It is possible to clean unused cache entries in order to reduce the
memory usage during periods of low I/O activity.
-The parameter "cache-clean-interval" defines an interval (in seconds).
-All cache entries that haven't been accessed during that interval are
-removed from memory.
+The parameter "cache-clean-interval" defines an interval (in seconds),
+after which all the cache entries that haven't been accessed during the
+interval are removed from memory. Setting this parameter to 0 disables this
+feature.
-This example removes all unused cache entries every 15 minutes:
+The following example removes all unused cache entries every 15 minutes:
-drive file=hd.qcow2,cache-clean-interval=900
-If unset, the default value for this parameter is 600. Setting it to 0
-disables this feature.
+If unset, the default value for this parameter is 600 on platforms which
+support this functionality, and is 0 (disabled) on other platforms.
-Note that this functionality currently relies on the MADV_DONTNEED
-argument for madvise() to actually free the memory. This is a
-Linux-specific feature, so cache-clean-interval is not supported in
-other systems.
+This functionality currently relies on the MADV_DONTNEED argument for
+madvise() to actually free the memory. This is a Linux-specific feature,
+so cache-clean-interval is not supported on other systems.
#
# @cache-clean-interval: clean unused entries in the L2 and refcount
# caches. The interval is in seconds. The default value
-# is 600, and 0 disables this feature. (since 2.5)
+# is 600 on supporting platforms, and 0 on other
+# platforms. 0 disables this feature. (since 2.5)
#
# @encrypt: Image decryption options. Mandatory for
# encrypted images, except when doing a metadata-only
@item cache-clean-interval
Clean unused entries in the L2 and refcount caches. The interval is in seconds.
-The default value is 600. Setting it to 0 disables this feature.
+The default value is 600 on supporting platforms, and 0 on other platforms.
+Setting it to 0 disables this feature.
@item pass-discard-request
Whether discard requests to the qcow2 device should be forwarded to the data