diff mbox

block: delete cow block driver

Message ID 1410877464-20481-1-git-send-email-stefanha@redhat.com
State New
Headers show

Commit Message

Stefan Hajnoczi Sept. 16, 2014, 2:24 p.m. UTC
This patch removes support for the cow file format.

Normally we do not break backwards compatibility but in this case there
is no impact and it is the most logical option.  Extraordinary claims
require extraordinary evidence so I will show why removing the cow block
driver is the right thing to do.

The cow file format is the disk image format for Usermode Linux, a way
of running a Linux system in userspace.  The performance of UML was
never great and it was hacky, but it enjoyed some popularity before
hardware virtualization support became mainstream.

QEMU's block/cow.c is supposed to read this image file format.
Unfortunately the file format was underspecified:

1. Earlier Linux versions used the MAXPATHLEN constant for the backing
   filename field.  The value of MAXPATHLEN can change, so Linux
   switched to a 4096 literal but QEMU has a 1024 literal.

2. Padding was not used on the header struct (both in the Linux kernel
   and in QEMU) so the struct layout varied across architectures.  In
   particular, i386 and x86_64 were different due to int64_t alignment
   differences.  Linux now uses __attribute__((packed)), QEMU does not.

Therefore:

1. QEMU cow images do not conform to the Linux cow image file format.

2. cow images cannot be shared between different host architectures.

This means QEMU cow images are useless and QEMU has not had bug reports
from users actually hitting these issues.

Let's get rid of this thing, it serves no purpose and no one will be
affected.

Signed-off-by: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com>
---
 block/Makefile.objs          |   2 +-
 block/cow.c                  | 432 -------------------------------------------
 qapi/block-core.json         |   5 +-
 qemu-doc.texi                |   9 -
 qemu-img.texi                |   4 +-
 qmp-commands.hx              |   2 +-
 tests/image-fuzzer/runner.py |   5 +-
 tests/qemu-iotests/069       |   2 +-
 tests/qemu-iotests/072       |   2 +-
 tests/qemu-iotests/099       |   2 +-
 tests/qemu-iotests/common    |   6 -
 ui/cocoa.m                   |   2 +-
 12 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 461 deletions(-)
 delete mode 100644 block/cow.c

Comments

Markus Armbruster Sept. 16, 2014, 3:56 p.m. UTC | #1
Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com> writes:

> This patch removes support for the cow file format.
>
> Normally we do not break backwards compatibility but in this case there
> is no impact and it is the most logical option.  Extraordinary claims
> require extraordinary evidence so I will show why removing the cow block
> driver is the right thing to do.
>
> The cow file format is the disk image format for Usermode Linux, a way
> of running a Linux system in userspace.  The performance of UML was
> never great and it was hacky, but it enjoyed some popularity before
> hardware virtualization support became mainstream.
>
> QEMU's block/cow.c is supposed to read this image file format.
> Unfortunately the file format was underspecified:
>
> 1. Earlier Linux versions used the MAXPATHLEN constant for the backing
>    filename field.  The value of MAXPATHLEN can change, so Linux
>    switched to a 4096 literal but QEMU has a 1024 literal.
>
> 2. Padding was not used on the header struct (both in the Linux kernel
>    and in QEMU) so the struct layout varied across architectures.  In
>    particular, i386 and x86_64 were different due to int64_t alignment
>    differences.  Linux now uses __attribute__((packed)), QEMU does not.
>
> Therefore:
>
> 1. QEMU cow images do not conform to the Linux cow image file format.
>
> 2. cow images cannot be shared between different host architectures.
>
> This means QEMU cow images are useless and QEMU has not had bug reports
> from users actually hitting these issues.
>
> Let's get rid of this thing, it serves no purpose and no one will be
> affected.
>
> Signed-off-by: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com>

