3. Extensions

As of Linux 2.6.22, the KVM ABI has been stabilized: no backward incompatible change are allowed. However, there is an extension facility that allows backward-compatible extensions to the API to be queried and used.

The extension mechanism is not based on the Linux version number. Instead, kvm defines extension identifiers and a facility to query whether a particular extension identifier is available. If it is, a set of ioctls is available for application use.