| .. _Supported-build-platforms: |
| |
| Supported build platforms |
| ========================= |
| |
| QEMU aims to support building and executing on multiple host OS |
| platforms. This appendix 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 QEMU depends on. The |
| supported platforms are the targets for automated testing performed by |
| the project when patches are submitted for review, and tested before and |
| after merge. |
| |
| If a platform is not listed here, it does not imply that QEMU 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 than what is described here. |
| |
| Note that when considering software versions shipped in distros as |
| support targets, QEMU considers only the version number, and assumes the |
| features in that distro match the upstream release with the same |
| version. In other words, if a distro backports extra features to the |
| software in their distro, QEMU 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. |
| |
| 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. |
| |
| Linux OS, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD |
| ----------------------------------------- |
| |
| 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 or when the vendor itself drops support, whichever comes |
| first. In this context, third-party efforts to extend the lifetime of a distro |
| are not considered, even when they are endorsed by the vendor (eg. Debian LTS). |
| |
| For the purposes of identifying supported software versions available on Linux, |
| the project will look at CentOS, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, RHEL, SLES and |
| Ubuntu LTS. Other distros will be assumed to ship similar software versions. |
| |
| For FreeBSD and OpenBSD, decisions will be made based on the contents of the |
| respective ports repository, while NetBSD will use the pkgsrc repository. |
| |
| For macOS, `HomeBrew`_ will be used, although `MacPorts`_ is expected to carry |
| similar versions. |
| |
| Windows |
| ------- |
| |
| The project supports building with current versions of the MinGW toolchain, |
| hosted on Linux (Debian/Fedora). |
| |
| The version of the Windows API that's currently targeted is Vista / Server |
| 2008. |
| |
| .. _HomeBrew: https://brew.sh/ |
| .. _MacPorts: https://www.macports.org/ |
| .. _Repology: https://repology.org/ |
