[LIBXC] Add an error reporting API to the libxc library.

 - An 'xc_error' struct is used to pass around error
   details. Currently contains two members 'code' an enumeration of
   error types, and 'message' a free text description of the specific
   problem.

 - The xc_get_last_error() method returns a const pointer to the
   internal instance of this struct manged by libxc. By returning a
   const pointer we can add extra members to the end of the struct at
   any time without worrying about ABI of callers. This will let us
   provide more fine-grained info if needed in the future.

 - The xc_error instance is statically defined inside libxc and marked
   __thread. This ensures that errors are recorded per-thread, and
   that when dealing with errors we never need to call malloc - all
   storage needed is statically allocated.

 - The xc_clear_last_error() method resets any currently recorded
   error details

 - The xc_error_code_to_desc() method converts the integer error code
   into a generic user facing messsage. eg "Invalid kernel". Together
   with the 'message' field from xc_error, this provides the user
   visible feedback. eg "Invalid kernel: Non PAE-kernel on PAE host."

 - A callback can be registered with xc_set_error_handler to receive
   notification whenever an error is recorded, rather than querying
   for error details after the fact with xc_get_last_error

 - If built with -DDEBUG set, a default error handler will be
   registered which calls fprintf(stderr), thus maintaining current
   behaviour of logging errors to stderr during developer builds.

 - The python binding for libxc is updated to use xc_get_last_error
   to pull out error details whenever appropriate, instead of
   returning info based on 'errno'

 - The xc_set_error method is private to libxc internals, and is used
   for setting error details

 - The ERROR and PERROR macros have been updated to call xc_set_error
   automatically specifying XC_INTERNAL_ERROR as the error code. This
   gives a generic error report for all current failure points

 - Some uses of the ERROR macro have been replaced with explicit
   calls to xc_set_error to enable finer grained error reporting. In
   particular the code dealing with invalid kernel types uses this
   to report about PAE/architecture/wordsize mismatches

The patch has been tested by calling xm create against a varietry of
config files defining invalid kernels of various kinds. It has also
been tested with libvirt talking to xend. In both cases the error
messages were propagated all the way back up the stack.

There is only one place where I need to do further work. The suspend
& restore APIs in Xend invoke external helper programs rather than
calling libxc directly. This means that error details are essentially
lost. Since there is already code in XenD which scans STDERR from
these programs I will investigate adapting this to extract actual
error messages from these helpers.

Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrange <berrange@redhat.com>

diff --git a/tools/libxc/xc_hvm_build.c b/tools/libxc/xc_hvm_build.c
index 1c038755cd85157b0e9b3f1b9a348b3130658362..21e20ffaf9f084d8ab3d2df120705e302c548369 100644 (file)
--- a/tools/libxc/xc_hvm_build.c
+++ b/tools/libxc/xc_hvm_build.c
@@ -285,7 +285,6 @@ static int xc_hvm_build_internal(int xc_handle,
 
     if ( setup_guest(xc_handle, domid, memsize, image, image_size, &ctxt) < 0 )
     {
-        ERROR("Error constructing guest OS");
         goto error_out;
     }
 
@@ -329,26 +328,30 @@ static int parseelfimage(char *elfbase,
 
     if ( !IS_ELF(*ehdr) )
     {
-        ERROR("Kernel image does not have an ELF header.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Kernel image does not have an ELF header.");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
     if ( (ehdr->e_phoff + (ehdr->e_phnum * ehdr->e_phentsize)) > elfsize )
     {
-        ERROR("ELF program headers extend beyond end of image.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "ELF program headers extend beyond end of image.");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
     if ( (ehdr->e_shoff + (ehdr->e_shnum * ehdr->e_shentsize)) > elfsize )
     {
-        ERROR("ELF section headers extend beyond end of image.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "ELF section headers extend beyond end of image.");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
     /* Find the section-header strings table. */
     if ( ehdr->e_shstrndx == SHN_UNDEF )
     {
-        ERROR("ELF image has no section-header strings table (shstrtab).");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "ELF image has no section-header strings table (shstrtab).");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
     shdr = (Elf32_Shdr *)(elfbase + ehdr->e_shoff +
@@ -370,7 +373,8 @@ static int parseelfimage(char *elfbase,
          (ehdr->e_entry < kernstart) ||
          (ehdr->e_entry > kernend) )
     {
-        ERROR("Malformed ELF image.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Malformed ELF image.");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 

