Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE SERVER 11 - VIRTUALIZATION User manual

SUSE Linux Enterprise
Server
www.novell.com11
May27,2009 Virtualization with Xen

Virtualization with Xen
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Contents
About This Manual vii
1Introduction to Xen Virtualization 1
1.1 BasicComponents......................... 1
1.2 Understanding Virtualization Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Xen Virtualization Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 The Virtual Machine Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2Setting Up a Virtual Machine Host 7
2.1 Best Practices and Suggestions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Managing Domain 0 Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3 Network Card in Fully Virtualized Guests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.4 Starting the Virtual Machine Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.5 PCIPass-Through......................... 13
3Setting Up Virtual Machines 17
3.1 Creating a Virtual Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.2 Installing an Operating System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.3 Including Add-On Products in the Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.4 Using the Command Line to Create Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.5 Deleting Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.6 Using an Existing SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Virtual Machine . . . . . 25
3.7 Troubleshooting ......................... 26
4Managing a Virtualization Environment 29
4.1 Virtual Machine Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4.2 Controlling the Host by Modifying xend Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.3 Conguring a Virtual Machine by Modifying its xend Settings . . . . . . 33
4.4 ThexmCommand........................ 34
4.5 Automatic Starting of Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
4.6 Migrating Xen VM Guest Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5Virtual Networking 39
5.1 VirtualBridges.......................... 40
5.2 Network Devices for Guest Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.3 Special Congurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
6Virtualization: Conguration Options and Settings 47
6.1 Updating SLE 10 VM Host Server Systems to SLE 11 . . . . . . . . . . 47
6.2 VirtualCDReaders........................ 49
6.3 Remote Access Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.4 VNCViewer........................... 54
6.5 The Boot Loader Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
6.6 Virtual Machine Initial Startup Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
6.7 Sparse Image Files and Disk Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6.8 VirtualKeyboards......................... 63
6.9 Mapping Physical Storage to Virtual Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6.10 VirtualDisks........................... 67
6.11 Migrating Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.12 Passing Key Combinations to Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
6.13 xm block-list Device Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.14 File-Backed Virtual Disks and Loopback Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.15 Saving Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.16 Restoring Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.17 Virtual Machine States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
7Xen Guest Systems 75
7.1 NetWare Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
7.2 OES Linux Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
7.3 Red Hat Linux Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
7.4 SUSE Linux Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
7.5 Windows Virtual Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
8Virtual Machine Drivers 85
8.1 Buying a Support Subscription . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
8.2 Loading the Driver Pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8.3 SUSE Drivers for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 on Xen . . . . . . . . . . 87

8.4 SUSE Drivers for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 on Xen . . . . . . . . . . 91
8.5 SUSE Drivers for Windows on Xen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8.6 SUSE Drivers for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on Xen . . . . . . . . . 103
ASXP Conguration Options 105

About This Manual
This manual offers an introduction to virtualization technology of your SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server. It features an overview of the various elds of application and instal-
lation types of each of the platforms supported by SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as
well as a short description of the installation procedure.
Many chapters in this manual contain links to additional documentation resources. This
includes additional documentation that is available on the system as well as documen-
tation available on the Internet.
For an overview of the documentation available for your product and the latest docu-
mentation updates, refer to http://www.novell.com/documentation.
Quality service is also available. Experts can answer questions about installation or
conguration, make reliable security updates available, and support development
projects.
Documentation regarding the Open Enterprise Server 2 is found at http://www
.novell.com/documentation/oes2/index.html.
1 Available Documentation
We provide HTML and PDF versions of our books in different languages. The following
manuals for users and administrators are available on this product:
Deployment Guide (↑Deployment Guide)
Shows how to install single or multiple systems and how to exploit the product
inherent capabilities for a deployment infrastructure. Choose from various approach-
es, ranging from a local installation or a network installation server to a mass de-
ployment using a remote-controlled, highly-customized, and automated installation
technique.
Administration Guide (↑Administration Guide)
Covers system administration tasks like maintaining, monitoring and customizing
an initially installed system.

Security Guide (↑Security Guide)
Introduces basic concepts of system security, covering both local and network se-
curity aspects. Shows how to make use of the product inherent security software
like Novell AppArmor (which lets you specify per program which les the program
may read, write, and execute) or the auditing system that reliably collects informa-
tion about any security-relevant events.
System Analysis and Tuning Guide (↑System Analysis and Tuning Guide)
An administrator's guide for problem detection, resolution and optimization. Find
how to inspect and optimize your system by means of monitoring tools and how
to efciently manage resources. Also contains an overview of common problems
and solutions and of additional help and documentation resources.
Virtualization with Xen (page 1)
Offers an introduction to virtualization technology of your product. It features an
overview of the various elds of application and installation types of each of the
platforms supported by SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as well as a short description
of the installation procedure.
Storage Administration Guide
Provides information about how to manage storage devices on a SUSE Linux En-
terprise Server.
In addition to the comprehensive manuals, several quick start guides are available:
Installation Quick Start (↑Installation Quick Start)
Lists the system requirements and guides you step-by-step through the installation
of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server from DVD, or from an ISO image.
Linux Audit Quick Start
Gives a short overview how to enable and congure the auditing system and how
to execute key tasks such as setting up audit rules, generating reports, and analyzing
the log les.
Novell AppArmor Quick Start
Helps you understand the main concepts behind Novell® AppArmor.
Find HTML versions of most SUSE Linux Enterprise Server manuals in your installed
system under /usr/share/doc/manual or in the help centers of your desktop.
Find the latest documentation updates at http://www.novell.com/
viii Virtualization with Xen

documentation where you can download PDF or HTML versions of the manuals
for your product.
2 Feedback
Several feedback channels are available:
• To report bugs for a product component or to submit enhancement requests, please
use https://bugzilla.novell.com/. If you are new to Bugzilla, you
might nd the Bug Writing FAQs helpful, available from the Novell Bugzilla home
page.
• We want to hear your comments and suggestions about this manual and the other
documentation included with this product. Please use the User Comments feature
at the bottom of each page of the online documentation and enter your comments
there.
3 Documentation Conventions
The following typographical conventions are used in this manual:
•/etc/passwd: directory names and lenames
•placeholder: replace placeholder with the actual value
•PATH: the environment variable PATH
•ls,--help: commands, options, and parameters
•user: users or groups
•Alt,Alt +F1: a key to press or a key combination; keys are shown in uppercase as
on a keyboard
•File,File >Save As: menu items, buttons
•►amd64 em64t: This paragraph is only relevant for the specied architectures.
The arrows mark the beginning and the end of the text block. ◄
About This Manual ix

•Dancing Penguins (Chapter Penguins, ↑Another Manual): This is a reference to a
chapter in another manual.
xVirtualization with Xen