Support Tiers: Difference between revisions

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QEMU features are classified into a number of support tiers, which serve as guidance to users on the long term intentions wrt quality and supportability.
QEMU features are classified into a number of support tiers, which serve as guidance to users on the long term intentions wrt quality and supportability.


;Tier 1
: These are the top class features, suitable for use in a virtualization scenario and expected to be fully functional at all times.
: MUST be built by automated CI systems prior to merge
: MUST be tested by automated CI systems prior to merge
: MUST be written to be robust against malicious guests
: MUST have a nominated subsystem maintainer


;Tier 2
=== Tier 1 🌞 ===
: These are generally good features, but have some caveats preventing them achieving the top tier. They may only be suitable for use in an emulation scenario and may not be functional except at time of release.
: MUST be built by automated CI systems prior to merge
: MAY NOT be tested by automated CI systems prior to merge
: SHOULD be tested manually by maintainer prior to major releases
: MAY NOT be written to be robust against malicious guests
: MUST have a nominated subsystem maintainer


;Tier 3
These are the top class features, suitable for use in a virtualization scenario and expected to be fully functional at all times.
: These features are generally not recommended to be used. They may be insecure and can be non-functional at any time, even in releases. They are liable to be removed entirely at any time.
: MAY NOT be tested by automated CI systems prior to merge
: MAY NOT be tested manually by maintainer prior to major releases
: MAY NOT be written to be robust against malicious guests
: MAY NOT have a nominated subsystem maintainer


These features MUST satisfy the following criteria at a minimum
* Have a nominated maintainer
* Be compiled by automated CI systems prior to merge
* Be tested by automated CI systems prior to merge
* Be written to be robust against malicious guests
The maintainers have discretion to apply additional criteria to specific features.
=== Tier 2 ⛅ ===
These are generally good features, but have some caveats preventing them achieving the top tier. They may only be suitable for use in an emulation scenario and may not be functional except at time of release.
These features MUST satisfy the following criteria at a minimum
* Have a nominated maintainer
* Be compiled by automated CI systems prior to merge
* Be tested manually by maintainer prior to major releases
The maintainers have discretion to apply additional criteria to specific features.
=== Tier 3 ⚡ ===
These features are generally not recommended to be used. They may be insecure and can be non-functional at any time, even in releases.
There is no expectation that they have been tested, either by automation or manually by a maintainer.
They are liable to be deprecated and later removed entirely at any time.


== Host architectures ==
== Host architectures ==
Line 35: Line 46:


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
! Arch || Tier || Comments
! Arch || Status || Comments
|-
|-
| armv7 || 1 || -
| armv7 || Tier 1 🌞 || Tested with Linux
|-
|-
| aarch64 || 1 || -
| aarch64 || Tier 1 🌞 || Tested with Linux
|-
|-
| i686 || 1 || -
| i686 || Tier 1 🌞 || Tested with Linux
|-
|-
| mips || 2 || -
| mips || Tier 2 ⛅ || -
|-
|-
| mips64 || 2 || -
| mips64 || Tier 2 ⛅ || -
|-
|-
| ppc || 2 || -
| ppc || Tier 2 ⛅ || -
|-
|-
| ppc64 || 1 || -
| ppc64be || Tier 1 🌞 || Tested with Linux
|-
|-
| riscv32 || 2 || -
| ppc64be || Tier 2 ⛅ ||  
|-
|-
| riscv64 || 2 || -
| riscv32 || Tier 2 ⛅ || -
|-
|-
| s390 || 3 || -
| riscv64 || Tier 2 ⛅ || -
|-
|-
| s390x || 1 || -
| s390 || Tier 3 ⚡ || -
|-
|-
| x86_64 || 1 || -
| s390x || Tier 1 🌞 || Tested with Linux
|-
| x86_64 || Tier 1 🌞 || Tested with Linux, OS-X, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD
|}
|}