diff --git a/tools/libxc/xc_linux_build.c b/tools/libxc/xc_linux_build.c
index 9bd4a5e3f4802c307415f2771e4d5fdaf9b039ab..edf95c0fc09368035f61defa295f9c55c99f1af5 100644 (file)
--- a/tools/libxc/xc_linux_build.c
+++ b/tools/libxc/xc_linux_build.c
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ static int probeimageformat(const char *image,
     if ( probe_elf(image, image_size, load_funcs) &&
          probe_bin(image, image_size, load_funcs) )
     {
-        ERROR( "Unrecognized image format" );
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL, "Not a valid ELF or raw kernel image");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
@@ -618,17 +618,20 @@ static int compat_check(int xc_handle, struct domain_setup_info *dsi)
     xen_capabilities_info_t xen_caps = "";
 
     if (xc_version(xc_handle, XENVER_capabilities, &xen_caps) != 0) {
-        ERROR("Cannot determine host capabilities.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Cannot determine host capabilities.");
         return 0;
     }
 
     if (strstr(xen_caps, "xen-3.0-x86_32p")) {
         if (dsi->pae_kernel == PAEKERN_no) {
-            ERROR("Non PAE-kernel on PAE host.");
+            xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                         "Non PAE-kernel on PAE host.");
             return 0;
         }
     } else if (dsi->pae_kernel != PAEKERN_no) {
-        ERROR("PAE-kernel on non-PAE host.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "PAE-kernel on non-PAE host.");
         return 0;
     }
 
@@ -1141,7 +1144,6 @@ static int xc_linux_build_internal(int xc_handle,
                      console_evtchn, console_mfn,
                      features_bitmap) < 0 )
     {
-        ERROR("Error constructing guest OS");
         goto error_out;
     }
 

diff --git a/tools/libxc/xc_load_elf.c b/tools/libxc/xc_load_elf.c
index 9ca9759398f715e3b72c3e7c5d8b69d204aec250..f8a28fb83c589bfcefcc2829a0b3410ec8deeb88 100644 (file)
--- a/tools/libxc/xc_load_elf.c
+++ b/tools/libxc/xc_load_elf.c
@@ -29,20 +29,46 @@ loadelfsymtab(
  */
 #if defined(__ia64__)
 #define ELFCLASS   ELFCLASS64
+#define ELFCLASS_DESC "64-bit"
+
 #define ELFDATA    ELFDATA2LSB
+#define ELFDATA_DESC "Little-Endian"
+
 #define ELFMACHINE EM_IA_64
+#define ELFMACHINE_DESC "ia64"
+
+
 #elif defined(__i386__)
 #define ELFCLASS   ELFCLASS32
+#define ELFCLASS_DESC "32-bit"
+
 #define ELFDATA    ELFDATA2LSB
+#define ELFDATA_DESC "Little-Endian"
+
 #define ELFMACHINE EM_386
+#define ELFMACHINE_DESC "i386"
+
+
 #elif defined(__x86_64__)
 #define ELFCLASS   ELFCLASS64
+#define ELFCLASS_DESC "64-bit"
+
 #define ELFDATA    ELFDATA2LSB
+#define ELFDATA_DESC "Little-Endian"
+
 #define ELFMACHINE EM_X86_64
+#define ELFMACHINE_DESC "x86_64"
+
+
 #elif defined(__powerpc__)
 #define ELFCLASS   ELFCLASS64
+#define ELFCLASS_DESC "64-bit"
+
 #define ELFDATA    ELFDATA2MSB
+#define ELFDATA_DESC "Big-Endian"
+
 #define ELFMACHINE EM_PPC64
+#define ELFMACHINE_DESC "ppc64"
 #endif
 
 int probe_elf(const char *image,
@@ -231,7 +257,8 @@ unsigned long long xen_elfnote_numeric(struct domain_setup_info *dsi,
         *defined = 1;
         return *(uint64_t*)ELFNOTE_DESC(note);
     default:
-        ERROR("elfnotes: unknown data size %#x for numeric type note %#x\n",
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "elfnotes: unknown data size %#x for numeric type note %#x\n",
               note->descsz, type);
         return 0;
     }
@@ -250,35 +277,59 @@ static int parseelfimage(const char *image,
 
