xref: /qemu/docs/about/deprecated.rst (revision 9761ad5f65d23f080b5a3479e52196fbce2e1506)
1.. _Deprecated features:
2
3Deprecated features
4===================
5
6In general features are intended to be supported indefinitely once
7introduced into QEMU. In the event that a feature needs to be removed,
8it will be listed in this section. The feature will remain functional for the
9release in which it was deprecated and one further release. After these two
10releases, the feature is liable to be removed. Deprecated features may also
11generate warnings on the console when QEMU starts up, or if activated via a
12monitor command, however, this is not a mandatory requirement.
13
14As a special exception to this general timeframe, rather than have an
15indefinite lifetime, versioned machine types are only intended to be
16supported for a period of 6 years, equivalent to 18 QEMU releases. All
17versioned machine types will be automatically marked deprecated after an
18initial 3 years (9 QEMU releases) has passed, and will then be deleted after
19a further 3 year period has passed. It is recommended that a deprecated
20machine type is only used for incoming migrations and restore of saved state,
21for pre-existing VM deployments. They should be scheduled for updating to a
22newer machine type during an appropriate service window. Newly deployed VMs
23should exclusively use a non-deprecated machine type, with use of the most
24recent version highly recommended. Non-versioned machine types follow the
25general feature deprecation policy.
26
27What follows is a list of all features currently marked as
28deprecated.
29
30System emulator command line arguments
31--------------------------------------
32
33Short-form boolean options (since 6.0)
34''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
35
36Boolean options such as ``share=on``/``share=off`` could be written
37in short form as ``share`` and ``noshare``.  This is now deprecated
38and will cause a warning.
39
40``delay`` option for socket character devices (since 6.0)
41'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
42
43The replacement for the ``nodelay`` short-form boolean option is ``nodelay=on``
44rather than ``delay=off``.
45
46Plugin argument passing through ``arg=<string>`` (since 6.1)
47''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
48
49Passing TCG plugins arguments through ``arg=`` is redundant is makes the
50command-line less readable, especially when the argument itself consist of a
51name and a value, e.g. ``-plugin plugin_name,arg="arg_name=arg_value"``.
52Therefore, the usage of ``arg`` is redundant. Single-word arguments are treated
53as short-form boolean values, and passed to plugins as ``arg_name=on``.
54However, short-form booleans are deprecated and full explicit ``arg_name=on``
55form is preferred.
56
57``-smp`` (Unsupported "parameter=1" SMP configurations) (since 9.0)
58'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
59
60Specified CPU topology parameters must be supported by the machine.
61
62In the SMP configuration, users should provide the CPU topology parameters that
63are supported by the target machine.
64
65However, historically it was allowed for users to specify the unsupported
66topology parameter as "1", which is meaningless. So support for this kind of
67configurations (e.g. -smp drawers=1,books=1,clusters=1 for x86 PC machine) is
68marked deprecated since 9.0, users have to ensure that all the topology members
69described with -smp are supported by the target machine.
70
71``-old-param`` option for booting Arm kernels via param_struct (since 10.0)
72'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
73
74The ``-old-param`` command line option is specific to Arm targets:
75it is used when directly booting a guest kernel to pass it the
76command line and other information via the old ``param_struct`` ABI,
77rather than the newer ATAGS or DTB mechanisms. This option was only
78ever needed to support ancient kernels on some old board types
79like the ``akita`` or ``terrier``; it has been deprecated in the
80kernel since 2001. None of the board types QEMU supports need
81``param_struct`` support, so this option has been deprecated and will
82be removed in a future QEMU version.
83
84User-mode emulator command line arguments
85-----------------------------------------
86
87``-p`` (since 9.0)
88''''''''''''''''''
89
90The ``-p`` option pretends to control the host page size.  However,
91it is not possible to change the host page size, and using the
92option only causes failures.
