Changeset 55149 in vbox for trunk/doc/manual

Timestamp:

Apr 9, 2015 9:39:41 AM (10 years ago)

Author:

vboxsync

Message:

doc/manual: document GIM providers.

Location:

trunk/doc/manual/en_US

Files:

• user_BasicConcepts.xml (modified) (1 diff)
• user_Technical.xml (modified) (1 diff)
• user_VBoxManage.xml (modified) (1 diff)

trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_BasicConcepts.xml

@@ -708 +708 @@
       by enabling nested paging in addition to hardware virtualization. For
       technical details, see <xref linkend="nestedpaging" />.</para>
+      
+      <para>Starting with version 5.0, VirtualBox provides paravirtualization
+      interfaces to improve time-keeping accuracy and performance of guest
+      operating systems. The options available are documented under the
+      <computeroutput>paravirtprovider</computeroutput> option
+      in <xref linkend="vboxmanage-modifyvm">. For futher details on
+      the paravirtualization providers, please refer to
+      <xref linkend="gimproviders" />.</para>
     </sect2>
   </sect1>

trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_Technical.xml

@@ -586 +586 @@
   </sect1>
 
+  <sect1 id="gimproviders">
+    <title>Paravirtualization providers</title>
+
+    <para>VirtualBox allows exposing a paravirtualization interface to
+    facilitate accurate and efficient execution of software within a
+    virtual machine. These interfaces require the guest operating system
+    to recognize their presence and make use of them in order to leverage
+    the benefits of communicating with the VirtualBox hypervisor.</para>
+    
+    <para>Most mainstream, modern operating systems, including Windows and
+    Linux, support one or more paravirtualization interfaces without
+    needing the installation of additional software.</para>
+
+    <para>VirtualBox provides the following interfaces:</para>
+      <itemizedlist>
+        <listitem>
+          <para><emphasis role="bold">Minimal</emphasis>: Announces the
+          presence of a virtualized environment, additionally reports the
+          TSC and APIC frequency to the guest operating system. This provider
+          is mandatory for running any Mac OS X guests.</para>
+        </listitem>
+
+        <listitem>
+          <para><emphasis role="bold">KVM</emphasis>: Presents a Linux KVM
+          hypervisor interface which is recognized by Linux kernels starting
+          with version 2.6.25. VirtualBox's implementation currently supports
+          paravirtualized clocks and SMP spinlocks. This provider is
+          recommended for Linux guests.</para>
+        </listitem>
+
+        <listitem>
+          <para><emphasis role="bold">Hyper-V</emphasis>: Presents a Microsoft
+          Hyper-V hypervisor interface which is recognized by Windows 7 and newer
+          operating systems. VirtualBox's implementation currently supports
+          paravirtualized clocks, APIC frequency reporting and relaxed timer
+          checks. This provider is recommended for Windows and FreeBSD guests.
+          </para>
+        </listitem>
+     </itemizedlist>
+  </sect1>
+
   <sect1>
     <title>Details about software virtualization</title>

trunk/doc/manual/en_US/user_VBoxManage.xml

@@ -601 +601 @@
             CPU so sometimes this is desired behavior. Works only for non-SMP
             guests.</para>
+          </listitem>
+
+          <listitem>
+            <para><computeroutput>--paravirtprovider
+            none|default|legacy|minimal|hyperv|kvm</computeroutput>: This
+            setting specifies which paravirtualization interface to provide to
+            the guest operating system. Specifying
+            <computeroutput>none</computeroutput> explicitly turns off exposing
+            any paravirtualization interface. The option
+            <computeroutput>default</computeroutput>, will pick an appropriate
+            interface depending on the guest OS type while starting the VM.
+            This is the default option chosen while creating new VMs. The
+            <computeroutput>legacy</computeroutput> option is chosen for VMs
+            which were created with older VirtualBox versions and will pick a
+            paravirtualization interface while starting the VM. The
+            <computeroutput>minimal</computeroutput> provider is mandatory for
+            Mac OS X guests, while <computeroutput>kvm</computeroutput> and
+            <computeroutput>hyperv</computeroutput> are recommended for Linux
+            and Windows guests respectively. These options are explained in
+            detail under <xref linkend="gimproviders" />.</para>
           </listitem>