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.