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docs(ins): additional information qga (#5728)
* docs(ins): additional information qga * docs(ins): update wording * feat(ins): add info about scaleway-vmagent * docs(ins): add configuration information * Update pages/instances/reference-content/understanding-qemu-guest-agent.mdx Co-authored-by: Rowena Jones <[email protected]> --------- Co-authored-by: Rowena Jones <[email protected]>
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pages/instances/reference-content/understanding-qemu-guest-agent.mdx

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@@ -15,6 +15,28 @@ This page provides essential insights into this mechanism.
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This documentation page does not apply to Instances running the Microsoft Windows operating system.
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</Message>
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## What is the QGA?
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The QEMU Guest Agent (QGA) is a daemon designed to run inside virtual machines, enabling communication between the guest operating system and the QEMU hypervisor. It supports tasks such as system configuration and resource monitoring.
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The QGA source code is publicly available in the [QEMU repository on GitLab](https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/blob/master/docs/interop/qemu-ga.rst).
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<Message type="note">
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In addition to the QGA, another daemon is preinstalled on recently created Instances: `scaleway-vmagent`. This agent was developed by Scaleway's engineering teams and is used to send metrics about your VM to [Cockpit](/cockpit/) to monitor the status of your Instance.
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You can find the source code of the agent on Scaleway's [Launchpad repository](https://launchpad.net/~scaleway/+archive/ubuntu/stable/+packages).
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</Message>
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## Which tasks are allowed for the QGA?
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Scaleway has intentionally restricted the QGA to the following allowed tasks (configured in `/etc/qemu/qemu-ga.conf`):
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* `guest-file-close`
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* `guest-file-open`
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* `guest-file-write`
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* `guest-ping`
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All other Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs) are disabled to limit the scope of external execution from the QEMU hypervisor.
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## What are the features provided by QGA?
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Running the QEMU Guest Agent (QGA) on your Instance currently enables the following feature:
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Additional features may be added in the future.
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## What is the performance impact of running the QGA inside my VM?
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The performance impact of running the QGA is negligible. The agent consumes very little RAM (<5 MB) and CPU (<0.1%), and there is no measurable I/O or network overhead when idle.
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The only operation the agent performs is reading from or writing to a file **in the VM** each time a public IP is attached to or detached from the VM.
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## Checking QGA's status
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Since March 1st, 2024, all Scaleway-provided GNU/Linux and InstantApp images for Instances come with QGA pre-installed and enabled by default.

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