qcow
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qcow is a
qemu-img command allows to inspect, check, create, convert, resize and take snapshot of qcow images.[3] The e2fsprogs command e2image also has support for generating qcow2 files to avoid the use of sparse file support.[4]
Features
One of the main characteristics of qcow
The qcow format also allows storing changes made to a read-only base image on a separate qcow file by using copy on write. This new qcow file contains the path to the base image to be able to refer back to it when required. When a particular piece of data has to be read from this new image, the content is retrieved from it if it is new and was stored there; if it is not, the data is fetched from the base image.[5]
Optional features include
qcow2
qcow2 is an updated version of the qcow format. qcow2 supports AES encryption.[7] The difference from the original version is that qcow2 supports multiple snapshots using a newer, more flexible model for storing them. The official documentation for the format is part of the QEMU Git tree.[8]
References
- ^ "QEMU Emulator User Documentation". Wiki.qemu.org. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ^ "Features/Qcow3 - QEMU".
- ^ "Qemu-img(1): QEMU disk image utility - Linux man page".
- ^ "e2image(8) - Linux man page".
- ^ a b "The QCOW Image Format". People.gnome.org. 21 June 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ "The QCOW2 Image Format (outdated)". People.gnome.org. 11 September 2008. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ^ "Qcow2 Disk Images and Performance | JamesCoyle.net Limited". 2 March 2016.
- ^ "docs/interop/qcow2.txt (latest)". QEMU. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018 – via gitlab.com.