     if ( !IS_ELF(*ehdr) )
     {
-        ERROR("Kernel image does not have an ELF header.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Kernel image does not have an ELF header.");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
-    if ( (ehdr->e_ident[EI_CLASS] != ELFCLASS) ||
-         (ehdr->e_machine != ELFMACHINE) ||
-         (ehdr->e_ident[EI_DATA] != ELFDATA) ||
-         (ehdr->e_type != ET_EXEC) )
+    if (ehdr->e_machine != ELFMACHINE)
+    {
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Kernel ELF architecture '%d' does not match Xen architecture '%d' (%s)",
+                     ehdr->e_machine, ELFMACHINE, ELFMACHINE_DESC);
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+    if (ehdr->e_ident[EI_CLASS] != ELFCLASS)
+    {
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Kernel ELF wordsize '%d' does not match Xen wordsize '%d' (%s)",
+                     ehdr->e_ident[EI_CLASS], ELFCLASS, ELFCLASS_DESC);
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+    if (ehdr->e_ident[EI_DATA] != ELFDATA)
+    {
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Kernel ELF endianness '%d' does not match Xen endianness '%d' (%s)",
+                     ehdr->e_ident[EI_DATA], ELFDATA, ELFDATA_DESC);
+        return -EINVAL;
+    }
+    if (ehdr->e_type != ET_EXEC)
     {
-        ERROR("Kernel not a Xen-compatible Elf image.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Kernel ELF type '%d' does not match Xen type '%d'",
+                     ehdr->e_type, ET_EXEC);
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
     if ( (ehdr->e_phoff + (ehdr->e_phnum*ehdr->e_phentsize)) > image_len )
     {
-        ERROR("ELF program headers extend beyond end of image.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "ELF program headers extend beyond end of image.");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
     if ( (ehdr->e_shoff + (ehdr->e_shnum*ehdr->e_shentsize)) > image_len )
     {
-        ERROR("ELF section headers extend beyond end of image.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "ELF section headers extend beyond end of image.");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
     /* Find the section-header strings table. */
     if ( ehdr->e_shstrndx == SHN_UNDEF )
     {
-        ERROR("ELF image has no section-header strings table (shstrtab).");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "ELF image has no section-header strings table (shstrtab).");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
     shdr = (Elf_Shdr *)(image + ehdr->e_shoff +
@@ -325,22 +376,25 @@ static int parseelfimage(const char *image,
         if ( ( loader == NULL || strncmp(loader, "generic", 7) ) &&
              ( guest_os == NULL || strncmp(guest_os, "linux", 5) ) )
         {
-            ERROR("Will only load images built for the generic loader "
-                  "or Linux images");
+            xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                         "Will only load images built for the generic loader "
+                         "or Linux images");
             return -EINVAL;
         }
 
         if ( xen_version == NULL || strncmp(xen_version, "xen-3.0", 7) )
         {
-            ERROR("Will only load images built for Xen v3.0");
+            xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                         "Will only load images built for Xen v3.0");
             return -EINVAL;
         }
     }
     else
     {
 #if defined(__x86_64__) || defined(__i386__)
-        ERROR("Not a Xen-ELF image: "
-              "No ELF notes or '__xen_guest' section found.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Not a Xen-ELF image: "
+                     "No ELF notes or '__xen_guest' section found.");
         return -EINVAL;
 #endif
     }
@@ -396,8 +450,9 @@ static int parseelfimage(const char *image,
 
     if ( elf_pa_off_defined && !virt_base_defined )
     {
-        ERROR("Neither ELF_PADDR_OFFSET nor VIRT_BASE found in ELF "
-              " notes or __xen_guest section.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "Neither ELF_PADDR_OFFSET nor VIRT_BASE found in ELF "
+                     " notes or __xen_guest section.");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 
@@ -409,7 +464,8 @@ static int parseelfimage(const char *image,
         vaddr = phdr->p_paddr - dsi->elf_paddr_offset + dsi->v_start;
         if ( (vaddr + phdr->p_memsz) < vaddr )
         {
-            ERROR("ELF program header %d is too large.", h);
+            xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                         "ELF program header %d is too large.", h);
             return -EINVAL;
         }
 
