docs/windows.html.in

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   4     <h1 >Windows support</h1>
   5
   6     <ul id="toc"></ul>
   7
   8     <p>
   9       Libvirt is known to work as a client (not server) on Windows XP
  10       (32-bit), and Windows 7 (64-bit).  Other Windows variants likely work
  11       as well but we either haven't tested or received reports for them.
  12     </p>
  13
  14     <h2><a name="installer">Experimental installation package</a></h2>
  15
  16     <p>
  17       A windows installation package is in development.  An experimental
  18       version is available here:
  19     </p>
  20
  21     <a href="http://libvirt.org/sources/win32_experimental/Libvirt-0.8.8-0.exe">http://libvirt.org/sources/win32_experimental/Libvirt-0.8.8-0.exe</a>
  22
  23     <p>
  24       <b>It is not production ready.</b>
  25     </p>
  26
  27     <p>
  28       This version includes the libvirt development headers and libraries
  29       for compiling against, the virsh shell with its needed dependencies,
  30       and untested Python bindings.
  31     </p>
  32
  33     <h3><a name="caveats">Caveats</a></h3>
  34
  35     <ul>
  36       <li>
  37         This installer just repackages the files compiled using Matthias
  38         Bolte's msys_setup scripting (described below).
  39       </li>
  40       <li>
  41         This is a .exe installer, created using NSIS.  We're looking into
  42         something to create .msi installers as well.
  43       </li>
  44       <li>
  45         The script for the NSIS installer is available online
  46         <a href="https://github.com/justinclift/nsis_libvirt_installer">here</a>.
  47       </li>
  48     </ul>
  49
  50     <h3><a name="knowninstallerprobs">Existing problems with this installer we know about</a></h3>
  51
  52     <p>
  53       These are problems we know about, and need to be fixed in subsequent
  54       versions of the installer (assistance welcomed):
  55     </p>
  56
  57     <ul>
  58       <li>
  59         New versions install over other libvirt versions
  60         <br /><br />
  61         If a version of this installer has installed libvirt on the system
  62         already, this installer will automatically suggest the same
  63         installation location, then overwrite the version already there
  64         without checking.
  65         <br /><br />
  66         This is fairly non-optimal, and should be fixed.  What should
  67         probably happen, is for this installer to detect an existing
  68         installation then offer to either uninstall it first or ask for a
  69         new installation location.
  70         <br /><br />
  71       </li>
  72
  73     </ul>
  74
  75     <h2><a name="conntypes">Connection types</a></h2>
  76
  77     <p>
  78       These connection types are known to work:
  79     </p>
  80
  81     <ul>
  82       <li>QEMU with TLS (qemu+tls://)</li>
  83       <li>QEMU with direct TCP (qemu+tcp://)</li>
  84       <li>VMware ESX (esx://)</li>
  85       <li>VMware VPX (vpx://)</li>
  86     </ul>
  87
  88     <p>
  89       These connection types are known not to work:
  90     </p>
  91
  92     <ul>
  93       <li>QEMU with SSH (qemu+ssh://)</li>
  94     </ul>
  95
  96     <p>
  97       All other connection types may or may not work, and haven't been
  98       tested.
  99     </p>
 100
 101     <p>
 102       Please let us know either the results (either way) if you do.
 103     </p>
 104
 105     <p>
 106       <b>Special note</b> - Support for VirtualBox *on windows* was added in
 107       libvirt 0.8.7, so reports on success and failure if you're using that
 108       would be really helpful and appreciated.
