diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index c90c71aa32..40c5e1aa73 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -1274,6 +1274,33 @@ out:
     g_free(tmp_filename);
 }
 
+static QDict *parse_json_filename(const char *filename, Error **errp)
+{
+    QObject *options_obj;
+    QDict *options;
+    int ret;
+
+    ret = strstart(filename, "json:", &filename);
+    assert(ret);
+
+    options_obj = qobject_from_json(filename);
+    if (!options_obj) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Could not parse the JSON options");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (qobject_type(options_obj) != QTYPE_QDICT) {
+        qobject_decref(options_obj);
+        error_setg(errp, "Invalid JSON object given");
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    options = qobject_to_qdict(options_obj);
+    qdict_flatten(options);
+
+    return options;
+}
+
 /*
  * Opens a disk image (raw, qcow2, vmdk, ...)
  *
@@ -1337,6 +1364,20 @@ int bdrv_open(BlockDriverState **pbs, const char *filename,
         options = qdict_new();
     }
 
+    if (filename && g_str_has_prefix(filename, "json:")) {
+        QDict *json_options = parse_json_filename(filename, &local_err);
+        if (local_err) {
+            ret = -EINVAL;
+            goto fail;
+        }
+
+        /* Options given in the filename have lower priority than options
+         * specified directly */
+        qdict_join(options, json_options, false);
+        QDECREF(json_options);
+        filename = NULL;
+    }
+
     bs->options = options;
     options = qdict_clone_shallow(options);
 
@@ -3248,6 +3289,15 @@ static int coroutine_fn bdrv_aligned_pwritev(BlockDriverState *bs,
 
     ret = notifier_with_return_list_notify(&bs->before_write_notifiers, req);
 
+    if (!ret && bs->detect_zeroes != BLOCKDEV_DETECT_ZEROES_OPTIONS_OFF &&
+        !(flags & BDRV_REQ_ZERO_WRITE) && drv->bdrv_co_write_zeroes &&
+        qemu_iovec_is_zero(qiov)) {
+        flags |= BDRV_REQ_ZERO_WRITE;
+        if (bs->detect_zeroes == BLOCKDEV_DETECT_ZEROES_OPTIONS_UNMAP) {
+            flags |= BDRV_REQ_MAY_UNMAP;
+        }
+    }
+
     if (ret < 0) {
         /* Do nothing, write notifier decided to fail this request */
     } else if (flags & BDRV_REQ_ZERO_WRITE) {
@@ -3864,7 +3914,7 @@ static int64_t coroutine_fn bdrv_co_get_block_status(BlockDriverState *bs,
 
     if (!bs->drv->bdrv_co_get_block_status) {
         *pnum = nb_sectors;
-        ret = BDRV_BLOCK_DATA;
+        ret = BDRV_BLOCK_DATA | BDRV_BLOCK_ALLOCATED;
         if (bs->drv->protocol_name) {
             ret |= BDRV_BLOCK_OFFSET_VALID | (sector_num * BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE);
         }
@@ -3883,6 +3933,10 @@ static int64_t coroutine_fn bdrv_co_get_block_status(BlockDriverState *bs,
                                      *pnum, pnum);
     }
 
+    if (ret & (BDRV_BLOCK_DATA | BDRV_BLOCK_ZERO)) {
+        ret |= BDRV_BLOCK_ALLOCATED;
+    }
+
     if (!(ret & BDRV_BLOCK_DATA) && !(ret & BDRV_BLOCK_ZERO)) {
         if (bdrv_unallocated_blocks_are_zero(bs)) {
             ret |= BDRV_BLOCK_ZERO;
@@ -3959,9 +4013,7 @@ int coroutine_fn bdrv_is_allocated(BlockDriverState *bs, int64_t sector_num,
     if (ret < 0) {
         return ret;
     }
-    return
-        (ret & BDRV_BLOCK_DATA) ||
-        ((ret & BDRV_BLOCK_ZERO) && !bdrv_has_zero_init(bs));
+    return (ret & BDRV_BLOCK_ALLOCATED);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/block/curl.c b/block/curl.c
index d2f1084b91..f491b0ba4c 100644
--- a/block/curl.c
+++ b/block/curl.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
  */
 #include "qemu-common.h"
 #include "block/block_int.h"
+#include "qapi/qmp/qbool.h"
 #include <curl/curl.h>
 
 // #define DEBUG
@@ -37,6 +38,21 @@
 #if LIBCURL_VERSION_NUM >= 0x071000
 /* The multi interface timer callback was introduced in 7.16.0 */
 #define NEED_CURL_TIMER_CALLBACK
+#define HAVE_SOCKET_ACTION
+#endif
+
+#ifndef HAVE_SOCKET_ACTION
+/* If curl_multi_socket_action isn't available, define it statically here in
+ * terms of curl_multi_socket. Note that ev_bitmask will be ignored, which is
+ * less efficient but still safe. */
+static CURLMcode __curl_multi_socket_action(CURLM *multi_handle,
+                                            curl_socket_t sockfd,
+                                            int ev_bitmask,
+                                            int *running_handles)
+{
+    return curl_multi_socket(multi_handle, sockfd, running_handles);
+}
+#define curl_multi_socket_action __curl_multi_socket_action
 #endif
 
 #define PROTOCOLS (CURLPROTO_HTTP | CURLPROTO_HTTPS | \
@@ -46,12 +62,16 @@
 #define CURL_NUM_STATES 8
 #define CURL_NUM_ACB    8
 #define SECTOR_SIZE     512
-#define READ_AHEAD_SIZE (256 * 1024)
+#define READ_AHEAD_DEFAULT (256 * 1024)
 
 #define FIND_RET_NONE   0
 #define FIND_RET_OK     1
 #define FIND_RET_WAIT   2
 
+#define CURL_BLOCK_OPT_URL       "url"
+#define CURL_BLOCK_OPT_READAHEAD "readahead"
+#define CURL_BLOCK_OPT_SSLVERIFY "sslverify"
+
 struct BDRVCURLState;
 
 typedef struct CURLAIOCB {
@@ -88,6 +108,7 @@ typedef struct BDRVCURLState {
     CURLState states[CURL_NUM_STATES];
     char *url;
     size_t readahead_size;
+    bool sslverify;
     bool accept_range;
 } BDRVCURLState;
 
