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path: root/docs/specs/qcow2.txt
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2013-10-11qcow2: Alignment of snapshot table entriesMax Reitz1-0/+3
The qcow2 specification does not explicitly state so far that every snapshot table entry is aligned to 8 bytes. QEMU, in contrast, does this alignment, thus it should be properly documented (which this patch does). Signed-off-by: Max Reitz <mreitz@redhat.com> Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
2013-08-30qcow2: Add corrupt bitMax Reitz1-1/+6
This adds an incompatible bit indicating corruption to qcow2. Any image with this bit set may not be written to unless for repairing (and subsequently clearing the bit if the repair has been successful). Signed-off-by: Max Reitz <mreitz@redhat.com> Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
2012-08-06docs: add lazy refcounts bit to qcow2 specificationStefan Hajnoczi1-1/+6
The lazy refcounts bit indicates that this image can take advantage of the dirty bit and that refcount updates can be postponed. Signed-off-by: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@linux.vnet.ibm.com> Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
2012-08-06docs: add dirty bit to qcow2 specificationStefan Hajnoczi1-1/+6
The dirty bit will make it possible to perform lazy refcount updates, where the image file is not kept consistent all the time. Upon opening a dirty image file, it is necessary to perform a consistency check and repair any incorrect refcounts. Therefore the dirty bit must be an incompatible feature bit. We don't want old programs accessing a file with stale refcounts. Signed-off-by: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@linux.vnet.ibm.com> Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
2012-05-02docs: fix one issue in qcow2 specsZhi Yong Wu1-1/+1
Signed-off-by: Zhi Yong Wu <wuzhy@linux.vnet.ibm.com> Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
2012-04-20Specification for qcow2 version 3Kevin Wolf1-23/+99
This updates the qcow2 specification to cover version 3. It contains the following changes: - Added compatible/incompatible/auto-clear feature bits plus an optional feature name table to allow useful error messages even if an older version doesn't know some feature at all. - Configurable refcount width. If you don't want to use internal snapshots, make refcounts one bit and save cache space and I/O. - Zero cluster flags. This allows discard even with a backing file that doesn't contain zeros. It is also useful for copy-on-read/image streaming, as you'll want to keep sparseness without accessing the remote image for an unallocated cluster all the time. - Fixed internal snapshot metadata to use 64 bit VM state size. You can't save a snapshot of a VM with >= 4 GB RAM today. - Extended internal snapshot metadata to contain the disk size, so that resizing images that have snapshots can be allowed in the future. Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
2011-12-15qcow2: Allow >4 GB VM stateKevin Wolf1-1/+7
This is a compatible extension to the snapshot header format that allows saving a 64 bit VM state size. Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
2011-10-28qcow2: fix some errors and typo in qcow2.txtZhi Yong Wu1-3/+3
Signed-off-by: Zhi Yong Wu <wuzhy@linux.vnet.ibm.com> Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com>
2011-03-16Add qcow2 documentationKevin Wolf1-0/+260
This adds a description of the qcow2 file format to the docs/ directory. Besides documenting what's there, which is never wrong, the document should provide a good basis for the discussion of format extensions (called "qcow3" in previous discussions) Signed-off-by: Kevin Wolf <kwolf@redhat.com> Reviewed-by: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@linux.vnet.ibm.com>