93
94QEMU Machine Protocol (QMP) commands
95------------------------------------
96
97``blockdev-open-tray``, ``blockdev-close-tray`` argument ``device`` (since 2.8)
98'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
99
100Use argument ``id`` instead.
101
102``eject`` argument ``device`` (since 2.8)
103'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
104
105Use argument ``id`` instead.
106
107``blockdev-change-medium`` argument ``device`` (since 2.8)
108''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
109
110Use argument ``id`` instead.
111
112``block_set_io_throttle`` argument ``device`` (since 2.8)
113'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
114
115Use argument ``id`` instead.
116
117``blockdev-add`` empty string argument ``backing`` (since 2.10)
118'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
119
120Use argument value ``null`` instead.
121
122``block-commit`` arguments ``base`` and ``top`` (since 3.1)
123'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
124
125Use arguments ``base-node`` and ``top-node`` instead.
126
127``nbd-server-add`` and ``nbd-server-remove`` (since 5.2)
128''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
129
130Use the more generic commands ``block-export-add`` and ``block-export-del``
131instead.  As part of this deprecation, where ``nbd-server-add`` used a
132single ``bitmap``, the new ``block-export-add`` uses a list of ``bitmaps``.
133
134``query-qmp-schema`` return value member ``values`` (since 6.2)
135'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
136
137Member ``values`` in return value elements with meta-type ``enum`` is
138deprecated.  Use ``members`` instead.
139
140``drive-backup`` (since 6.2)
141''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
142
143Use ``blockdev-backup`` in combination with ``blockdev-add`` instead.
144This change primarily separates the creation/opening process of the backup
145target with explicit, separate steps. ``blockdev-backup`` uses mostly the
146same arguments as ``drive-backup``, except the ``format`` and ``mode``
147options are removed in favor of using explicit ``blockdev-create`` and
148``blockdev-add`` calls. See :doc:`/interop/live-block-operations` for
149details.
150
151``query-migrationthreads`` (since 9.2)
152''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
153
154To be removed with no replacement, as it reports only a limited set of
155threads (for example, it only reports source side of multifd threads,
156without reporting any destination threads, or non-multifd source threads).
157For debugging purpose, please use ``-name $VM,debug-threads=on`` instead.
158
159``block-job-pause`` (since 10.1)
160''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
161
162Use ``job-pause`` instead. The only difference is that ``job-pause``
163always reports GenericError on failure when ``block-job-pause`` reports
164DeviceNotActive when block-job is not found.
165
166``block-job-resume`` (since 10.1)
167'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
168
169Use ``job-resume`` instead. The only difference is that ``job-resume``
170always reports GenericError on failure when ``block-job-resume`` reports
171DeviceNotActive when block-job is not found.
172
173``block-job-complete`` (since 10.1)
174'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
175
176Use ``job-complete`` instead. The only difference is that ``job-complete``
177always reports GenericError on failure when ``block-job-complete`` reports
178DeviceNotActive when block-job is not found.
179
180``block-job-dismiss`` (since 10.1)
181''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
182
183Use ``job-dismiss`` instead.
184
185``block-job-finalize`` (since 10.1)
186'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
187
188Use ``job-finalize`` instead.
189
190``migrate`` argument ``detach`` (since 10.1)
191''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
192
193This argument has always been ignored.
194
195Host Architectures
196------------------
197
198Big endian MIPS since 7.2; 32-bit little endian MIPS since 9.2
199''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
200
201As Debian 10 ("Buster") moved into LTS the big endian 32 bit version of
202MIPS moved out of support making it hard to maintain our
203cross-compilation CI tests of the architecture. As we no longer have
204CI coverage support may bitrot away before the deprecation process
205completes.
206
207Likewise, the little endian variant of 32 bit MIPS is not supported by
208Debian 13 ("Trixie") and newer.
209
21064 bit little endian MIPS is still a supported host architecture.
