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ARM on x86 with libvirt/virt-manager

Summary

Fix running ARM VMs on x86 hosts using standard libvirt tools libvirt virsh, virt-manager and virt-install.

Owner

Current status

Detailed Description

qemu has an ARM emulator that works well and is actively used in the Fedora ARM effort. However libvirt and virt-manager currently have issues launching qemu-system-arm VMs, mostly by encoding x86 assumptions in the generated command line that cause qemu-system-arm to fail to start. Let's fix it!

Benefit to Fedora

  • ARM developers can now use virt-manager/libvirt to manage ARM VMs without having to hack around it
  • Fedora QA can use standard tools to test ARM in its bid for Primary Architecture
  • Packagers who want to do ARM work can use standard virt tools to run ARM VMs.
  • Enthusiasts who want to try out the Fedora ARM spin can use standard tools to try it in a VM.

Scope

  • Proposal owners:
  1. Fix issues in libvirt with generating qemu-system-arm command lines:
    • Fix launching vexpress-a9 (DONE)
    • Support virtio-mmio to enable virtio for vexpress (DONE)
    • TODO: vexpress-a15 support? need to figure out the correct qemu+fedora incantation
  2. virt-install support (DONE, see docs)
  3. virt-manager support
    • Basic setup support (DONE, see docs)
    • Improve the 'Create VM' wizard to handle the ARM case better (DONE)
  4. TODO: Figure out how to actually install a new ARM VM and not depend on pre-installed images.
  5. TODO: Figure out why graphical setup is busted


Upgrade/compatibility impact

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

How To Test

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA:Testcase_Virt_ARM_on_x86

User Experience

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Dependencies

N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Contingency Plan

  • Contingency mechanism: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
  • Contingency deadline: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
  • Blocks release? N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Documentation

Example of how to kick off a guest: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA:Testcase_Virt_x86_on_ARM

Release Notes

ARM VMs can now be run on x86 hosts using standard libvirt tools like virsh, virt-manager, and virt-install.

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