Reviewed-by: Markus Armbruster <armbru@redhat.com>
Fam Zheng Sept. 17, 2014, 2:29 a.m. UTC | #2
On Tue, 09/16 15:24, Stefan Hajnoczi wrote:
> diff --git a/qapi/block-core.json b/qapi/block-core.json
> index a685d02..56302c7 100644
> --- a/qapi/block-core.json
> +++ b/qapi/block-core.json
> @@ -197,7 +197,7 @@
>  #       'file', 'file', 'ftp', 'ftps', 'host_cdrom', 'host_device',
>  #       'host_floppy', 'http', 'https', 'nbd', 'parallels', 'qcow',
>  #       'qcow2', 'raw', 'tftp', 'vdi', 'vmdk', 'vpc', 'vvfat'
> -#       2.2: 'archipelago'
> +#       2.2: 'archipelago' added, 'cow' dropped
>  #
>  # @backing_file: #optional the name of the backing file (for copy-on-write)
>  #
> @@ -1149,7 +1149,7 @@
>  { 'enum': 'BlockdevDriver',
>    'data': [ 'archipelago', 'file', 'host_device', 'host_cdrom', 'host_floppy',
>              'http', 'https', 'ftp', 'ftps', 'tftp', 'vvfat', 'blkdebug',
> -            'blkverify', 'bochs', 'cloop', 'cow', 'dmg', 'parallels', 'qcow',
> +            'blkverify', 'bochs', 'cloop', 'dmg', 'parallels', 'qcow',
>              'qcow2', 'qed', 'raw', 'vdi', 'vhdx', 'vmdk', 'vpc', 'quorum' ] }
>  
>  ##
> @@ -1491,7 +1491,6 @@
>        'blkverify':  'BlockdevOptionsBlkverify',
>        'bochs':      'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
>        'cloop':      'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
> -      'cow':        'BlockdevOptionsGenericCOWFormat',
>        'dmg':        'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
>        'parallels':  'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
>        'qcow':       'BlockdevOptionsGenericCOWFormat',

Have a conflict with "[PATCH v7 0/3] block: Introduce "null" drivers" which you
applied, where these lists are sorted alphabetically.

Otherwise looks good to me.

Thanks,
Fam
Stefan Hajnoczi Sept. 19, 2014, 9:40 a.m. UTC | #3
On Tue, Sep 16, 2014 at 03:24:24PM +0100, Stefan Hajnoczi wrote:
> This patch removes support for the cow file format.
> 
> Normally we do not break backwards compatibility but in this case there
> is no impact and it is the most logical option.  Extraordinary claims
> require extraordinary evidence so I will show why removing the cow block
> driver is the right thing to do.
> 
> The cow file format is the disk image format for Usermode Linux, a way
> of running a Linux system in userspace.  The performance of UML was
> never great and it was hacky, but it enjoyed some popularity before
> hardware virtualization support became mainstream.
> 
> QEMU's block/cow.c is supposed to read this image file format.
> Unfortunately the file format was underspecified:
> 
> 1. Earlier Linux versions used the MAXPATHLEN constant for the backing
>    filename field.  The value of MAXPATHLEN can change, so Linux
>    switched to a 4096 literal but QEMU has a 1024 literal.
> 
> 2. Padding was not used on the header struct (both in the Linux kernel
>    and in QEMU) so the struct layout varied across architectures.  In
>    particular, i386 and x86_64 were different due to int64_t alignment
>    differences.  Linux now uses __attribute__((packed)), QEMU does not.
> 
> Therefore:
> 
> 1. QEMU cow images do not conform to the Linux cow image file format.
> 
> 2. cow images cannot be shared between different host architectures.
> 
> This means QEMU cow images are useless and QEMU has not had bug reports
> from users actually hitting these issues.
> 
> Let's get rid of this thing, it serves no purpose and no one will be
> affected.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Stefan Hajnoczi <stefanha@redhat.com>
> ---
>  block/Makefile.objs          |   2 +-
>  block/cow.c                  | 432 -------------------------------------------
>  qapi/block-core.json         |   5 +-
>  qemu-doc.texi                |   9 -
>  qemu-img.texi                |   4 +-
>  qmp-commands.hx              |   2 +-
>  tests/image-fuzzer/runner.py |   5 +-
>  tests/qemu-iotests/069       |   2 +-
>  tests/qemu-iotests/072       |   2 +-
>  tests/qemu-iotests/099       |   2 +-
>  tests/qemu-iotests/common    |   6 -
>  ui/cocoa.m                   |   2 +-
>  12 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 461 deletions(-)
>  delete mode 100644 block/cow.c