Line 69: Line 82:
! Virtualizer || Arch || Tier || Comments
! Virtualizer || Arch || Tier || Comments
|-
|-
| KVM || arm7 || 1
| KVM || arm7 || Tier 1 🌞
|-
| KVM || aarch64 || Tier 1 🌞
|-
|-
| KVM || aarch64 || 1
| KVM || i686 || Tier 1 🌞
|-
|-
| KVM || i686 || 1
| KVM || mips || Tier 3 ⚡
|-
|-
| KVM || mips || 2
| KVM || mips64 || Tier 3 ⚡
|-
|-
| KVM || mips64 || 2
| KVM || ppc || Tier 3 ⚡
|-
|-
| KVM || ppc || 2
| KVM || ppc64be || Tier 1 🌞
|-
|-
| KVM || ppc64 || 1
| KVM || ppc64le || Tier 2 ⛅
|-
|-
| KVM || s390x || 1
| KVM || s390x || Tier 1 🌞
|-
|-
| KVM || x86_64 || 1
| KVM || x86_64 || Tier 1 🌞
|-
|-
| Hax || x86_64 || 2
| Hax || x86_64 || Tier 3 ⚡
|-
|-
| HyperV || x86_64 || 2
| HyperV || x86_64 || Tier 3 ⚡
|-
|-
| WHPX || x86_64 || 2
| WHPX || x86_64 || Tier 3 ⚡
|-
|-
| HVF || x86_64 || 2
| HVF || x86_64 || Tier 3 ⚡
|}
|}


Latest revision as of 12:12, 4 November 2020

Note this article is a draft / work in progress / scratch-pad.

It is not official project policy at this time.

Definitions

QEMU features are classified into a number of support tiers, which serve as guidance to users on the long term intentions wrt quality and supportability.


Tier 1 🌞

These are the top class features, suitable for use in a virtualization scenario and expected to be fully functional at all times.

These features MUST satisfy the following criteria at a minimum

  • Have a nominated maintainer
  • Be compiled by automated CI systems prior to merge
  • Be tested by automated CI systems prior to merge
  • Be written to be robust against malicious guests

The maintainers have discretion to apply additional criteria to specific features.

Tier 2 ⛅

These are generally good features, but have some caveats preventing them achieving the top tier. They may only be suitable for use in an emulation scenario and may not be functional except at time of release.

These features MUST satisfy the following criteria at a minimum

  • Have a nominated maintainer
  • Be compiled by automated CI systems prior to merge
  • Be tested manually by maintainer prior to major releases

The maintainers have discretion to apply additional criteria to specific features.

Tier 3 ⚡

These features are generally not recommended to be used. They may be insecure and can be non-functional at any time, even in releases.

There is no expectation that they have been tested, either by automation or manually by a maintainer.

They are liable to be deprecated and later removed entirely at any time.

Host architectures

Arch Status Comments
armv7 Tier 1 🌞 Tested with Linux
aarch64 Tier 1 🌞 Tested with Linux
i686 Tier 1 🌞 Tested with Linux
mips Tier 2 ⛅ -
mips64 Tier 2 ⛅ -
ppc Tier 2 ⛅ -
ppc64be Tier 1 🌞 Tested with Linux
ppc64be Tier 2 ⛅
riscv32 Tier 2 ⛅ -
riscv64 Tier 2 ⛅ -
s390 Tier 3 ⚡ -
s390x Tier 1 🌞 Tested with Linux
x86_64 Tier 1 🌞 Tested with Linux, OS-X, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD

Guest CPU emulation

Guest CPU virtualization

Virtualizer Arch Tier Comments
KVM arm7 Tier 1 🌞
KVM aarch64 Tier 1 🌞
KVM i686 Tier 1 🌞
KVM mips Tier 3 ⚡
KVM mips64 Tier 3 ⚡
KVM ppc Tier 3 ⚡
KVM ppc64be Tier 1 🌞
KVM ppc64le Tier 2 ⛅
KVM s390x Tier 1 🌞
KVM x86_64 Tier 1 🌞
Hax x86_64 Tier 3 ⚡
HyperV x86_64 Tier 3 ⚡
WHPX x86_64 Tier 3 ⚡
HVF x86_64 Tier 3 ⚡

Storage

Networking

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