diff mbox series

[v13,for-4.1,01/11] qemu_thread: make qemu_thread_create() take Error ** argument

Message ID 20190325135411.26506-2-shirley17fei@gmail.com
State New
Headers show
Series qemu_thread_create: propagate the error to callers to handle | expand

Commit Message

Fei Li March 25, 2019, 1:54 p.m. UTC
From: Fei Li <fli@suse.com>

qemu_thread_create() abort()s on error. Not nice. Give it a return
value and an Error ** argument, so it can return success/failure.

Considering qemu_thread_create() is quite widely used in qemu, split
this into two steps: this patch passes the &error_abort to
qemu_thread_create() everywhere, and the next 10 patches will improve
on &error_abort for callers who need.  To differentiate callers who
need the improvement, temporarily add the "TODO:" comment for them.

Cc: Markus Armbruster <armbru@redhat.com>
Cc: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
Signed-off-by: Fei Li <fli@suse.com>
Reviewed-by: Markus Armbruster <armbru@redhat.com>
---
 cpus.c                      | 23 +++++++++++++++--------
 dump.c                      |  3 ++-
 hw/misc/edu.c               |  4 +++-
 hw/ppc/spapr_hcall.c        |  4 +++-
 hw/rdma/rdma_backend.c      |  3 ++-
 hw/usb/ccid-card-emulated.c |  5 +++--
 include/qemu/thread.h       |  6 +++---
 io/task.c                   |  3 ++-
 iothread.c                  |  3 ++-
 migration/migration.c       | 11 ++++++++---
 migration/postcopy-ram.c    |  4 +++-
 migration/ram.c             | 12 ++++++++----
 migration/savevm.c          |  3 ++-
 tests/atomic_add-bench.c    |  3 ++-
 tests/iothread.c            |  2 +-
 tests/qht-bench.c           |  3 ++-
 tests/rcutorture.c          |  3 ++-
 tests/test-aio.c            |  2 +-
 tests/test-rcu-list.c       |  3 ++-
 ui/vnc-jobs.c               |  6 ++++--
 util/compatfd.c             |  6 ++++--
 util/oslib-posix.c          |  3 ++-
 util/qemu-thread-posix.c    | 30 +++++++++++++++++++++++-------
 util/qemu-thread-win32.c    | 13 ++++++++++---
 util/rcu.c                  |  3 ++-
 util/thread-pool.c          |  4 +++-
 26 files changed, 114 insertions(+), 51 deletions(-)
diff mbox series

Patch

diff --git a/cpus.c b/cpus.c
index e83f72b48b..2c70c06da8 100644
--- a/cpus.c
+++ b/cpus.c
@@ -1962,15 +1962,17 @@  static void qemu_tcg_init_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
             snprintf(thread_name, VCPU_THREAD_NAME_SIZE, "CPU %d/TCG",
                  cpu->cpu_index);
 
+            /* TODO: let the callers handle the error instead of abort() here */
             qemu_thread_create(cpu->thread, thread_name, qemu_tcg_cpu_thread_fn,
-                               cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                               cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 
         } else {
             /* share a single thread for all cpus with TCG */
             snprintf(thread_name, VCPU_THREAD_NAME_SIZE, "ALL CPUs/TCG");
+            /* TODO: let the callers handle the error instead of abort() here */
             qemu_thread_create(cpu->thread, thread_name,
                                qemu_tcg_rr_cpu_thread_fn,
-                               cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                               cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 
             single_tcg_halt_cond = cpu->halt_cond;
             single_tcg_cpu_thread = cpu->thread;
@@ -1998,8 +2000,9 @@  static void qemu_hax_start_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
 
     snprintf(thread_name, VCPU_THREAD_NAME_SIZE, "CPU %d/HAX",
              cpu->cpu_index);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(cpu->thread, thread_name, qemu_hax_cpu_thread_fn,
-                       cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 #ifdef _WIN32
     cpu->hThread = qemu_thread_get_handle(cpu->thread);
 #endif
@@ -2014,8 +2017,9 @@  static void qemu_kvm_start_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
     qemu_cond_init(cpu->halt_cond);
     snprintf(thread_name, VCPU_THREAD_NAME_SIZE, "CPU %d/KVM",
              cpu->cpu_index);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(cpu->thread, thread_name, qemu_kvm_cpu_thread_fn,
-                       cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 }
 
