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+==================================
+QEMU virtual RAPL MSR helper
+==================================
+
+Synopsis
+--------
+
+**qemu-vmsr-helper** [*OPTION*]
+
+Description
+-----------
+
+Implements the virtual RAPL MSR helper for QEMU.
+
+Accessing the RAPL (Running Average Power Limit) MSR enables the RAPL powercap
+driver to advertise and monitor the power consumption or accumulated energy
+consumption of different power domains, such as CPU packages, DRAM, and other
+components when available.
+
+However those registers are accessible under privileged access (CAP_SYS_RAWIO).
+QEMU can use an external helper to access those privileged registers.
+
+:program:`qemu-vmsr-helper` is that external helper; it creates a listener
+socket which will accept incoming connections for communication with QEMU.
+
+If you want to run VMs in a setup like this, this helper should be started as a
+system service, and you should read the QEMU manual section on "RAPL MSR
+support" to find out how to configure QEMU to connect to the socket created by
+:program:`qemu-vmsr-helper`.
+
+After connecting to the socket, :program:`qemu-vmsr-helper` can
+optionally drop root privileges, except for those capabilities that
+are needed for its operation.
+
+:program:`qemu-vmsr-helper` can also use the systemd socket activation
+protocol. In this case, the systemd socket unit should specify a
+Unix stream socket, like this::
+
+ [Socket]
+ ListenStream=/var/run/qemu-vmsr-helper.sock
+
+Options
+-------
+
+.. program:: qemu-vmsr-helper
+
+.. option:: -d, --daemon
+
+ run in the background (and create a PID file)
+
+.. option:: -q, --quiet
+
+ decrease verbosity
+
+.. option:: -v, --verbose
+
+ increase verbosity
+
+.. option:: -f, --pidfile=PATH
+
+ PID file when running as a daemon. By default the PID file
+ is created in the system runtime state directory, for example
+ :file:`/var/run/qemu-vmsr-helper.pid`.
+
+.. option:: -k, --socket=PATH
+
+ path to the socket. By default the socket is created in
+ the system runtime state directory, for example
+ :file:`/var/run/qemu-vmsr-helper.sock`.
+
+.. option:: -T, --trace [[enable=]PATTERN][,events=FILE][,file=FILE]
+
+ .. include:: ../qemu-option-trace.rst.inc
+
+.. option:: -u, --user=USER
+
+ user to drop privileges to
+
+.. option:: -g, --group=GROUP
+
+ group to drop privileges to
+
+.. option:: -h, --help
+
+ Display a help message and exit.
+
+.. option:: -V, --version
+
+ Display version information and exit.