRITE" : "READ", off);
 
+        /* They were supposed to bind a reply buffer at key equal to the start
+         * of the block device memory.  We need this to tell them when the
+         * request is finished. */
         lenp = get_dma_buffer(fd, dev->mem, reply, &reply_num, &irq);
         if (!lenp)
                 err(1, "Block request didn't give us a dma buffer");
 
         if (p->type) {
+                /* A write request.  The DMA they sent contained the data, so
+                 * write it out. */
                 len = writev(dev->fd, iov, num);
+                /* Grr... Now we know how long the "struct lguest_dma" they
+                 * sent was, we make sure they didn't try to write over the end
+                 * of the block file (possibly extending it). */
                 if (off + len > device_len) {
+                        /* Trim it back to the correct length */
                         ftruncate(dev->fd, device_len);
+                        /* Die, bad Guest, die. */
                         errx(1, "Write past end %llu+%u", off, len);
                 }
+                /* The reply length is 0: we just send back an empty DMA to
+                 * interrupt them and tell them the write is finished. */
                 *lenp = 0;
         } else {
+                /* A read request.  They sent an empty DMA to start the
+                 * request, and we put the read contents into the reply
+                 * buffer. */
                 len = readv(dev->fd, reply, reply_num);
                 *lenp = len;
         }
 
+        /* The result is 1 (done), 2 if there was an error (short read or
+         * write). */
         p->result = 1 + (p->bytes != len);
+        /* Now tell them we've used their reply buffer. */
         trigger_irq(fd, irq);
+
+        /* We're supposed to return the number of bytes of the output buffer we
+         * used.  But the block device uses the "result" field instead, so we
+         * don't bother. */
         return 0;
 }
 
+/* This is the generic routine we call when the Guest sends some DMA out. */
 static void handle_output(int fd, unsigned long dma, unsigned long key,
                           struct device_list *devices)
 {
@@ -602,30 +918,53 @@ static void handle_output(int fd, unsigned long dma, unsigned long key,
         struct iovec iov[LGUEST_MAX_DMA_SECTIONS];
         unsigned num = 0;
 
+        /* Convert the "struct lguest_dma" they're sending to a "struct
+         * iovec". */
         lenp = dma2iov(dma, iov, &num);
+
+        /* Check each device: if they expect output to this key, tell them to
+         * handle it. */
         for (i = devices->dev; i; i = i->next) {
                 if (i->handle_output && key == i->watch_key) {
+                        /* We write the result straight into the used_len field
+                         * for them. */
                         *lenp = i->handle_output(fd, iov, num, i);
                         return;
                 }
         }
+
+        /* This can happen: the kernel sends any SEND_DMA which doesn't match
+         * another Guest to us.  It could be that another Guest just left a
+         * network, for example.  But it's unusual. */
         warnx("Pending dma %p, key %p", (void *)dma, (void *)key);
 }
 
+/* This is called when the waker wakes us up: check for incoming file
+ * descriptors. */
 static void handle_input(int fd, struct device_list *devices)
 {
+        /* select() wants a zeroed timeval to mean "don't wait". */
         struct timeval poll = { .tv_sec = 0, .tv_usec = 0 };
 
         for (;;) {
                 struct device *i;
                 fd_set fds = devices->infds;
 
+                /* If nothing is ready, we're done. */
                 if (select(devices->max_infd+1, &fds, NULL, NULL, &poll) == 0)
                         break;
 
+                /* Otherwise, call the device(s) which have readable
+                 * file descriptors and a method of handling them.  */
                 for (i = devices->dev; i; i = i->next) {
                         if (i->handle_input && FD_ISSET(i->fd, &fds)) {
+                                /* If handle_input() returns false, it means we
+                                 * should no longer service it.
+                                 * handle_console_input() does this. */
                                 if (!i->handle_input(fd, i)) {
+                                        /* Clear it from the set of input file
+                                         * descriptors kept at the head of the
+                                         * device list. */
                                         FD_CLR(i->fd, &devices->infds);
                                         /* Tell waker to ignore it too... */
                                         write(waker_fd, &i->fd, sizeof(i->fd));
@@ -635,6 +974,15 @@ static void handle_input(int fd, struct device_list *devices)
         }
 }
 
