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| | [[Category:Virtualization]] |
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| {{Anchor|Virtualization}} | | {{Anchor|Virtualization}} |
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| == Virtualization == | | == Virtualization == |
| In this section, we cover discussion on the @et-mgmnt-tools-list, @fedora-virt, @fedora-xen-list, and @libvirt-list of Fedora virtualization technologies. | | In this section, we cover discussion on the @et-mgmnt-tools-list, @fedora-xen-list, @libvirt-list and @ovirt-devel-list of Fedora virtualization technologies. |
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| Contributing Writer: [[User:Dale|Dale Bewley]] | | Contributing Writer: [[User:Dale | Dale Bewley]] |
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| === Enterprise Management Tools List === | | === Enterprise Management Tools List === |
| This section contains the discussion happening on the | | This section contains the discussion happening on the |
| [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/et-mgmt-tools et-mgmt-tools list] | | [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/et-mgmt-tools et-mgmt-tools list] |
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| ==== New Release virt-manager 0.6.1 ====
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| [[ColeRobinson|Cole Robinson]] announced[1] a new {{package|virt-manager}} release, version 0.6.1.
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| Virtual Machine Manager provides a graphical tool for administering virtual
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| machines for <code>KVM</code>, <code>Xen</code>, and <code>QEmu</code>. Start, stop, add or remove virtual devices,
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| connect to a graphical or serial console, and see resource usage statistics
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| for existing VMs on local or remote machines. Uses <code>libvirt</code> as the backend
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| management API.
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| '''New features:'''
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| * VM disk and network stats reporting (Guido Gunther)
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| * VM Migration support (Shigeki Sakamoto)
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| * Support for adding sound devices to an existing VM
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| * Enumerate host devices attached to an existing VM
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| * Allow specifying a device model when adding a network device to an existing VM
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| * Combine the serial console view with the VM Details window
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| * Allow connection to multiple VM serial consoles
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| * Bug fixes and many minor improvements.
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| [1] http://www.redhat.com/archives/et-mgmt-tools/2009-January/msg00067.html
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| ==== New Release virtinst 0.4.1 ====
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| [[ColeRobinson|Cole Robinson]] announced[1] a new <code>virtinst</code> release, version 0.4.1.
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| {{package|python-virtinst}} is a module that helps build and install <code>libvirt</code> based virtual
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| machines. Currently supports <code>KVM</code>, <code>QEmu</code> and <code>Xen</code> virtual machines. Package
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| includes several command line utilities, including <code>virt-install</code> (build
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| and install new VMs) and <code>virt-clone</code> (clone an existing virtual machine).
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| '''New features:'''
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| * Add virt-image -> vmx support to virt-convert, replacing virt-pack (Joey Boggs)
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| * Add disk checksum support to virt-image (Joey Boggs)
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| * Enhanced URL install support: Debian Xen paravirt, Ubuntu kernel and boot.iso, Mandriva kernel, and Solaris Xen Paravirt (Guido Gunther, John Levon, Cole Robinson)
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| * Expanded test suite
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| * Numerous bug fixes, cleanups, and minor improvements
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| [1] http://www.redhat.com/archives/et-mgmt-tools/2009-January/msg00068.html
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| === Fedora Virtualization List === | | === Fedora Virtualization List === |
| This section contains the discussion happening on the | | This section contains the discussion happening on the |
| [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-virt fedora-virt list]. | | [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-virt fedora-virt list]. |
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| ==== Fedora Virt Status Update ====
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| True to his word, [[MarkMcLoughlin|Mark McLoughlin]] posted[1] another weekly update on the status of virtualization development in Fedora. Some highlights included:
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| * F11 Alpha Blockers - Workaround found for "unsynchronized TSC" issue[2] which caused guests on certain hosts to hang or crash.
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| * New release of {{package|libvirt}} coming very soon. It's out now.
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| * The KVM PCI Device Assignment[3] feature for F11 "received a very positive reception from FESCo", and "basic device assignment seems to be working."
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| * "Related to PCI device assignment are Intel VT-d issues that have been reported recently. Basically, on some machines ... VT-d support is causing serious [problems] and, in one case, data loss."
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| * New F11 feature page created for <code>sVirt</code>.[4] "sVirt integrates SELinux with the Fedora virtualization stack".
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| * New patches[5] from Jeremy Fitzhardinge reduce the overhead of enabling paravirt_ops on bare-metal by 75% in testing.
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| * Bug count climbed from 186 to 191.