@@ -354,6 +375,8 @@ static CURLState *curl_init_state(BDRVCURLState *s)
             return NULL;
         }
         curl_easy_setopt(state->curl, CURLOPT_URL, s->url);
+        curl_easy_setopt(state->curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER,
+                         (long) s->sslverify);
         curl_easy_setopt(state->curl, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 5);
         curl_easy_setopt(state->curl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION,
                          (void *)curl_read_cb);
@@ -396,43 +419,7 @@ static void curl_clean_state(CURLState *s)
 static void curl_parse_filename(const char *filename, QDict *options,
                                 Error **errp)
 {
-
-    #define RA_OPTSTR ":readahead="
-    char *file;
-    char *ra;
-    const char *ra_val;
-    int parse_state = 0;
-
-    file = g_strdup(filename);
-
-    /* Parse a trailing ":readahead=#:" param, if present. */
-    ra = file + strlen(file) - 1;
-    while (ra >= file) {
-        if (parse_state == 0) {
-            if (*ra == ':') {
-                parse_state++;
-            } else {
-                break;
-            }
-        } else if (parse_state == 1) {
-            if (*ra > '9' || *ra < '0') {
-                char *opt_start = ra - strlen(RA_OPTSTR) + 1;
-                if (opt_start > file &&
-                    strncmp(opt_start, RA_OPTSTR, strlen(RA_OPTSTR)) == 0) {
-                    ra_val = ra + 1;
-                    ra -= strlen(RA_OPTSTR) - 1;
-                    *ra = '\0';
-                    qdict_put(options, "readahead", qstring_from_str(ra_val));
-                }
-                break;
-            }
-        }
-        ra--;
-    }
-
-    qdict_put(options, "url", qstring_from_str(file));
-
-    g_free(file);
+    qdict_put(options, CURL_BLOCK_OPT_URL, qstring_from_str(filename));
 }
 
 static QemuOptsList runtime_opts = {
@@ -440,15 +427,20 @@ static QemuOptsList runtime_opts = {
     .head = QTAILQ_HEAD_INITIALIZER(runtime_opts.head),
     .desc = {
         {
-            .name = "url",
+            .name = CURL_BLOCK_OPT_URL,
             .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
             .help = "URL to open",
         },
         {
-            .name = "readahead",
+            .name = CURL_BLOCK_OPT_READAHEAD,
             .type = QEMU_OPT_SIZE,
             .help = "Readahead size",
         },
+        {
+            .name = CURL_BLOCK_OPT_SSLVERIFY,
+            .type = QEMU_OPT_BOOL,
+            .help = "Verify SSL certificate"
+        },
         { /* end of list */ }
     },
 };
@@ -477,14 +469,17 @@ static int curl_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
         goto out_noclean;
     }
 
-    s->readahead_size = qemu_opt_get_size(opts, "readahead", READ_AHEAD_SIZE);
+    s->readahead_size = qemu_opt_get_size(opts, CURL_BLOCK_OPT_READAHEAD,
+                                          READ_AHEAD_DEFAULT);
     if ((s->readahead_size & 0x1ff) != 0) {
         error_setg(errp, "HTTP_READAHEAD_SIZE %zd is not a multiple of 512",
                    s->readahead_size);
         goto out_noclean;
     }
 
-    file = qemu_opt_get(opts, "url");
+    s->sslverify = qemu_opt_get_bool(opts, CURL_BLOCK_OPT_SSLVERIFY, true);
+
+    file = qemu_opt_get(opts, CURL_BLOCK_OPT_URL);
     if (file == NULL) {
         error_setg(errp, "curl block driver requires an 'url' option");
         goto out_noclean;
diff --git a/block/qapi.c b/block/qapi.c
index af114452e0..75f44f1537 100644
--- a/block/qapi.c
+++ b/block/qapi.c
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ BlockDeviceInfo *bdrv_block_device_info(BlockDriverState *bs)
     }
 
     info->backing_file_depth = bdrv_get_backing_file_depth(bs);
+    info->detect_zeroes = bs->detect_zeroes;
 
     if (bs->io_limits_enabled) {
         ThrottleConfig cfg;
diff --git a/block/qcow.c b/block/qcow.c
index 937dd6dd1c..7fd57d744a 100644
--- a/block/qcow.c
+++ b/block/qcow.c
@@ -48,9 +48,10 @@ typedef struct QCowHeader {
     uint64_t size; /* in bytes */
     uint8_t cluster_bits;
     uint8_t l2_bits;
+    uint16_t padding;
     uint32_t crypt_method;
     uint64_t l1_table_offset;
-} QCowHeader;
+} QEMU_PACKED QCowHeader;
 
 #define L2_CACHE_SIZE 16
 
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ typedef struct BDRVQcowState {
     int cluster_sectors;
     int l2_bits;
     int l2_size;
-    int l1_size;
+    unsigned int l1_size;
     uint64_t cluster_offset_mask;
     uint64_t l1_table_offset;
     uint64_t *l1_table;
@@ -96,7 +97,8 @@ static int qcow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
                      Error **errp)
 {
     BDRVQcowState *s = bs->opaque;
-    int len, i, shift, ret;
+    unsigned int len, i, shift;
+    int ret;
     QCowHeader header;
 
     ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file, 0, &header, sizeof(header));
@@ -127,11 +129,25 @@ static int qcow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
         goto fail;
     }
 
-    if (header.size <= 1 || header.cluster_bits < 9) {
-        error_setg(errp, "invalid value in qcow header");
+    if (header.size <= 1) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Image size is too small (must be at least 2 bytes)");
         ret = -EINVAL;
         goto fail;
     }
+    if (header.cluster_bits < 9 || header.cluster_bits > 16) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Cluster size must be between 512 and 64k");
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto fail;
+    }
+
+    /* l2_bits specifies number of entries; storing a uint64_t in each entry,
+     * so bytes = num_entries << 3. */
+    if (header.l2_bits < 9 - 3 || header.l2_bits > 16 - 3) {
+        error_setg(errp, "L2 table size must be between 512 and 64k");
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto fail;
+    }
+
     if (header.crypt_method > QCOW_CRYPT_AES) {
         error_setg(errp, "invalid encryption method in qcow header");
         ret = -EINVAL;
@@ -151,7 +167,19 @@ static int qcow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
 
     /* read the level 1 table */
     shift = s->cluster_bits + s->l2_bits;
-    s->l1_size = (header.size + (1LL << shift) - 1) >> shift;
+    if (header.size > UINT64_MAX - (1LL << shift)) {
+        error_setg(errp, "Image too large");
+        ret = -EINVAL;
+        goto fail;
+    } else {
+        uint64_t l1_size = (header.size + (1LL << shift) - 1) >> shift;
+        if (l1_size > INT_MAX / sizeof(uint64_t)) {
+            error_setg(errp, "Image too large");
+            ret = -EINVAL;
+            goto fail;
+        }
+        s->l1_size = l1_size;
+    }
 
     s->l1_table_offset = header.l1_table_offset;
     s->l1_table = g_malloc(s->l1_size * sizeof(uint64_t));
@@ -175,7 +203,9 @@ static int qcow_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
     if (header.backing_file_offset != 0) {
         len = header.backing_file_size;
         if (len > 1023) {
-            len = 1023;
+            error_setg(errp, "Backing file name too long");
+            ret = -EINVAL;
+            goto fail;
         }
         ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file, header.backing_file_offset,
                    bs->backing_file, len);
diff --git a/block/vhdx.c b/block/vhdx.c
index 509baaf484..353c74d35f 100644
--- a/block/vhdx.c
+++ b/block/vhdx.c
@@ -473,7 +473,14 @@ static void vhdx_parse_header(BlockDriverState *bs, BDRVVHDXState *s,
         } else if (h2_seq > h1_seq) {
             s->curr_header = 1;
         } else {
-            goto fail;
+            /* The Microsoft Disk2VHD tool will create 2 identical
+             * headers, with identical sequence numbers.  If the headers are
+             * identical, don't consider the file corrupt */
+            if (!memcmp(header1, header2, sizeof(VHDXHeader))) {
+                s->curr_header = 0;
+            } else {
+                goto fail;
+            }
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/blockdev.c b/blockdev.c
index 7810e9fb68..1cbcc1c785 100644
--- a/blockdev.c
+++ b/blockdev.c
@@ -288,6 +288,25 @@ static int parse_block_error_action(const char *buf, bool is_read, Error **errp)
     }
 }
 