@@ -431,7 +487,8 @@ static int parseelfimage(const char *image,
          (dsi->v_kernentry > kernend) ||
          (dsi->v_start > kernstart) )
     {
-        ERROR("ELF start or entries are out of bounds.");
+        xc_set_error(XC_INVALID_KERNEL,
+                     "ELF start or entries are out of bounds.");
         return -EINVAL;
     }
 

diff --git a/tools/libxc/xc_private.c b/tools/libxc/xc_private.c
index d8dbb5e0ddf53ffd72eb25412cfc6178f8aa0407..3ff0b791d00f659769f60eebcb16071023a3520f 100644 (file)
--- a/tools/libxc/xc_private.c
+++ b/tools/libxc/xc_private.c
@@ -8,6 +8,82 @@
 #include "xc_private.h"
 #include "xg_private.h"
 
+#include <stdarg.h>
+
+static __thread xc_error last_error = { XC_ERROR_NONE, ""};
+#if DEBUG
+static xc_error_handler error_handler = xc_default_error_handler;
+#else
+static xc_error_handler error_handler = NULL;
+#endif
+
+void xc_default_error_handler(const xc_error const *err)
+{
+    const char *desc = xc_error_code_to_desc(err->code);
+    fprintf(stderr, "ERROR %s: %s\n", desc, err->message);
+}
+
+const xc_error const *xc_get_last_error(void)
+{
+    return &last_error;
+}
+
+void xc_clear_last_error(void)
+{
+    last_error.code = XC_ERROR_NONE;
+    last_error.message[0] = '\0';
+}
+
+const char *xc_error_code_to_desc(int code)
+{
+    /* Sync to members of xc_error_code enumeration in xenctrl.h */
+    switch ( code )
+    {
+    case XC_ERROR_NONE:
+        return "No error details";
+    case XC_INTERNAL_ERROR:
+        return "Internal error";
+    case XC_INVALID_KERNEL:
+        return "Invalid kernel";
+    }
+
+    return "Unknown error code";
+}
+
+xc_error_handler xc_set_error_handler(xc_error_handler handler)
+{
+    xc_error_handler old = error_handler;
+    error_handler = handler;
+    return old;
+}
+
+
+static void _xc_set_error(int code, const char *msg)
+{
+    last_error.code = code;
+    strncpy(last_error.message, msg, XC_MAX_ERROR_MSG_LEN - 1);
+    last_error.message[XC_MAX_ERROR_MSG_LEN-1] = '\0';
+}
+
+void xc_set_error(int code, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+    int saved_errno = errno;
+    char msg[XC_MAX_ERROR_MSG_LEN];
+    va_list args;
+
+    va_start(args, fmt);
+    vsnprintf(msg, XC_MAX_ERROR_MSG_LEN-1, fmt, args);
+    msg[XC_MAX_ERROR_MSG_LEN-1] = '\0';
+    va_end(args);
+
+    _xc_set_error(code, msg);
+
+    errno = saved_errno;
+
+    if ( error_handler != NULL )
+        error_handler(&last_error);
+}
+
 int lock_pages(void *addr, size_t len)
 {
       int e = 0;

diff --git a/tools/libxc/xc_private.h b/tools/libxc/xc_private.h
index 20f7a9b445a1d13873ad01fcc3e52b3b03bc28f7..2ddec3f988234f14508fe4d913e41de85d1b049d 100644 (file)
--- a/tools/libxc/xc_private.h
+++ b/tools/libxc/xc_private.h
@@ -59,24 +59,15 @@
 #define PPRINTF(_f, _a...)
 #endif
 
-#define ERROR(_m, _a...)                        \
-do {                                            \
-    int __saved_errno = errno;                  \
-    DPRINTF("ERROR: " _m "\n" , ## _a );        \
-    errno = __saved_errno;                      \
-} while (0)
+void xc_set_error(int code, const char *fmt, ...);
+
+#define ERROR(_m, _a...)  xc_set_error(XC_INTERNAL_ERROR, _m , ## _a )
+#define PERROR(_m, _a...) xc_set_error(XC_INTERNAL_ERROR, _m " (%d = %s)", \
+                                       _m , ## _a , errno, strerror(errno))
 
 int lock_pages(void *addr, size_t len);
 void unlock_pages(void *addr, size_t len);
 
