diff mbox

[RFC,01/10] virtagent: add common rpc transport defs

Message ID 1287773165-24855-2-git-send-email-mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com
State New
Headers show

Commit Message

Michael Roth Oct. 22, 2010, 6:45 p.m. UTC
Common code for sending/recieving RPCs via http over virtproxy channel.
Eventually these will all be switched to asynchronous handlers to avoid
deadlocks between qemu and the guest. For now we can usually get away with
just doing asynchronous reads for http/RPC responses if we don't send
large RPC requests to the guest (since these will likely get buffered
rather than block or cause spinning on writes).

Signed-off-by: Michael Roth <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
---
 virtagent-common.c |  381 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 virtagent-common.h |   63 +++++++++
 2 files changed, 444 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 virtagent-common.c
 create mode 100644 virtagent-common.h

Comments

Anthony Liguori Oct. 25, 2010, 9:39 p.m. UTC | #1
On 10/22/2010 01:45 PM, Michael Roth wrote:
> Common code for sending/recieving RPCs via http over virtproxy channel.
> Eventually these will all be switched to asynchronous handlers to avoid
> deadlocks between qemu and the guest. For now we can usually get away with
> just doing asynchronous reads for http/RPC responses if we don't send
> large RPC requests to the guest (since these will likely get buffered
> rather than block or cause spinning on writes).
>
> Signed-off-by: Michael Roth<mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
> ---
>   virtagent-common.c |  381 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>   virtagent-common.h |   63 +++++++++
>   2 files changed, 444 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
>   create mode 100644 virtagent-common.c
>   create mode 100644 virtagent-common.h
>
> diff --git a/virtagent-common.c b/virtagent-common.c
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..51016a6
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/virtagent-common.c
> @@ -0,0 +1,381 @@
> +/*
> + * virt-agent - common host/guest RPC functions
> + *
> + * Copyright IBM Corp. 2010
> + *
> + * Authors:
> + *  Adam Litke<aglitke@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
> + *  Michael Roth<mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.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<stdlib.h>
> +#include<unistd.h>
> +#include<errno.h>
> +#include<string.h>
> +#include<ctype.h>
>    

QEMU code should never include system headers.  Instead, it should use 
qemu-common.h and friends.

> +#include<xmlrpc-c/base.h>
> +#include<xmlrpc-c/client.h>
> +#include<xmlrpc-c/server.h>
> +#include "virtagent-common.h"
> +
> +static int write_all(int fd, const void *buf, int len1)
> +{
> +    int ret, len;
> +
> +    len = len1;
> +    while (len>  0) {
> +        ret = write(fd, buf, len);
> +        if (ret<  0) {
> +            if (errno != EINTR&&  errno != EAGAIN) {
> +                LOG("write() failed");
> +                return -1;
> +            }
> +        } else if (ret == 0) {
> +            break;
> +        } else {
> +            buf += ret;
> +            len -= ret;
> +        }
> +    }
> +    return len1 - len;
> +}
> +
> +static int read_all(int fd, void *buf, int len)
> +{
> +    int ret, remaining;
> +
> +    remaining = len;
> +    while (remaining>  0) {
> +        ret = read(fd, buf, remaining);
> +        if (ret<  0) {
> +            if (errno != EINTR&&  errno != EAGAIN) {
> +                LOG("read failed");
> +                return -1;
> +            }
> +        } else if (ret == 0) {
> +            break;
> +        } else {
> +            buf += ret;
> +            remaining -= ret;
> +        }
> +    }
> +    return len - remaining;
> +}
> +
> +static int read_line(int fd, void *buf, int len)
> +{
> +    int ret, remaining;
> +    remaining = len;
> +    while (remaining>  0) {
> +        ret = read(fd, buf, 1);
> +        if (ret<  0) {
> +            if (errno != EINTR&&  errno != EAGAIN) {
> +                LOG("read failed");
> +                return -1;
> +            }
>    

EINTR should be handled differently than EAGAIN.  Looping on EAGAIN is 
usually wrong because it implies 100% cpu consumption whereas EINTR is 
an expected (albeit lame) return from read.