+static inline int parse_enum_option(const char *lookup[], const char *buf,
+                                    int max, int def, Error **errp)
+{
+    int i;
+
+    if (!buf) {
+        return def;
+    }
+
+    for (i = 0; i < max; i++) {
+        if (!strcmp(buf, lookup[i])) {
+            return i;
+        }
+    }
+
+    error_setg(errp, "invalid parameter value: %s", buf);
+    return def;
+}
+
 static bool check_throttle_config(ThrottleConfig *cfg, Error **errp)
 {
     if (throttle_conflicting(cfg)) {
@@ -324,6 +343,7 @@ static DriveInfo *blockdev_init(const char *file, QDict *bs_opts,
     QemuOpts *opts;
     const char *id;
     bool has_driver_specific_opts;
+    BlockdevDetectZeroesOptions detect_zeroes;
     BlockDriver *drv = NULL;
 
     /* Check common options by copying from bs_opts to opts, all other options
@@ -452,6 +472,24 @@ static DriveInfo *blockdev_init(const char *file, QDict *bs_opts,
         }
     }
 
+    detect_zeroes =
+        parse_enum_option(BlockdevDetectZeroesOptions_lookup,
+                          qemu_opt_get(opts, "detect-zeroes"),
+                          BLOCKDEV_DETECT_ZEROES_OPTIONS_MAX,
+                          BLOCKDEV_DETECT_ZEROES_OPTIONS_OFF,
+                          &error);
+    if (error) {
+        error_propagate(errp, error);
+        goto early_err;
+    }
+
+    if (detect_zeroes == BLOCKDEV_DETECT_ZEROES_OPTIONS_UNMAP &&
+        !(bdrv_flags & BDRV_O_UNMAP)) {
+        error_setg(errp, "setting detect-zeroes to unmap is not allowed "
+                         "without setting discard operation to unmap");
+        goto early_err;
+    }
+
     /* init */
     dinfo = g_malloc0(sizeof(*dinfo));
     dinfo->id = g_strdup(qemu_opts_id(opts));
@@ -462,6 +500,7 @@ static DriveInfo *blockdev_init(const char *file, QDict *bs_opts,
     }
     dinfo->bdrv->open_flags = snapshot ? BDRV_O_SNAPSHOT : 0;
     dinfo->bdrv->read_only = ro;
+    dinfo->bdrv->detect_zeroes = detect_zeroes;
     dinfo->refcount = 1;
     if (serial != NULL) {
         dinfo->serial = g_strdup(serial);
@@ -2455,6 +2494,10 @@ QemuOptsList qemu_common_drive_opts = {
             .name = "copy-on-read",
             .type = QEMU_OPT_BOOL,
             .help = "copy read data from backing file into image file",
+        },{
+            .name = "detect-zeroes",
+            .type = QEMU_OPT_STRING,
+            .help = "try to optimize zero writes (off, on, unmap)",
         },
         { /* end of list */ }
     },
diff --git a/hmp.c b/hmp.c
index a9d0236cc3..ccc35d41a1 100644
--- a/hmp.c
+++ b/hmp.c
@@ -341,6 +341,11 @@ void hmp_info_block(Monitor *mon, const QDict *qdict)
                            info->value->inserted->backing_file_depth);
         }
 
+        if (info->value->inserted->detect_zeroes != BLOCKDEV_DETECT_ZEROES_OPTIONS_OFF) {
+            monitor_printf(mon, "    Detect zeroes:    %s\n",
+                           BlockdevDetectZeroesOptions_lookup[info->value->inserted->detect_zeroes]);
+        }
+
         if (info->value->inserted->bps
             || info->value->inserted->bps_rd
             || info->value->inserted->bps_wr
diff --git a/include/block/block.h b/include/block/block.h
index 1b119aac24..59be83f3c2 100644
--- a/include/block/block.h
+++ b/include/block/block.h
@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ typedef enum {
 /* BDRV_BLOCK_DATA: data is read from bs->file or another file
  * BDRV_BLOCK_ZERO: sectors read as zero
  * BDRV_BLOCK_OFFSET_VALID: sector stored in bs->file as raw data
+ * BDRV_BLOCK_ALLOCATED: the content of the block is determined by this
+ *                       layer (as opposed to the backing file)
  * BDRV_BLOCK_RAW: used internally to indicate that the request
  *                 was answered by the raw driver and that one
  *                 should look in bs->file directly.
@@ -141,10 +143,11 @@ typedef enum {
  *  f    t        f       not allocated or unknown offset, read as zero
  *  f    f        f       not allocated or unknown offset, read from backing_hd
  */
-#define BDRV_BLOCK_DATA         1
-#define BDRV_BLOCK_ZERO         2
-#define BDRV_BLOCK_OFFSET_VALID 4
-#define BDRV_BLOCK_RAW          8
+#define BDRV_BLOCK_DATA         0x01
+#define BDRV_BLOCK_ZERO         0x02
+#define BDRV_BLOCK_OFFSET_VALID 0x04
+#define BDRV_BLOCK_RAW          0x08
+#define BDRV_BLOCK_ALLOCATED    0x10
 #define BDRV_BLOCK_OFFSET_MASK  BDRV_SECTOR_MASK
 
 typedef enum {
diff --git a/include/block/block_int.h b/include/block/block_int.h
index 9ffcb698d0..b8cc926bfe 100644
--- a/include/block/block_int.h
+++ b/include/block/block_int.h
@@ -364,6 +364,7 @@ struct BlockDriverState {
     BlockJob *job;
 
     QDict *options;
+    BlockdevDetectZeroesOptions detect_zeroes;
 };
 
 int get_tmp_filename(char *filename, int size);
diff --git a/include/qapi/qmp/qdict.h b/include/qapi/qmp/qdict.h
index 1ddf97b1c3..d68f4eb4d5 100644
--- a/include/qapi/qmp/qdict.h
+++ b/include/qapi/qmp/qdict.h
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include "qapi/qmp/qobject.h"
 #include "qapi/qmp/qlist.h"
 #include "qemu/queue.h"
+#include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 
 #define QDICT_BUCKET_MAX 512
@@ -70,4 +71,6 @@ void qdict_flatten(QDict *qdict);
 void qdict_extract_subqdict(QDict *src, QDict **dst, const char *start);
 void qdict_array_split(QDict *src, QList **dst);
 