+/*L:190
+ * Device Setup
+ *
+ * All devices need a descriptor so the Guest knows it exists, and a "struct
+ * device" so the Launcher can keep track of it.  We have common helper
+ * routines to allocate them.
+ *
+ * This routine allocates a new "struct lguest_device_desc" from descriptor
+ * table in the devices array just above the Guest's normal memory. */
 static struct lguest_device_desc *
 new_dev_desc(struct lguest_device_desc *descs,
              u16 type, u16 features, u16 num_pages)
@@ -646,6 +994,8 @@ new_dev_desc(struct lguest_device_desc *descs,
                         descs[i].type = type;
                         descs[i].features = features;
                         descs[i].num_pages = num_pages;
+                        /* If they said the device needs memory, we allocate
+                         * that now, bumping up the top of Guest memory. */
                         if (num_pages) {
                                 map_zeroed_pages(top, num_pages);
                                 descs[i].pfn = top/getpagesize();
@@ -657,6 +1007,9 @@ new_dev_desc(struct lguest_device_desc *descs,
         errx(1, "too many devices");
 }
 
+/* This monster routine does all the creation and setup of a new device,
+ * including caling new_dev_desc() to allocate the descriptor and device
+ * memory. */
 static struct device *new_device(struct device_list *devices,
                                  u16 type, u16 num_pages, u16 features,
                                  int fd,
@@ -669,12 +1022,18 @@ static struct device *new_device(struct device_list *devices,
 {
         struct device *dev = malloc(sizeof(*dev));
 
-        /* Append to device list. */
+        /* Append to device list.  Prepending to a single-linked list is
+         * easier, but the user expects the devices to be arranged on the bus
+         * in command-line order.  The first network device on the command line
+         * is eth0, the first block device /dev/lgba, etc. */
         *devices->lastdev = dev;
         dev->next = NULL;
         devices->lastdev = &dev->next;
 
+        /* Now we populate the fields one at a time. */
         dev->fd = fd;
+        /* If we have an input handler for this file descriptor, then we add it
+         * to the device_list's fdset and maxfd. */
         if (handle_input)
                 set_fd(dev->fd, devices);
         dev->desc = new_dev_desc(devices->descs, type, features, num_pages);
@@ -685,27 +1044,37 @@ static struct device *new_device(struct device_list *devices,
         return dev;
 }
 
+/* Our first setup routine is the console.  It's a fairly simple device, but
+ * UNIX tty handling makes it uglier than it could be. */
 static void setup_console(struct device_list *devices)
 {
         struct device *dev;
 
+        /* If we can save the initial standard input settings... */
         if (tcgetattr(STDIN_FILENO, &orig_term) == 0) {
                 struct termios term = orig_term;
+                /* Then we turn off echo, line buffering and ^C etc.  We want a
+                 * raw input stream to the Guest. */
                 term.c_lflag &= ~(ISIG|ICANON|ECHO);
                 tcsetattr(STDIN_FILENO, TCSANOW, &term);
+                /* If we exit gracefully, the original settings will be
+                 * restored so the user can see what they're typing. */
                 atexit(restore_term);
         }
 
-        /* We don't currently require a page for the console. */
+        /* We don't currently require any memory for the console, so we ask for
+         * 0 pages. */
         dev = new_device(devices, LGUEST_DEVICE_T_CONSOLE, 0, 0,
                          STDIN_FILENO, handle_console_input,
                          LGUEST_CONSOLE_DMA_KEY, handle_console_output);
+        /* We store the console state in dev->priv, and initialize it. */
         dev->priv = malloc(sizeof(struct console_abort));
         ((struct console_abort *)dev->priv)->count = 0;
         verbose("device %p: console\n",
                 (void *)(dev->desc->pfn * getpagesize()));
 }
 
+/* Setting up a block file is also fairly straightforward. */
 static void setup_block_file(const char *filename, struct device_list *devices)
 {
         int fd;
@@ -713,20 +1082,47 @@ static void setup_block_file(const char *filename, struct device_list *devices)
         off64_t *device_len;
         struct lguest_block_page *p;
 
