System Administration Guide: Virtualization Using the Solaris Operating System

Creating Guest Domains

Using virt-install to Install a Guest Domain

The virt-install program can be run as a command-line utility, with parameters specified through options, or interactively, in response to a series of prompts.

The default values for the action to be taken on a domU shutdown, reboot, or crash are set by virt-install. You currently cannot change these defaults.

Install Using virt-install With Options

This example uses virt-install with options to install a Solaris domU from the command line using an ISO image. The command line options specify for virt-install to create an 18-Gbyte root disk image file /xvm/domu-x16.img. The option --nographics is used because this is a Solaris paravirtualized configuration. If you invoke virt-install with command line options but do not supply all required information, the tool prompts you for the needed information.


machine:root> virt-install --nographics  -n domu-x16 --paravirt \
 -f /xvm/domu-x16.img -r 1011 \
 -l /net/inst-server/export/xVM/x_iso/63-0419-nd.iso
Starting install...
Creating domain...
SunOS Release 5.11 Version 64-bit
Copyright 1983-2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
Use is subject to license terms.
Configuring /dev
Solaris Interactive Text (Console session)
Using install cd in /dev/dsk/c0d1p0
Using RPC Bootparams for network configuration information.
Attempting to configure interface xnf0...
Skipped interface xnf0
Setting up Java. Please wait...
Beginning system identification...
Searching for configuration file(s)...
Search complete.
Discovering additional network configuration...

When the domain creation completes, sysidcfg runs to complete the system identification.

Example: How to Install Open Solaris 2008.11 or Later in Paravirtualized Mode

Use this procedure to set up the OpenSolaris 2008.11 or later release as a paravirtual guest. You must be running a Solaris dom0 on your system.

  1. To start the installation of the OpenSolaris 2008.11 or later release, run the following commands:


    # zfs create rpool/zvol 
    # zfs create -V 10G rpool/zvol/domu-220-root 
    # virt-install --nographics --paravirt --ram 1024 --name domu-220 -f
     /dev/zvol/dsk/rpool/zvol/domu-220-root -l /isos/osol-2008.11.iso

    This procedure assumes that your server is set up to assign dynamic addresses. If you want to assign static addresses, specify the address with the mac property of the -w/--network option. See limiting bandwidth and setting a VLAN ID.

  2. Choose the defaults on the console for the two questions regarding the server setup.

  3. After the OpenSolaris 2008.11 Live CD or OpenSolaris 2009.06 release has finished booting, a VNC session is available from within the guest domain. You can connect to the guest domain's VNC session as follows:


    # domid=`virsh domid domu-220` 
    # ip=`/usr/lib/xen/bin/xenstore-read /local/domain/$domid/ipaddr/0` 
    # port=`/usr/lib/xen/bin/xenstore-read /local/domain/$domid/guest/vnc/port` 
    # /usr/lib/xen/bin/xenstore-read /local/domain/$domid/guest/vnc/passwd 
    DJP9tYDZ 
    # vncviewer $ip:$port
    
  4. Enter the given password at the VNC password prompt to bring up a VNC session.

    VNC sessions are not secure. However, because you need elevated privileges to read the VNC password from XenStore, the VNC sessions are secure as long as you run the VNC viewer locally on dom0, or via SSH tunnelling or another secure method.

  5. Enable the post-install VNC viewer.

    By default, the VNC session is not enabled after the installation. You can change the default configuration as follows:


    # svccfg -s x11-server setprop options/xvm_vnc = "true" 
    # svcadm restart xvm/vnc-config 
    # svcadm restart gdm

Example: How to Install and Boot a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 PV Guest on an OpenSolaris 2009.06 dom0

The following sequence of commands installs a Red Hat Enterprise Linux guest over NFS using the text installer:


# mount -F hsfs /rhel.iso /mnt
# share -o ro /mnt
# virt-install -n pv-rhel -r 1024 -l nfs:mydom0:/mnt \
 --os-type=linux os-variant=rhel5.3 \
 -f /dev/zvol/dsk/pv-rhel.zvol -p --nographics

The following command installs a Red Hat Enterprise Linux guest using the media in the dom0 optical drive (CD-ROM/DVD) , utilizing the RedHat Linux version 5 kickstart feature to automate the installation process.