+void qdict_join(QDict *dest, QDict *src, bool overwrite);
+
 #endif /* QDICT_H */
diff --git a/include/qemu-common.h b/include/qemu-common.h
index 3f3fd60f5b..66ceceb2ad 100644
--- a/include/qemu-common.h
+++ b/include/qemu-common.h
@@ -318,6 +318,7 @@ void qemu_iovec_concat(QEMUIOVector *dst,
 void qemu_iovec_concat_iov(QEMUIOVector *dst,
                            struct iovec *src_iov, unsigned int src_cnt,
                            size_t soffset, size_t sbytes);
+bool qemu_iovec_is_zero(QEMUIOVector *qiov);
 void qemu_iovec_destroy(QEMUIOVector *qiov);
 void qemu_iovec_reset(QEMUIOVector *qiov);
 size_t qemu_iovec_to_buf(QEMUIOVector *qiov, size_t offset,
diff --git a/qapi-schema.json b/qapi-schema.json
index 36cb964dfd..70ed7e3b45 100644
--- a/qapi-schema.json
+++ b/qapi-schema.json
@@ -942,6 +942,8 @@
 # @encryption_key_missing: true if the backing device is encrypted but an
 #                          valid encryption key is missing
 #
+# @detect_zeroes: detect and optimize zero writes (Since 2.1)
+#
 # @bps: total throughput limit in bytes per second is specified
 #
 # @bps_rd: read throughput limit in bytes per second is specified
@@ -977,6 +979,7 @@
   'data': { 'file': 'str', '*node-name': 'str', 'ro': 'bool', 'drv': 'str',
             '*backing_file': 'str', 'backing_file_depth': 'int',
             'encrypted': 'bool', 'encryption_key_missing': 'bool',
+            'detect_zeroes': 'BlockdevDetectZeroesOptions',
             'bps': 'int', 'bps_rd': 'int', 'bps_wr': 'int',
             'iops': 'int', 'iops_rd': 'int', 'iops_wr': 'int',
             'image': 'ImageInfo',
@@ -4254,6 +4257,22 @@
 { 'enum': 'BlockdevDiscardOptions',
   'data': [ 'ignore', 'unmap' ] }
 
+##
+# @BlockdevDetectZeroesOptions
+#
+# Describes the operation mode for the automatic conversion of plain
+# zero writes by the OS to driver specific optimized zero write commands.
+#
+# @off:      Disabled (default)
+# @on:       Enabled
+# @unmap:    Enabled and even try to unmap blocks if possible. This requires
+#            also that @BlockdevDiscardOptions is set to unmap for this device.
+#
+# Since: 2.1
+##
+{ 'enum': 'BlockdevDetectZeroesOptions',
+  'data': [ 'off', 'on', 'unmap' ] }
+
 ##
 # @BlockdevAioOptions
 #
@@ -4306,20 +4325,22 @@
 # Options that are available for all block devices, independent of the block
 # driver.
 #
-# @driver:      block driver name
-# @id:          #optional id by which the new block device can be referred to.
-#               This is a required option on the top level of blockdev-add, and
-#               currently not allowed on any other level.
-# @node-name:   #optional the name of a block driver state node (Since 2.0)
-# @discard:     #optional discard-related options (default: ignore)
-# @cache:       #optional cache-related options
-# @aio:         #optional AIO backend (default: threads)
-# @rerror:      #optional how to handle read errors on the device
-#               (default: report)
-# @werror:      #optional how to handle write errors on the device
-#               (default: enospc)
-# @read-only:   #optional whether the block device should be read-only
-#               (default: false)
+# @driver:        block driver name
+# @id:            #optional id by which the new block device can be referred to.
+#                 This is a required option on the top level of blockdev-add, and
+#                 currently not allowed on any other level.
+# @node-name:     #optional the name of a block driver state node (Since 2.0)
+# @discard:       #optional discard-related options (default: ignore)
+# @cache:         #optional cache-related options
+# @aio:           #optional AIO backend (default: threads)
+# @rerror:        #optional how to handle read errors on the device
+#                 (default: report)
+# @werror:        #optional how to handle write errors on the device
+#                 (default: enospc)
+# @read-only:     #optional whether the block device should be read-only
+#                 (default: false)
+# @detect-zeroes: #optional detect and optimize zero writes (Since 2.1)
+#                 (default: off)
 #
 # Since: 1.7
 ##
@@ -4332,7 +4353,8 @@
             '*aio': 'BlockdevAioOptions',
             '*rerror': 'BlockdevOnError',
             '*werror': 'BlockdevOnError',
-            '*read-only': 'bool' } }
+            '*read-only': 'bool',
+            '*detect-zeroes': 'BlockdevDetectZeroesOptions' } }
 
 ##
 # @BlockdevOptionsFile
diff --git a/qemu-img.c b/qemu-img.c
index 04ce02aeb4..1ad899e03b 100644
--- a/qemu-img.c
+++ b/qemu-img.c
@@ -70,11 +70,8 @@ static void add_format_to_seq(void *opaque, const char *fmt_name)
 {
     GSequence *seq = opaque;
 
-    if (!g_sequence_lookup(seq, (gpointer)fmt_name,
-                           compare_data, NULL)) {
-        g_sequence_insert_sorted(seq, (gpointer)fmt_name,
-                                 compare_data, NULL);
-    }
+    g_sequence_insert_sorted(seq, (gpointer)fmt_name,
+                             compare_data, NULL);
 }
 
 static void QEMU_NORETURN GCC_FMT_ATTR(1, 2) error_exit(const char *fmt, ...)
diff --git a/qemu-options.hx b/qemu-options.hx
index 781af14bf5..c2c0823911 100644
--- a/qemu-options.hx
+++ b/qemu-options.hx
@@ -414,6 +414,7 @@ DEF("drive", HAS_ARG, QEMU_OPTION_drive,
     "       [,serial=s][,addr=A][,rerror=ignore|stop|report]\n"
     "       [,werror=ignore|stop|report|enospc][,id=name][,aio=threads|native]\n"
     "       [,readonly=on|off][,copy-on-read=on|off]\n"
+    "       [,detect-zeroes=on|off|unmap]\n"
     "       [[,bps=b]|[[,bps_rd=r][,bps_wr=w]]]\n"
     "       [[,iops=i]|[[,iops_rd=r][,iops_wr=w]]]\n"
     "       [[,bps_max=bm]|[[,bps_rd_max=rm][,bps_wr_max=wm]]]\n"
@@ -475,6 +476,11 @@ Open drive @option{file} as read-only. Guest write attempts will fail.
 @item copy-on-read=@var{copy-on-read}
 @var{copy-on-read} is "on" or "off" and enables whether to copy read backing
 file sectors into the image file.
+@item detect-zeroes=@var{detect-zeroes}
+@var{detect-zeroes} is "off", "on" or "unmap" and enables the automatic
+conversion of plain zero writes by the OS to driver specific optimized
+zero write commands. You may even choose "unmap" if @var{discard} is set
+to "unmap" to allow a zero write to be converted to an UNMAP operation.
 @end table
 