-#define PERROR(_m, _a...)                               \
-do {                                                    \
-    int __saved_errno = errno;                          \
-    DPRINTF("ERROR: " _m " (%d = %s)\n" , ## _a ,       \
-            __saved_errno, strerror(__saved_errno));    \
-    errno = __saved_errno;                              \
-} while (0)
-
 static inline void safe_munlock(const void *addr, size_t len)
 {
     int saved_errno = errno;

diff --git a/tools/libxc/xenctrl.h b/tools/libxc/xenctrl.h
index 3904cede840389f8971014a95e12586049166a8c..d0a9f5db9754e8a4f0cb3c4e4c6f20b757fb5495 100644 (file)
--- a/tools/libxc/xenctrl.h
+++ b/tools/libxc/xenctrl.h
@@ -682,4 +682,46 @@ int xc_hvm_set_isa_irq_level(
 int xc_hvm_set_pci_link_route(
     int xc_handle, domid_t dom, uint8_t link, uint8_t isa_irq);
 
+
+typedef enum {
+  XC_ERROR_NONE = 0,
+  XC_INTERNAL_ERROR = 1,
+  XC_INVALID_KERNEL = 2,
+} xc_error_code;
+
+#define XC_MAX_ERROR_MSG_LEN 1024
+typedef struct {
+  int code;
+  char message[XC_MAX_ERROR_MSG_LEN];
+} xc_error;
+
+/*
+ * Return a pointer to the last error. This pointer and the
+ * data pointed to are only valid until the next call to
+ * libxc.
+ */
+const xc_error const *xc_get_last_error(void);
+
+/*
+ * Clear the last error
+ */
+void xc_clear_last_error(void);
+
+typedef void (*xc_error_handler)(const xc_error const* err);
+
+/*
+ * The default error handler which prints to stderr
+ */
+void xc_default_error_handler(const xc_error const* err);
+
+/*
+ * Convert an error code into a text description
+ */
+const char *xc_error_code_to_desc(int code);
+
+/*
+ * Registers a callback to handle errors
+ */
+xc_error_handler xc_set_error_handler(xc_error_handler handler);
+
 #endif

diff --git a/tools/python/xen/lowlevel/xc/xc.c b/tools/python/xen/lowlevel/xc/xc.c
index 2eb9376426f7857564d5df29211bf0e58353c88c..be02bf8ed8eb8e2d0fa571ae18a575840e07f1b8 100644 (file)
--- a/tools/python/xen/lowlevel/xc/xc.c
+++ b/tools/python/xen/lowlevel/xc/xc.c
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #define PKG "xen.lowlevel.xc"
 #define CLS "xc"
 
-static PyObject *xc_error, *zero;
+static PyObject *xc_error_obj, *zero;
 
 typedef struct {
     PyObject_HEAD;
@@ -40,6 +40,23 @@ typedef struct {
 static PyObject *dom_op(XcObject *self, PyObject *args,
                         int (*fn)(int, uint32_t));
 
+static PyObject *pyxc_error_to_exception(void)
+{
+    PyObject *pyerr;
+    const xc_error const *err = xc_get_last_error();
+    const char *desc = xc_error_code_to_desc(err->code);
+
+    if (err->message[1])
+       pyerr = Py_BuildValue("(iss)", err->code, desc, err->message);
+    else
+       pyerr = Py_BuildValue("(is)", err->code, desc);
+
+    xc_clear_last_error();
+
+    PyErr_SetObject(xc_error_obj, pyerr);
+
+    return NULL;
+}
 
 static PyObject *pyxc_domain_dumpcore(XcObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
@@ -53,7 +70,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_dumpcore(XcObject *self, PyObject *args)
         return NULL;
 
     if (xc_domain_dumpcore(self->xc_handle, dom, corefile) != 0)
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -101,13 +118,13 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_create(XcObject *self,
 
     if ( (ret = xc_domain_create(self->xc_handle, ssidref,
                                  handle, flags, &dom)) < 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     return PyInt_FromLong(dom);
 
 out_exception:
     errno = EINVAL;
-    PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+    PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error_obj);
     return NULL;
 }
 
