vhost-user driver could be vhost-user net, yet it could be something else,
   say, vhost-user SCSI.
 
-* ``rte_vhost_driver_session_start()``
-
-  This function starts the vhost session loop to handle vhost messages. It
-  starts an infinite loop, therefore it should be called in a dedicated
-  thread.
-
 * ``rte_vhost_driver_callback_register(path, vhost_device_ops)``
 
   This function registers a set of callbacks, to let DPDK applications take
     ``VHOST_F_LOG_ALL`` will be set/cleared at the start/end of live
     migration, respectively.
 
+* ``rte_vhost_driver_disable/enable_features(path, features))``
+
+  This function disables/enables some features. For example, it can be used to
+  disable mergeable buffers and TSO features, which both are enabled by
+  default.
+
+* ``rte_vhost_driver_start(path)``
+
+  This function triggers the vhost-user negotiation. It should be invoked at
+  the end of initializing a vhost-user driver.
+
 * ``rte_vhost_enqueue_burst(vid, queue_id, pkts, count)``
 
   Transmits (enqueues) ``count`` packets from host to guest.
 
   Receives (dequeues) ``count`` packets from guest, and stored them at ``pkts``.
 
-* ``rte_vhost_driver_disable/enable_features(path, features))``
-
-  This function disables/enables some features. For example, it can be used to
-  disable mergeable buffers and TSO features, which both are enabled by
-  default.
-
-
 Vhost-user Implementations
 --------------------------
 
 
 
 static pthread_mutex_t internal_list_lock = PTHREAD_MUTEX_INITIALIZER;
 
-static rte_atomic16_t nb_started_ports;
-static pthread_t session_th;
-
 static struct rte_eth_link pmd_link = {
                .link_speed = 10000,
                .link_duplex = ETH_LINK_FULL_DUPLEX,
        return vid;
 }
 
-static void *
-vhost_driver_session(void *param __rte_unused)
-{
-       /* start event handling */
-       rte_vhost_driver_session_start();
-
-       return NULL;
-}
-
-static int
-vhost_driver_session_start(void)
-{
-       int ret;
-
-       ret = pthread_create(&session_th,
-                       NULL, vhost_driver_session, NULL);
-       if (ret)
-               RTE_LOG(ERR, PMD, "Can't create a thread\n");
-
-       return ret;
-}
-
-static void
-vhost_driver_session_stop(void)
-{
-       int ret;
-
-       ret = pthread_cancel(session_th);
-       if (ret)
-               RTE_LOG(ERR, PMD, "Can't cancel the thread\n");
-
-       ret = pthread_join(session_th, NULL);
-       if (ret)
-               RTE_LOG(ERR, PMD, "Can't join the thread\n");
-}
-
 static int
 eth_dev_start(struct rte_eth_dev *dev)
 {
                goto error;
        }
 
-       /* We need only one message handling thread */
-       if (rte_atomic16_add_return(&nb_started_ports, 1) == 1) {
-               if (vhost_driver_session_start())
-                       goto error;
+       if (rte_vhost_driver_start(iface_name) < 0) {
+               RTE_LOG(ERR, PMD, "Failed to start driver for %s\n",
+                       iface_name);
+               goto error;
        }
 
        return data->port_id;
 
        eth_dev_close(eth_dev);
 
-       if (rte_atomic16_sub_return(&nb_started_ports, 1) == 0)
-               vhost_driver_session_stop();
-
        rte_free(vring_states[eth_dev->data->port_id]);
        vring_states[eth_dev->data->port_id] = NULL;
 
 
        struct vhost_user_connection_list conn_list;
        pthread_mutex_t conn_mutex;
        char *path;
-       int listenfd;
+       int socket_fd;
+       struct sockaddr_un un;
        bool is_server;
        bool reconnect;
        bool dequeue_zero_copy;
 
 static void vhost_user_server_new_connection(int fd, void *data, int *remove);
 static void vhost_user_read_cb(int fd, void *dat, int *remove);
-static int vhost_user_create_client(struct vhost_user_socket *vsocket);
+static int create_unix_socket(struct vhost_user_socket *vsocket);
+static int vhost_user_start_client(struct vhost_user_socket *vsocket);
 
 static struct vhost_user vhost_user = {
        .fdset = {
 
                free(conn);
 
-               if (vsocket->reconnect)
-                       vhost_user_create_client(vsocket);
+               if (vsocket->reconnect) {
+                       create_unix_socket(vsocket);
+                       vhost_user_start_client(vsocket);
+               }
        }
 }
 
 static int
-create_unix_socket(const char *path, struct sockaddr_un *un, bool is_server)
+create_unix_socket(struct vhost_user_socket *vsocket)
 {
        int fd;
+       struct sockaddr_un *un = &vsocket->un;
 
        fd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
        if (fd < 0)
                return -1;
        RTE_LOG(INFO, VHOST_CONFIG, "vhost-user %s: socket created, fd: %d\n",
-               is_server ? "server" : "client", fd);
+               vsocket->is_server ? "server" : "client", fd);
 