 By default, the @option{cache=writeback} mode is used. It will report data
@@ -2191,6 +2197,74 @@ qemu-system-x86_64 --drive file=gluster://192.0.2.1/testvol/a.img
 @end example
 
 See also @url{http://www.gluster.org}.
+
+@item HTTP/HTTPS/FTP/FTPS/TFTP
+QEMU supports read-only access to files accessed over http(s), ftp(s) and tftp.
+
+Syntax using a single filename:
+@example
+<protocol>://[<username>[:<password>]@@]<host>/<path>
+@end example
+
+where:
+@table @option
+@item protocol
+'http', 'https', 'ftp', 'ftps', or 'tftp'.
+
+@item username
+Optional username for authentication to the remote server.
+
+@item password
+Optional password for authentication to the remote server.
+
+@item host
+Address of the remote server.
+
+@item path
+Path on the remote server, including any query string.
+@end table
+
+The following options are also supported:
+@table @option
+@item url
+The full URL when passing options to the driver explicitly.
+
+@item readahead
+The amount of data to read ahead with each range request to the remote server.
+This value may optionally have the suffix 'T', 'G', 'M', 'K', 'k' or 'b'. If it
+does not have a suffix, it will be assumed to be in bytes. The value must be a
+multiple of 512 bytes. It defaults to 256k.
+
+@item sslverify
+Whether to verify the remote server's certificate when connecting over SSL. It
+can have the value 'on' or 'off'. It defaults to 'on'.
+@end table
+
+Note that when passing options to qemu explicitly, @option{driver} is the value
+of <protocol>.
+
+Example: boot from a remote Fedora 20 live ISO image
+@example
+qemu-system-x86_64 --drive media=cdrom,file=http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/20/Live/x86_64/Fedora-Live-Desktop-x86_64-20-1.iso,readonly
+
+qemu-system-x86_64 --drive media=cdrom,file.driver=http,file.url=http://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/20/Live/x86_64/Fedora-Live-Desktop-x86_64-20-1.iso,readonly
+@end example
+
+Example: boot from a remote Fedora 20 cloud image using a local overlay for
+writes, copy-on-read, and a readahead of 64k
+@example
+qemu-img create -f qcow2 -o backing_file='json:@{"file.driver":"http",, "file.url":"https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/20/Images/x86_64/Fedora-x86_64-20-20131211.1-sda.qcow2",, "file.readahead":"64k"@}' /tmp/Fedora-x86_64-20-20131211.1-sda.qcow2
+
+qemu-system-x86_64 -drive file=/tmp/Fedora-x86_64-20-20131211.1-sda.qcow2,copy-on-read=on
+@end example
+
+Example: boot from an image stored on a VMware vSphere server with a self-signed
+certificate using a local overlay for writes and a readahead of 64k
+@example
+qemu-img create -f qcow2 -o backing_file='json:@{"file.driver":"https",, "file.url":"https://user:password@@vsphere.example.com/folder/test/test-flat.vmdk?dcPath=Datacenter&dsName=datastore1",, "file.sslverify":"off",, "file.readahead":"64k"@}' /tmp/test.qcow2
+
+qemu-system-x86_64 -drive file=/tmp/test.qcow2
+@end example
 ETEXI
 
 STEXI
diff --git a/qmp-commands.hx b/qmp-commands.hx
index cae890ee5d..2c53c1ba2e 100644
--- a/qmp-commands.hx
+++ b/qmp-commands.hx
@@ -2032,6 +2032,8 @@ Each json-object contain the following:
          - "iops_rd_max":  read I/O operations max (json-int)
          - "iops_wr_max":  write I/O operations max (json-int)
          - "iops_size": I/O size when limiting by iops (json-int)
+         - "detect_zeroes": detect and optimize zero writing (json-string)
+             - Possible values: "off", "on", "unmap"
          - "image": the detail of the image, it is a json-object containing
             the following:
              - "filename": image file name (json-string)
@@ -2108,6 +2110,7 @@ Example:
                "iops_rd_max": 0,
                "iops_wr_max": 0,
                "iops_size": 0,
+               "detect_zeroes": "on",
                "image":{
                   "filename":"disks/test.qcow2",
                   "format":"qcow2",
diff --git a/qobject/qdict.c b/qobject/qdict.c
index 42ec4c0d2c..ea239f082e 100644
--- a/qobject/qdict.c
+++ b/qobject/qdict.c
@@ -665,3 +665,35 @@ void qdict_array_split(QDict *src, QList **dst)
         qlist_append_obj(*dst, subqobj ?: QOBJECT(subqdict));
     }
 }
+
+/**
+ * qdict_join(): Absorb the src QDict into the dest QDict, that is, move all
+ * elements from src to dest.
+ *
+ * If an element from src has a key already present in dest, it will not be
+ * moved unless overwrite is true.
+ *
+ * If overwrite is true, the conflicting values in dest will be discarded and
+ * replaced by the corresponding values from src.
+ *
+ * Therefore, with overwrite being true, the src QDict will always be empty when
+ * this function returns. If overwrite is false, the src QDict will be empty
+ * iff there were no conflicts.
+ */
+void qdict_join(QDict *dest, QDict *src, bool overwrite)
+{
+    const QDictEntry *entry, *next;
+
+    entry = qdict_first(src);
+    while (entry) {
+        next = qdict_next(src, entry);
+
+        if (overwrite || !qdict_haskey(dest, entry->key)) {
+            qobject_incref(entry->value);
+            qdict_put_obj(dest, entry->key, entry->value);
+            qdict_del(src, entry->key);
+        }
+
+        entry = next;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/check-qdict.c b/tests/check-qdict.c
index 2ad0f7827e..a9296f0833 100644
--- a/tests/check-qdict.c
+++ b/tests/check-qdict.c
@@ -444,6 +444,92 @@ static void qdict_array_split_test(void)
     QDECREF(test_dict);
 }
 
