FWN/Beats/Virtualization: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:14, 26 October 2009

Virtualization

In this section, we cover discussion of Fedora virtualization technologies on the @fedora-virt list.

Contributing Writer: Dale Bewley

Fedora Virtualization List

This section contains the discussion happening on the fedora-virt list.

KVM and Paravirtualization

The Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machine is a form of hardware assisted virtualization^[1] as opposed to software-only or paravirtualization. This means the underlying hardware must have CPU features like Intel-VT or AMD-V. While common in the last few years, there are still many servers in operation which lack these extensions.

Giovanni Tirloni asked^[2] about the state of paravirtualization support in KVM, and asked about a set of KVM patches^[3].

Dor Laor answered^[4] there is no plan to support non-VT hardware with KVM. While Xen is not supported on Fedora, it is still a paravirtualization for such hardware option under Redhat 5.

Installing Virtio Drivers in Windows XP Setup

Richard Hughes posted^[1] the following directions for installing VirtIO drivers^[2] during Windows XP setup.

create a 1.44Mb image file
mount it by loopback
format it with vfat
copy the Install/Xp/x86/viostor.sys, Install/Xp/x86/wnet.inf, and the txtsetup.oem file below to the root of the mounted image
umount the loop device
attach the floppy image as a floppy storage element in the VM's details pane
boot the VM
remember to press F6 when booting the windows xp setup and select the VirtoIO device.

File txtsetup.oem:

[Disks]
d1 = "Viostor SCSI driver disk",\disk1.tag,\

[Defaults]
SCSI = viostor

[SCSI]
viostor = "Viostor SCSI Controller"

[Files.SCSI.viostor]
driver = d1,viostor.sys,viostor
inf = d1,wnet.inf

[HardwareIds.scsi.viostor]
id = "PCI\VEN_1AF4&DEV_1001","viostor"

Richard added "I'm still unable to install XP using ide, scsi or virtio drivers as it gives the message "Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk maybe damaged." -- any ideas welcome."

Other Sources

Using KSM (Kernel Samepage Merging) with KVM

An upcoming feature of Fedora 12 is KSM^[1]. "Kernel SamePage Merging is a recent linux kernel feature which combines identical memory pages from multiple processes into one copy on write memory region." Haydn Solomon described^[2] how KSM and KVM work together.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-virt fedora-virt list].
-==== New Release virt-top 1.0.4 ====
+==== KVM and Paravirtualization ====
-[[RichardJones|Richard Jones]]
+The Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machine is a form of hardware assisted
-announced<ref>http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-virt/2009-October/msg00019.html</ref> a new release of {{package|virt-top}}.
+virtualization<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware-assisted_virtualization</ref>
-"Virt-top<ref>http://et.redhat.com/~rjones/virt-top/</ref> looks and acts
+as opposed to software-only or paravirtualization. This means the underlying
-like the familiar top(1) command, displays virtual machines, and uses
+hardware must have CPU features like Intel-VT or AMD-V. While common in the
-libvirt so it works with just about every virtualization system out
+last few years, there are still many servers in operation which lack these extensions.
-there. It also has cool features for sysadmins, like you can use it to
-log stats into a database or spreadsheet."
+[[GiovanniTirloni|Giovanni Tirloni]]
+asked<ref>http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-virt/2009-October/msg00090.html</ref>
+about the state of paravirtualization support in KVM, and
+asked about a set of KVM patches<ref>http://people.redhat.com/mingo/kvm-paravirt-patches/</ref>.
+[[DorLaor|Dor Laor]]
+answered<ref>http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-virt/2009-October/msg00092.html</ref>
+there is no plan to support non-VT hardware with KVM. While Xen is not
+supported on Fedora, it is still a paravirtualization for such hardware option under Redhat 5.
+<references />
+==== Installing Virtio Drivers in Windows XP Setup ====
+[[RichardHughes|Richard Hughes]]
+posted<ref>http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-virt/2009-October/msg00101.html</ref>
+the following directions for installing VirtIO drivers<ref>http://www.linux-kvm.org/page/WindowsGuestDrivers/Download_Drivers</ref> during Windows XP setup.
+* create a 1.44Mb image file
+* mount it by loopback
+* format it with vfat
+* copy the {{filename|Install/Xp/x86/viostor.sys}}, {{filename|Install/Xp/x86/wnet.inf}}, and the txtsetup.oem file below to the root of the mounted image
+* umount the loop device
+* attach the floppy image as a floppy storage element in the VM's details pane
+* boot the VM
+* remember to press F6 when booting the windows xp setup and select the VirtoIO device.
+File {{filename|txtsetup.oem}}:
+<pre>
+[Disks]
+d1 = "Viostor SCSI driver disk",\disk1.tag,\
+[Defaults]
+SCSI = viostor
+[SCSI]
+viostor = "Viostor SCSI Controller"
+[Files.SCSI.viostor]
+driver = d1,viostor.sys,viostor
+inf = d1,wnet.inf
+[HardwareIds.scsi.viostor]
+id = "PCI\VEN_1AF4&DEV_1001","viostor"
+</pre>
+Richard added "I'm still unable to install XP using ide, scsi or virtio drivers
+as it gives the message "Setup was unable to format the partition. The
+disk maybe damaged." -- any ideas welcome."
 <references />
-==== Limit VNC Access to a Single Guest ====
+=== Other Sources ===
-Dennis asked<ref>http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-virt/2009-October/msg00027.html</ref>
-if it was possible to limit a user to a single guest console rather than the
-all guests in a {{package|virt-manager}} instance.
-[[RichardJones|Richard Jones]] answered that <code>virt-manager</code> doesn't
+==== Using KSM (Kernel Samepage Merging) with KVM ====
-support that level of authorization<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/VirtAuthorization</ref> yet, but each guest console can be given<ref>http://www.libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsGraphics</ref> a
+An upcoming feature  of [[Releases/12|Fedora 12]] is
-static VNC port number which can be secured with a firewall or ssh port
+KSM<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/KSM</ref>.
-forwarding.
+"Kernel SamePage Merging is a recent linux kernel feature which combines
+identical memory pages from multiple processes into one copy on write memory
+region."
+[[HaydnSolomon|Haydn Solomon]] described<ref>http://www.linux-kvm.com/content/using-ksm-kernel-samepage-merging-kvm</ref> how KSM and KVM work together.
 <references />

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