OS Interoperability for Virtual Environments​

Arm SystemReady Virtual Environment (VE) is part of the Arm SystemReady program.

Arm SystemReady VE provides an interoperability framework and evaluation for virtual environments, such as cloud instances and virtual platforms. Virtual environments that comply with Arm SystemReady VE demonstrate the same software user experience as other SystemReady bands:

• Arm SystemReady band, and
• Arm SystemReady Devicetree band

Arm SystemReady VE helps ensure that Arm-based virtual environments are interoperable with standard operating systems (OS) and software. SystemReady VE is designed for Windows, Linux, and BSD operating systems on Arm-based virtualization environments.

Arm SystemReady VE helps ensure standard firmware interfaces to deploy and maintain OSs in virtual machines, reducing the cost of supporting multiple software versions. It also aims to support old operating systems running on new virtual environments and vice versa, targeting generic off-the-shelf OSs.

SystemReady VE-compliant systems must conform to the same requirements as corresponding SystemReady bands, depending on the virtualized hardware and firmware environment. A virtual environment may also be certified without any corresponding Arm SystemReady band.

The SystemReady VE compliance and testing requirements are specified in the Arm SystemReady Requirements Specification (SRS).

• Arm SystemReady VE Compliance Guide
• Tools and Testing: Architectural Compliance Suite