@@ -119,7 +136,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_max_vcpus(XcObject *self, PyObject *args)
       return NULL;
 
     if (xc_domain_max_vcpus(self->xc_handle, dom, max) != 0)
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -164,7 +181,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_vcpu_setaffinity(XcObject *self,
     }
   
     if ( xc_vcpu_setaffinity(self->xc_handle, dom, vcpu, cpumap) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -184,7 +201,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_setcpuweight(XcObject *self,
         return NULL;
 
     if ( xc_domain_setcpuweight(self->xc_handle, dom, cpuweight) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -215,14 +232,13 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_sethandle(XcObject *self, PyObject *args)
     }
 
     if (xc_domain_sethandle(self->xc_handle, dom, handle) < 0)
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
 
 out_exception:
-    errno = EINVAL;
-    PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+    PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error_obj);
     return NULL;
 }
 
@@ -251,7 +267,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_getinfo(XcObject *self,
     if (nr_doms < 0)
     {
         free(info);
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     }
 
     list = PyList_New(nr_doms);
@@ -306,10 +322,10 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_vcpu_getinfo(XcObject *self,
 
     rc = xc_vcpu_getinfo(self->xc_handle, dom, vcpu, &info);
     if ( rc < 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     rc = xc_vcpu_getaffinity(self->xc_handle, dom, vcpu, &cpumap);
     if ( rc < 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     info_dict = Py_BuildValue("{s:i,s:i,s:i,s:L,s:i}",
                               "online",   info.online,
@@ -360,9 +376,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_linux_build(XcObject *self,
                         ramdisk, cmdline, features, flags,
                         store_evtchn, &store_mfn,
                         console_evtchn, &console_mfn) != 0 ) {
-        if (!errno)
-             errno = EINVAL;
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     }
     return Py_BuildValue("{s:i,s:i}", 
                          "store_mfn", store_mfn,
@@ -389,14 +403,14 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_hvm_build(XcObject *self,
         return NULL;
 
     if ( xc_hvm_build(self->xc_handle, dom, memsize, image) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     /* Set up the HVM info table. */
     va_map = xc_map_foreign_range(self->xc_handle, dom, XC_PAGE_SIZE,
                                   PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE,
                                   HVM_INFO_PFN);
     if ( va_map == NULL )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error_obj);
     va_hvm = (struct hvm_info_table *)(va_map + HVM_INFO_OFFSET);
     memset(va_hvm, 0, sizeof(*va_hvm));
     strncpy(va_hvm->signature, "HVM INFO", 8);
@@ -431,7 +445,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_evtchn_alloc_unbound(XcObject *self,
         return NULL;
 
     if ( (port = xc_evtchn_alloc_unbound(self->xc_handle, dom, remote_dom)) < 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     return PyInt_FromLong(port);
 }
@@ -452,7 +466,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_physdev_pci_access_modify(XcObject *self,
     ret = xc_physdev_pci_access_modify(
         self->xc_handle, dom, bus, dev, func, enable);
     if ( ret != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -474,7 +488,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_readconsolering(XcObject *self,
 
     ret = xc_readconsolering(self->xc_handle, &str, &count, clear);
     if ( ret < 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     return PyString_FromStringAndSize(str, count);
 }
@@ -504,7 +518,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_physinfo(XcObject *self)
     int i;
     
     if ( xc_physinfo(self->xc_handle, &info) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     *q=0;
     for(i=0;i<sizeof(info.hw_cap)/4;i++)
@@ -542,25 +556,25 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_xeninfo(XcObject *self)
     xen_version = xc_version(self->xc_handle, XENVER_version, NULL);
 
     if ( xc_version(self->xc_handle, XENVER_extraversion, &xen_extra) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     if ( xc_version(self->xc_handle, XENVER_compile_info, &xen_cc) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     if ( xc_version(self->xc_handle, XENVER_changeset, &xen_chgset) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     if ( xc_version(self->xc_handle, XENVER_capabilities, &xen_caps) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     if ( xc_version(self->xc_handle, XENVER_platform_parameters, &p_parms) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     sprintf(str, "virt_start=0x%lx", p_parms.virt_start);
 
     xen_pagesize = xc_version(self->xc_handle, XENVER_pagesize, NULL);
     if (xen_pagesize < 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     return Py_BuildValue("{s:i,s:i,s:s,s:s,s:i,s:s,s:s,s:s,s:s,s:s,s:s}",
                          "xen_major", xen_version >> 16,
@@ -593,7 +607,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_sedf_domain_set(XcObject *self,
         return NULL;
    if ( xc_sedf_domain_set(self->xc_handle, domid, period,
                            slice, latency, extratime,weight) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -610,7 +624,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_sedf_domain_get(XcObject *self, PyObject *args)
     