211
212System emulation on 32-bit x86 hosts (since 8.0)
213''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
214
215Support for 32-bit x86 host deployments is increasingly uncommon in mainstream
216OS distributions given the widespread availability of 64-bit x86 hardware.
217The QEMU project no longer considers 32-bit x86 support for system emulation to
218be an effective use of its limited resources, and thus intends to discontinue
219it. Since all recent x86 hardware from the past >10 years is capable of the
22064-bit x86 extensions, a corresponding 64-bit OS should be used instead.
221
222TCG Plugin support not enabled by default on 32-bit hosts (since 9.2)
223'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
224
225While it is still possible to enable TCG plugin support for 32-bit
226hosts there are a number of potential pitfalls when instrumenting
22764-bit guests. The plugin APIs typically pass most addresses as
228uint64_t but practices like encoding that address in a host pointer
229for passing as user-data will lose data. As most software analysis
230benefits from having plenty of host memory it seems reasonable to
231encourage users to use 64 bit builds of QEMU for analysis work
232whatever targets they are instrumenting.
233
234TCG Plugin support not enabled by default with TCI (since 9.2)
235''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
236
237While the TCG interpreter can interpret the TCG ops used by plugins it
238is going to be so much slower it wouldn't make sense for any serious
239instrumentation. Due to implementation differences there will also be
240anomalies in things like memory instrumentation.
241
24232-bit host operating systems (since 10.0)
243''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
244
245Keeping 32-bit host support alive is a substantial burden for the
246QEMU project.  Thus QEMU will in future drop the support for all
24732-bit host systems.
248
249linux-user mode CPUs
250--------------------
251
252iwMMXt emulation and the ``pxa`` CPUs (since 10.0)
253''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
254
255The ``pxa`` CPU family (``pxa250``, ``pxa255``, ``pxa260``,
256``pxa261``, ``pxa262``, ``pxa270-a0``, ``pxa270-a1``, ``pxa270``,
257``pxa270-b0``, ``pxa270-b1``, ``pxa270-c0``, ``pxa270-c5``) are no
258longer used in system emulation, because all the machine types which
259used these CPUs were removed in the QEMU 9.2 release. These CPUs can
260now only be used in linux-user mode, and to do that you would have to
261explicitly select one of these CPUs with the ``-cpu`` command line
262option or the ``QEMU_CPU`` environment variable.
263
264We don't believe that anybody is using the iwMMXt emulation, and we do
265not have any tests to validate it or any real hardware or similar
266known-good implementation to test against. GCC is in the process of
267dropping their support for iwMMXt codegen. These CPU types are
268therefore deprecated in QEMU, and will be removed in a future release.
269
270System emulator CPUs
271--------------------
272
273``power5+`` and ``power7+`` CPU names (since 9.0)
274'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
275
276The character "+" in device (and thus also CPU) names is not allowed
277in the QEMU object model anymore. ``power5+``, ``power5+_v2.1``,
278``power7+`` and ``power7+_v2.1`` are currently still supported via
279an alias, but for consistency these will get removed in a future
280release, too. Use ``power5p_v2.1`` and ``power7p_v2.1`` instead.
281
282``Sun-UltraSparc-IIIi+`` and ``Sun-UltraSparc-IV+`` CPU names (since 9.1)
283'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
284
285The character "+" in device (and thus also CPU) names is not allowed
286in the QEMU object model anymore. ``Sun-UltraSparc-IIIi+`` and
287``Sun-UltraSparc-IV+`` are currently still supported via a workaround,
288but for consistency these will get removed in a future release, too.
289Use ``Sun-UltraSparc-IIIi-plus`` and ``Sun-UltraSparc-IV-plus`` instead.
290
291PPC 405 CPUs (since 10.0)
292'''''''''''''''''''''''''
293
294The PPC 405 CPU has no known users and the ``ref405ep`` machine was
295removed in QEMU 10.0. Since the IBM POWER [8-11] processors uses an
296embedded 405 for power management (OCC) and other internal tasks, it
297is theoretically possible to use QEMU to model them. Let's keep the
298CPU implementation for a while before removing all support.
