OASIS Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) TC
Enhancing the performance of virtual devices by standardizing key features of the VIRTIO (Virtual I/O) Device Specification
Michael S. Tsirkin, mst@redhat.com, Chair
Cornelia Huck, Chair
Table of Contents
- Announcements
- Overview
- Subcommittees
- TC Liaisons
- TC Tools and Approved Publications
- Technical Work Produced by the Committee
- Expository Work Produced by the Committee
- External Resources
- Mailing Lists and Comments
- Press Coverage and Commentary
- Additional Information
Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) Version 1.2 is now an OASIS Committee Specification. For details, see the announcement.
Download the latest virtio specification: Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) Version 1.2
Find the latest specification draft source and the list of outstanding issues at https://github.com/oasis-tcs/virtio-spec.
Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) Version 1.1 is approved as an OASIS Committee Specification. See the announcement for details.
The OASIS Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) Technical Committee membership is open to all. See the list of standing committee rules. See Participation Instructions or contact OASIS for more information.
The Virtio TC has adopted a standing rule to conduct business only by electronic ballot, without Meetings. The list of all current and past ballots can be found on this page. For full information about how the Virtio TC operates, see the README file on the TC GitHub.
Send a comment or join the TC. Participation is open to all.
The goal of the OASIS Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) TC is to simplify virtual devices, making them more extensible and more recognizable.
The purpose of VIRTIO is to ensure that virtual environments and guests have a straightforward, efficient, standard, and extensible mechanism for virtual devices, rather than boutique per-environment or per-OS mechanisms. PCI devices of the VIRTIO family as found in virtual environments are not all that different from physical PCI devices. Treating them similarly allows the guest to use standard PCI drivers and discovery mechanisms.
The TC intends to define formal specifications for virtual device buses (including PCI) for a variety of devices, including network devices. Specification development will be based upon the "Virtio PCI Card Specification" v0.9.5, seeking solutions that support portability, simplicity, least-surprise for driver authors, extensibility, and performance. The specification will also document existing implementations and practice.
The expected TC deliverables include:
- Specification of feature negotiation, configuration and queues, from both driver and device points of view
- Specification of device-specific configuration
- Non-normative code examples for operation of guest/host side of buffers
- Non-normative guide for creating devices which also support previous mode(s)
For more information on the VIRTIO TC, see the TC Charter.
No subcommittees have been formed for this TC.
No TC Liaisons have been announced for this TC.
TC Tools and Approved Publications
- OASIS Library for Approved Publications
- Issues Management (JIRA)
- Version Control (SVN)
- Version Control (GitHub Repositories)
- virtio-spec — Source code for the VIRTIO (Virtual I/O) Specification
- virtio-docs — Development of formatted documents for the VIRTIO Specification
- virtio-admin — Development of documentation and tools used by TC members
Technical Work Produced by the Committee
[VIRTIO-v1.2] Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) Version 1.2. Edited by Michael S. Tsirkin and Cornelia Huck. 01 July 2022. OASIS Committee Specification 01. https://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.2/cs01/virtio-v1.2-cs01.html. Latest stage: https://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.2/virtio-v1.2.html.
[VIRTIO-v1.1] Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) Version 1.1. Edited by Michael S. Tsirkin and Cornelia Huck. 11 April 2019. OASIS Committee Specification 01. https://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.1/cs01/virtio-v1.1-cs01.html. Latest version: https://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.1/virtio-v1.1.html.
[VIRTIO-v1.0] Virtual I/O Device (VIRTIO) Version 1.0. Edited by Rusty Russell, Michael S. Tsirkin, Cornelia Huck, and Pawel Moll. 03 March 2016. OASIS Committee Specification 04. http://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.0/cs04/virtio-v1.0-cs04.html. Version with change bar: http://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.0/cs04/virtio-v1.0-cs04-diff.html. Latest version: http://docs.oasis-open.org/virtio/virtio/v1.0/virtio-v1.0.html.
Expository Work Produced by the Committee
There are no approved expository work products for this TC yet.
If you're interested in following ongoing development and can't join the committee, I recommend you subscribe to the virtio-comment and virtio-dev lists.
You can subscribe by mailing to
virtio: the discussion list used by TC members to conduct Committee work. TC membership is required to post, and TC members are automatically subscribed. The public may view the list archives.
virtio-comment: a public mailing list for providing feedback on the OASIS VIRTIO TC: non-TC-members can reply to posts on the virtio list here, too. Send a comment or view the comment list archives.
virtio-dev: a public mailing list for discussing implementations of the OASIS VIRTIO standard. View the dev list archives.
Providing Feedback: OASIS welcomes feedback on its technical activities from potential users, developers, and others to better assure the interoperability and quality of OASIS work.