Re: GSoC 2026 – Looking for a Mentor | QEMU/vmm.ko Virtualization Project

Hello Shane,

I'm planning to improve that project with the help of a friend of mine as
soon as possible. Unfortunately I can't be your mentor.

On Tue, Mar 17, 2026 at 8:27 PM Joseph Mingrone <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hello Shane,
>
> I asked John Baldwin, who mentored a similar project last year [0].  He
> indicated that this work was already completed in that GSoC project, and
> he unfortunately isn't available to mentor this summer.
>
> I think your best approach now is to review that project from last year
> and determine whether there is something new you could add.  That said,
> it may be difficult to find a qualified and willing mentor at this
> stage, now that applications are open.  It's not impossible, but it is
> likely to be the main challenge.
>
> Joe
>
> [0]
> https://wiki.freebsd.org/SummerOfCode2025Projects/VMMAcceleratorSupportForQEMU
>
> On Tue, 2026-03-17 at 07:23, shane <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Hi everyone,
>
> > I hope this finds you all well. I'm reaching out to the list to ask if
> there's anyone available to mentor a GSoC 2026 project around FreeBSD
> virtualization specifically, improving QEMU's integration with the vmm.ko
> kernel module via libvmmapi.
>
> > I've been digging into this area for a while now and have been actively
> working on a few things. The main focus right now is moving away from the
> current split-brain architecture. where CPU and memory management live in
> kernel space (vmm.ko/bhyve) while device emulation sits entirely in QEMU
> userspace and working toward a more unified design. Alongside that, I've
> been looking at the SMP limitations in the existing implementation; getting
> proper multi-vCPU support working reliably is something I'd really like to
> tackle as part of this.
>
> > I've been going through the codebase, understanding how vm_run works,
> studying the LAPIC/IOAPIC wiring, and have started prototyping on a local
> branch. I'm genuinely invested in this and would love to take it further
> under proper mentorship.
>
> > If anyone on the list has experience in this space and would be open to
> mentoring or could point me toward the right person  I'd really appreciate
> it. Happy to share more details about what I've been working on, a draft
> proposal, or any patches if that helps.
>
> > Thanks a lot for your time.
>
> > Best regards,
> > Shane
> > Shane Cardoz
>
>

-- 
Mario.