299
300System emulator machines
301------------------------
302
303Versioned machine types (aarch64, arm, i386, m68k, ppc64, s390x, x86_64)
304''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
305
306In accordance with our versioned machine type deprecation policy, all machine
307types with version |VER_MACHINE_DEPRECATION_VERSION|, or older, have been
308deprecated.
309
310Arm ``virt`` machine ``dtb-kaslr-seed`` property (since 7.1)
311''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
312
313The ``dtb-kaslr-seed`` property on the ``virt`` board has been
314deprecated; use the new name ``dtb-randomness`` instead. The new name
315better reflects the way this property affects all random data within
316the device tree blob, not just the ``kaslr-seed`` node.
317
318Mips ``mipssim`` machine (since 10.0)
319'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
320
321Linux dropped support for this virtual machine type in kernel v3.7, and
322there does not seem to be anybody around who is still using this board
323in QEMU: Most former MIPS-related people are working on other architectures
324in their everyday job nowadays, and we are also not aware of anybody still
325using old binaries with this board (i.e. there is also no binary available
326online to check that this board did not completely bitrot yet). It is
327recommended to use another MIPS machine for future MIPS code development
328instead.
329
330RISC-V default machine option (since 10.0)
331''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
332
333RISC-V defines ``spike`` as the default machine if no machine option is
334given in the command line.  This happens because ``spike`` is the first
335RISC-V machine implemented in QEMU and setting it as default was
336convenient at that time.  Now we have 7 riscv64 and 6 riscv32 machines
337and having ``spike`` as a default is no longer justified.  This default
338will also promote situations where users think they're running ``virt``
339(the most used RISC-V machine type in 10.0) when in fact they're
340running ``spike``.
341
342Removing the default machine option forces users to always set the machine
343they want to use and avoids confusion.  Existing users of the ``spike``
344machine must ensure that they're setting the ``spike`` machine in the
345command line (``-M spike``).
346
347
348System emulator binaries
349------------------------
350
351``qemu-system-microblazeel`` (since 10.1)
352'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
353
354The ``qemu-system-microblaze`` binary can emulate little-endian machines
355now, too, so the separate binary ``qemu-system-microblazeel`` (with the
356``el`` suffix) for little-endian targets is not required anymore. The
357``petalogix-s3adsp1800`` machine can now be switched to little endian by
358setting its ``endianness`` property to ``little``.
359
360
361Backend options
362---------------
363
364Using non-persistent backing file with pmem=on (since 6.1)
365''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
366
367This option is used when ``memory-backend-file`` is consumed by emulated NVDIMM
368device. However enabling ``memory-backend-file.pmem`` option, when backing file
369is (a) not DAX capable or (b) not on a filesystem that support direct mapping
370of persistent memory, is not safe and may lead to data loss or corruption in case
371of host crash.
372Options are:
373
374    - modify VM configuration to set ``pmem=off`` to continue using fake NVDIMM
375      (without persistence guaranties) with backing file on non DAX storage
376    - move backing file to NVDIMM storage and keep ``pmem=on``
377      (to have NVDIMM with persistence guaranties).
378
379Device options
380--------------
381
382Emulated device options
383'''''''''''''''''''''''
384
385``-device nvme-ns,eui64-default=on|off`` (since 7.1)
386^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
387
388In QEMU versions 6.1, 6.2 and 7.0, the ``nvme-ns`` generates an EUI-64
389identifier that is not globally unique. If an EUI-64 identifier is required, the
390user must set it explicitly using the ``nvme-ns`` device parameter ``eui64``.
391
392``-device nvme,use-intel-id=on|off`` (since 7.1)
393^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
394
395The ``nvme`` device originally used a PCI Vendor/Device Identifier combination
396from Intel that was not properly allocated. Since version 5.2, the controller
397has used a properly allocated identifier. Deprecate the ``use-intel-id``
398machine compatibility parameter.