+        /* We open with O_LARGEFILE because otherwise we get stuck at 2G.  We
+         * open with O_DIRECT because otherwise our benchmarks go much too
+         * fast. */
         fd = open_or_die(filename, O_RDWR|O_LARGEFILE|O_DIRECT);
+
+        /* We want one page, and have no input handler (the block file never
+         * has anything interesting to say to us).  Our timing will be quite
+         * random, so it should be a reasonable randomness source. */
         dev = new_device(devices, LGUEST_DEVICE_T_BLOCK, 1,
                          LGUEST_DEVICE_F_RANDOMNESS,
                          fd, NULL, 0, handle_block_output);
+
+        /* We store the device size in the private area */
         device_len = dev->priv = malloc(sizeof(*device_len));
+        /* This is the safe way of establishing the size of our device: it
+         * might be a normal file or an actual block device like /dev/hdb. */
         *device_len = lseek64(fd, 0, SEEK_END);
-        p = dev->mem;
 
+        /* The device memory is a "struct lguest_block_page".  It's zeroed
+         * already, we just need to put in the device size.  Block devices
+         * think in sectors (ie. 512 byte chunks), so we translate here. */
+        p = dev->mem;
         p->num_sectors = *device_len/512;
         verbose("device %p: block %i sectors\n",
                 (void *)(dev->desc->pfn * getpagesize()), p->num_sectors);
 }
 
-/* We use fnctl locks to reserve network slots (autocleanup!) */
+/*
+ * Network Devices.
+ *
+ * Setting up network devices is quite a pain, because we have three types.
+ * First, we have the inter-Guest network.  This is a file which is mapped into
+ * the address space of the Guests who are on the network.  Because it is a
+ * shared mapping, the same page underlies all the devices, and they can send
+ * DMA to each other.
+ *
+ * Remember from our network driver, the Guest is told what slot in the page it
+ * is to use.  We use exclusive fnctl locks to reserve a slot.  If another
+ * Guest is using a slot, the lock will fail and we try another.  Because fnctl
+ * locks are cleaned up automatically when we die, this cleverly means that our
+ * reservation on the slot will vanish if we crash. */
 static unsigned int find_slot(int netfd, const char *filename)
 {
         struct flock fl;
@@ -734,26 +1130,33 @@ static unsigned int find_slot(int netfd, const char *filename)
         fl.l_type = F_WRLCK;
         fl.l_whence = SEEK_SET;
         fl.l_len = 1;
+        /* Try a 1 byte lock in each possible position number */
         for (fl.l_start = 0;
              fl.l_start < getpagesize()/sizeof(struct lguest_net);
              fl.l_start++) {
+                /* If we succeed, return the slot number. */
                 if (fcntl(netfd, F_SETLK, &fl) == 0)
                         return fl.l_start;
         }
         errx(1, "No free slots in network file %s", filename);
 }
 
+/* This function sets up the network file */
 static void setup_net_file(const char *filename,
                            struct device_list *devices)
 {
         int netfd;
         struct device *dev;
 
+        /* We don't use open_or_die() here: for friendliness we create the file
+         * if it doesn't already exist. */
         netfd = open(filename, O_RDWR, 0);
         if (netfd < 0) {
                 if (errno == ENOENT) {
                         netfd = open(filename, O_RDWR|O_CREAT, 0600);
                         if (netfd >= 0) {
+                                /* If we succeeded, initialize the file with a
+                                 * blank page. */
                                 char page[getpagesize()];
                                 memset(page, 0, sizeof(page));
                                 write(netfd, page, sizeof(page));
@@ -763,11 +1166,15 @@ static void setup_net_file(const char *filename,
                         err(1, "cannot open net file '%s'", filename);
         }
 
+        /* We need 1 page, and the features indicate the slot to use and that
+         * no checksum is needed.  We never touch this device again; it's
+         * between the Guests on the network, so we don't register input or
+         * output handlers. */
         dev = new_device(devices, LGUEST_DEVICE_T_NET, 1,
                          find_slot(netfd, filename)|LGUEST_NET_F_NOCSUM,
                          -1, NULL, 0, NULL);
 
-        /* We overwrite the /dev/zero mapping with the actual file. */
+        /* Map the shared file. */
         if (mmap(dev->mem, getpagesize(), PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE,
                          MAP_FIXED|MAP_SHARED, netfd, 0) != dev->mem)
                         err(1, "could not mmap '%s'", filename);
@@ -775,6 +1182,7 @@ static void setup_net_file(const char *filename,
                 (void *)(dev->desc->pfn * getpagesize()), filename,
                 dev->desc->features & ~LGUEST_NET_F_NOCSUM);
 }
+/*:*/
 
 static u32 str2ip(const char *ipaddr)
 {
@@ -784,7 +1192,11 @@ static u32 str2ip(const char *ipaddr)
         return (byte[0] << 24) | (byte[1] << 16) | (byte[2] << 8) | byte[3];
 }
 
