In the web documentation mention that the direct device support is there
since libvirt 0.7.7. A Linux kernel 2.6.34 is required for macvtap to be
available as standard device.
Index: libvirt-plain/docs/formatdomain.html.in
===================================================================
--- libvirt-plain.orig/docs/formatdomain.html.in
+++ libvirt-plain/docs/formatdomain.html.in
@@ -741,8 +741,11 @@
<p>
Provides direct attachment of the virtual machine's NIC to the given
- physial interface of the host. This setup requires the Linux macvtap
- driver to be available. One of the modes 'vepa'
+ physial interface of the host.
+ <span class="since">Since 0.7.7 (QEMU and KVM
only)</span><br>
+ This setup requires the Linux macvtap
+ driver to be available. <span class="since">(Since Linux
2.6.34.)</span>
+ One of the modes 'vepa'
( <a
href="http://www.ieee802.org/1/files/public/docs2009/new-evb-congdon...
'Virtual Ethernet Port Aggregator'</a>), 'bridge' or
'private'
can be chosen for the operation mode of the macvtap device, 'vepa'