399
400``-device cxl-type3,memdev=xxxx`` (since 8.0)
401^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
402
403The ``cxl-type3`` device initially only used a single memory backend.  With
404the addition of volatile memory support, it is now necessary to distinguish
405between persistent and volatile memory backends.  As such, memdev is deprecated
406in favor of persistent-memdev.
407
408
409RISC-V CPU properties which start with capital 'Z' (since 8.2)
410^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
411
412All RISC-V CPU properties which start with capital 'Z' are being deprecated
413starting in 8.2. The reason is that they were wrongly added with capital 'Z'
414in the past. CPU properties were later added with lower-case names, which
415is the format we want to use from now on.
416
417Users which try to use these deprecated properties will receive a warning
418recommending to switch to their stable counterparts:
419
420- "Zifencei" should be replaced with "zifencei"
421- "Zicsr" should be replaced with "zicsr"
422- "Zihintntl" should be replaced with "zihintntl"
423- "Zihintpause" should be replaced with "zihintpause"
424- "Zawrs" should be replaced with "zawrs"
425- "Zfa" should be replaced with "zfa"
426- "Zfh" should be replaced with "zfh"
427- "Zfhmin" should be replaced with "zfhmin"
428- "Zve32f" should be replaced with "zve32f"
429- "Zve64f" should be replaced with "zve64f"
430- "Zve64d" should be replaced with "zve64d"
431
432``-device sd-card,spec_version=1`` (since 9.1)
433^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
434
435SD physical layer specification v2.00 supersedes the v1.10 one.
436v2.00 is the default since QEMU 3.0.0.
437
438Block device options
439''''''''''''''''''''
440
441``"backing": ""`` (since 2.12)
442^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
443
444In order to prevent QEMU from automatically opening an image's backing
445chain, use ``"backing": null`` instead.
446
447``rbd`` keyvalue pair encoded filenames: ``""`` (since 3.1)
448^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
449
450Options for ``rbd`` should be specified according to its runtime options,
451like other block drivers.  Legacy parsing of keyvalue pair encoded
452filenames is useful to open images with the old format for backing files;
453These image files should be updated to use the current format.
454
455Example of legacy encoding::
456
457  json:{"file.driver":"rbd", "file.filename":"rbd:rbd/name"}
458
459The above, converted to the current supported format::
460
461  json:{"file.driver":"rbd", "file.pool":"rbd", "file.image":"name"}
462
463``iscsi,password=xxx`` (since 8.0)
464^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
465
466Specifying the iSCSI password in plain text on the command line using the
467``password`` option is insecure. The ``password-secret`` option should be
468used instead, to refer to a ``--object secret...`` instance that provides
469a password via a file, or encrypted.
470
471``gluster`` backend (since 9.2)
472^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
473
474According to https://marc.info/?l=fedora-devel-list&m=171934833215726
475the GlusterFS development effectively ended. Unless the development
476gains momentum again, the QEMU project will remove the gluster backend
477in a future release.
478
479
480Character device options
481''''''''''''''''''''''''
482
483Backend ``memory`` (since 9.0)
484^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
485
486``memory`` is a deprecated synonym for ``ringbuf``.
487
488``reconnect`` (since 9.2)
489^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
490
491The ``reconnect`` option only allows specifying second granularity timeouts,
492which is not enough for all types of use cases, use ``reconnect-ms`` instead.
493
494
495Net device options
496''''''''''''''''''
497
498Stream ``reconnect`` (since 9.2)
499^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
500
501The ``reconnect`` option only allows specifying second granularity timeouts,
502which is not enough for all types of use cases, use ``reconnect-ms`` instead.