 static void qemu_hvf_start_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
@@ -2032,8 +2036,9 @@  static void qemu_hvf_start_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
 
     snprintf(thread_name, VCPU_THREAD_NAME_SIZE, "CPU %d/HVF",
              cpu->cpu_index);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(cpu->thread, thread_name, qemu_hvf_cpu_thread_fn,
-                       cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 }
 
 static void qemu_whpx_start_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
@@ -2045,8 +2050,9 @@  static void qemu_whpx_start_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
     qemu_cond_init(cpu->halt_cond);
     snprintf(thread_name, VCPU_THREAD_NAME_SIZE, "CPU %d/WHPX",
              cpu->cpu_index);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(cpu->thread, thread_name, qemu_whpx_cpu_thread_fn,
-                       cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 #ifdef _WIN32
     cpu->hThread = qemu_thread_get_handle(cpu->thread);
 #endif
@@ -2061,8 +2067,9 @@  static void qemu_dummy_start_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
     qemu_cond_init(cpu->halt_cond);
     snprintf(thread_name, VCPU_THREAD_NAME_SIZE, "CPU %d/DUMMY",
              cpu->cpu_index);
-    qemu_thread_create(cpu->thread, thread_name, qemu_dummy_cpu_thread_fn, cpu,
-                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
+    qemu_thread_create(cpu->thread, thread_name, qemu_dummy_cpu_thread_fn,
+                       cpu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 }
 
 void qemu_init_vcpu(CPUState *cpu)
diff --git a/dump.c b/dump.c
index 107a67165a..3401078af4 100644
--- a/dump.c
+++ b/dump.c
@@ -2021,8 +2021,9 @@  void qmp_dump_guest_memory(bool paging, const char *file,
     if (detach_p) {
         /* detached dump */
         s->detached = true;
+        /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() */
         qemu_thread_create(&s->dump_thread, "dump_thread", dump_thread,
-                           s, QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
+                           s, QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED, &error_abort);
     } else {
         /* sync dump */
         dump_process(s, errp);
diff --git a/hw/misc/edu.c b/hw/misc/edu.c
index 91af452c9e..21adbfddce 100644
--- a/hw/misc/edu.c
+++ b/hw/misc/edu.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ 
 #include "hw/pci/msi.h"
 #include "qemu/timer.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h" /* iothread mutex */
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "qapi/visitor.h"
 
 #define TYPE_PCI_EDU_DEVICE "edu"
@@ -355,8 +356,9 @@  static void pci_edu_realize(PCIDevice *pdev, Error **errp)
 
     qemu_mutex_init(&edu->thr_mutex);
     qemu_cond_init(&edu->thr_cond);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(&edu->thread, "edu", edu_fact_thread,
-                       edu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       edu, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 
     memory_region_init_io(&edu->mmio, OBJECT(edu), &edu_mmio_ops, edu,
                     "edu-mmio", 1 * MiB);
diff --git a/hw/ppc/spapr_hcall.c b/hw/ppc/spapr_hcall.c
index 8a736797b9..900b71f4a6 100644
--- a/hw/ppc/spapr_hcall.c
+++ b/hw/ppc/spapr_hcall.c
@@ -507,8 +507,10 @@  static target_ulong h_resize_hpt_prepare(PowerPCCPU *cpu,
     pending->shift = shift;
     pending->ret = H_HARDWARE;
 
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(&pending->thread, "sPAPR HPT prepare",
-                       hpt_prepare_thread, pending, QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
+                       hpt_prepare_thread, pending,
+                       QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED, &error_abort);
 
     spapr->pending_hpt = pending;
 
diff --git a/hw/rdma/rdma_backend.c b/hw/rdma/rdma_backend.c
index d1660b6474..3149105cce 100644
--- a/hw/rdma/rdma_backend.c
+++ b/hw/rdma/rdma_backend.c
@@ -281,7 +281,8 @@  static void start_comp_thread(RdmaBackendDev *backend_dev)
              ibv_get_device_name(backend_dev->ib_dev));
     backend_dev->comp_thread.run = true;
     qemu_thread_create(&backend_dev->comp_thread.thread, thread_name,
-                       comp_handler_thread, backend_dev, QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
+                       comp_handler_thread, backend_dev,
+                       QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED, &error_abort);
 }
 
