QEMU 10.0 Introduces Multi-Queue Support and Enhanced Graphics for macOS Guests

QEMU 10.0 has been officially released, introducing significant enhancements to the open-source Linux virtualization stack. This latest version includes various new features and improvements aimed at expanding functionality and performance.

Notably, QEMU now supports CPU hot-plugging and para-virtualized inter-processor interrupts (IPI) for LoongArch architecture when used with Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM). The RISC-V architecture has also seen upgrades, including support for new Instruction Set Architectures (ISAs) and the addition of the Tenstorrent Ascalon and Xiangshan Nanhu CPUs, alongside a Microblaze-V generic board.

The Intel Clearwater Forest CPU model has been introduced, along with a revised Sierra Forest “v2” CPU model, which features changes compared to its predecessor. A major enhancement is the implementation of “true” multi-queue support for the VirtIO SCSI device, which aims to improve I/O scalability.

Graphics capabilities have also been expanded with the introduction of new devices for macOS guests. The “apple-gfx-pci” and “apple-gfx-mmio” devices leverage the macOS host’s para-virtualized graphics framework to provide accelerated graphics for x86_64 and AArch64 guests, respectively. Additionally, improvements have been made to the Intel integrated graphics device pass-through for Gen11 and Gen12 hardware, along with support for older ATI X550 GPUs.

The Linux Asynchronous I/O (AIO) and IO_uring back-ends can now utilize the “RWF_DSYNC” flag for FUA write requests, enhancing performance for guest disks with disabled write caches. QEMU 10.0 also boasts improved documentation and ongoing efforts to incorporate more Rust programming language features within the platform.

For a comprehensive overview of the changes in QEMU 10.0, users can refer to the Wiki release notes. The new version is available for download at QEMU.org.

Source: Phoronix.