Applied to my block tree:
https://github.com/stefanha/qemu/commits/block

Stefan
diff mbox

Patch

diff --git a/block/Makefile.objs b/block/Makefile.objs
index f45f939..8c63a43 100644
--- a/block/Makefile.objs
+++ b/block/Makefile.objs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@ 
-block-obj-y += raw_bsd.o cow.o qcow.o vdi.o vmdk.o cloop.o dmg.o bochs.o vpc.o vvfat.o
+block-obj-y += raw_bsd.o qcow.o vdi.o vmdk.o cloop.o dmg.o bochs.o vpc.o vvfat.o
 block-obj-y += qcow2.o qcow2-refcount.o qcow2-cluster.o qcow2-snapshot.o qcow2-cache.o
 block-obj-y += qed.o qed-gencb.o qed-l2-cache.o qed-table.o qed-cluster.o
 block-obj-y += qed-check.o
diff --git a/block/cow.c b/block/cow.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 6ee4833..0000000
--- a/block/cow.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,432 +0,0 @@ 
-/*
- * Block driver for the COW format
- *
- * Copyright (c) 2004 Fabrice Bellard
- *
- * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
- * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
- * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
- * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
- * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
- * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
- *
- * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
- * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
- *
- * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
- * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
- * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
- * THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
- * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
- * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
- * THE SOFTWARE.
- */
-#include "qemu-common.h"
-#include "block/block_int.h"
-#include "qemu/module.h"
-
-/**************************************************************/
-/* COW block driver using file system holes */
-
-/* user mode linux compatible COW file */
-#define COW_MAGIC 0x4f4f4f4d  /* MOOO */
-#define COW_VERSION 2
-
-struct cow_header_v2 {
-    uint32_t magic;
-    uint32_t version;
-    char backing_file[1024];
-    int32_t mtime;
-    uint64_t size;
-    uint32_t sectorsize;
-};
-
-typedef struct BDRVCowState {
-    CoMutex lock;
-    int64_t cow_sectors_offset;
-} BDRVCowState;
-
-static int cow_probe(const uint8_t *buf, int buf_size, const char *filename)
-{
-    const struct cow_header_v2 *cow_header = (const void *)buf;
-
-    if (buf_size >= sizeof(struct cow_header_v2) &&
-        be32_to_cpu(cow_header->magic) == COW_MAGIC &&
-        be32_to_cpu(cow_header->version) == COW_VERSION)
-        return 100;
-    else
-        return 0;
-}
-
-static int cow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
-                    Error **errp)
-{
-    BDRVCowState *s = bs->opaque;
-    struct cow_header_v2 cow_header;
-    int bitmap_size;
-    int64_t size;
-    int ret;
-
-    /* see if it is a cow image */
-    ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file, 0, &cow_header, sizeof(cow_header));
-    if (ret < 0) {
-        goto fail;
-    }
-
-    if (be32_to_cpu(cow_header.magic) != COW_MAGIC) {
-        error_setg(errp, "Image not in COW format");
-        ret = -EINVAL;
-        goto fail;
-    }
-
-    if (be32_to_cpu(cow_header.version) != COW_VERSION) {
-        char version[64];
-        snprintf(version, sizeof(version),
-               "COW version %" PRIu32, cow_header.version);
-        error_set(errp, QERR_UNKNOWN_BLOCK_FORMAT_FEATURE,
-            bs->device_name, "cow", version);
-        ret = -ENOTSUP;
-        goto fail;
-    }
-
-    /* cow image found */
-    size = be64_to_cpu(cow_header.size);
-    bs->total_sectors = size / 512;
-