 void rdma_backend_register_comp_handler(void (*handler)(void *ctx,
diff --git a/hw/usb/ccid-card-emulated.c b/hw/usb/ccid-card-emulated.c
index 963373ba95..0b170f6328 100644
--- a/hw/usb/ccid-card-emulated.c
+++ b/hw/usb/ccid-card-emulated.c
@@ -544,10 +544,11 @@  static void emulated_realize(CCIDCardState *base, Error **errp)
         error_setg(errp, "%s: failed to initialize vcard", TYPE_EMULATED_CCID);
         goto out2;
     }
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(&card->event_thread_id, "ccid/event", event_thread,
-                       card, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       card, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     qemu_thread_create(&card->apdu_thread_id, "ccid/apdu", handle_apdu_thread,
-                       card, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       card, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 
     return;
 
diff --git a/include/qemu/thread.h b/include/qemu/thread.h
index 55d83a907c..ec18d8b171 100644
--- a/include/qemu/thread.h
+++ b/include/qemu/thread.h
@@ -152,9 +152,9 @@  void qemu_event_reset(QemuEvent *ev);
 void qemu_event_wait(QemuEvent *ev);
 void qemu_event_destroy(QemuEvent *ev);
 
-void qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
-                        void *(*start_routine)(void *),
-                        void *arg, int mode);
+int qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
+                       void *(*start_routine)(void *),
+                       void *arg, int mode, Error **errp);
 void *qemu_thread_join(QemuThread *thread);
 void qemu_thread_get_self(QemuThread *thread);
 bool qemu_thread_is_self(QemuThread *thread);
diff --git a/io/task.c b/io/task.c
index 64c4c7126a..1499540cdf 100644
--- a/io/task.c
+++ b/io/task.c
@@ -170,7 +170,8 @@  void qio_task_run_in_thread(QIOTask *task,
                        "io-task-worker",
                        qio_task_thread_worker,
                        task,
-                       QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
+                       QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED,
+                       &error_abort);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/iothread.c b/iothread.c
index 7130be58e3..2d5a5bfe6c 100644
--- a/iothread.c
+++ b/iothread.c
@@ -198,8 +198,9 @@  static void iothread_complete(UserCreatable *obj, Error **errp)
      */
     name = object_get_canonical_path_component(OBJECT(obj));
     thread_name = g_strdup_printf("IO %s", name);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(&iothread->thread, thread_name, iothread_run,
-                       iothread, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       iothread, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     g_free(thread_name);
     g_free(name);
 
diff --git a/migration/migration.c b/migration/migration.c
index df6fd8e0e5..e9e83ab564 100644
--- a/migration/migration.c
+++ b/migration/migration.c
@@ -484,8 +484,10 @@  static void process_incoming_migration_co(void *opaque)
             goto fail;
         }
 
+        /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() */
         qemu_thread_create(&mis->colo_incoming_thread, "COLO incoming",
-             colo_process_incoming_thread, mis, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                           colo_process_incoming_thread, mis,
+                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
         mis->have_colo_incoming_thread = true;
         qemu_coroutine_yield();
 
@@ -2492,8 +2494,10 @@  static int open_return_path_on_source(MigrationState *ms,
         return 0;
     }
 
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(&ms->rp_state.rp_thread, "return path",
-                       source_return_path_thread, ms, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       source_return_path_thread, ms,
+                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 
     trace_open_return_path_on_source_continue();
 
@@ -3338,8 +3342,9 @@  void migrate_fd_connect(MigrationState *s, Error *error_in)
         migrate_fd_cleanup(s);
         return;
     }
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(&s->thread, "live_migration", migration_thread, s,
-                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     s->migration_thread_running = true;
 }
 
diff --git a/migration/postcopy-ram.c b/migration/postcopy-ram.c
index e2aa57a701..e9d69c8b1e 100644
--- a/migration/postcopy-ram.c
+++ b/migration/postcopy-ram.c
@@ -1115,8 +1115,10 @@  int postcopy_ram_enable_notify(MigrationIncomingState *mis)
     }
 
     qemu_sem_init(&mis->fault_thread_sem, 0);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(&mis->fault_thread, "postcopy/fault",
-                       postcopy_ram_fault_thread, mis, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       postcopy_ram_fault_thread, mis,
+                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     qemu_sem_wait(&mis->fault_thread_sem);
     qemu_sem_destroy(&mis->fault_thread_sem);
     mis->have_fault_thread = true;
diff --git a/migration/ram.c b/migration/ram.c
index 35bd6213e9..825d448b31 100644
--- a/migration/ram.c
+++ b/migration/ram.c
@@ -565,9 +565,10 @@  static int compress_threads_save_setup(void)
         comp_param[i].quit = false;
         qemu_mutex_init(&comp_param[i].mutex);
         qemu_cond_init(&comp_param[i].cond);
+        /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() */
         qemu_thread_create(compress_threads + i, "compress",
                            do_data_compress, comp_param + i,
-                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     }
     return 0;
 