     if (xc_sedf_domain_get(self->xc_handle, domid, &period,
                            &slice,&latency,&extratime,&weight))
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     return Py_BuildValue("{s:i,s:L,s:L,s:L,s:i,s:i}",
                          "domid",    domid,
@@ -638,7 +652,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_shadow_control(PyObject *self,
     
     if ( xc_shadow_control(xc->xc_handle, dom, op, NULL, 0, NULL, 0, NULL) 
          < 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -668,7 +682,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_shadow_mem_control(PyObject *self,
         op = XEN_DOMCTL_SHADOW_OP_SET_ALLOCATION;
     }
     if ( xc_shadow_control(xc->xc_handle, dom, op, NULL, 0, &mb, 0, NULL) < 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     
     mbarg = mb;
     return Py_BuildValue("i", mbarg);
@@ -678,7 +692,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_sched_id_get(XcObject *self) {
     
     int sched_id;
     if (xc_sched_id(self->xc_handle, &sched_id) != 0)
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error_obj);
 
     return Py_BuildValue("i", sched_id);
 }
@@ -704,7 +718,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_sched_credit_domain_set(XcObject *self,
     sdom.cap = cap;
 
     if ( xc_sched_credit_domain_set(self->xc_handle, domid, &sdom) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -719,7 +733,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_sched_credit_domain_get(XcObject *self, PyObject *args)
         return NULL;
     
     if ( xc_sched_credit_domain_get(self->xc_handle, domid, &sdom) != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     return Py_BuildValue("{s:H,s:H}",
                          "weight",  sdom.weight,
@@ -735,7 +749,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_setmaxmem(XcObject *self, PyObject *args)
         return NULL;
 
     if (xc_domain_setmaxmem(self->xc_handle, dom, maxmem_kb) != 0)
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -762,7 +776,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_memory_increase_reservation(XcObject *self,
     if ( xc_domain_memory_increase_reservation(self->xc_handle, dom, 
                                                nr_extents, extent_order, 
                                                address_bits, NULL) )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
     
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -784,7 +798,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_ioport_permission(XcObject *self,
     ret = xc_domain_ioport_permission(
         self->xc_handle, dom, first_port, nr_ports, allow_access);
     if ( ret != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -807,7 +821,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_irq_permission(PyObject *self,
     ret = xc_domain_irq_permission(
         xc->xc_handle, dom, pirq, allow_access);
     if ( ret != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -830,7 +844,7 @@ static PyObject *pyxc_domain_iomem_permission(PyObject *self,
     ret = xc_domain_iomem_permission(
         xc->xc_handle, dom, first_pfn, nr_pfns, allow_access);
     if ( ret != 0 )
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -870,7 +884,7 @@ static PyObject *dom_op(XcObject *self, PyObject *args,
         return NULL;
 
     if (fn(self->xc_handle, dom) != 0)
-        return PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        return pyxc_error_to_exception();
 
     Py_INCREF(zero);
     return zero;
@@ -1199,7 +1213,7 @@ static int
 PyXc_init(XcObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
 {
     if ((self->xc_handle = xc_interface_open()) == -1) {
-        PyErr_SetFromErrno(xc_error);
+        pyxc_error_to_exception();
         return -1;
     }
 
@@ -1272,7 +1286,7 @@ PyMODINIT_FUNC initxc(void)
     if (m == NULL)
       return;
 
-    xc_error = PyErr_NewException(PKG ".Error", PyExc_RuntimeError, NULL);
+    xc_error_obj = PyErr_NewException(PKG ".Error", PyExc_RuntimeError, NULL);
     zero = PyInt_FromLong(0);
 
     /* KAF: This ensures that we get debug output in a timely manner. */
@@ -1282,8 +1296,8 @@ PyMODINIT_FUNC initxc(void)
     Py_INCREF(&PyXcType);
     PyModule_AddObject(m, CLS, (PyObject *)&PyXcType);
 
-    Py_INCREF(xc_error);
-    PyModule_AddObject(m, "Error", xc_error);
+    Py_INCREF(xc_error_obj);
+    PyModule_AddObject(m, "Error", xc_error_obj);
 
     /* Expose some libxc constants to Python */
     PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "XEN_SCHEDULER_SEDF", XEN_SCHEDULER_SEDF);