> +        } else if (ret == 0) {
> +            break;
> +        } else {
> +            remaining--;
> +            buf++;
> +            if (*((char *)buf-1) == '\n')
> +                break;
> +        }
> +    }
> +    memset(buf, 0, remaining);
>    

Memsetting the whole thing seems a bit much, no?

Should use size_t for len (and these functions already live in qemu).

> +    return len - remaining;
> +}
> +
> +typedef struct va_http {
> +    char *preamble;
> +    int content_length;
> +    int content_read;
> +    char *content;
> +} va_http;
>    

CODING_STYLE.

> +
> +typedef struct HttpReadState {
> +    int fd;
> +    char hdr_buf[4096];
> +    int hdr_pos;
> +    va_http http;
> +    enum {
> +        IN_RESP_HEADER = 0,
> +        IN_RESP_BODY,
> +    } state;
> +    RPCRequest *rpc_data;
> +} HttpReadState;
> +
> +static int end_of_header(char *buf, int end_pos) {
> +    return !strncmp(buf+(end_pos-2), "\n\r\n", 3);
> +}
>    

The { belongs on a new line.

> +static void parse_hdr(va_http *http, char *buf, int len) {
> +    int i, line_pos=0;
> +    char line_buf[4096];
> +
> +    for (i=0; i<len; ++i) {
> +        if (buf[i] != '\n') {
> +            /* read line */
> +            line_buf[line_pos++] = buf[i];
> +        } else {
> +            /* process line */
> +            if (strncasecmp(line_buf, "content-length: ", 16) == 0) {
> +                http->content_length = atoi(&line_buf[16]);
> +                return;
> +            }
> +            line_pos = 0;
> +        }
> +    }
> +}
>    

expressions need spaces.  IOW, i=0; i<len; ++i should be i = 0; i < len; 
i++.

Avoid C++ isms like ++i.

> +static void http_read_handler(void *opaque) {
> +    HttpReadState *s = opaque;
> +    int ret;
> +
> +    TRACE("called with opaque: %p", opaque);
> +    if (s->state == IN_RESP_HEADER) {
> +        while((ret = read(s->fd, s->hdr_buf + s->hdr_pos, 1))>  0) {
>    

Read goes on another line.

> +            //TRACE("buf: %c", s->hdr_buf[0]);
> +            s->hdr_pos += ret;
> +            if (end_of_header(s->hdr_buf, s->hdr_pos - 1)) {
> +                s->state = IN_RESP_BODY;
> +                break;
> +            }
> +        }
> +        if (ret == -1) {
> +            if (errno == EAGAIN || errno == EWOULDBLOCK) {
>    

EWOULDBLOCK won't happen.

> +                return;
> +            } else {
> +                LOG("error reading connection: %s", strerror(errno));
> +                goto out_bad;
> +            }
> +        } else if (ret == 0) {
> +            LOG("connection closed unexpectedly");
> +            goto out_bad;
> +        } else {
> +            s->http.content_length = -1;
> +            parse_hdr(&s->http, s->hdr_buf, s->hdr_pos);
> +            if (s->http.content_length == -1) {
> +                LOG("malformed http header");
> +                goto out_bad;
> +            }
> +            s->http.content = qemu_mallocz(s->http.content_length);
> +            goto do_resp_body;
> +        }
> +    } else if (s->state == IN_RESP_BODY) {
> +do_resp_body:
> +        while(s->http.content_read<  s->http.content_length) {
> +            ret = read(s->fd, s->http.content + s->http.content_read, 4096);
>    

You can overrun your buffer here.  Should be MIN(s->http.content_length 
- s->http.content_read, 4096) or better yet, just http->content.length - 
s->http.content_read.

