[libvirt] [PATCH v2] docs: add page describing goals for host platform version support

Fri Apr 6 21:17:46 UTC 2018

On 04/05/2018 04:05 AM, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote:
> Described how we decide which host platforms to support for libvirt,
> which in turn makes it easier to decide when a platform / software
> version can be dropped.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange at redhat.com>
> ---
>   docs/index.html.in     |   2 +-
>   docs/platforms.html.in | 105 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>   2 files changed, 106 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>   create mode 100644 docs/platforms.html.in
> 
> diff --git a/docs/index.html.in b/docs/index.html.in
> index 1b3a7a3db6..4783c39e3c 100644
> --- a/docs/index.html.in
> +++ b/docs/index.html.in
> @@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
>           The libvirt project:
>         </p>
>         <ul>
> -        <li>is a toolkit to manage virtualization hosts</li>
> +        <li>is a toolkit to manage <a href="platforms.html.in">virtualization platforms</a></li>
>           <li>is accessible from C, Python, Perl, Java and more</li>
>           <li>is licensed under open source licenses</li>
>           <li>supports <a href="drvqemu.html">KVM</a>,
> diff --git a/docs/platforms.html.in b/docs/platforms.html.in
> new file mode 100644
> index 0000000000..776e930e78
> --- /dev/null
> +++ b/docs/platforms.html.in
> @@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
> +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
> +<!DOCTYPE html>
> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
> +  <body>
> +    <h1>Supported host platforms</h1>
> +
> +    <ul id="toc"></ul>
> +
> +    <h2>Build targets</h2>
> +
> +    <p>
> +      Libvirt drivers aim to support building and executing on multiple
> +      host OS platforms. This document outlines which platforms are the
> +      major build targets. These platforms are used as the basis for deciding
> +      upon the minimum required versions of 3rd party software libvirt depends
> +      on. If a platform is not listed here, it does not imply that libvirt
> +      won't work. If an unlisted platform has comparable software versions
> +      to a listed platform, there is every expectation that it will work.
> +      Bug reports are welcome for problems encountered on unlisted platforms
> +      unless they are clearly older vintage that what is described here.
> +    </p>
> +
> +    <p>
> +      Note that when considering software versions shipped in distros as
> +      support targets, libvirt considers only the version number, and assumes
> +      the features in that distro match the upstream release with the same
> +      version. IOW, if a distro backports extra features to the software in
> +      their distro, libvirt upstream code will not add explicit support for
> +      those backports, unless the feature is auto-detectable in a manner that
> +      works for the upstream releases too.
> +    </p>
> +
> +    <p>
> +      The Repology site is a useful resource to identify currently shipped
> +      versions of software in various operating systems, though it does not
> +      cover all distros listed below.
> +    </p>
> +
> +    <ul>
> +      <li><a href="https://repology.org/metapackage/libvirt/versions">libvirt</a></li>
> +      <li><a href="https://repology.org/metapackage/qemu/versions">qemu</a></li>
> +    </ul>
> +
> +
> +    <h3>Linux OS</h3>
> +
> +    <p>
> +      For distributions with frequent, short-lifetime releases, the project
> +      will aim to support all versions that are not end of life by their
> +      respective vendors. For the purposes of identifying supported software
> +      versions, the project will look at Fedora, Ubuntu & OpenSUSE distros.

openSUSE

Regards,
Jim

> +      Other short-lifetime distros will be assumed to ship similar software
> +      versions.
> +    </p>
> +
> +    <p>
> +      For distributions with long-lifetime releases, the project will aim to
> +      support the most recent major version at all times. Support for the
> +      previous major version will be dropped 2 years after the new major
> +      version is released. For the purposes of identifying supported software
> +      versions, the project will look at RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu LTS & SLES
> +      distros. Other long-lifetime distros will be assumed to ship similar
> +      software versions.
> +    </p>
> +
> +    <h3>Windows</h3>
> +
> +    <p>
> +      The project supports building with current versions of the MinGW
> +      toolchain, hosted on Linux.
> +    </p>
> +
> +    <h3>macOS</h3>
> +
> +    <p>
> +      The project supports building with the current version of macOS,
> +      with the current homebrew package set available.
> +    </p>
> +
> +    <h3>FreeBSD</h3>
> +
> +    <p>
> +      The project aims to support the most recent major version
> +      at all times. Support for the previous major version will
> +      be dropped 2 years after the new major version is released.
> +    </p>
> +
> +    <h2>Virtualization platforms</h2>
> +
> +    <p>
> +      For <a href="drivers.html">hypervisor drivers</a> which execute
> +      locally (QEMU, LXC, VZ, libxl, etc), the set of supported operating
> +      system platforms listed above will inform choices as to the minimum
> +      required versions of 3rd party libraries and hypervisor management
> +      APIs.
> +    </p>
> +    <p>
> +      If a hypervisor is not commonly shipped directly by any distro
> +      listed above, (VMware ESX, HyperV, VZ), the project aims to
> +      support versions up to 5 years, or until the vendor discontinues
> +      support, whichever comes first.
> +    </p>
> +
> +  </body>
> +</html>
>