503
504VFIO device options
505'''''''''''''''''''
506
507``-device vfio-calxeda-xgmac`` (since 10.0)
508^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
509The vfio-calxeda-xgmac device allows to assign a host Calxeda Highbank
51010Gb XGMAC Ethernet controller device ("calxeda,hb-xgmac" compatibility
511string) to a guest. Calxeda HW has been ewasted now and there is no point
512keeping that device.
513
514``-device vfio-amd-xgbe`` (since 10.0)
515^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
516The vfio-amd-xgbe device allows to assign a host AMD 10GbE controller
517to a guest ("amd,xgbe-seattle-v1a" compatibility string). AMD "Seattle"
518is not supported anymore and there is no point keeping that device.
519
520``-device vfio-platform`` (since 10.0)
521^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
522The vfio-platform device allows to assign a host platform device
523to a guest in a generic manner. Integrating a new device into
524the vfio-platform infrastructure requires some adaptation at
525both kernel and qemu level. No such attempt has been done for years
526and the conclusion is that vfio-platform has not got any traction.
527PCIe passthrough shall be the mainline solution.
528
529CPU device properties
530'''''''''''''''''''''
531
532``pmu-num=n`` on RISC-V CPUs (since 8.2)
533^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
534
535In order to support more flexible counter configurations this has been replaced
536by a ``pmu-mask`` property. If set of counters is continuous then the mask can
537be calculated with ``((2 ^ n) - 1) << 3``. The least significant three bits
538must be left clear.
539
540
541``pcommit`` on x86 (since 9.1)
542^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
543
544The PCOMMIT instruction was never included in any physical processor.
545It was implemented as a no-op instruction in TCG up to QEMU 9.0, but
546only with ``-cpu max`` (which does not guarantee migration compatibility
547across versions).
548
549Backwards compatibility
550-----------------------
551
552Runnability guarantee of CPU models (since 4.1)
553'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
554
555Previous versions of QEMU never changed existing CPU models in
556ways that introduced additional host software or hardware
557requirements to the VM.  This allowed management software to
558safely change the machine type of an existing VM without
559introducing new requirements ("runnability guarantee").  This
560prevented CPU models from being updated to include CPU
561vulnerability mitigations, leaving guests vulnerable in the
562default configuration.
563
564The CPU model runnability guarantee won't apply anymore to
565existing CPU models.  Management software that needs runnability
566guarantees must resolve the CPU model aliases using the
567``alias-of`` field returned by the ``query-cpu-definitions`` QMP
568command.
569
570While those guarantees are kept, the return value of
571``query-cpu-definitions`` will have existing CPU model aliases
572point to a version that doesn't break runnability guarantees
573(specifically, version 1 of those CPU models).  In future QEMU
574versions, aliases will point to newer CPU model versions
575depending on the machine type, so management software must
576resolve CPU model aliases before starting a virtual machine.
577
578RISC-V "virt" board "riscv,delegate" DT property (since 9.1)
579''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
580
581The "riscv,delegate" DT property was added in QEMU 7.0 as part of
582the AIA APLIC support.  The property changed name during the review
583process in Linux and the correct name ended up being
584"riscv,delegation".  Changing the DT property name will break all
585available firmwares that are using the current (wrong) name.  The
586property is kept as is in 9.1, together with "riscv,delegation", to
587give more time for firmware developers to change their code.
588
589Migration
590---------
591
592``fd:`` URI when used for file migration (since 9.1)
593''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
594
595The ``fd:`` URI can currently provide a file descriptor that
596references either a socket or a plain file. These are two different
597types of migration. In order to reduce ambiguity, the ``fd:`` URI
598usage of providing a file descriptor to a plain file has been
599deprecated in favor of explicitly using the ``file:`` URI with the
600file descriptor being passed as an ``fdset``. Refer to the ``add-fd``
601command documentation for details on the ``fdset`` usage.
602
603``zero-blocks`` capability (since 9.2)
604''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
605
606The ``zero-blocks`` capability was part of the block migration which
607doesn't exist anymore since it was removed in QEMU v9.1.
608