When virtio-(non-)transitional models were introduced, the
documentation was updated to include them; at the same time,
language was introduced indicating that using the existing
virtio model is no longer recommended.
This is unnecessarily harsh, and has resulted in people
incorrectly believing (through no fault of their own) that the
virtio model has been deprecated.
In reality, it's perfectly fine to use the virtio model as the
stress-free option that, while often not producing the ideal
PCI topology, will generally get the job done and work reliably
across libvirt versions and machine types.
Tweak the documentation so that it hopefully carries the
desired message across.
Signed-off-by: Andrea Bolognani <abologna@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
docs/formatdomain.rst | 55 ++++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
1 file changed, 28 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-)
diff --git a/docs/formatdomain.rst b/docs/formatdomain.rst
index c50744b57b..75dff5a153 100644
--- a/docs/formatdomain.rst
+++ b/docs/formatdomain.rst
@@ -2756,8 +2756,8 @@ paravirtualized driver is specified via the ``disk`` element.
``model``
Indicates the emulated device model of the disk. Typically this is
indicated solely by the ``bus`` property but for ``bus`` "virtio" the
- model can be specified further with "virtio-transitional",
- "virtio-non-transitional", or "virtio". See `Virtio transitional devices`_
+ model can be specified further with "virtio", "virtio-transitional" or
+ "virtio-non-transitional". See `virtio device models`_
for more details. :since:`Since 5.2.0`
``rawio``
Indicates whether the disk needs rawio capability. Valid settings are
@@ -3680,9 +3680,8 @@ A directory on the host that can be accessed directly from the guest.
info <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/qemu-devel/2010-09/msg00121.html>`__
:since:`Since 5.2.0`, the filesystem element has an optional attribute
- ``model`` with supported values "virtio-transitional",
- "virtio-non-transitional", or "virtio". See `Virtio transitional devices`_
- for more details.
+ ``model`` with supported values "virtio", "virtio-transitional" or
+ "virtio-non-transitional". See `virtio device models`_ for more details.
The filesystem element has optional attributes ``fmode`` and ``dmode``.
These two attributes control the creation mode for files and directories
@@ -3910,11 +3909,20 @@ Note: In general you should leave this option alone, unless you are very certain
you know what you are doing.
-Virtio transitional devices
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Virtio device models
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Virtio devices come in several variants, some of which are only applicable to
+certain machine types or scenarios. The variant can be chosen via the ``model``
+attribute, which supports the following values:
-:since:`Since 5.2.0`, some of QEMU's virtio devices, when used with PCI/PCIe
-machine types, accept the following ``model`` values:
+``virtio``
+ This is the recommended choice in the absence of guest OS specific
+ constraints, as it will will generally work correctly across a large range
+ of architectures, machine types and libvirt versions.
+
+:since:`Since 5.2.0`, the following values can additionally be used with machine
+types based on PCI (either conventional PCI or PCI Express):
``virtio-transitional``
This device can work both with virtio 0.9 and virtio 1.0 guest drivers, so
@@ -3926,12 +3934,6 @@ machine types, accept the following ``model`` values:
necessary. libvirt will plug the device into either a PCI Express slot or a
conventional PCI slot based on the machine type, resulting in a more
optimized PCI topology.
-``virtio``
- This device will work like a ``virtio-non-transitional`` device when plugged
- into a PCI Express slot, and like a ``virtio-transitional`` device otherwise;
- libvirt will pick one or the other based on the machine type. This is the
- best choice when compatibility with libvirt versions older than 5.2.0 is
- necessary, but it's otherwise not recommended to use it.
While the information outlined above applies to most virtio devices, there are a
few exceptions:
@@ -3992,14 +3994,14 @@ specific features, such as:
The ``virtio-serial`` controller has two additional optional attributes
``ports`` and ``vectors``, which control how many devices can be connected
through the controller. :since:`Since 5.2.0`, it supports an optional
- attribute ``model`` which can be 'virtio', 'virtio-transitional', or
- 'virtio-non-transitional'. See `Virtio transitional devices`_ for more details.