> +            if (ret == -1) {
> +                if (errno == EAGAIN || errno == EWOULDBLOCK) {
> +                    return;
> +                } else {
> +                    LOG("error reading connection: %s", strerror(errno));
> +                    qemu_free(s->http.content);
> +                    goto out;
> +                }
> +            } else if (ret == 0) {
> +                LOG("connection closed unexpectedly, expected %d more bytes",
> +                    s->http.content_length - s->http.content_read);
> +                goto out_bad;
> +            }
> +            s->http.content_read += ret;
> +        }
> +        s->rpc_data->resp_xml = s->http.content;
> +        s->rpc_data->resp_xml_len = s->http.content_length;
> +        goto out;
> +    }
> +out_bad:
> +    s->rpc_data->resp_xml = NULL;
> +out:
> +    vp_set_fd_handler(s->fd, NULL, NULL, NULL);
> +    s->rpc_data->cb(s->rpc_data);
> +    qemu_free(s);
> +}
> +
> +static int write_hdr(int fd, const va_http *http, bool request)
> +{
> +    int hdr_len;
> +    char *hdr;
> +    const char *preamble;
> +
> +    TRACE("called");
>    

Not very descriptive :-)

> +    /* essentially ignored in the context of virtagent, but might as well */
> +    preamble = request ? "POST /RPC2 HTTP/1.1" : "HTTP/1.1 200 OK";
> +
> +    hdr_len = asprintf(&hdr,
> +                      "%s" EOL
> +                      "Content-Type: text/xml" EOL
> +                      "Content-Length: %u" EOL EOL,
> +                      preamble,
> +                      http->content_length);
>    

Should split this up in multiple writes as asprintf is not portable.

> +    write_all(fd, hdr, hdr_len);
>    

Should check the return.

> +
> +    return 0;
> +}
> +
> +static int read_hdr(int fd, va_http *http)
> +{
> +    bool first = true;
> +    char line[4096];
> +    int ret;
> +
> +    http->preamble = NULL;
> +    http->content_length = -1;
> +
> +    do {
> +        ret = read_line(fd,&line, sizeof(line));
> +        if (ret<= 0) {
> +            LOG("error reading from connection");
> +            ret = -EPIPE;
> +            return ret;
> +        }
> +        TRACE("read line: %s", line);
> +        if (first) {
> +            http->preamble = line;
> +            first = false;
> +        }
> +        if (strncasecmp(line, "content-length: ", 16) == 0) {
> +            TRACE("hi");
>    

Cute, but should be more informative.

BTW, don't use strncasecmp.  Just check against Content-Length.

casecmp is not portable and worse yet, interacts weirdly with the 
current locale which is not what you want here.  HTTP requires 
Content-Length, it doesn't not accept content-length.