-    pstrcpy(bs->backing_file, sizeof(bs->backing_file),
-            cow_header.backing_file);
-
-    bitmap_size = ((bs->total_sectors + 7) >> 3) + sizeof(cow_header);
-    s->cow_sectors_offset = (bitmap_size + 511) & ~511;
-    qemu_co_mutex_init(&s->lock);
-    return 0;
- fail:
-    return ret;
-}
-
-static inline void cow_set_bits(uint8_t *bitmap, int start, int64_t nb_sectors)
-{
-    int64_t bitnum = start, last = start + nb_sectors;
-    while (bitnum < last) {
-        if ((bitnum & 7) == 0 && bitnum + 8 <= last) {
-            bitmap[bitnum / 8] = 0xFF;
-            bitnum += 8;
-            continue;
-        }
-        bitmap[bitnum/8] |= (1 << (bitnum % 8));
-        bitnum++;
-    }
-}
-
-#define BITS_PER_BITMAP_SECTOR (512 * 8)
-
-/* Cannot use bitmap.c on big-endian machines.  */
-static int cow_test_bit(int64_t bitnum, const uint8_t *bitmap)
-{
-    return (bitmap[bitnum / 8] & (1 << (bitnum & 7))) != 0;
-}
-
-static int cow_find_streak(const uint8_t *bitmap, int value, int start, int nb_sectors)
-{
-    int streak_value = value ? 0xFF : 0;
-    int last = MIN(start + nb_sectors, BITS_PER_BITMAP_SECTOR);
-    int bitnum = start;
-    while (bitnum < last) {
-        if ((bitnum & 7) == 0 && bitmap[bitnum / 8] == streak_value) {
-            bitnum += 8;
-            continue;
-        }
-        if (cow_test_bit(bitnum, bitmap) == value) {
-            bitnum++;
-            continue;
-        }
-        break;
-    }
-    return MIN(bitnum, last) - start;
-}
-
-/* Return true if first block has been changed (ie. current version is
- * in COW file).  Set the number of continuous blocks for which that
- * is true. */
-static int coroutine_fn cow_co_is_allocated(BlockDriverState *bs,
-        int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, int *num_same)
-{
-    int64_t bitnum = sector_num + sizeof(struct cow_header_v2) * 8;
-    uint64_t offset = (bitnum / 8) & -BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE;
-    bool first = true;
-    int changed = 0, same = 0;
-
-    do {
-        int ret;
-        uint8_t bitmap[BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE];
-
-        bitnum &= BITS_PER_BITMAP_SECTOR - 1;
-        int sector_bits = MIN(nb_sectors, BITS_PER_BITMAP_SECTOR - bitnum);
-
-        ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file, offset, &bitmap, sizeof(bitmap));
-        if (ret < 0) {
-            return ret;
-        }
-
-        if (first) {
-            changed = cow_test_bit(bitnum, bitmap);
-            first = false;
-        }
-
-        same += cow_find_streak(bitmap, changed, bitnum, nb_sectors);
-
-        bitnum += sector_bits;
-        nb_sectors -= sector_bits;
-        offset += BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE;
-    } while (nb_sectors);
-
-    *num_same = same;
-    return changed;
-}
-
-static int64_t coroutine_fn cow_co_get_block_status(BlockDriverState *bs,
-        int64_t sector_num, int nb_sectors, int *num_same)
-{
-    BDRVCowState *s = bs->opaque;
-    int ret = cow_co_is_allocated(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, num_same);
-    int64_t offset = s->cow_sectors_offset + (sector_num << BDRV_SECTOR_BITS);
-    if (ret < 0) {
-        return ret;
-    }
-    return (ret ? BDRV_BLOCK_DATA : 0) | offset | BDRV_BLOCK_OFFSET_VALID;
-}
-
-static int cow_update_bitmap(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
-        int nb_sectors)
-{
-    int64_t bitnum = sector_num + sizeof(struct cow_header_v2) * 8;
-    uint64_t offset = (bitnum / 8) & -BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE;
-    bool first = true;
-    int sector_bits;
-
-    for ( ; nb_sectors;
-            bitnum += sector_bits,
-            nb_sectors -= sector_bits,
-            offset += BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE) {