+static void qdict_join_test(void)
+{
+    QDict *dict1, *dict2;
+    bool overwrite = false;
+    int i;
+
+    dict1 = qdict_new();
+    dict2 = qdict_new();
+
+
+    /* Test everything once without overwrite and once with */
+    do
+    {
+        /* Test empty dicts */
+        qdict_join(dict1, dict2, overwrite);
+
+        g_assert(qdict_size(dict1) == 0);
+        g_assert(qdict_size(dict2) == 0);
+
+
+        /* First iteration: Test movement */
+        /* Second iteration: Test empty source and non-empty destination */
+        qdict_put(dict2, "foo", qint_from_int(42));
+
+        for (i = 0; i < 2; i++) {
+            qdict_join(dict1, dict2, overwrite);
+
+            g_assert(qdict_size(dict1) == 1);
+            g_assert(qdict_size(dict2) == 0);
+
+            g_assert(qdict_get_int(dict1, "foo") == 42);
+        }
+
+
+        /* Test non-empty source and destination without conflict */
+        qdict_put(dict2, "bar", qint_from_int(23));
+
+        qdict_join(dict1, dict2, overwrite);
+
+        g_assert(qdict_size(dict1) == 2);
+        g_assert(qdict_size(dict2) == 0);
+
+        g_assert(qdict_get_int(dict1, "foo") == 42);
+        g_assert(qdict_get_int(dict1, "bar") == 23);
+
+
+        /* Test conflict */
+        qdict_put(dict2, "foo", qint_from_int(84));
+
+        qdict_join(dict1, dict2, overwrite);
+
+        g_assert(qdict_size(dict1) == 2);
+        g_assert(qdict_size(dict2) == !overwrite);
+
+        g_assert(qdict_get_int(dict1, "foo") == overwrite ? 84 : 42);
+        g_assert(qdict_get_int(dict1, "bar") == 23);
+
+        if (!overwrite) {
+            g_assert(qdict_get_int(dict2, "foo") == 84);
+        }
+
+
+        /* Check the references */
+        g_assert(qdict_get(dict1, "foo")->refcnt == 1);
+        g_assert(qdict_get(dict1, "bar")->refcnt == 1);
+
+        if (!overwrite) {
+            g_assert(qdict_get(dict2, "foo")->refcnt == 1);
+        }
+
+
+        /* Clean up */
+        qdict_del(dict1, "foo");
+        qdict_del(dict1, "bar");
+
+        if (!overwrite) {
+            qdict_del(dict2, "foo");
+        }
+    }
+    while (overwrite ^= true);
+
+
+    QDECREF(dict1);
+    QDECREF(dict2);
+}
+
 /*
  * Errors test-cases
  */
@@ -584,6 +670,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     g_test_add_func("/public/iterapi", qdict_iterapi_test);
     g_test_add_func("/public/flatten", qdict_flatten_test);
     g_test_add_func("/public/array_split", qdict_array_split_test);
+    g_test_add_func("/public/join", qdict_join_test);
 
     g_test_add_func("/errors/put_exists", qdict_put_exists_test);
     g_test_add_func("/errors/get_not_exists", qdict_get_not_exists_test);
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/030 b/tests/qemu-iotests/030
index 8cb61fd7ec..8ce2373cf5 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/030
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/030
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class TestSingleDrive(iotests.QMPTestCase):
         qemu_img('create', '-f', iotests.imgfmt, '-o', 'backing_file=%s' % backing_img, mid_img)
         qemu_img('create', '-f', iotests.imgfmt, '-o', 'backing_file=%s' % mid_img, test_img)
         qemu_io('-c', 'write -P 0x1 0 512', backing_img)
-        self.vm = iotests.VM().add_drive(test_img)
+        self.vm = iotests.VM().add_drive("blkdebug::" + test_img)
         self.vm.launch()
 
     def tearDown(self):
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/039 b/tests/qemu-iotests/039
index b9cbe99560..27fe4bdacc 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/039
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/039
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ _supported_os Linux
 _default_cache_mode "writethrough"
 _supported_cache_modes "writethrough"
 
+_no_dump_exec()
+{
+    (ulimit -c 0; exec "$@")
+}
+
 size=128M
 
 echo
@@ -67,10 +72,7 @@ echo "== Creating a dirty image file =="
 IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on"
 _make_test_img $size
 
-old_ulimit=$(ulimit -c)
-ulimit -c 0 # do not produce a core dump on abort(3)
-$QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" -c "abort" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
-ulimit -c "$old_ulimit"
+_no_dump_exec $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" -c "abort" "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io
 
 # The dirty bit must be set
 ./qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" dump-header | grep incompatible_features
@@ -103,10 +105,7 @@ echo "== Opening a dirty image read/write should repair it =="
 IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=on"
 _make_test_img $size
 
-old_ulimit=$(ulimit -c)
-ulimit -c 0 # do not produce a core dump on abort(3)
-$QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" -c "abort" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
-ulimit -c "$old_ulimit"
+_no_dump_exec $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" -c "abort" "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io
 
 # The dirty bit must be set
 ./qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" dump-header | grep incompatible_features
@@ -122,10 +121,7 @@ echo "== Creating an image file with lazy_refcounts=off =="
 IMGOPTS="compat=1.1,lazy_refcounts=off"
 _make_test_img $size
 
-old_ulimit=$(ulimit -c)
-ulimit -c 0 # do not produce a core dump on abort(3)
-$QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" -c "abort" "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
-ulimit -c "$old_ulimit"
+_no_dump_exec $QEMU_IO -c "write -P 0x5a 0 512" -c "abort" "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io
 
 # The dirty bit must not be set since lazy_refcounts=off
 ./qcow2.py "$TEST_IMG" dump-header | grep incompatible_features
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/039.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/039.out
index fb31ae0624..67e774430f 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/039.out
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/039.out
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ No errors were found on the image.
 Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=134217728 
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+./039: Aborted                 ( ulimit -c 0; exec "$@" )
 incompatible_features     0x1
 ERROR cluster 5 refcount=0 reference=1
 ERROR OFLAG_COPIED data cluster: l2_entry=8000000000050000 refcount=0
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ read 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=134217728 
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+./039: Aborted                 ( ulimit -c 0; exec "$@" )
 incompatible_features     0x1
 Repairing cluster 5 refcount=0 reference=1
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
@@ -52,6 +54,7 @@ incompatible_features     0x0
 Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=134217728 
 wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
 512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+./039: Aborted                 ( ulimit -c 0; exec "$@" )
 incompatible_features     0x0
 No errors were found on the image.
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/067.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/067.out
index 8d271cc41a..7e090b95ab 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/067.out
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/067.out
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=134217728
 Testing: -drive file=TEST_DIR/t.qcow2,format=qcow2,if=none,id=disk -device virtio-blk-pci,drive=disk,id=virtio0
 QMP_VERSION
 {"return": {}}
-{"return": [{"io-status": "ok", "device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": false, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "type": "unknown"}, {"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
+{"return": [{"io-status": "ok", "device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": false, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "detect_zeroes": "off", "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "type": "unknown"}, {"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
 {"return": {}}
 {"return": {}}
 {"timestamp": {"seconds":  TIMESTAMP, "microseconds":  TIMESTAMP}, "event": "DEVICE_DELETED", "data": {"path": "/machine/peripheral/virtio0/virtio-backend"}}
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ QMP_VERSION
 Testing: -drive file=TEST_DIR/t.qcow2,format=qcow2,if=none,id=disk
 QMP_VERSION
 {"return": {}}
-{"return": [{"device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": true, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
+{"return": [{"device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": true, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "detect_zeroes": "off", "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
 {"return": {}}
 {"return": {}}
 {"return": {}}
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ Testing:
 QMP_VERSION
 {"return": {}}
 {"return": "OK\r\n"}
-{"return": [{"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": true, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
+{"return": [{"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": true, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "detect_zeroes": "off", "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
 {"return": {}}
 {"return": {}}
 {"return": {}}
@@ -64,14 +64,14 @@ Testing:
 QMP_VERSION
 {"return": {}}
 {"return": {}}
-{"return": [{"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": true, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
+{"return": [{"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": true, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "detect_zeroes": "off", "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
 {"return": {}}
 {"return": {}}
 {"return": {}}
 {"timestamp": {"seconds":  TIMESTAMP, "microseconds":  TIMESTAMP}, "event": "DEVICE_DELETED", "data": {"path": "/machine/peripheral/virtio0/virtio-backend"}}
 {"timestamp": {"seconds":  TIMESTAMP, "microseconds":  TIMESTAMP}, "event": "DEVICE_DELETED", "data": {"device": "virtio0", "path": "/machine/peripheral/virtio0"}}
 {"timestamp": {"seconds":  TIMESTAMP, "microseconds":  TIMESTAMP}, "event": "RESET"}
-{"return": [{"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"io-status": "ok", "device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": true, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
+{"return": [{"io-status": "ok", "device": "ide1-cd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "floppy0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"device": "sd0", "locked": false, "removable": true, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}, {"io-status": "ok", "device": "disk", "locked": false, "removable": true, "inserted": {"iops_rd": 0, "detect_zeroes": "off", "image": {"virtual-size": 134217728, "filename": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "cluster-size": 65536, "format": "qcow2", "actual-size": SIZE, "format-specific": {"type": "qcow2", "data": {"compat": "1.1", "lazy-refcounts": false}}, "dirty-flag": false}, "iops_wr": 0, "ro": false, "backing_file_depth": 0, "drv": "qcow2", "iops": 0, "bps_wr": 0, "encrypted": false, "bps": 0, "bps_rd": 0, "file": "TEST_DIR/t.qcow2", "encryption_key_missing": false}, "tray_open": false, "type": "unknown"}]}
 {"return": {}}
 {"timestamp": {"seconds":  TIMESTAMP, "microseconds":  TIMESTAMP}, "event": "SHUTDOWN"}
 {"timestamp": {"seconds":  TIMESTAMP, "microseconds":  TIMESTAMP}, "event": "DEVICE_TRAY_MOVED", "data": {"device": "ide1-cd0", "tray-open": true}}
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/070 b/tests/qemu-iotests/070
index ce71fa4a22..ea0dae7e9c 100755
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/070
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/070
@@ -72,6 +72,13 @@ echo "=== Verify open image read-only succeeds after log replay ==="
 $QEMU_IO -r -c "read -pP 0xa5 0 18M" "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1 | _filter_testdir \
                                                       | _filter_qemu_io
 