@@ -1138,8 +1139,9 @@  static void multifd_new_send_channel_async(QIOTask *task, gpointer opaque)
         p->c = QIO_CHANNEL(sioc);
         qio_channel_set_delay(p->c, false);
         p->running = true;
+        /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() */
         qemu_thread_create(&p->thread, p->name, multifd_send_thread, p,
-                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 
         atomic_inc(&multifd_send_state->count);
     }
@@ -1418,8 +1420,9 @@  bool multifd_recv_new_channel(QIOChannel *ioc, Error **errp)
     p->num_packets = 1;
 
     p->running = true;
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(&p->thread, p->name, multifd_recv_thread, p,
-                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     atomic_inc(&multifd_recv_state->count);
     return atomic_read(&multifd_recv_state->count) ==
            migrate_multifd_channels();
@@ -3801,9 +3804,10 @@  static int compress_threads_load_setup(QEMUFile *f)
         qemu_cond_init(&decomp_param[i].cond);
         decomp_param[i].done = true;
         decomp_param[i].quit = false;
+        /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() */
         qemu_thread_create(decompress_threads + i, "decompress",
                            do_data_decompress, decomp_param + i,
-                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     }
     return 0;
 exit:
diff --git a/migration/savevm.c b/migration/savevm.c
index 1415001d1c..8cd558be7e 100644
--- a/migration/savevm.c
+++ b/migration/savevm.c
@@ -1832,9 +1832,10 @@  static int loadvm_postcopy_handle_listen(MigrationIncomingState *mis)
     mis->have_listen_thread = true;
     /* Start up the listening thread and wait for it to signal ready */
     qemu_sem_init(&mis->listen_thread_sem, 0);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
     qemu_thread_create(&mis->listen_thread, "postcopy/listen",
                        postcopy_ram_listen_thread, NULL,
-                       QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
+                       QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED, &error_abort);
     qemu_sem_wait(&mis->listen_thread_sem);
     qemu_sem_destroy(&mis->listen_thread_sem);
 
diff --git a/tests/atomic_add-bench.c b/tests/atomic_add-bench.c
index 5666f6bbff..52071585a9 100644
--- a/tests/atomic_add-bench.c
+++ b/tests/atomic_add-bench.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ 
 #include "qemu/thread.h"
 #include "qemu/host-utils.h"
 #include "qemu/processor.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 
 struct thread_info {
     uint64_t r;
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@  static void create_threads(void)
 
         info->r = (i + 1) ^ time(NULL);
         qemu_thread_create(&threads[i], NULL, thread_func, info,
-                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/iothread.c b/tests/iothread.c
index 777d9eea46..f4ad992e61 100644
--- a/tests/iothread.c
+++ b/tests/iothread.c
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@  IOThread *iothread_new(void)
     qemu_mutex_init(&iothread->init_done_lock);
     qemu_cond_init(&iothread->init_done_cond);
     qemu_thread_create(&iothread->thread, NULL, iothread_run,
-                       iothread, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       iothread, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 
     /* Wait for initialization to complete */
     qemu_mutex_lock(&iothread->init_done_lock);
diff --git a/tests/qht-bench.c b/tests/qht-bench.c
index e3b512f26f..728c2e06c7 100644
--- a/tests/qht-bench.c
+++ b/tests/qht-bench.c
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ 
 #include "qemu/qht.h"
 #include "qemu/rcu.h"
 #include "qemu/xxhash.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 
 struct thread_stats {
     size_t rd;
@@ -248,7 +249,7 @@  th_create_n(QemuThread **threads, struct thread_info **infos, const char *name,
         prepare_thread_info(&info[i], offset + i);
         info[i].func = func;
         qemu_thread_create(&th[i], name, thread_func, &info[i],
-                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/rcutorture.c b/tests/rcutorture.c
index 49311c82ea..0e799ff256 100644
--- a/tests/rcutorture.c
+++ b/tests/rcutorture.c
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ 
 #include "qemu/atomic.h"
 #include "qemu/rcu.h"
 #include "qemu/thread.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 
 long long n_reads = 0LL;
 long n_updates = 0L;
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@  static void create_thread(void *(*func)(void *))
         exit(-1);
     }
     qemu_thread_create(&threads[n_threads], "test", func, &data[n_threads],
-                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     n_threads++;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/test-aio.c b/tests/test-aio.c
index 86fb73b3d5..b3ac261724 100644
--- a/tests/test-aio.c
+++ b/tests/test-aio.c
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@  static void test_acquire(void)
 
