Xen versions and features support matrix

This table summarises the support status of Xen releases, and of individual features within each release.

Important notes

The matrix is extracted automatically from the formal support status documents in each Xen release. The full formal support status document is linked to from the column heading for each version.

The individual entries are summaries; where a specific entry has more information in the full document a link, denoted [*], is provided. The statuses Supported, Experimental, and so on, are likewise defined in the full document.

Sometimes the same feature, or a similar feature, is named differently in the documentation for different releases. In such cases the table will show it as two separate features, with a discontinuity in support, even though support may have been continuous.

The support status of versions earlier than listed here is documented on the wiki.

Support Matrix

Release SupportXen-Version 4.12-rc 4.11 4.10
Initial-Release n/a 2018-07-10 2017-12-13
Supported-Until TBD 2020-01-10 2019-06-13
Security-Support-Until Unreleased - not yet security-supported 2021-07-10 2020-12-13
Release Notes RN RN RN
Feature SupportHost Architecturex86-64 Supported Supported Supported
ARM v7 + Virtualization Extensions Supported Supported Supported
ARM v8 Supported Supported Supported
Host hardware supportPhysical CPU Hotplugx86 Supported Supported Supported
Physical Memory Hotplugx86 Supported Supported Supported
Host ACPI (via Domain 0)x86 PV Supported Supported Supported
ARM Experimental Experimental Experimental
x86/Intel Platform QoS Technologies Tech Preview Tech Preview Tech Preview
IOMMUAMD IOMMU Supported Supported Supported
Intel VT-d Supported Supported Supported
ARM SMMUv1 Supported Supported Supported
ARM SMMUv2 Supported Supported Supported
ARM/GICv3 ITS Experimental Experimental Experimental
Guest Typex86/PV Supported Supported Supported
x86/HVMdomU Supported Supported Supported
x86/PVHdomU Supported Supported Supported
dom0 Experimental Experimental -
ARM Supported Supported Supported
Toolstackxl Supported Supported Supported
Direct-boot kernel image formatx86 bzImage, ELF bzImage, ELF bzImage, ELF
ARM32 zImage zImage zImage
ARM64 Image Image Image
Dom0 init support for xlSysV Supported Supported Supported
systemd Supported Supported Supported
BSD-style Supported Supported Supported
JSON output support for xl Experimental Experimental Experimental
Open vSwitch integration for xlLinux Supported Supported Supported
Virtual cpu hotplug Supported Supported Supported
QEMU backend hotplugging for xl Supported Supported Supported
Toolstack/3rd partylibvirt driver for xl Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
Debugging, analysis, and crash post-mortemHost serial consoleNS16550 Supported Supported Supported
EHCI Supported Supported Supported
Cadence UART (ARM) Supported Supported Supported
PL011 UART (ARM) Supported Supported Supported
Exynos 4210 UART (ARM) Supported Supported Supported
OMAP UART (ARM) Supported Supported Supported
SCI(F) UART Supported Supported Supported
Hypervisor 'debug keys' Supported, not security supported Supported, not security supported Supported, not security supported
Hypervisor synchronous console output (sync_console) Supported, not security supported[*] Supported, not security supported[*] Supported, not security supported[*]
gdbsxx86 Supported, not security supported[*] Supported, not security supported[*] Supported, not security supported[*]
Soft-reset for PV guests Supported Supported Supported
xentracex86 Supported Supported Supported
gcov Supported, Not security supported Supported, Not security supported Supported, Not security supported
Memory ManagementDynamic memory control Supported Supported Supported
Populate-on-demand memoryx86 HVM Supported Supported Supported
Memory Sharingx86 HVM Expermental Expermental Expermental
Memory Pagingx86 HVM Experimenal Experimenal Experimenal
Transcendent Memory Experimental Experimental Experimental
Alternative p2mx86 HVM Tech Preview Tech Preview Tech Preview
ARM Tech Preview Tech Preview Tech Preview
Resource ManagementCPU Pools Supported Supported Supported
Credit Scheduler Supported Supported Supported
Credit2 Scheduler Supported Supported Supported
RTDS based Scheduler Experimental Experimental Experimental
ARINC653 Scheduler Supported[*] Supported[*] Supported[*]
Null Scheduler Experimental Experimental Experimental
NUMA scheduler affinityx86 Supported Supported Supported
ScalabilitySuper page supportx86 HVM/PVH, HAP Supported[*] Supported[*] Supported[*]
x86 HVM/PVH, Shadow, 2MiB Supported Supported Supported
ARM Supported Supported Supported
x86/PVHVM Supported Supported Supported
High Availability and Fault ToleranceRemus Fault Tolerance Experimental Experimental Experimental
COLO Manager Experimental Experimental Experimental
x86/vMCE Supported Supported Supported
Virtual driver support, guest sideBlkfrontLinux Supported Supported Supported
FreeBSD Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
NetBSD Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
OpenBSD Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
Windows Supported Supported Supported
NetfrontLinux Supported Supported Supported
FreeBSD Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
NetBSD Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
OpenBSD Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
Windows Supported Supported Supported
