Hi,
Some time ago we drafted a specification[1] for AArch64 virtual
machines. Now we are launching verification tools that let everyone
verify that the whole stack (host hypervisor, guest firmware and guest
OS image) implements the spec:
https://github.com/linaro/vmspec-tools
For some extra background see the blog post on vmspec:
http://www.linaro.org/blog/core-dump/ensuring-bootable-arm-vm-images/
>From the cross-distro point of view, we are interested in finding out if
- QEMU shipped is new enough (2.6+)
- a compatible EFI for arm64 guests is available
- a vmspec compatible cloud guest image is available
If the image comes with cloud-init, vmspec-boot can be used directly
to verify compliance. Without cloud-init, one can run vmspec-verify
inside the guest to verify manually.
The tools are still under development, for example the ACPI test
returns a failure even if the guest would support ACPI if forced.
Feedback and patches are always welcome.
The README.md lists a handful of guest images that have been used in
testing. I'd be most happy to add more links to the list!
Riku
[1] http://www.linaro.org/app/resources/WhitePaper/VMSystemSpecificationForARM-…