-        int ret, set;
-        uint8_t bitmap[BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE];
-
-        bitnum &= BITS_PER_BITMAP_SECTOR - 1;
-        sector_bits = MIN(nb_sectors, BITS_PER_BITMAP_SECTOR - bitnum);
-
-        ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file, offset, &bitmap, sizeof(bitmap));
-        if (ret < 0) {
-            return ret;
-        }
-
-        /* Skip over any already set bits */
-        set = cow_find_streak(bitmap, 1, bitnum, sector_bits);
-        bitnum += set;
-        sector_bits -= set;
-        nb_sectors -= set;
-        if (!sector_bits) {
-            continue;
-        }
-
-        if (first) {
-            ret = bdrv_flush(bs->file);
-            if (ret < 0) {
-                return ret;
-            }
-            first = false;
-        }
-
-        cow_set_bits(bitmap, bitnum, sector_bits);
-
-        ret = bdrv_pwrite(bs->file, offset, &bitmap, sizeof(bitmap));
-        if (ret < 0) {
-            return ret;
-        }
-    }
-
-    return 0;
-}
-
-static int coroutine_fn cow_read(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
-                                 uint8_t *buf, int nb_sectors)
-{
-    BDRVCowState *s = bs->opaque;
-    int ret, n;
-
-    while (nb_sectors > 0) {
-        ret = cow_co_is_allocated(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors, &n);
-        if (ret < 0) {
-            return ret;
-        }
-        if (ret) {
-            ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file,
-                        s->cow_sectors_offset + sector_num * 512,
-                        buf, n * 512);
-            if (ret < 0) {
-                return ret;
-            }
-        } else {
-            if (bs->backing_hd) {
-                /* read from the base image */
-                ret = bdrv_read(bs->backing_hd, sector_num, buf, n);
-                if (ret < 0) {
-                    return ret;
-                }
-            } else {
-                memset(buf, 0, n * 512);
-            }
-        }
-        nb_sectors -= n;
-        sector_num += n;
-        buf += n * 512;
-    }
-    return 0;
-}
-
-static coroutine_fn int cow_co_read(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
-                                    uint8_t *buf, int nb_sectors)
-{
-    int ret;
-    BDRVCowState *s = bs->opaque;
-    qemu_co_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
-    ret = cow_read(bs, sector_num, buf, nb_sectors);
-    qemu_co_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
-    return ret;
-}
-
-static int cow_write(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
-                     const uint8_t *buf, int nb_sectors)
-{
-    BDRVCowState *s = bs->opaque;
-    int ret;
-
-    ret = bdrv_pwrite(bs->file, s->cow_sectors_offset + sector_num * 512,
-                      buf, nb_sectors * 512);
-    if (ret < 0) {
-        return ret;
-    }
-
-    return cow_update_bitmap(bs, sector_num, nb_sectors);
-}
-
-static coroutine_fn int cow_co_write(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
-                                     const uint8_t *buf, int nb_sectors)
-{
-    int ret;
-    BDRVCowState *s = bs->opaque;
-    qemu_co_mutex_lock(&s->lock);
-    ret = cow_write(bs, sector_num, buf, nb_sectors);
-    qemu_co_mutex_unlock(&s->lock);
-    return ret;
-}
-
-static void cow_close(BlockDriverState *bs)
-{
-}
-
-static int cow_create(const char *filename, QemuOpts *opts, Error **errp)
-{
-    struct cow_header_v2 cow_header;
-    struct stat st;
-    int64_t image_sectors = 0;
-    char *image_filename = NULL;
-    Error *local_err = NULL;
-    int ret;
-    BlockDriverState *cow_bs = NULL;
-
-    /* Read out options */