> +            http->content_length = atoi(&line[16]);
> +        }
> +    } while (strcmp(line, "\r\n")&&  strcmp(line, "\n"));
> +
> +    if (http->preamble == NULL) {
> +        LOG("header missing preamble");
> +        return -1;
> +    } else if (http->content_length == -1) {
> +        LOG("missing content length");
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +
> +    return 0;
> +}
> +
> +static int send_http(int fd, const va_http *http, bool request)
> +{
> +    int ret;
> +
> +    TRACE("called");
> +    ret = write_hdr(fd, http, request);
> +    if (ret != 0) {
> +        LOG("error sending header");
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +
> +    TRACE("sending body");
> +    ret = write_all(fd, http->content, http->content_length);
> +    TRACE("done sending body");
> +    if (ret != http->content_length) {
> +        LOG("error sending content");
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +
> +    return 0;
> +}
> +
> +static int send_http_request(int fd, const va_http *http)
> +{
> +    return send_http(fd, http, true);
> +}
> +
> +static int send_http_response(int fd, const va_http *http)
> +{
> +    return send_http(fd, http, false);
> +}
> +
> +static int get_http(int fd, va_http *http)
> +{
> +    int ret;
> +
> +    ret = read_hdr(fd, http);
> +    if (ret != 0) {
> +        LOG("error reading header");
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +
> +    http->content = qemu_malloc(http->content_length);
> +    ret = read_all(fd, http->content, http->content_length);
> +    if (ret != http->content_length) {
> +        LOG("error reading content");
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +
> +    TRACE("http:\n%s", http->content);
> +
> +    return 0;
> +}
> +
> +/* send http-encoded xmlrpc response */
> +int va_send_rpc_response(int fd, const xmlrpc_mem_block *resp_xml)
> +{
> +    int ret;
> +    va_http http_resp;
> +
> +    http_resp.content = XMLRPC_MEMBLOCK_CONTENTS(char, resp_xml);
> +    http_resp.content_length = XMLRPC_MEMBLOCK_SIZE(char, resp_xml);
> +
> +    TRACE("sending rpc response");
> +    ret = send_http_response(fd,&http_resp);
> +    if (ret != 0) {
> +        LOG("failed to send rpc response");
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +    TRACE("done sending rpc response");
> +
> +    return 0;
> +}
> +
> +/* read xmlrpc payload from http request */
> +int va_get_rpc_request(int fd, char **req_xml, int *req_len)
> +{
> +    int ret;
> +    va_http http_req;
> +
> +    TRACE("getting rpc request");
> +    ret = get_http(fd,&http_req);
> +    if (ret != 0) {
> +        LOG("failed to get RPC request");
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +
> +    *req_xml = http_req.content;
> +    *req_len = http_req.content_length;
> +    TRACE("done getting rpc request");
> +
> +    return 0;
> +}
> +
> +/* send an RPC request and retrieve the response */
> +int va_transport_rpc_call(int fd, RPCRequest *rpc_data)
> +{
> +    int ret;
> +    struct va_http http_req;
> +    HttpReadState *read_state;
> +
> +    TRACE("called");
> +    http_req.content = XMLRPC_MEMBLOCK_CONTENTS(char, rpc_data->req_xml);
> +    http_req.content_length = XMLRPC_MEMBLOCK_SIZE(char, rpc_data->req_xml);
> +
> +    /* TODO: this should be done asynchronously */
> +    TRACE("sending rpc request");
> +    ret = send_http_request(fd,&http_req);
> +    if (ret != 0) {
> +        LOG("failed to send rpc request");
> +        return -1;
> +    }
> +    TRACE("done sending rpc request");
> +
> +    TRACE("setting up rpc response handler");
> +    read_state = qemu_mallocz(sizeof(HttpReadState));
> +    read_state->fd = fd;
> +    read_state->rpc_data = rpc_data;
> +    read_state->state = IN_RESP_HEADER;
> +    vp_set_fd_handler(fd, http_read_handler, NULL, read_state);
> +
> +    return 0;
> +}
> diff --git a/virtagent-common.h b/virtagent-common.h
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000..0cedeb4
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/virtagent-common.h
> @@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
> +/*
> + * virt-agent - host/guest RPC client functions
> + *
> + * Copyright IBM Corp. 2010
> + *
> + * Authors:
> + *  Adam Litke<aglitke@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
> + *  Michael Roth<mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.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 VIRTAGENT_COMMON_H
> +#define VIRTAGENT_COMMON_H
> +
> +#include<stdlib.h>
> +#include<stdio.h>
> +#include<xmlrpc-c/base.h>
> +#include<xmlrpc-c/client.h>
> +#include<xmlrpc-c/server.h>
> +#include "qemu-common.h"
> +#include "monitor.h"
> +#include "virtproxy.h"
> +
> +#define DEBUG_VA
> +
> +#ifdef DEBUG_VA
> +#define TRACE(msg, ...) do { \
> +    fprintf(stderr, "%s:%s():L%d: " msg "\n", \
> +            __FILE__, __FUNCTION__, __LINE__, ## __VA_ARGS__); \
> +} while(0)
> +#else
> +#define TRACE(msg, ...) \
> +    do { } while (0)
> +#endif
> +
> +#define LOG(msg, ...) do { \
> +    fprintf(stderr, "%s:%s(): " msg "\n", \
> +            __FILE__, __FUNCTION__, ## __VA_ARGS__); \
> +} while(0)
> +
> +#define TADDR "127.0.0.1:8080"
> +#define URL "http://localhost:8080/RPC2"
> +#define NAME "QEMU virt-agent host client"
> +#define VERSION "1.0"
> +#define EOL "\r\n"
> +
> +typedef void (RPCRequestCallback)(void *rpc_data);
> +typedef struct RPCRequest {
> +    RPCRequestCallback *cb;
> +    xmlrpc_mem_block *req_xml;
> +    char *resp_xml;
> +    int resp_xml_len;
> +    Monitor *mon;
> +    MonitorCompletion *mon_cb;
> +    void *mon_data;
> +} RPCRequest;
> +
> +int va_send_rpc_response(int fd, const xmlrpc_mem_block *resp_xml);
> +int va_get_rpc_request(int fd, char **req_xml, int *req_len);
> +int va_transport_rpc_call(int fd, RPCRequest *rpc_data);
> +#endif /* VIRTAGENT_COMMON_H */
>
malc Oct. 25, 2010, 9:54 p.m. UTC | #2
On Mon, 25 Oct 2010, Anthony Liguori wrote:

> On 10/22/2010 01:45 PM, Michael Roth wrote:
> > Common code for sending/recieving RPCs via http over virtproxy channel.
> > Eventually these will all be switched to asynchronous handlers to avoid
> > deadlocks between qemu and the guest. For now we can usually get away with
> > just doing asynchronous reads for http/RPC responses if we don't send
> > large RPC requests to the guest (since these will likely get buffered
> > rather than block or cause spinning on writes).
[..snip..]

> 
> expressions need spaces.  IOW, i=0; i<len; ++i should be i = 0; i < len; i++.
> 
> Avoid C++ isms like ++i.

Why? 

[..snip..]
Anthony Liguori Oct. 25, 2010, 10:02 p.m. UTC | #3
On 10/25/2010 04:54 PM, malc wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Oct 2010, Anthony Liguori wrote:
>
>    
>> On 10/22/2010 01:45 PM, Michael Roth wrote:
>>      
>>> Common code for sending/recieving RPCs via http over virtproxy channel.
>>> Eventually these will all be switched to asynchronous handlers to avoid
>>> deadlocks between qemu and the guest. For now we can usually get away with
>>> just doing asynchronous reads for http/RPC responses if we don't send
>>> large RPC requests to the guest (since these will likely get buffered
>>> rather than block or cause spinning on writes).
>>>        
> [..snip..]
>
>    
>> expressions need spaces.  IOW, i=0; i<len; ++i should be i = 0; i<  len; i++.
>>
>> Avoid C++ isms like ++i.
>>      
> Why?
>    

Because it creates arbitrary inconsistency.

Regards,

Anthony Liguori

> [..snip..]
>
>
malc Oct. 25, 2010, 10:32 p.m. UTC | #4
On Mon, 25 Oct 2010, Anthony Liguori wrote:

> On 10/25/2010 04:54 PM, malc wrote:
> > On Mon, 25 Oct 2010, Anthony Liguori wrote:
> > 
> >    
> > > On 10/22/2010 01:45 PM, Michael Roth wrote:
> > >      
> > > > Common code for sending/recieving RPCs via http over virtproxy channel.
> > > > Eventually these will all be switched to asynchronous handlers to avoid
> > > > deadlocks between qemu and the guest. For now we can usually get away
> > > > with
> > > > just doing asynchronous reads for http/RPC responses if we don't send
> > > > large RPC requests to the guest (since these will likely get buffered
> > > > rather than block or cause spinning on writes).
> > > >        
> > [..snip..]
> > 
> >    
> > > expressions need spaces.  IOW, i=0; i<len; ++i should be i = 0; i<  len;
> > > i++.
> > > 
> > > Avoid C++ isms like ++i.
> > >      
> > Why?
> >    
> 
> Because it creates arbitrary inconsistency.
> 