-       if (!is_server && fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK)) {
+       if (!vsocket->is_server && fcntl(fd, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK)) {
                RTE_LOG(ERR, VHOST_CONFIG,
                        "vhost-user: can't set nonblocking mode for socket, fd: "
                        "%d (%s)\n", fd, strerror(errno));
 
        memset(un, 0, sizeof(*un));
        un->sun_family = AF_UNIX;
-       strncpy(un->sun_path, path, sizeof(un->sun_path));
+       strncpy(un->sun_path, vsocket->path, sizeof(un->sun_path));
        un->sun_path[sizeof(un->sun_path) - 1] = '\0';
 
-       return fd;
+       vsocket->socket_fd = fd;
+       return 0;
 }
 
 static int
-vhost_user_create_server(struct vhost_user_socket *vsocket)
+vhost_user_start_server(struct vhost_user_socket *vsocket)
 {
-       int fd;
        int ret;
-       struct sockaddr_un un;
+       int fd = vsocket->socket_fd;
        const char *path = vsocket->path;
 
-       fd = create_unix_socket(path, &un, vsocket->is_server);
-       if (fd < 0)
-               return -1;
-
-       ret = bind(fd, (struct sockaddr *)&un, sizeof(un));
+       ret = bind(fd, (struct sockaddr *)&vsocket->un, sizeof(vsocket->un));
        if (ret < 0) {
                RTE_LOG(ERR, VHOST_CONFIG,
                        "failed to bind to %s: %s; remove it and try again\n",
        if (ret < 0)
                goto err;
 
-       vsocket->listenfd = fd;
        ret = fdset_add(&vhost_user.fdset, fd, vhost_user_server_new_connection,
                  NULL, vsocket);
        if (ret < 0) {
 }
 
 static int
-vhost_user_create_client(struct vhost_user_socket *vsocket)
+vhost_user_start_client(struct vhost_user_socket *vsocket)
 {
-       int fd;
        int ret;
-       struct sockaddr_un un;
+       int fd = vsocket->socket_fd;
        const char *path = vsocket->path;
        struct vhost_user_reconnect *reconn;
 
-       fd = create_unix_socket(path, &un, vsocket->is_server);
-       if (fd < 0)
-               return -1;
-
-       ret = vhost_user_connect_nonblock(fd, (struct sockaddr *)&un,
-                                         sizeof(un));
+       ret = vhost_user_connect_nonblock(fd, (struct sockaddr *)&vsocket->un,
+                                         sizeof(vsocket->un));
        if (ret == 0) {
                vhost_user_add_connection(fd, vsocket);
                return 0;
                close(fd);
                return -1;
        }
-       reconn->un = un;
+       reconn->un = vsocket->un;
        reconn->fd = fd;
        reconn->vsocket = vsocket;
        pthread_mutex_lock(&reconn_list.mutex);
                                goto out;
                        }
                }
-               ret = vhost_user_create_client(vsocket);
        } else {
                vsocket->is_server = true;
-               ret = vhost_user_create_server(vsocket);
        }
+       ret = create_unix_socket(vsocket);
        if (ret < 0) {
                free(vsocket->path);
                free(vsocket);
 
                if (!strcmp(vsocket->path, path)) {
                        if (vsocket->is_server) {
-                               fdset_del(&vhost_user.fdset, vsocket->listenfd);
-                               close(vsocket->listenfd);
+                               fdset_del(&vhost_user.fdset, vsocket->socket_fd);
+                               close(vsocket->socket_fd);
                                unlink(path);
                        } else if (vsocket->reconnect) {
                                vhost_user_remove_reconnect(vsocket);
 }
 
 int
-rte_vhost_driver_session_start(void)
+rte_vhost_driver_start(const char *path)
 {
-       fdset_event_dispatch(&vhost_user.fdset);
-       return 0;
+       struct vhost_user_socket *vsocket;
+       static pthread_t fdset_tid;
+
+       pthread_mutex_lock(&vhost_user.mutex);
+       vsocket = find_vhost_user_socket(path);
+       pthread_mutex_unlock(&vhost_user.mutex);
+
+       if (!vsocket)
+               return -1;
+
+       if (fdset_tid == 0) {
+               int ret = pthread_create(&fdset_tid, NULL, fdset_event_dispatch,
+                                    &vhost_user.fdset);
+               if (ret < 0)
+                       RTE_LOG(ERR, VHOST_CONFIG,
+                               "failed to create fdset handling thread");
+       }
+
+       if (vsocket->is_server)
+               return vhost_user_start_server(vsocket);
+       else
+               return vhost_user_start_client(vsocket);
 }