 109     </p>
 110
 111     <p>
 112       <b>WARNING - The qemu+tcp:// connection type passes all traffic
 113       without encryption.  This is a security hazard, and should <i>not</i>
 114       be used in security sensitive environments.</b>
 115     </p>
 116
 117     <h2><a name="esx">Connecting to VMware ESX/vSphere</a></h2>
 118
 119     <p>
 120       Details on the capabilities, certificates, and connection string
 121       syntax used for connecting to VMware ESX and vSphere can be found
 122       online here:<br />
 123     </p>
 124
 125     <a href="http://libvirt.org/drvesx.html">http://libvirt.org/drvesx.html</a>
 126
 127     <h2><a name="tlscerts">TLS Certificates</a></h2>
 128
 129     <p>
 130       TLS certificates need to have been created and placed in the correct
 131       locations, before you will be able to connect to QEMU servers over
 132       TLS.
 133     </p>
 134
 135     <p>
 136       Information on generating TLS certificates can be found here:
 137     </p>
 138
 139     <a href="http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/TLSSetup">http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/TLSSetup</a>
 140
 141     <p>
 142       These instructions are for *nix, and have not yet been adapted for
 143       Windows.  You'll need to figure out the Windows equivalents until
 144       that's done (sorry).  If you can help us out with this, that would be
 145       really welcome.
 146     </p>
 147
 148     <p>
 149       The locations of the TLS certificates and key file on Windows are hard
 150       coded, rather than being configurable.
 151     </p>
 152
 153     <p>
 154       The Certificate Authority (CA) certificate file must be placed in:
 155     </p>
 156
 157     <ul>
 158       <li>%APPDATA%\libvirt\pki\CA\cacert.pem</li>
 159     </ul>
 160
 161     <p>
 162       The Client certificate file must be placed in:
 163     </p>
 164
 165     <ul>
 166       <li>%APPDATA%\libvirt\pki\libvirt\clientcert.pem</li>
 167     </ul>
 168
 169     <p>
 170       The Client key file must be placed in:
 171     </p>
 172
 173     <ul>
 174       <li>%APPDATA%\libvirt\pki\libvirt\private\clientkey.pem</li>
 175     </ul>
 176
 177     <p>
 178       On an example Windows 7 x64 system here, this resolves to these paths:
 179     </p>
 180
 181     <ul>
 182       <li>C:\Users\someuser\AppData\Roaming\libvirt\pki\CA\cacert.pem</li>
 183       <li>C:\Users\someuser\AppData\Roaming\libvirt\pki\libvirt\clientcert.pem</li>
 184       <li>C:\Users\someuser\AppData\Roaming\libvirt\pki\libvirt\private\clientkey.pem</li>
 185     </ul>
 186
 187     <h2><a name="feedback">Feedback</a></h2>
 188
 189     <p>
 190       Feedback and suggestions on changes to make and what else to include
 191       <a href="contact.html">are desired</a>.
 192     </p>
 193
 194     <h2><a name="compiling">Compiling yourself</a></h2>
 195
 196     <p>
 197       Libvirt can be compiled on Windows using the free
 198       <a href="http://www.mingw.org/">MinGW compiler</a>.
 199     </p>
 200
 201     <h3><a name="msys_setup">MSYS Build script</a></h3>
 202
 203     <p>
 204       The easiest way is to use the <b>msys_setup</b> script, developed by
 205       Matthias Bolte.  This is actively developed and kept current with
 206       libvirt releases:
 207     </p>
 208
 209     <a href="https://github.com/photron/msys_setup">https://github.com/photron/msys_setup</a>
 210
 211     <h3><a name="cross-compile">Cross compiling</a></h3>
 212
 213     <p>
 214       You can also cross-compile to a Windows target from a Fedora machine
 215       using the packages available
 216       <a href="http://hg.et.redhat.com/misc/fedora-mingw--devel/">from the Fedora MinGW project</a>
 217       (which includes a working libvirt specfile).
 218     </p>
 219
 220     <h3><a name="configure">By hand</a></h3>
 221
 222     <p>
 223       Use these options when following the instructions on the
 224       <a href="compiling.html">Compiling</a> page.
 225     </p>
 226
 227 <pre>
 228 ./configure \
 229   --without-sasl \
 230   --without-avahi \
 231   --without-polkit \
 232   --without-python \
 233   --without-xen \
 234   --without-qemu \
 235   --without-lxc \
 236   --without-openvz \
 237   --without-libvirtd
 238 </pre>
 239
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