add documentation for display types and memory configuration

[pve-docs.git] / qm.adoc

diff --git a/qm.adoc b/qm.adoc
index 4fc83718bdaa47504acde1e234e12802851f2b05..343dfee31e1b158758573f26c16eee3eb2a81581 100644 (file)
--- a/qm.adoc
+++ b/qm.adoc
@@ -199,6 +199,11 @@ when the filesystem of a VM marks blocks as unused after removing files, the
 emulated SCSI controller will relay this information to the storage, which will
 then shrink the disk image accordingly.
 
+If you would like a drive to be presented to the guest as a solid-state drive
+rather than a rotational hard disk, you can set the *SSD emulation* option on
+that drive. There is no requirement that the underlying storage actually be
+backed by SSDs; this feature can be used with physical media of any type.
+
 .IO Thread
 The option *IO Thread* can only be used when using a disk with the
 *VirtIO* controller, or with the *SCSI* controller, when the emulated controller
@@ -590,6 +595,34 @@ traffic increases. We recommend to set this option only when the VM has to
 process a great number of incoming connections, such as when the VM is running
 as a router, reverse proxy or a busy HTTP server doing long polling.
 
+[[qm_display]]
+Display
+~~~~~~~
+
+QEMU can virtualize a few types of VGA hardware. Some examples are:
+
+* *std*, the default, emulates a card with Bochs VBE extensions.
+* *vmware*, is a VMWare SVGA-II compatible adapter.
+* *qxl*, is the QXL paravirtualized graphics card. Selecting this also
+enables SPICE for the VM.
+
+You can edit the amount of memory given to the virtual GPU, by setting
+the *memory* option. This can enable higher resolutions inside the VM,
+especially with SPICE/QXL.
+
+Selecting Multi-Monitor mode for SPICE (e.g., qxl2 for dual monitors) has
+some implications:
+
+* Windows needs a device for each monitor, so if your ostype is some
+version of windows, {pve} gives the VM an extra device per monitor.
+Each device gets the specified amount of memory.
+* Linux VMs, can always enable more virtual monitors, but selecting
+a Multi-Monitor mode multiplies the memory given to the device with
+the number of monitors.
+
+Selecting *serialX* as display disables the VGA output, and redirects
+the Web Console to the selected serial port. A configured memory setting
+will be ignored in that case.
 
 [[qm_usb_passthrough]]
 USB Passthrough