-/* adapted from libbridge */
+/* This code is "adapted" from libbridge: it attaches the Host end of the
+ * network device to the bridge device specified by the command line.
+ *
+ * This is yet another James Morris contribution (I'm an IP-level guy, so I
+ * dislike bridging), and I just try not to break it. */
 static void add_to_bridge(int fd, const char *if_name, const char *br_name)
 {
         int ifidx;
@@ -803,12 +1215,16 @@ static void add_to_bridge(int fd, const char *if_name, const char *br_name)
                 err(1, "can't add %s to bridge %s", if_name, br_name);
 }
 
+/* This sets up the Host end of the network device with an IP address, brings
+ * it up so packets will flow, the copies the MAC address into the hwaddr
+ * pointer (in practice, the Host's slot in the network device's memory). */
 static void configure_device(int fd, const char *devname, u32 ipaddr,
                              unsigned char hwaddr[6])
 {
         struct ifreq ifr;
         struct sockaddr_in *sin = (struct sockaddr_in *)&ifr.ifr_addr;
 
+        /* Don't read these incantations.  Just cut & paste them like I did! */
         memset(&ifr, 0, sizeof(ifr));
         strcpy(ifr.ifr_name, devname);
         sin->sin_family = AF_INET;
@@ -819,12 +1235,19 @@ static void configure_device(int fd, const char *devname, u32 ipaddr,
         if (ioctl(fd, SIOCSIFFLAGS, &ifr) != 0)
                 err(1, "Bringing interface %s up", devname);
 
+        /* SIOC stands for Socket I/O Control.  G means Get (vs S for Set
+         * above).  IF means Interface, and HWADDR is hardware address.
+         * Simple! */
         if (ioctl(fd, SIOCGIFHWADDR, &ifr) != 0)
                 err(1, "getting hw address for %s", devname);
-
         memcpy(hwaddr, ifr.ifr_hwaddr.sa_data, 6);
 }
 
+/*L:195 The other kind of network is a Host<->Guest network.  This can either
+ * use briding or routing, but the principle is the same: it uses the "tun"
+ * device to inject packets into the Host as if they came in from a normal
+ * network card.  We just shunt packets between the Guest and the tun
+ * device. */
 static void setup_tun_net(const char *arg, struct device_list *devices)
 {
         struct device *dev;
@@ -833,36 +1256,56 @@ static void setup_tun_net(const char *arg, struct device_list *devices)
         u32 ip;
         const char *br_name = NULL;
 
+        /* We open the /dev/net/tun device and tell it we want a tap device.  A
+         * tap device is like a tun device, only somehow different.  To tell
+         * the truth, I completely blundered my way through this code, but it
+         * works now! */
         netfd = open_or_die("/dev/net/tun", O_RDWR);
         memset(&ifr, 0, sizeof(ifr));
         ifr.ifr_flags = IFF_TAP | IFF_NO_PI;
         strcpy(ifr.ifr_name, "tap%d");
         if (ioctl(netfd, TUNSETIFF, &ifr) != 0)
                 err(1, "configuring /dev/net/tun");
+        /* We don't need checksums calculated for packets coming in this
+         * device: trust us! */
         ioctl(netfd, TUNSETNOCSUM, 1);
 
-        /* You will be peer 1: we should create enough jitter to randomize */
+        /* We create the net device with 1 page, using the features field of
+         * the descriptor to tell the Guest it is in slot 1 (NET_PEERNUM), and
+         * that the device has fairly random timing.  We do *not* specify
+         * LGUEST_NET_F_NOCSUM: these packets can reach the real world.
+         *
+         * We will put our MAC address is slot 0 for the Guest to see, so
+         * it will send packets to us using the key "peer_offset(0)": */
         dev = new_device(devices, LGUEST_DEVICE_T_NET, 1,
                          NET_PEERNUM|LGUEST_DEVICE_F_RANDOMNESS, netfd,
                          handle_tun_input, peer_offset(0), handle_tun_output);
+
+        /* We keep a flag which says whether we've seen packets come out from
+         * this network device. */
         dev->priv = malloc(sizeof(bool));
         *(bool *)dev->priv = false;
 