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| [1] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-virt/2009-January/msg00063.html
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| [2] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/475598
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| [3] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/KVM_PCI_Device_Assignment
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| [4] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/SVirt_Mandatory_Access_Control
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| === Fedora Xen List === | | === Fedora Xen List === |
| This section contains the discussion happening on the | | This section contains the discussion happening on the |
| [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-xen fedora-xen list]. | | [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-xen fedora-xen list]. |
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| ==== Xen Users Future on Fedora ====
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| [[EvanLavelle|Evan Lavelle]] might have struck a nerve when wondering[1] if those who have invested years in {{package|xen}} on Fedora have been "shafted". "<code>Xen</code> isn't flavour of the month around here, but I assumed there were good reasons for that. Now, rather belatedly, I've found" that Red Hat acquired Qumranet and {{package|KVM}}. (FWN #143[2])
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| [[NeilThompson|Neil Thompson]] thought[3] not. "Shafted?...I don't think so. We're just in a blip at the moment." Neil pointed out that "RHEL5, which has a number of years left, includes xen - I don't think
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| Red Hat are going to mess their corporate clients around by removing it. The problem with F8 is that the {{package|kernel}} people could no longer drag an obsolete (2.6.21) <code>kernel</code> around just for xen, and decided to concentrate on helping get it into the mainstream <code>kernel</code>. This[4] has taken longer than expected."
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| Jan ONDREJ was also concerned[5] that, "<code>KVM</code> is still not a replacement for paravirtualized machines and I think fully virtualized <code>KVM</code> will be slower like a paravirtualized XEN."
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| [[RichardJones|Richard W.M. Jones]] countered[6]
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| "<code>KVM</code> is a great replacement for <code>Xen</code>. It's much easier to use for a start -- no more rebooting into a completely separate <code>kernel</code> hypervisor. As long as you have the <code>virtio</code> drivers in the guest, which is the default for all new Linux distros, performance is roughly the same."
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| Apropos to the topic, but on another list, [[MarkMcLoughlin|Mark McLoughlin]] explained[7]
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| "Para-virtualization isn't always better. <code>KVM</code> uses full virtualization, meaning that it uses the processor's support for virtualization. This means you can run an unmodified guest OS on <code>KVM</code>.
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| If you can modify the guest OS, then <code>KVM</code> does allow you to use paravirtualization for some performance sensitive operations - so e.g. we've got <code>pvclock</code>, pv MMU and <code>virtio</code> devices.
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| Don't get tied up in marketing terminology - try both and decide for yourself which works best for you."
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| Support for dom0 is targeted[8] for <code>kernel</code> 2.6.29, but the changelogs[9] for the release candidates don't seem to indicate completion yet.
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| [[GerdHoffmann|Gerd Hoffmann]] confirmed[10] that "...most of the dom0 stuff missed the boat. Some prelimary stuff might be in though..." adding that "The pv_ops/dom0 kernel has some not-yet debugged storage issues (disk controller either fails after a while or doesn't work at all), which is the major stumbling block right now."
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| [[DanielBerrange|Daniel P. Berrange]], of Red Hat Engineering, detailed the history of <code>Xen</code> on Fedora and explained "while it is definitely unfortunate that we don't have a <code>Xen</code> Dom0 kernel in Fedora 9/10, we are *not* trying to shaft anyone & will re-introduce <code>Xen</code> Dom0 kernels to Fedora when they become available." ... "It [is] still hard to say just when these will be accepted upstream, but there is a semi-reasonable [chance] we'll be able to turn <code>Xen</code> Dom0 back on in Fedora 11 kernels."[11]
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| [1] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00031.html
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| [2] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FWN/Issue143#Red_Hat_Acquires_Makers_of_KVM.2C_Qumranet_Inc.
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| [3] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00033.html
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| [4] http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/XenPvopsDom0
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| [5] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00032.html
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| [6] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00041.html
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| [7] http://www.redhat.com/archives/et-mgmt-tools/2009-January/msg00063.html
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| [8] http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenParavirtOps
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| [9] http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/testing/ChangeLog-2.6.29-rc2 http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/testing/ChangeLog-2.6.29-rc1
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| [10] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00056.html
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| [11] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00036.html
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| ==== Migrating Xen DomU to KVM Guest ====
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| Talk of the future of <code>Xen</code> on Fedora led to talk of migrating
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| guests to <code>KVM</code>. Fortunately, migrating a virtual machine from <code>Xen</code> to <code>KVM</code> is straight forward. Well, more or less.
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| [[RichardJones|Richard W.M. Jones]] explained[1]
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| "Install a recent Linux kernel in the guest, adjust the [libvirt] configuration file, and reboot."
