Code

Code

kernel git tree

The kvm kernel code is available through a git tree. To create a repository using git, type

git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/avi/kvm.git

Alternatively, it is also accessible through the kernel.org gitweb interface: [1]

For subsequent upgrades use the command

git-pull

in the git working dir.

userspace git tree

The kvm userspace code (libkvm and qemu) is available through a git tree. To create a repository using git, type

git clone git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/virt/kvm/qemu-kvm.git

Alternatively, it is also accessible through the kernel.org gitweb interface: [2]

building an external module with older kernels

This only works for the x86 architecture.

1. If you wish to use a distribution kernel (or just some random kernel you like) with kvm, you can get both the userspace and kernel (via git). In the userspace toplevel directory, type:

./configure [--kerneldir=/path/to/kernel/dir]

2. If you are using a released kvm-XX.tar.gz, skip to step 3. If you got the source from git, you need to run the following commands:

cd kernel
make sync LINUX=/path/to/kvm/git/tree
cd ..

3. Finally, build KVM and the KVM modules:

make

There are three important directories in this scenario:

kvm-userspace	Contains a kernel subdirectory. If you got the source from git, it needs to be populated with files from the kvm.git repository (using make sync).
host kernel tree	Older kernel you want to use newer KVM modules with. Refer to it with configure --kerneldir. You need to point to a configured kernel source tree corresponding to the kernel you are building modules for. The default is to look for the sources of the running kernel at /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build.
kvm kernel tree (from git)	A clone of the kvm.git repository. Used as the source of the KVM modules. Refer to it with LINUX=path in make sync.

Tip about building against Red Hat Enterprise Linux kernels

kvm-userspace/kernel has some compat code to allow it to compile against older kernels, and also some code specific to features that are normally not present on older kernels but are present on RHEL kernels.

So, when building against a RHEL kernel tree, check if the RHEL_* macros at ${kerneldir}/include/linux/version.h are defined correctly, corresponding to the RHEL version where the kernel source comes from. If those macros aren't defined correctly, the compat code that allows compilation against RHEL kernels will break and you will get build errors.

release tags

kvm releases are tagged with kvm-nn where nn is the release number.

Binary Packages

CentOS / RHEL

Unofficial packages of latest releases can be found at http://www.lfarkas.org/linux/packages/centos/5/

nightly snapshots

Nightly snapshots, for those who are uncomfortable with git, are available. When reporting a problem with a snapshot, please quote the snapshot name (which includes the date) and the contents of the SOURCES file in the snapshot tarball.