That's rubbish.
diff mbox

Patch

diff --git a/virtagent-common.c b/virtagent-common.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..51016a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/virtagent-common.c
@@ -0,0 +1,381 @@ 
+/*
+ * virt-agent - common host/guest RPC functions
+ *
+ * Copyright IBM Corp. 2010
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Adam Litke        <aglitke@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *  Michael Roth      <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.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 <stdlib.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <ctype.h>
+#include <xmlrpc-c/base.h>
+#include <xmlrpc-c/client.h>
+#include <xmlrpc-c/server.h>
+#include "virtagent-common.h"
+
+static int write_all(int fd, const void *buf, int len1)
+{
+    int ret, len;
+
+    len = len1;
+    while (len > 0) {
+        ret = write(fd, buf, len);
+        if (ret < 0) {
+            if (errno != EINTR && errno != EAGAIN) {
+                LOG("write() failed");
+                return -1;
+            }
+        } else if (ret == 0) {
+            break;
+        } else {
+            buf += ret;
+            len -= ret;
+        }
+    }
+    return len1 - len;
+}
+
+static int read_all(int fd, void *buf, int len)
+{
+    int ret, remaining;
+
+    remaining = len;
+    while (remaining > 0) {
+        ret = read(fd, buf, remaining);
+        if (ret < 0) {
+            if (errno != EINTR && errno != EAGAIN) {
+                LOG("read failed");
+                return -1;
+            }
+        } else if (ret == 0) {
+            break;
+        } else {
+            buf += ret;
+            remaining -= ret;
+        }
+    }
+    return len - remaining;
+}
+
+static int read_line(int fd, void *buf, int len)
+{
+    int ret, remaining;
+    remaining = len;
+    while (remaining > 0) {
+        ret = read(fd, buf, 1);
+        if (ret < 0) {
+            if (errno != EINTR && errno != EAGAIN) {
+                LOG("read failed");
+                return -1;
+            }
+        } else if (ret == 0) {
+            break;
+        } else {
+            remaining--;
+            buf++;
+            if (*((char *)buf-1) == '\n')
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+    memset(buf, 0, remaining);
+    return len - remaining;
+}
+
+typedef struct va_http {
+    char *preamble;
+    int content_length;
+    int content_read;
+    char *content;
+} va_http;
+
+typedef struct HttpReadState {
+    int fd;
+    char hdr_buf[4096];
+    int hdr_pos;
+    va_http http;
+    enum {
+        IN_RESP_HEADER = 0,
+        IN_RESP_BODY,
+    } state;
+    RPCRequest *rpc_data;
+} HttpReadState;
+
+static int end_of_header(char *buf, int end_pos) {
+    return !strncmp(buf+(end_pos-2), "\n\r\n", 3);
+}
+
+static void parse_hdr(va_http *http, char *buf, int len) {
+    int i, line_pos=0;
+    char line_buf[4096];
+
+    for (i=0; i<len; ++i) {
+        if (buf[i] != '\n') {
+            /* read line */
+            line_buf[line_pos++] = buf[i];
+        } else {
+            /* process line */
+            if (strncasecmp(line_buf, "content-length: ", 16) == 0) {
+                http->content_length = atoi(&line_buf[16]);
+                return;
+            }
+            line_pos = 0;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+static void http_read_handler(void *opaque) {
+    HttpReadState *s = opaque;
+    int ret;
+
+    TRACE("called with opaque: %p", opaque);
+    if (s->state == IN_RESP_HEADER) {
+        while((ret = read(s->fd, s->hdr_buf + s->hdr_pos, 1)) > 0) {
+            //TRACE("buf: %c", s->hdr_buf[0]);
+            s->hdr_pos += ret;
+            if (end_of_header(s->hdr_buf, s->hdr_pos - 1)) {
+                s->state = IN_RESP_BODY;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+        if (ret == -1) {
+            if (errno == EAGAIN || errno == EWOULDBLOCK) {
+                return;
+            } else {
+                LOG("error reading connection: %s", strerror(errno));
+                goto out_bad;
+            }
+        } else if (ret == 0) {