+        /* We need a socket to perform the magic network ioctls to bring up the
+         * tap interface, connect to the bridge etc.  Any socket will do! */
         ipfd = socket(PF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, IPPROTO_IP);
         if (ipfd < 0)
                 err(1, "opening IP socket");
 
+        /* If the command line was --tunnet=bridge:<name> do bridging. */
         if (!strncmp(BRIDGE_PFX, arg, strlen(BRIDGE_PFX))) {
                 ip = INADDR_ANY;
                 br_name = arg + strlen(BRIDGE_PFX);
                 add_to_bridge(ipfd, ifr.ifr_name, br_name);
-        } else
+        } else /* It is an IP address to set up the device with */
                 ip = str2ip(arg);
 
-        /* We are peer 0, ie. first slot. */
+        /* We are peer 0, ie. first slot, so we hand dev->mem to this routine
+         * to write the MAC address at the start of the device memory.  */
         configure_device(ipfd, ifr.ifr_name, ip, dev->mem);
 
-        /* Set "promisc" bit: we want every single packet. */
+        /* Set "promisc" bit: we want every single packet if we're going to
+         * bridge to other machines (and otherwise it doesn't matter). */
         *((u8 *)dev->mem) |= 0x1;
 
         close(ipfd);
@@ -873,7 +1316,10 @@ static void setup_tun_net(const char *arg, struct device_list *devices)
         if (br_name)
                 verbose("attached to bridge: %s\n", br_name);
 }
+/* That's the end of device setup. */
 
+/*L:220 Finally we reach the core of the Launcher, which runs the Guest, serves
+ * its input and output, and finally, lays it to rest. */
 static void __attribute__((noreturn))
 run_guest(int lguest_fd, struct device_list *device_list)
 {
@@ -885,20 +1331,37 @@ run_guest(int lguest_fd, struct device_list *device_list)
                 /* We read from the /dev/lguest device to run the Guest. */
                 readval = read(lguest_fd, arr, sizeof(arr));
 
+                /* The read can only really return sizeof(arr) (the Guest did a
+                 * SEND_DMA to us), or an error. */
+
+                /* For a successful read, arr[0] is the address of the "struct
+                 * lguest_dma", and arr[1] is the key the Guest sent to. */
                 if (readval == sizeof(arr)) {
                         handle_output(lguest_fd, arr[0], arr[1], device_list);
                         continue;
+                /* ENOENT means the Guest died.  Reading tells us why. */
                 } else if (errno == ENOENT) {
                         char reason[1024] = { 0 };
                         read(lguest_fd, reason, sizeof(reason)-1);
                         errx(1, "%s", reason);
+                /* EAGAIN means the waker wanted us to look at some input.
+                 * Anything else means a bug or incompatible change. */
                 } else if (errno != EAGAIN)
                         err(1, "Running guest failed");
+
+                /* Service input, then unset the BREAK which releases
+                 * the Waker. */
                 handle_input(lguest_fd, device_list);
                 if (write(lguest_fd, args, sizeof(args)) < 0)
                         err(1, "Resetting break");
         }
 }
+/*
+ * This is the end of the Launcher.
+ *
+ * But wait!  We've seen I/O from the Launcher, and we've seen I/O from the
+ * Drivers.  If we were to see the Host kernel I/O code, our understanding
+ * would be complete... :*/
 
 static struct option opts[] = {
         { "verbose", 0, NULL, 'v' },
@@ -916,20 +1379,49 @@ static void usage(void)
              "<mem-in-mb> vmlinux [args...]");
 }
 
+/*L:100 The Launcher code itself takes us out into userspace, that scary place
+ * where pointers run wild and free!  Unfortunately, like most userspace
+ * programs, it's quite boring (which is why everyone like to hack on the
+ * kernel!).  Perhaps if you make up an Lguest Drinking Game at this point, it
+ * will get you through this section.  Or, maybe not.
+ *
+ * The Launcher binary sits up high, usually starting at address 0xB8000000.
+ * Everything below this is the "physical" memory for the Guest.  For example,
+ * if the Guest were to write a "1" at physical address 0, we would see a "1"
+ * in the Launcher at "(int *)0".  Guest physical == Launcher virtual.
+ *
+ * This can be tough to get your head around, but usually it just means that we
+ * don't need to do any conversion when the Guest gives us it's "physical"
+ * addresses.
+ */
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 {
+        /* Memory, top-level pagetable, code startpoint, PAGE_OFFSET and size
+         * of the (optional) initrd. */
         unsigned long mem = 0, pgdir, start, page_offset, initrd_size = 0;
+        /* A temporary and the /dev/lguest file descriptor. */
         int i, c, lguest_fd;
+        /* The list of Guest devices, based on command line arguments. */
         struct device_list device_list;
+        /* The boot information for the Guest: at guest-physical address 0. */
         void *boot = (void *)0;
+        /* If they specify an initrd file to load. */
         const char *initrd_name = NULL;
 
