Commit 13a97a1963 for qemu.org
commit 13a97a1963505851d7587d3f50a317f1ad0a8fd6
Author: Alex Bennée <alex.bennee@linaro.org>
Date: Wed Mar 4 16:50:37 2026 +0000
docs/system: virtio-gpu: Document host/guest requirements
This attempts to tidy up the VirtIO GPU documentation to make the list
of requirements clearer. There are still a lot of moving parts and the
distros have some catching up to do before this is all handled
automatically.
Cc: Sergio Lopez Pascual <slp@redhat.com>
Reviewed-by: Akihiko Odaki <akihiko.odaki@daynix.com>
Acked-by: Pierre-Eric Pelloux-Prayer <pierre-eric.pelloux-prayer@amd.com>
Reviewed-by: Yiwei Zhang <zzyiwei@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Dmitry Osipenko <dmitry.osipenko@collabora.com>
[dmitry.osipenko@collabora.com: Extended and corrected doc]
Message-ID: <20260303151422.977399-14-dmitry.osipenko@collabora.com>
Message-ID: <20260304165043.1437519-16-alex.bennee@linaro.org>
Signed-off-by: Alex Bennée <alex.bennee@linaro.org>
diff --git a/docs/system/devices/virtio/virtio-gpu.rst b/docs/system/devices/virtio/virtio-gpu.rst
index ef5fb0401d..d05f8cb8e3 100644
--- a/docs/system/devices/virtio/virtio-gpu.rst
+++ b/docs/system/devices/virtio/virtio-gpu.rst
@@ -7,14 +7,28 @@ VirtIO GPU
==========
This document explains the setup and usage of the virtio-gpu device.
-The virtio-gpu device paravirtualizes the GPU and display controller.
+The virtio-gpu device provides a GPU and display controller
+paravirtualized using VirtIO. It supports a number of different modes
+from simple 2D displays to fully accelerated 3D graphics.
-Linux kernel support
---------------------
+Linux guest kernel support
+--------------------------
virtio-gpu requires a guest Linux kernel built with the
``CONFIG_DRM_VIRTIO_GPU`` option.
+3D acceleration
+---------------
+
+3D acceleration of a virtualized GPU is still an evolving field.
+Depending on the 3D mode you are running you may need to override
+distribution supplied libraries with more recent versions or enable
+build options. There are a number of requirements the host must meet
+to be able to be able to support guests. QEMU must be able to access the
+host's GPU and for the best performance be able to reliably share GPU
+memory with the guest. Details of 3D acceleration requirements are
+described in a further sections.
+
QEMU virtio-gpu variants
------------------------
@@ -67,8 +81,14 @@ intermediate representation is communicated to the host and the
`virglrenderer`_ library on the host translates the intermediate
representation back to OpenGL API calls.
+By default OpenGL version on guest is limited to 4.3. In order to enable
+OpenGL 4.6 support, virtio-gpu host blobs feature (``hostmem`` and ``blob``
+fields) should be enabled. The ``hostmem`` field specifies the size of
+virtio-gpu host memory window. This is typically between 256M and 8G.
+
.. parsed-literal::
-device virtio-gpu-gl
+ -device virtio-gpu-gl,hostmem=8G,blob=true
.. _virgl: https://docs.mesa3d.org/drivers/virgl.html
.. _Gallium3D: https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/gallium/
@@ -96,6 +116,67 @@ of virtio-gpu host memory window. This is typically between 256M and 8G.
.. _drm: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/virgl/virglrenderer/-/tree/main/src/drm
+.. list-table:: Linux Host Requirements
+ :header-rows: 1
+
+ * - Capability
+ - Kernel Version
+ - Libvirglrenderer Version
+ * - OpenGL pass-through
+ - Any Linux version compatible with QEMU if not using host blobs feature,
+ Linux 6.13+ otherwise
+ - 0.8.2+
+ * - Vulkan pass-through
+ - Linux 6.13+
+ - 1.0.0+
+ * - AMDGPU DRM native context
+ - Linux 6.13+
+ - 1.1.0+
+ * - Freedreno DRM native context
+ - Linux 6.4+
+ - 1.0.0+
+ * - Intel i915 DRM native context
+ - Linux 6.13+
+ - 1.3.0+
+ * - Asahi DRM native context
+ - `Downstream version`_ of Asahi Linux kernel
+ - 1.2.0+
+ * - Panfrost native context
+ - Linux 6.13+
+ - 1.3.0+
+
+.. _Downstream version: https://github.com/AsahiLinux/linux
+
+.. list-table:: Linux Guest Requirements
+ :header-rows: 1
+
+ * - Capability
+ - Kernel Version
+ - Mesa Version
+ * - OpenGL pass-through
+ - Any Linux version supporting virtio-gpu
+ - 16.0.0+
+ * - Vulkan pass-through
+ - Linux 5.16+
+ - 24.2.0+
+ * - AMDGPU DRM native context
+ - Linux 6.14+
+ - 25.0.0+
+ * - Freedreno DRM native context
+ - Linux 6.14+
+ - 23.1.0+
+ * - Intel i915 DRM native context
+ - Linux 6.14+
+ - 26.1.0+
+ * - Asahi DRM native context
+ - Linux 6.14+
+ - 24.2.0+
+ * - Panfrost native context
+ - Linux 6.14+
+ - `mr36814`_
+
+.. _mr36814: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/-/merge_requests/36814
+
virtio-gpu rutabaga
-------------------
@@ -135,3 +216,21 @@ Surfaceless is the default if ``wsi`` is not specified.
.. _Wayland display passthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZJiHMtIQ2M
.. _gfxstream-enabled rutabaga: https://crosvm.dev/book/appendix/rutabaga_gfx.html
.. _guest Wayland proxy: https://crosvm.dev/book/devices/wayland.html
+
+.. list-table:: Linux Host Requirements
+ :header-rows: 1
+
+ * - Capability
+ - Kernel Version
+ * - Vulkan+Wayland pass-through
+ - Linux 6.13+
+
+.. list-table:: Linux Guest Requirements
+ :header-rows: 1
+
+ * - Capability
+ - Kernel Version
+ - Mesa Version
+ * - Vulkan+Wayland pass-through
+ - Linux 5.16+
+ - 24.3.0+