+_cleanup_test_img
+_use_sample_img test-disk2vhd.vhdx.bz2
+
+echo
+echo "=== Verify image created by Disk2VHD can be opened ==="
+$QEMU_IMG info "$TEST_IMG" 2>&1 | _filter_testdir | _filter_qemu
+
 # success, all done
 echo "*** done"
 rm -f $seq.full
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/070.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/070.out
index 922d62cb51..15f1fc1471 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/070.out
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/070.out
@@ -18,4 +18,11 @@ No errors were found on the image.
 === Verify open image read-only succeeds after log replay ===
 read 18874368/18874368 bytes at offset 0
 18 MiB, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+
+=== Verify image created by Disk2VHD can be opened ===
+image: TEST_DIR/test-disk2vhd.vhdx
+file format: vhdx
+virtual size: 256M (268435456 bytes)
+disk size: 260M
+cluster_size: 2097152
 *** done
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/089 b/tests/qemu-iotests/089
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..ef476010c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/089
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Test case for support of JSON filenames
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2014 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+
+# creator
+owner=mreitz@redhat.com
+
+seq="$(basename $0)"
+echo "QA output created by $seq"
+
+here="$PWD"
+tmp=/tmp/$$
+status=1	# failure is the default!
+
+_cleanup()
+{
+	_cleanup_test_img
+}
+trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
+
+# get standard environment, filters and checks
+. ./common.rc
+. ./common.filter
+
+_supported_fmt qcow2
+_supported_proto file
+_supported_os Linux
+
+# Using an image filename containing quotation marks will render the JSON data
+# below invalid. In that case, we have little choice but simply not to run this
+# test.
+case $TEST_IMG in
+    *'"'*)
+        _notrun "image filename may not contain quotation marks"
+        ;;
+esac
+
+IMG_SIZE=64M
+
+# Taken from test 072
+echo
+echo "=== Testing nested image formats ==="
+echo
+
+TEST_IMG="$TEST_IMG.base" _make_test_img $IMG_SIZE
+
+$QEMU_IO -c 'write -P 42 0 512' -c 'write -P 23 512 512' \
+         -c 'write -P 66 1024 512' "$TEST_IMG.base" | _filter_qemu_io
+
+$QEMU_IMG convert -f raw -O $IMGFMT "$TEST_IMG.base" "$TEST_IMG"
+
+$QEMU_IO -c 'read -P 42 0 512' -c 'read -P 23 512 512' \
+         -c 'read -P 66 1024 512' "json:{
+    \"driver\": \"$IMGFMT\",
+    \"file\": {
+        \"driver\": \"$IMGFMT\",
+        \"file\": {
+            \"filename\": \"$TEST_IMG\"
+        }
+    }
+}" | _filter_qemu_io
+
+# This should fail (see test 072)
+$QEMU_IO -c 'read -P 42 0 512' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
+
+
+# Taken from test 071
+echo
+echo "=== Testing blkdebug ==="
+echo
+
+_make_test_img $IMG_SIZE
+
+$QEMU_IO -c 'write -P 42 0x38000 512' "$TEST_IMG" | _filter_qemu_io
+
+# The "image.filename" part tests whether "a": { "b": "c" } and "a.b": "c" do
+# the same (which they should).
+$QEMU_IO -c 'read -P 42 0x38000 512' "json:{
+    \"driver\": \"$IMGFMT\",
+    \"file\": {
+        \"driver\": \"blkdebug\",
+        \"inject-error\": [{
+            \"event\": \"l2_load\"
+        }],
+        \"image.filename\": \"$TEST_IMG\"
+    }
+}" | _filter_qemu_io
+
+
+echo
+echo "=== Testing qemu-img info output ==="
+echo
+
+$QEMU_IMG info "json:{\"driver\":\"qcow2\",\"file.filename\":\"$TEST_IMG\"}" \
+    | _filter_testdir | _filter_imgfmt
+
+
+echo
+echo "=== Testing option merging ==="
+echo
+
+# Both options given directly and those given in the filename should be used
+$QEMU_IO -c "open -o driver=qcow2 json:{\"file.filename\":\"$TEST_IMG\"}" \
+         -c "info" 2>&1 | _filter_testdir | _filter_imgfmt
+
+# Options given directly should be prioritized over those given in the filename
+$QEMU_IO -c "open -o driver=qcow2 json:{\"driver\":\"raw\",\"file.filename\":\"$TEST_IMG\"}" \
+         -c "info" 2>&1 | _filter_testdir | _filter_imgfmt
+
+
+# success, all done
+echo "*** done"
+rm -f $seq.full
+status=0
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/089.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/089.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d6cf7835d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/089.out
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+QA output created by 089
+
+=== Testing nested image formats ===
+
+Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT.base', fmt=IMGFMT size=67108864 
+wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 0
+512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 512
+512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 1024
+512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+read 512/512 bytes at offset 0
+512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+read 512/512 bytes at offset 512
+512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+read 512/512 bytes at offset 1024
+512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+Pattern verification failed at offset 0, 512 bytes
+read 512/512 bytes at offset 0
+512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+
+=== Testing blkdebug ===
+
+Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=67108864 
+wrote 512/512 bytes at offset 229376
+512 bytes, X ops; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY/sec and XXX ops/sec)
+read failed: Input/output error
+
+=== Testing qemu-img info output ===
+
+image: TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT
+file format: IMGFMT
+virtual size: 64M (67108864 bytes)
+disk size: 324K
+cluster_size: 65536
+Format specific information:
+    compat: 1.1
+    lazy refcounts: false
+
+=== Testing option merging ===
+
+format name: IMGFMT
+cluster size: 64 KiB
+vm state offset: 512 MiB
+Format specific information:
+    compat: 1.1
+    lazy refcounts: false
+format name: IMGFMT
+cluster size: 64 KiB
+vm state offset: 512 MiB
+Format specific information:
+    compat: 1.1
+    lazy refcounts: false
+*** done
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/092 b/tests/qemu-iotests/092
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..a8c0c9ca2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/092
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# qcow1 format input validation tests
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2014 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+
+# creator
+owner=kwolf@redhat.com
+
+seq=`basename $0`
+echo "QA output created by $seq"