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| Alternatively, {{package|xenner}} will enable running "the <code>Xen</code> PV guest unchanged (ie. without installing a new guest kernel)."
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| * Ensure the guest {{package|kernel}} is new enough to support <code>virtio</code> network drivers (<code>kernel</code> >= 2.6.25)
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| * change the domain <type>, <os>, and <emulator> fields[2] - '<code>virsh edit <domname></code>'
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| * "tell[3] the host to give the guest a <code>virtio</code> network card - change the NIC <code><model type='virtio'/></code>"
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| Richard finally noted[4] "For newly installed guests, recent anaconda just works everything out for you and puts the correct drivers into <code>initrd</code>." [[MarkMcLoughlin|Mark McLoughlin]] provided the <code>mkinitrd</code> command to build the appropriate <code>initrd</code> in existing guests: '<code>mkinitrd --with virtio_pci --with virtio_blk -f /boot/initrd-$(kernelversion) $(kernelversion)</code>' "You only need to do this once. After that, if a new kernel is installed while you're booted off a virtio disk, then mkinitrd will include the modules automatically."
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| [[EmreErenoglu|Emre Erenoglu]] noted[5]
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| "You will also need to specify <code>/dev/vdX</code> on the <code>kernel root=</code> line and make sure your init script inside your <code>initrd</code> triggers the virtio drivers at boot so that the <code>/dev/vdX</code> are created."
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| [[MarkMcLoughlin|Mark McLoughlin]] added[6] a caveat.
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| "the F9 x86_64 xen kernel didn't have support for running 32 bit binaries like grub, so the bootloader would never
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| have been installed into the MBR. That works fine for pygrub, but not with KVM's real BIOS."
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| Also see this[7] guide to converting to <code>virtio</code> drivers.
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| [1] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00041.html
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| [2] http://libvirt.org/drvqemu.html
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| [3] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00048.html
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| [4] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00053.html
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| [5] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00058.html
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| [6] http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-xen/2009-January/msg00078.html
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| [7] http://wiki.libvirt.org/page/Virtio
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| === Libvirt List === | | === Libvirt List === |
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| [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/libvir-list libvir-list]. | | [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/libvir-list libvir-list]. |
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| ==== New Release libvirt 0.6.0 ==== | | === oVirt Devel List === |
| [[DanielVeillard|Daniel Veillard]] announced[1] a new {{package|libvirt}} release, version 0.6.0.
| | This section contains the discussion happening on the |
| | | [http://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/ovirt-devel ovirt-devel list]. |
| <code>Libvirt</code> is a <code>C</code> toolkit to interact with the virtualization capabilities
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| of recent versions of Linux (and other OSes).
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| '''New features:'''
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| * thread safety of the API and event handling (Daniel Berrange)
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| * allow QEmu domains to survive daemon restart (Guido Gunther)
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| * extended logging capabilities
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| * support copy-on-write storage volumes (Daniel Berrange)
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| * support of storage cache control options for QEmu/KVM (Daniel Berrange)
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| '''Improvements:'''
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| * driver infrastructure and locking (Daniel Berrange)
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| * Test driver infrastructure (Daniel Berrange)
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| * parallelism in the daemon and associated config (Daniel Berrange)
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| * virsh help cleanups (Jim Meyering)
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| * logrotate daemon logs (Guido Gunther)
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| * more regression tests (Jim Meyering)
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| * QEmu SDL graphics (Itamar Heim)
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| * add --version flag to daemon (Dave Allan)
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| * memory consumption cleanup (Dave Allan)
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| * QEmu pid file and XML states for daemon restart (Guido Gunther)
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| * gnulib updates (Jim Meyering and Dan Berrange)
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| * PCI passthrough for KVM (Jason Krieg)
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| * generic internal thread API (Daniel Berrange)
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| * RHEL-5 specific Xen configure option and code (Markus Armbruster)
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| * save domain state as string in status file (Guido Gunther)
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| * add locking to all API entry points (Daniel Berrange)
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| * new ref counting APIs (Daniel Berrange)
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| * IP address for Xen bridges (John Levon)
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| * driver format for disk file types (Daniel Berrange)
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| * improve QEmu/KVM tun/tap performances (Mark McLoughlin)
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| * enable floppies for Xen fully virt (John Levon)
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| * support VNC password settings for QEmu/KVM (Daniel Berrange)
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| * qemu driver version reporting (Daniel Berrange)
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| There were also dozens of cleanups, documentation enhancements, portability and bug fixes.
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| [1] http://www.redhat.com/archives/libvir-list/2009-January/msg00863.html | |