PV Framebuffer (frontend)Linux (xen-fbfront) Supported Supported Supported
PV Console (frontend)Linux (hvc_xen) Supported Supported Supported
FreeBSD Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
NetBSD Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
Windows Supported Supported Supported
PV keyboard (frontend)Linux (xen-kbdfront) Supported Supported Supported
PV USB (frontend)Linux Supported Supported Supported
PV SCSI protocol (frontend)Linux Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*]
PV TPM (frontend)Linux (xen-tpmfront) Tech Preview Tech Preview Tech Preview
PV 9pfs frontendLinux Tech Preview Tech Preview Tech Preview
PVCalls (frontend)Linux Tech Preview Tech Preview Tech Preview
Virtual device support, host sideBlkbackLinux (xen-blkback) Supported[*] Supported[*] Supported[*]
QEMU (xen_disk), raw format Supported Supported Supported
QEMU (xen_disk), qcow format Supported Supported Supported
QEMU (xen_disk), qcow2 format Supported Supported Supported
QEMU (xen_disk), vhd format Supported Supported Supported
FreeBSD (blkback) Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
NetBSD (xbdback) Supported, security support external Supported, security support external Supported, security support external
Blktap2, raw format Deprecated Deprecated Deprecated
Blktap2, vhd format Deprecated Deprecated Deprecated
NetbackLinux (xen-netback) Supported Supported Supported
FreeBSD (netback) Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
NetBSD (xennetback) Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external Supported, Security support external
PV Framebuffer (backend)QEMU Supported Supported Supported
PV Console (xenconsoled) Supported Supported Supported
PV keyboard (backend)QEMU Supported Supported Supported
PV USB (backend)QEMU Supported Supported Supported
PV SCSI protocol (backend)Linux Experimental[*] Experimental[*] Experimental[*]
PV TPM (backend) Tech Preview Tech Preview Tech Preview
PV 9pfs (backend)QEMU Tech Preview Tech Preview Tech Preview
PVCalls (backend)Linux Experimental[*] Experimental[*] Experimental[*]
Online resize of virtual disks Supported Supported Supported
SecurityDriver Domains Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*]
Device Model Stub Domains Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*]
Device Model DeprivilegingLinux dom0 Tech Preview, with limited support[*] - -
KCONFIG Expert Experimental Experimental Experimental
Live Patchingx86 Supported[*] Supported[*] Supported[*]
ARM Experimental Experimental Experimental
Virtual Machine Introspectionx86 Supported, not security supported Supported, not security supported Supported, not security supported
XSM & FLASK Experimental[*] Experimental[*] Experimental[*]
FLASK default policy Experimental[*] Experimental[*] Experimental[*]
Virtual Hardware, Hypervisorx86/Nested PVx86 Xen HVM Tech Preview[*] Tech Preview[*] Tech Preview[*]
x86/Nested HVMx86 HVM Experimental Experimental Experimental
vPMUx86 Supported, Not security supported[*] Supported, Not security supported[*] Supported, Not security supported[*]
Argo: Inter-domain message delivery by hypercall Experimental - -
x86/PCI Device Passthroughx86 PV Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*]
x86 HVM Supported, with caveats Supported, with caveats Supported, with caveats
x86/Multiple IOREQ servers Experimental Experimental -
ARM/Non-PCI device passthrough Supported, not security supported[*] Supported, not security supported[*] Supported, not security supported[*]
ARM: 16K and 64K page granularity in guests Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*]
ARM: Guest Device Tree support Supported Supported Supported
ARM: Guest ACPI support Supported Supported Supported
Virtual Hardware, QEMU Support scope restricted[*] Support scope restricted[*] Support scope restricted[*]
x86/Emulated platform devices (QEMU):piix3 Supported Supported Supported
x86/Emulated network (QEMU):e1000 Supported Supported Supported
rtl8193 Supported Supported Supported
virtio-net Supported Supported Supported
x86/Emulated storage (QEMU):piix3 ide Supported[*] Supported[*] Supported[*]
ahci Supported Supported Supported
x86/Emulated graphics (QEMU):cirrus-vga Supported Supported Supported
stdvga Supported Supported Supported
x86/Emulated audio (QEMU):sb16 Supported Supported Supported
es1370 Supported Supported Supported
ac97 Supported Supported Supported
x86/Emulated input (QEMU):usbmouse Supported Supported Supported
usbtablet Supported Supported Supported
ps/2 keyboard Supported Supported Supported
ps/2 mouse Supported Supported Supported
x86/Emulated serial card (QEMU):UART 16550A Supported Supported Supported
x86/Host USB passthrough (QEMU): Supported, not security supported Supported, not security supported Supported, not security supported
Virtual Firmwarex86/HVM iPXE Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*] Supported, with caveats[*]
x86/HVM BIOSSeaBIOS (qemu-xen) Supported Supported Supported
ROMBIOS (qemu-xen-traditional) Supported Supported Supported
x86/HVM OVMFqemu-xen Supported Supported Supported

Source materials

Generated from xen.git by docs/support-matrix-generate and docs/parse-support-md.

Input revisions of SUPPORT.md used:
Version Commit date Git commit
4.12 2019-02-15 13:42:05 +0000 365aabb6e5023cee476adf81106729efd49c644f
4.11 2019-02-05 11:57:32 +0000 87f51bf366ca79b98e1e201bf9bd7a9c164631e2
4.10 2019-02-05 11:57:43 +0000 e21c79fe4fd204eca0c6b9f79102e3826db7334a

Last checked/updated/regenerated: 2019-02-24 00:01+00:00