     qemu_thread_create(&thread, "test_acquire_thread",
                        test_acquire_thread,
-                       &data, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       &data, QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
 
     /* Block in aio_poll(), let other thread kick us and acquire context */
     aio_context_acquire(ctx);
diff --git a/tests/test-rcu-list.c b/tests/test-rcu-list.c
index 6f076473e0..399744f03c 100644
--- a/tests/test-rcu-list.c
+++ b/tests/test-rcu-list.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ 
 #include "qemu/rcu.h"
 #include "qemu/thread.h"
 #include "qemu/rcu_queue.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 
 /*
  * Test variables.
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@  static void create_thread(void *(*func)(void *))
         exit(-1);
     }
     qemu_thread_create(&threads[n_threads], "test", func, &data[n_threads],
-                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                       QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
     n_threads++;
 }
 
diff --git a/ui/vnc-jobs.c b/ui/vnc-jobs.c
index 929391f85d..5712f1f501 100644
--- a/ui/vnc-jobs.c
+++ b/ui/vnc-jobs.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ 
 #include "vnc-jobs.h"
 #include "qemu/sockets.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 #include "block/aio.h"
 
 /*
@@ -339,7 +340,8 @@  void vnc_start_worker_thread(void)
         return ;
 
     q = vnc_queue_init();
-    qemu_thread_create(&q->thread, "vnc_worker", vnc_worker_thread, q,
-                       QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
+    qemu_thread_create(&q->thread, "vnc_worker", vnc_worker_thread,
+                       q, QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED, &error_abort);
     queue = q; /* Set global queue */
 }
diff --git a/util/compatfd.c b/util/compatfd.c
index 980bd33e52..c3d8448264 100644
--- a/util/compatfd.c
+++ b/util/compatfd.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ 
 #include "qemu/osdep.h"
 #include "qemu-common.h"
 #include "qemu/thread.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 
 #include <sys/syscall.h>
 
@@ -88,8 +89,9 @@  static int qemu_signalfd_compat(const sigset_t *mask)
     memcpy(&info->mask, mask, sizeof(*mask));
     info->fd = fds[1];
 
-    qemu_thread_create(&thread, "signalfd_compat", sigwait_compat, info,
-                       QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
+    /* TODO: let the further caller handle the error instead of abort() here */
+    qemu_thread_create(&thread, "signalfd_compat", sigwait_compat,
+                       info, QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED, &error_abort);
 
     return fds[0];
 }
diff --git a/util/oslib-posix.c b/util/oslib-posix.c
index 88dda9cd39..eb849997cc 100644
--- a/util/oslib-posix.c
+++ b/util/oslib-posix.c
@@ -464,9 +464,10 @@  static bool touch_all_pages(char *area, size_t hpagesize, size_t numpages,
         memset_thread[i].numpages = (i == (memset_num_threads - 1)) ?
                                     numpages : numpages_per_thread;
         memset_thread[i].hpagesize = hpagesize;
+        /* TODO: let the callers handle the error instead of abort() here */
         qemu_thread_create(&memset_thread[i].pgthread, "touch_pages",
                            do_touch_pages, &memset_thread[i],
-                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE);
+                           QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE, &error_abort);
         addr += size_per_thread;
         numpages -= numpages_per_thread;
     }
diff --git a/util/qemu-thread-posix.c b/util/qemu-thread-posix.c
index 1bf5e65dea..06a9e78ba8 100644
--- a/util/qemu-thread-posix.c
+++ b/util/qemu-thread-posix.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ 
 #include "qemu/atomic.h"
 #include "qemu/notify.h"
 #include "qemu-thread-common.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 
 static bool name_threads;
 
@@ -504,9 +505,18 @@  static void *qemu_thread_start(void *args)
     return r;
 }
 