+        /* First we initialize the device list.  Since console and network
+         * device receive input from a file descriptor, we keep an fdset
+         * (infds) and the maximum fd number (max_infd) with the head of the
+         * list.  We also keep a pointer to the last device, for easy appending
+         * to the list. */
         device_list.max_infd = -1;
         device_list.dev = NULL;
         device_list.lastdev = &device_list.dev;
         FD_ZERO(&device_list.infds);
 
-        /* We need to know how much memory so we can allocate devices. */
+        /* We need to know how much memory so we can set up the device
+         * descriptor and memory pages for the devices as we parse the command
+         * line.  So we quickly look through the arguments to find the amount
+         * of memory now. */
         for (i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
                 if (argv[i][0] != '-') {
                         mem = top = atoi(argv[i]) * 1024 * 1024;
@@ -938,6 +1430,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                         break;
                 }
         }
+
+        /* The options are fairly straight-forward */
         while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "v", opts, NULL)) != EOF) {
                 switch (c) {
                 case 'v':
@@ -960,42 +1454,59 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                         usage();
                 }
         }
+        /* After the other arguments we expect memory and kernel image name,
+         * followed by command line arguments for the kernel. */
         if (optind + 2 > argc)
                 usage();
 
-        /* We need a console device */
+        /* We always have a console device */
         setup_console(&device_list);
 
-        /* First we map /dev/zero over all of guest-physical memory. */
+        /* We start by mapping anonymous pages over all of guest-physical
+         * memory range.  This fills it with 0, and ensures that the Guest
+         * won't be killed when it tries to access it. */
         map_zeroed_pages(0, mem / getpagesize());
 
         /* Now we load the kernel */
         start = load_kernel(open_or_die(argv[optind+1], O_RDONLY),
                             &page_offset);
 
-        /* Map the initrd image if requested */
+        /* Map the initrd image if requested (at top of physical memory) */
         if (initrd_name) {
                 initrd_size = load_initrd(initrd_name, mem);
+                /* These are the location in the Linux boot header where the
+                 * start and size of the initrd are expected to be found. */
                 *(unsigned long *)(boot+0x218) = mem - initrd_size;
                 *(unsigned long *)(boot+0x21c) = initrd_size;
+                /* The bootloader type 0xFF means "unknown"; that's OK. */
                 *(unsigned char *)(boot+0x210) = 0xFF;
         }
 
-        /* Set up the initial linar pagetables. */
+        /* Set up the initial linear pagetables, starting below the initrd. */
         pgdir = setup_pagetables(mem, initrd_size, page_offset);
 
-        /* E820 memory map: ours is a simple, single region. */
+        /* The Linux boot header contains an "E820" memory map: ours is a
+         * simple, single region. */
         *(char*)(boot+E820NR) = 1;
         *((struct e820entry *)(boot+E820MAP))
                 = ((struct e820entry) { 0, mem, E820_RAM });
-        /* Command line pointer and command line (at 4096) */
+        /* The boot header contains a command line pointer: we put the command
+         * line after the boot header (at address 4096) */
         *(void **)(boot + 0x228) = boot + 4096;
         concat(boot + 4096, argv+optind+2);
-        /* Paravirt type: 1 == lguest */
+
+        /* The guest type value of "1" tells the Guest it's under lguest. */
         *(int *)(boot + 0x23c) = 1;
 
+        /* We tell the kernel to initialize the Guest: this returns the open
+         * /dev/lguest file descriptor. */
         lguest_fd = tell_kernel(pgdir, start, page_offset);
+
+        /* We fork off a child process, which wakes the Launcher whenever one
+         * of the input file descriptors needs attention.  Otherwise we would
+         * run the Guest until it tries to output something. */
         waker_fd = setup_waker(lguest_fd, &device_list);
 
+        /* Finally, run the Guest.  This doesn't return. */
         run_guest(lguest_fd, &device_list);
 }