+            LOG("connection closed unexpectedly");
+            goto out_bad;
+        } else {
+            s->http.content_length = -1;
+            parse_hdr(&s->http, s->hdr_buf, s->hdr_pos);
+            if (s->http.content_length == -1) {
+                LOG("malformed http header");
+                goto out_bad;
+            }
+            s->http.content = qemu_mallocz(s->http.content_length);
+            goto do_resp_body;
+        }
+    } else if (s->state == IN_RESP_BODY) {
+do_resp_body:
+        while(s->http.content_read < s->http.content_length) {
+            ret = read(s->fd, s->http.content + s->http.content_read, 4096);
+            if (ret == -1) {
+                if (errno == EAGAIN || errno == EWOULDBLOCK) {
+                    return;
+                } else {
+                    LOG("error reading connection: %s", strerror(errno));
+                    qemu_free(s->http.content);
+                    goto out;
+                }
+            } else if (ret == 0) {
+                LOG("connection closed unexpectedly, expected %d more bytes",
+                    s->http.content_length - s->http.content_read);
+                goto out_bad;
+            }
+            s->http.content_read += ret;
+        }
+        s->rpc_data->resp_xml = s->http.content;
+        s->rpc_data->resp_xml_len = s->http.content_length;
+        goto out;
+    }
+out_bad:
+    s->rpc_data->resp_xml = NULL;
+out:
+    vp_set_fd_handler(s->fd, NULL, NULL, NULL);
+    s->rpc_data->cb(s->rpc_data);
+    qemu_free(s);
+}
+
+static int write_hdr(int fd, const va_http *http, bool request)
+{
+    int hdr_len;
+    char *hdr;
+    const char *preamble;
+
+    TRACE("called");
+    /* essentially ignored in the context of virtagent, but might as well */
+    preamble = request ? "POST /RPC2 HTTP/1.1" : "HTTP/1.1 200 OK";
+
+    hdr_len = asprintf(&hdr,
+                      "%s" EOL
+                      "Content-Type: text/xml" EOL
+                      "Content-Length: %u" EOL EOL,
+                      preamble,
+                      http->content_length);
+    write_all(fd, hdr, hdr_len);
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int read_hdr(int fd, va_http *http)
+{
+    bool first = true;
+    char line[4096];
+    int ret;
+
+    http->preamble = NULL;
+    http->content_length = -1;
+
+    do {
+        ret = read_line(fd, &line, sizeof(line));
+        if (ret <= 0) {
+            LOG("error reading from connection");
+            ret = -EPIPE;
+            return ret;
+        }
+        TRACE("read line: %s", line);
+        if (first) {
+            http->preamble = line;
+            first = false;
+        }
+        if (strncasecmp(line, "content-length: ", 16) == 0) {
+            TRACE("hi");
+            http->content_length = atoi(&line[16]);
+        }
+    } while (strcmp(line, "\r\n") && strcmp(line, "\n"));
+
+    if (http->preamble == NULL) {
+        LOG("header missing preamble");
+        return -1;
+    } else if (http->content_length == -1) {
+        LOG("missing content length");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int send_http(int fd, const va_http *http, bool request)
+{
+    int ret;
+
+    TRACE("called");
+    ret = write_hdr(fd, http, request);
+    if (ret != 0) {
+        LOG("error sending header");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    TRACE("sending body");
+    ret = write_all(fd, http->content, http->content_length);
+    TRACE("done sending body");
+    if (ret != http->content_length) {
+        LOG("error sending content");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+static int send_http_request(int fd, const va_http *http)
+{
+    return send_http(fd, http, true);
+}
+
+static int send_http_response(int fd, const va_http *http)
+{
+    return send_http(fd, http, false);
+}
+
+static int get_http(int fd, va_http *http)
+{
+    int ret;
+
+    ret = read_hdr(fd, http);
+    if (ret != 0) {
+        LOG("error reading header");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    http->content = qemu_malloc(http->content_length);
+    ret = read_all(fd, http->content, http->content_length);