-    image_sectors = qemu_opt_get_size_del(opts, BLOCK_OPT_SIZE, 0) / 512;
-    image_filename = qemu_opt_get_del(opts, BLOCK_OPT_BACKING_FILE);
-
-    ret = bdrv_create_file(filename, opts, &local_err);
-    if (ret < 0) {
-        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    ret = bdrv_open(&cow_bs, filename, NULL, NULL,
-                    BDRV_O_RDWR | BDRV_O_PROTOCOL, NULL, &local_err);
-    if (ret < 0) {
-        error_propagate(errp, local_err);
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    memset(&cow_header, 0, sizeof(cow_header));
-    cow_header.magic = cpu_to_be32(COW_MAGIC);
-    cow_header.version = cpu_to_be32(COW_VERSION);
-    if (image_filename) {
-        /* Note: if no file, we put a dummy mtime */
-        cow_header.mtime = cpu_to_be32(0);
-
-        if (stat(image_filename, &st) != 0) {
-            goto mtime_fail;
-        }
-        cow_header.mtime = cpu_to_be32(st.st_mtime);
-    mtime_fail:
-        pstrcpy(cow_header.backing_file, sizeof(cow_header.backing_file),
-                image_filename);
-    }
-    cow_header.sectorsize = cpu_to_be32(512);
-    cow_header.size = cpu_to_be64(image_sectors * 512);
-    ret = bdrv_pwrite(cow_bs, 0, &cow_header, sizeof(cow_header));
-    if (ret < 0) {
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-    /* resize to include at least all the bitmap */
-    ret = bdrv_truncate(cow_bs,
-        sizeof(cow_header) + ((image_sectors + 7) >> 3));
-    if (ret < 0) {
-        goto exit;
-    }
-
-exit:
-    g_free(image_filename);
-    if (cow_bs) {
-        bdrv_unref(cow_bs);
-    }
-    return ret;
-}
-
-static QemuOptsList cow_create_opts = {
-    .name = "cow-create-opts",
-    .head = QTAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(cow_create_opts.head),
-    .desc = {
-        {
-            .name = BLOCK_OPT_SIZE,
-            .type = QEMU_OPT_SIZE,
-            .help = "Virtual disk size"
-        },
-        {
-            .name = BLOCK_OPT_BACKING_FILE,
-            .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
-            .help = "File name of a base image"
-        },
-        { /* end of list */ }
-    }
-};
-
-static BlockDriver bdrv_cow = {
-    .format_name    = "cow",
-    .instance_size  = sizeof(BDRVCowState),
-
-    .bdrv_probe     = cow_probe,
-    .bdrv_open      = cow_open,
-    .bdrv_close     = cow_close,
-    .bdrv_create    = cow_create,
-    .bdrv_has_zero_init     = bdrv_has_zero_init_1,
-    .supports_backing       = true,
-
-    .bdrv_read              = cow_co_read,
-    .bdrv_write             = cow_co_write,
-    .bdrv_co_get_block_status   = cow_co_get_block_status,
-
-    .create_opts    = &cow_create_opts,
-};
-
-static void bdrv_cow_init(void)
-{
-    bdrv_register(&bdrv_cow);
-}
-
-block_init(bdrv_cow_init);
diff --git a/qapi/block-core.json b/qapi/block-core.json
index a685d02..56302c7 100644
--- a/qapi/block-core.json
+++ b/qapi/block-core.json
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ 
 #       'file', 'file', 'ftp', 'ftps', 'host_cdrom', 'host_device',
 #       'host_floppy', 'http', 'https', 'nbd', 'parallels', 'qcow',
 #       'qcow2', 'raw', 'tftp', 'vdi', 'vmdk', 'vpc', 'vvfat'
-#       2.2: 'archipelago'
+#       2.2: 'archipelago' added, 'cow' dropped
 #
 # @backing_file: #optional the name of the backing file (for copy-on-write)
 #
@@ -1149,7 +1149,7 @@ 
 { 'enum': 'BlockdevDriver',
   'data': [ 'archipelago', 'file', 'host_device', 'host_cdrom', 'host_floppy',
             'http', 'https', 'ftp', 'ftps', 'tftp', 'vvfat', 'blkdebug',
-            'blkverify', 'bochs', 'cloop', 'cow', 'dmg', 'parallels', 'qcow',
+            'blkverify', 'bochs', 'cloop', 'dmg', 'parallels', 'qcow',
             'qcow2', 'qed', 'raw', 'vdi', 'vhdx', 'vmdk', 'vpc', 'quorum' ] }
 