-void qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
-                       void *(*start_routine)(void*),
-                       void *arg, int mode)
+/*
+ * Create a new thread with name @name
+ * The thread executes @start_routine() with argument @arg.
+ * The thread will be created in a detached state if @mode is
+ * QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED, and in a jounable state if it's
+ * QEMU_THREAD_JOINABLE.
+ * On success, return 0.
+ * On failure, store an error through @errp and return negative errno.
+ */
+int qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
+                       void *(*start_routine)(void *),
+                       void *arg, int mode, Error **errp)
 {
     sigset_t set, oldset;
     int err;
@@ -515,7 +525,8 @@  void qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
 
     err = pthread_attr_init(&attr);
     if (err) {
-        error_exit(err, __func__);
+        error_setg(errp, "pthread_attr_init failed");
+        return -err;
     }
 
     if (mode == QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED) {
@@ -538,13 +549,18 @@  void qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
 
     err = pthread_create(&thread->thread, &attr,
                          qemu_thread_start, qemu_thread_args);
-
-    if (err)
-        error_exit(err, __func__);
+    if (err) {
+        error_setg(errp, "pthread_create failed");
+        pthread_attr_destroy(&attr);
+        g_free(qemu_thread_args->name);
+        g_free(qemu_thread_args);
+        return -err;
+    }
 
     pthread_sigmask(SIG_SETMASK, &oldset, NULL);
 
     pthread_attr_destroy(&attr);
+    return 0;
 }
 
 void qemu_thread_get_self(QemuThread *thread)
diff --git a/util/qemu-thread-win32.c b/util/qemu-thread-win32.c
index 572f88535d..f2deea5250 100644
--- a/util/qemu-thread-win32.c
+++ b/util/qemu-thread-win32.c
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ 
 #include "qemu/thread.h"
 #include "qemu/notify.h"
 #include "qemu-thread-common.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 #include <process.h>
 
 static bool name_threads;
@@ -384,9 +385,9 @@  void *qemu_thread_join(QemuThread *thread)
     return ret;
 }
 
-void qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
+int qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
                        void *(*start_routine)(void *),
-                       void *arg, int mode)
+                       void *arg, int mode, Error **errp)
 {
     HANDLE hThread;
     struct QemuThreadData *data;
@@ -405,10 +406,16 @@  void qemu_thread_create(QemuThread *thread, const char *name,
     hThread = (HANDLE) _beginthreadex(NULL, 0, win32_start_routine,
                                       data, 0, &thread->tid);
     if (!hThread) {
-        error_exit(GetLastError(), __func__);
+        if (data->mode != QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED) {
+            DeleteCriticalSection(&data->cs);
+        }
+        error_setg(errp, "failed to create win32_start_routine");
+        g_free(data);
+        return -errno;
     }
     CloseHandle(hThread);
     thread->data = data;
+    return 0;
 }
 
 void qemu_thread_get_self(QemuThread *thread)
diff --git a/util/rcu.c b/util/rcu.c
index 5676c22bd1..145dcdb0c6 100644
--- a/util/rcu.c
+++ b/util/rcu.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ 
 #include "qemu/atomic.h"
 #include "qemu/thread.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 #if defined(CONFIG_MALLOC_TRIM)
 #include <malloc.h>
 #endif
@@ -325,7 +326,7 @@  static void rcu_init_complete(void)
      * must have been quiescent even after forking, just recreate it.
      */
     qemu_thread_create(&thread, "call_rcu", call_rcu_thread,
-                       NULL, QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
+                       NULL, QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED, &error_abort);
 
     rcu_register_thread();
 }
diff --git a/util/thread-pool.c b/util/thread-pool.c
index 610646d131..ad0f980783 100644
--- a/util/thread-pool.c
+++ b/util/thread-pool.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ 
 #include "trace.h"
 #include "block/thread-pool.h"
 #include "qemu/main-loop.h"
+#include "qapi/error.h"
 
 static void do_spawn_thread(ThreadPool *pool);
 
@@ -132,7 +133,8 @@  static void do_spawn_thread(ThreadPool *pool)
     pool->new_threads--;
     pool->pending_threads++;
 
-    qemu_thread_create(&t, "worker", worker_thread, pool, QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED);
+    qemu_thread_create(&t, "worker", worker_thread, pool,
+                       QEMU_THREAD_DETACHED, &error_abort);
 }
 
 static void spawn_thread_bh_fn(void *opaque)