docs/platforms.html.in

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   5     <h1>Supported host platforms</h1>
   6
   7     <ul id="toc"></ul>
   8
   9     <h2>Build targets</h2>
  10
  11     <p>
  12       Libvirt drivers aim to support building and executing on multiple
  13       host OS platforms. This document outlines which platforms are the
  14       major build targets. These platforms are used as the basis for deciding
  15       upon the minimum required versions of 3rd party software libvirt depends
  16       on. If a platform is not listed here, it does not imply that libvirt
  17       won't work. If an unlisted platform has comparable software versions
  18       to a listed platform, there is every expectation that it will work.
  19       Bug reports are welcome for problems encountered on unlisted platforms
  20       unless they are clearly older vintage than what is described here.
  21     </p>
  22
  23     <p>
  24       Note that when considering software versions shipped in distros as
  25       support targets, libvirt considers only the version number, and assumes
  26       the features in that distro match the upstream release with the same
  27       version. In other words, if a distro backports extra features to the
  28       software in their distro, libvirt upstream code will not add explicit
  29       support for those backports, unless the feature is auto-detectable in
  30       a manner that works for the upstream releases too.
  31     </p>
  32
  33     <p>
  34       The Repology site is a useful resource to identify currently shipped
  35       versions of software in various operating systems, though it does not
  36       cover all distros listed below.
  37     </p>
  38
  39     <ul>
  40       <li><a href="https://repology.org/metapackage/libvirt/versions">libvirt</a></li>
  41       <li><a href="https://repology.org/metapackage/qemu/versions">qemu</a></li>
  42       <li><a href="https://repology.org/metapackage/qemu-kvm/versions">qemu-kvm</a></li>
  43     </ul>
  44
  45
  46     <h3>Linux OS</h3>
  47
  48     <p>
  49       For distributions with frequent, short-lifetime releases, the project
  50       will aim to support all versions that are not end of life by their
  51       respective vendors. For the purposes of identifying supported software
  52       versions, the project will look at Fedora, Ubuntu, and openSUSE distros.
  53       Other short-lifetime distros will be assumed to ship similar software
  54       versions.
  55     </p>
  56
  57     <p>
  58       For distributions with long-lifetime releases, the project will aim to
  59       support the most recent major version at all times. Support for the
  60       previous major version will be dropped 2 years after the new major
  61       version is released. For the purposes of identifying supported software
  62       versions, the project will look at RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu LTS, and SLES
  63       distros. Other long-lifetime distros will be assumed to ship similar
  64       software versions.
  65     </p>
  66
  67     <h3>Windows</h3>
  68
  69     <p>
  70       The project supports building with current versions of the MinGW
  71       toolchain, hosted on Linux.
  72     </p>
  73
  74     <h3>macOS</h3>
  75
  76     <p>
  77       The project supports building with the current version of macOS,
  78       with the current homebrew package set available.
  79     </p>
  80
  81     <h3>FreeBSD</h3>
  82
  83     <p>
  84       The project aims to support the most recent major version
  85       at all times. Support for the previous major version will
  86       be dropped 2 years after the new major version is released.
  87     </p>
  88
  89     <h2>Virtualization platforms</h2>
  90
  91     <p>
  92       For <a href="drivers.html">hypervisor drivers</a> which execute
  93       locally (QEMU, LXC, VZ, libxl, etc), the set of supported operating
  94       system platforms listed above will inform choices as to the minimum
  95       required versions of 3rd party libraries and hypervisor management
  96       APIs.
  97     </p>
  98     <p>
  99       If a hypervisor is not commonly shipped directly by any distro
 100       listed above, (VMware ESX, HyperV, VZ), the project aims to
 101       support versions up to 5 years, or until the vendor discontinues
 102       support, whichever comes first.
 103     </p>
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