 ##
@@ -1491,7 +1491,6 @@ 
       'blkverify':  'BlockdevOptionsBlkverify',
       'bochs':      'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
       'cloop':      'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
-      'cow':        'BlockdevOptionsGenericCOWFormat',
       'dmg':        'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
       'parallels':  'BlockdevOptionsGenericFormat',
       'qcow':       'BlockdevOptionsGenericCOWFormat',
diff --git a/qemu-doc.texi b/qemu-doc.texi
index 2b232ae..435b727 100644
--- a/qemu-doc.texi
+++ b/qemu-doc.texi
@@ -643,15 +643,6 @@  File name of a base image (see @option{create} subcommand)
 If this option is set to @code{on}, the image is encrypted.
 @end table
 
-@item cow
-User Mode Linux Copy On Write image format. It is supported only for
-compatibility with previous versions.
-Supported options:
-@table @code
-@item backing_file
-File name of a base image (see @option{create} subcommand)
-@end table
-
 @item vdi
 VirtualBox 1.1 compatible image format.
 Supported options:
diff --git a/qemu-img.texi b/qemu-img.texi
index cc4668e..f6eba36 100644
--- a/qemu-img.texi
+++ b/qemu-img.texi
@@ -228,8 +228,8 @@  compression is read-only. It means that if a compressed sector is
 rewritten, then it is rewritten as uncompressed data.
 
 Image conversion is also useful to get smaller image when using a
-growable format such as @code{qcow} or @code{cow}: the empty sectors
-are detected and suppressed from the destination image.
+growable format such as @code{qcow}: the empty sectors are detected and
+suppressed from the destination image.
 