+
+here=`pwd`
+tmp=/tmp/$$
+status=1	# failure is the default!
+
+_cleanup()
+{
+    rm -f $TEST_IMG.snap
+    _cleanup_test_img
+}
+trap "_cleanup; exit \$status" 0 1 2 3 15
+
+# get standard environment, filters and checks
+. ./common.rc
+. ./common.filter
+
+_supported_fmt qcow
+_supported_proto generic
+_supported_os Linux
+
+offset_backing_file_offset=8
+offset_backing_file_size=16
+offset_size=24
+offset_cluster_bits=32
+offset_l2_bits=33
+
+echo
+echo "== Invalid cluster size =="
+_make_test_img 64M
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_cluster_bits" "\xff"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_cluster_bits" "\x1f"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_cluster_bits" "\x08"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_cluster_bits" "\x11"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+
+echo
+echo "== Invalid L2 table size =="
+_make_test_img 64M
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_l2_bits" "\xff"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_l2_bits" "\x05"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_l2_bits" "\x0e"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+
+# 1 << 0x1b = 2^31 / L2_CACHE_SIZE
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_l2_bits" "\x1b"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+
+echo
+echo "== Invalid size =="
+_make_test_img 64M
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_size" "\xee\xee\xee\xee\xee\xee\xee\xee"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_size" "\x7f\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "write 0 64M" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+
+echo
+echo "== Invalid backing file length =="
+_make_test_img 64M
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_backing_file_offset" "\x00\x00\x00\xff"
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_backing_file_size" "\xff\xff\xff\xff"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+poke_file "$TEST_IMG" "$offset_backing_file_size" "\x7f\xff\xff\xff"
+{ $QEMU_IO -c "read 0 512" $TEST_IMG; } 2>&1 | _filter_qemu_io | _filter_testdir
+
+# success, all done
+echo "*** done"
+rm -f $seq.full
+status=0
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/092.out b/tests/qemu-iotests/092.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..496d8f0a63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/092.out
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+QA output created by 092
+
+== Invalid cluster size ==
+Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=67108864 
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: Cluster size must be between 512 and 64k
+no file open, try 'help open'
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: Cluster size must be between 512 and 64k
+no file open, try 'help open'
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: Cluster size must be between 512 and 64k
+no file open, try 'help open'
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: Cluster size must be between 512 and 64k
+no file open, try 'help open'
+
+== Invalid L2 table size ==
+Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=67108864 
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: L2 table size must be between 512 and 64k
+no file open, try 'help open'
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: L2 table size must be between 512 and 64k
+no file open, try 'help open'
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: L2 table size must be between 512 and 64k
+no file open, try 'help open'
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: L2 table size must be between 512 and 64k
+no file open, try 'help open'
+
+== Invalid size ==
+Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=67108864 
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: Image too large
+no file open, try 'help open'
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: Image too large
+no file open, try 'help open'
+
+== Invalid backing file length ==
+Formatting 'TEST_DIR/t.IMGFMT', fmt=IMGFMT size=67108864 
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: Backing file name too long
+no file open, try 'help open'
+qemu-io: can't open device TEST_DIR/t.qcow: Backing file name too long
+no file open, try 'help open'
+*** done
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.filter b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.filter
index 776985d15e..a04df7f6dc 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/common.filter
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/common.filter
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ _filter_win32()
 _filter_qemu_io()
 {
     _filter_win32 | sed -e "s/[0-9]* ops\; [0-9/:. sec]* ([0-9/.inf]* [EPTGMKiBbytes]*\/sec and [0-9/.inf]* ops\/sec)/X ops\; XX:XX:XX.X (XXX YYY\/sec and XXX ops\/sec)/" \
+        -e "s/: line [0-9][0-9]*:  *[0-9][0-9]*\( Aborted\)/:\1/" \
         -e "s/qemu-io> //g"
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/group b/tests/qemu-iotests/group
index cd3e4d2c27..0f074403ae 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/group
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/group
@@ -95,5 +95,7 @@
 086 rw auto quick
 087 rw auto
 088 rw auto
+089 rw auto quick
 090 rw auto quick
 091 rw auto
+092 rw auto quick
diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/sample_images/test-disk2vhd.vhdx.bz2 b/tests/qemu-iotests/sample_images/test-disk2vhd.vhdx.bz2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2891c9a6d6
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/qemu-iotests/sample_images/test-disk2vhd.vhdx.bz2 differ
diff --git a/util/iov.c b/util/iov.c
index 6569b5aae1..49f88388f8 100644
--- a/util/iov.c
+++ b/util/iov.c
@@ -335,6 +335,27 @@ void qemu_iovec_concat(QEMUIOVector *dst,
     qemu_iovec_concat_iov(dst, src->iov, src->niov, soffset, sbytes);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Check if the contents of the iovecs are all zero
+ */
+bool qemu_iovec_is_zero(QEMUIOVector *qiov)
+{
+    int i;
+    for (i = 0; i < qiov->niov; i++) {
+        size_t offs = QEMU_ALIGN_DOWN(qiov->iov[i].iov_len, 4 * sizeof(long));
+        uint8_t *ptr = qiov->iov[i].iov_base;
+        if (offs && !buffer_is_zero(qiov->iov[i].iov_base, offs)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        for (; offs < qiov->iov[i].iov_len; offs++) {
+            if (ptr[offs]) {
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return true;
+}
+
 void qemu_iovec_destroy(QEMUIOVector *qiov)
 {
     assert(qiov->nalloc != -1);