+    if (ret != http->content_length) {
+        LOG("error reading content");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    TRACE("http:\n%s", http->content);
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+/* send http-encoded xmlrpc response */
+int va_send_rpc_response(int fd, const xmlrpc_mem_block *resp_xml)
+{
+    int ret;
+    va_http http_resp;
+
+    http_resp.content = XMLRPC_MEMBLOCK_CONTENTS(char, resp_xml);
+    http_resp.content_length = XMLRPC_MEMBLOCK_SIZE(char, resp_xml);
+
+    TRACE("sending rpc response");
+    ret = send_http_response(fd, &http_resp);
+    if (ret != 0) {
+        LOG("failed to send rpc response");
+        return -1;
+    }
+    TRACE("done sending rpc response");
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+/* read xmlrpc payload from http request */
+int va_get_rpc_request(int fd, char **req_xml, int *req_len)
+{
+    int ret;
+    va_http http_req;
+
+    TRACE("getting rpc request");
+    ret = get_http(fd, &http_req);
+    if (ret != 0) {
+        LOG("failed to get RPC request");
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    *req_xml = http_req.content;
+    *req_len = http_req.content_length;
+    TRACE("done getting rpc request");
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+/* send an RPC request and retrieve the response */
+int va_transport_rpc_call(int fd, RPCRequest *rpc_data)
+{
+    int ret;
+    struct va_http http_req;
+    HttpReadState *read_state;
+
+    TRACE("called");
+    http_req.content = XMLRPC_MEMBLOCK_CONTENTS(char, rpc_data->req_xml);
+    http_req.content_length = XMLRPC_MEMBLOCK_SIZE(char, rpc_data->req_xml);
+
+    /* TODO: this should be done asynchronously */
+    TRACE("sending rpc request");
+    ret = send_http_request(fd, &http_req);
+    if (ret != 0) {
+        LOG("failed to send rpc request");
+        return -1;
+    }
+    TRACE("done sending rpc request");
+
+    TRACE("setting up rpc response handler");
+    read_state = qemu_mallocz(sizeof(HttpReadState));
+    read_state->fd = fd;
+    read_state->rpc_data = rpc_data;
+    read_state->state = IN_RESP_HEADER;
+    vp_set_fd_handler(fd, http_read_handler, NULL, read_state);
+
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/virtagent-common.h b/virtagent-common.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0cedeb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/virtagent-common.h
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@ 
+/*
+ * virt-agent - host/guest RPC client functions
+ *
+ * Copyright IBM Corp. 2010
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *  Adam Litke        <aglitke@linux.vnet.ibm.com>
+ *  Michael Roth      <mdroth@linux.vnet.ibm.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 VIRTAGENT_COMMON_H
+#define VIRTAGENT_COMMON_H
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <xmlrpc-c/base.h>
+#include <xmlrpc-c/client.h>
+#include <xmlrpc-c/server.h>
+#include "qemu-common.h"
+#include "monitor.h"
+#include "virtproxy.h"
+
+#define DEBUG_VA
+
+#ifdef DEBUG_VA
+#define TRACE(msg, ...) do { \
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s:%s():L%d: " msg "\n", \
+            __FILE__, __FUNCTION__, __LINE__, ## __VA_ARGS__); \
+} while(0)
+#else
+#define TRACE(msg, ...) \
+    do { } while (0)
+#endif
+
+#define LOG(msg, ...) do { \
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s:%s(): " msg "\n", \
+            __FILE__, __FUNCTION__, ## __VA_ARGS__); \
+} while(0)
+
+#define TADDR "127.0.0.1:8080"
+#define URL "http://localhost:8080/RPC2"
+#define NAME "QEMU virt-agent host client"
+#define VERSION "1.0"
+#define EOL "\r\n"
+
+typedef void (RPCRequestCallback)(void *rpc_data);
+typedef struct RPCRequest {
+    RPCRequestCallback *cb;
+    xmlrpc_mem_block *req_xml;
+    char *resp_xml;
+    int resp_xml_len;
+    Monitor *mon;
+    MonitorCompletion *mon_cb;
+    void *mon_data;
+} RPCRequest;
+
+int va_send_rpc_response(int fd, const xmlrpc_mem_block *resp_xml);
+int va_get_rpc_request(int fd, char **req_xml, int *req_len);
+int va_transport_rpc_call(int fd, RPCRequest *rpc_data);
+#endif /* VIRTAGENT_COMMON_H */