 @var{sparse_size} indicates the consecutive number of bytes (defaults to 4k)
 that must contain only zeros for qemu-img to create a sparse image during
diff --git a/qmp-commands.hx b/qmp-commands.hx
index 7658d4b..76656cc 100644
--- a/qmp-commands.hx
+++ b/qmp-commands.hx
@@ -2081,7 +2081,7 @@  Each json-object contain the following:
          - "file": device file name (json-string)
          - "ro": true if read-only, false otherwise (json-bool)
          - "drv": driver format name (json-string)
-             - Possible values: "blkdebug", "bochs", "cloop", "cow", "dmg",
+             - Possible values: "blkdebug", "bochs", "cloop", "dmg",
                                 "file", "file", "ftp", "ftps", "host_cdrom",
                                 "host_device", "host_floppy", "http", "https",
                                 "nbd", "parallels", "qcow", "qcow2", "raw",
diff --git a/tests/image-fuzzer/runner.py b/tests/image-fuzzer/runner.py
index c903c8a..dc0e033 100755
--- a/tests/image-fuzzer/runner.py
+++ b/tests/image-fuzzer/runner.py
@@ -150,8 +150,7 @@  class TestEnv(object):
                           'discard $off $len'],
                          ['qemu-io', '$test_img', '-c',
                           'truncate $off']]
-        for fmt in ['raw', 'vmdk', 'vdi', 'cow', 'qcow2', 'file',
-                    'qed', 'vpc']:
+        for fmt in ['raw', 'vmdk', 'vdi', 'qcow2', 'file', 'qed', 'vpc']:
             self.commands.append(
                 ['qemu-img', 'convert', '-f', 'qcow2', '-O', fmt,
                  '$test_img', 'converted_image.' + fmt])
@@ -178,7 +177,7 @@  class TestEnv(object):
         by 'qemu-img create'.
         """
         # All formats supported by the 'qemu-img create' command.
-        backing_file_fmt = random.choice(['raw', 'vmdk', 'vdi', 'cow', 'qcow2',
+        backing_file_fmt = random.choice(['raw', 'vmdk', 'vdi', 'qcow2',
                                           'file', 'qed', 'vpc'])
         backing_file_name = 'backing_img.' + backing_file_fmt
         backing_file_size = random.randint(MIN_BACKING_FILE_SIZE,
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/069 b/tests/qemu-iotests/069
index e661598..ce9e054 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/069
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/069
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@  trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 . ./common.rc
 . ./common.filter
 
-_supported_fmt cow qed qcow qcow2 vmdk
+_supported_fmt qed qcow qcow2 vmdk
 _supported_proto file
 _supported_os Linux
 _unsupported_imgopts "subformat=monolithicFlat" "subformat=twoGbMaxExtentFlat"
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/072 b/tests/qemu-iotests/072
index 58faa8b..e4a723d 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/072
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/072
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@  trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 . ./common.rc
 . ./common.filter
 
-_supported_fmt vpc vmdk vhdx vdi qed qcow2 qcow cow
+_supported_fmt vpc vmdk vhdx vdi qed qcow2 qcow
 _supported_proto file
 _supported_os Linux
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/099 b/tests/qemu-iotests/099
index a26d3d2..ffc7ea7 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/099
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/099
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@  trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
 
 # Basically all formats, but "raw" has issues with _filter_imgfmt regarding the
 # raw comparison image for blkverify; also, all images have to support creation
-_supported_fmt cow qcow qcow2 qed vdi vhdx vmdk vpc
+_supported_fmt qcow qcow2 qed vdi vhdx vmdk vpc
 _supported_proto file
 _supported_os Linux
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/common b/tests/qemu-iotests/common
index 70df659..89c6dde 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/common
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/common
@@ -136,7 +136,6 @@  common options
 check options
     -raw                test raw (default)
     -bochs              test bochs
-    -cow                test cow
     -cloop              test cloop
     -parallels          test parallels
     -qcow               test qcow
@@ -182,11 +181,6 @@  testlist options
             xpand=false
             ;;
 
-        -cow)
-            IMGFMT=cow
-            xpand=false
-            ;;
-
         -cloop)
             IMGFMT=cloop
             IMGFMT_GENERIC=false
diff --git a/ui/cocoa.m b/ui/cocoa.m
index 3147178..d37c29b 100644
--- a/ui/cocoa.m
+++ b/ui/cocoa.m
@@ -857,7 +857,7 @@  QemuCocoaView *cocoaView;
         [op setPrompt:@"Boot image"];
         [op setMessage:@"Select the disk image you want to boot.\n\nHit the \"Cancel\" button to quit"];
         NSArray *filetypes = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"img", @"iso", @"dmg",
-                                 @"qcow", @"qcow2", @"cow", @"cloop", @"vmdk", nil];
+                                 @"qcow", @"qcow2", @"cloop", @"vmdk", nil];
 #if (MAC_OS_X_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED >= MAC_OS_X_VERSION_10_6)
         [op setAllowedFileTypes:filetypes];
         [op beginSheetModalForWindow:normalWindow