+ attribute ``model`` which can be 'virtio', 'virtio-transitional' or
+ 'virtio-non-transitional'. See `virtio device models`_ for more details.
``scsi``
A ``scsi`` controller has an optional attribute ``model``, which is one of
'auto', 'buslogic', 'ibmvscsi', 'lsilogic', 'lsisas1068', 'lsisas1078',
'virtio-scsi', 'vmpvscsi', 'virtio-transitional', 'virtio-non-transitional',
'ncr53c90' (as builtin implicit controller only), 'am53c974', 'dc390'.
- See `Virtio transitional devices`_ for more details.
+ See `virtio device models`_ for more details.
``usb``
A ``usb`` controller has an optional attribute ``model``, which is one of
"piix3-uhci", "piix4-uhci", "ehci", "ich9-ehci1", "ich9-uhci1", "ich9-uhci2",
@@ -4452,9 +4454,8 @@ or:
:since:`since 2.5.0` For SCSI devices, user is responsible to make sure
the device is not used by host. This ``type`` passes all LUNs presented by
a single HBA to the guest. :since:`Since 5.2.0`, the ``model`` attribute
- can be specified further with "virtio-transitional",
- "virtio-non-transitional", or "virtio". `Virtio transitional devices`_
- for more details.
+ can be specified further with "virtio", "virtio-transitional" or
+ "virtio-non-transitional". See `virtio device models`_ for more details.
``mdev``
For mediated devices ( :since:`Since 3.2.0` ) the ``model`` attribute
specifies the device API which determines how the host's vfio driver will
@@ -6300,8 +6301,8 @@ value 'all' which when enabled grabs all input devices instead of just one,
change the grab key combination.
``input`` type ``evdev`` is currently supported only on linux devices.
(KVM only) :since:`Since 5.2.0`, the ``input`` element accepts a
-``model`` attribute which has the values 'virtio', 'virtio-transitional' and
-'virtio-non-transitional'. See `Virtio transitional devices`_ for more details.
+``model`` attribute which has the values 'virtio', 'virtio-transitional' or
+'virtio-non-transitional'. See `virtio device models`_ for more details.
The subelement ``driver`` can be used to tune the virtio options of the device:
`Virtio-related options`_ can also be set. ( :since:`Since 3.5.0` )
@@ -7982,7 +7983,7 @@ Example: manually added device with static PCI slot 2 requested
- 'virtio-non-transitional' :since:`Since 5.2.0`
- 'xen' - default with Xen
- See `Virtio transitional devices`_ for more details.
+ See `virtio device models`_ for more details.
``autodeflate``
The optional ``autodeflate`` attribute allows to enable/disable (values
@@ -8048,7 +8049,7 @@ Example: usage of the RNG device:
- 'virtio-transitional' :since:`Since 5.2.0`
- 'virtio-non-transitional' :since:`Since 5.2.0`
- See `Virtio transitional devices`_ for more details.
+ See `virtio device models`_ for more details.
``rate``
The optional ``rate`` element allows limiting the rate at which entropy can
@@ -8673,8 +8674,8 @@ Vsock
~~~~~
A vsock host/guest interface. The ``model`` attribute defaults to ``virtio``.
-:since:`Since 5.2.0` ``model`` can also be 'virtio-transitional' and
-'virtio-non-transitional', see `Virtio transitional devices`_ for more details.
+:since:`Since 5.2.0` ``model`` can also be 'virtio-transitional' or
+'virtio-non-transitional', see `virtio device models`_ for more details.
The optional attribute ``address`` of the ``cid`` element specifies the CID
assigned to the guest. If the attribute ``auto`` is set to ``yes``, libvirt will
assign a free CID automatically on domain startup. :since:`Since 4.4.0`
--
2.47.0