# virt-install  \
        --name rhat \
        --ram 500 \
        --file /dev/zvol/dsk/rhat.zvol \
        --paravirt \
        --location /dev/dsk/c2t0d0s2 \
        --os-type=linux os-variant=rhel5 \
        --extra-args "ks=/export/install/rhat/ks.cfg

Because of a standard Linux restriction that PV guests cannot be installed from a CD, the CD must be mounted in a location (usually dom0) exported over NFS, and then an NFS Linux installation done. Often it is much easier to do an HTTP Linux install.

Additional virt-install Examples


Example 39–4 Solaris PV Guest


virt-install -n solarisPV --paravirt -r 1024 \ 
  --nographics -f /export/solarisPV/root.img -s 16 \ 
  -l /ws/xvm-gate/public/isos/72-0910/solarisdvd.iso


Example 39–5 Solaris HVM Guest


virt-install -n solarisHVM --hvm -r 1024 --vnc \ 
  -f /export/solarisHVM/root.img -s 16 \ 
  -c /ws/xvm-gate/public/isos/72-0910/solarisdvd.iso

For this version of virt-install, ISO, physical media, and Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) pxe network installations are supported for HVM. If a physical CD is used, remember to unmount it after use.



Example 39–6 Windows HVM Guest


# virt-install -n winxp --hvm -r 1024 --vnc \ 
  -f /export/winxp/root.img -s 16 -c /windows/media.iso

For this version of virt-install, ISO, physical CD, and PXE network installations are supported for HVM. If a physical CD is used, remember to unmount it after use.



Example 39–7 Install Microsoft Windows Using a Local File as a Root Disk

A normal file is used to store the contents of the guest domain disk image, as opposed to using a ZFS volume, for example.


virt-install --name windows1 --ram 1024 \
--cdrom /en_winxp_pro_with_sp2.iso --file /guests/windows1-disk
--file-size 10 --vnc
 


Example 39–8 Install Solaris Using Network Install and JumpStart onto a ZFS Volume


zfs create -V 8G pool/solaris1-disk
virt-install --name solaris1 --ram 1024 --nographics \
--file /dev/zvol/dsk/pool/solaris1-disk \
--location nfs:install.domain.com:/export/solaris/nv75 \
--autocf nfs:install.domain.com:/export/jumpstart/solaris1

ProcedureHow to Complete the Solaris DomU sysidcfg Configuration

  1. After the domain is created, the sysidcfg is initiated and you are prompted to answer a series of questions. Your screen will look similar to this:


    SunOS Release 5.11 Version 64-bit
    Copyright 1983-2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
    Use is subject to license terms.
    Hostname: my-zone
    Loading smf(5) service descriptions: 114/114
    Select a Language
    
       1. English
       2. French
       3. German
       4. Italian
       5. Japanese
       6. Korean
       7. Simplified Chinese
       8. Spanish
       9. Swedish
      10. Traditional Chinese
    
    Please make a choice (1 - 10), or press h or ? for help:
    
    What type of terminal are you using?
          1) ANSI Standard CRT
          2) DEC VT52
          3) DEC VT100
          4) Heathkit 19
          5) Lear Siegler ADM31
          6) PC Console
          7) Sun Command Tool
          8) Sun Workstation
          9) Televideo 910
          10) Televideo 925
          11) Wyse Model 50
          12) X Terminal Emulator (xterms)
          13) CDE Terminal Emulator (dtterm)
          14) Other
    Type the number of your choice and press Return:
    .
    .
    .

    For more information on the sysidcfg file, see the sysidcfg(4) man page. For an example sysidcfg file, see Understanding the Solaris xVM Server Architecture, Part No 820-3089-102.

Managing Guests

The main interface for command and control of both xVM control domains and guest domains is the virsh(1M) utility. Users should use virsh wherever possible to control virtualized operating systems. Some xVM operations are not yet implemented by the virsh utility. In those cases, the legacy utility xm(1M) can be used for detailed control.

The following actions can be performed:

To view the state of a domain, use the virsh list command.

For example:


#  virsh list
ID    Name        State  
-------------------------
0     Domain-0    running
2     sxc18       running

By default, only running domains are displayed. Use virsh list --inactive to display only non-running domains.

Live Migration

The following prerequisites apply:

Enabling Live Migration on a Target Host

By default, xend listens only on the loopback address for requests from the localhost. The target host must be configured to accept the migration of a guest domain. The following example configures the xend SMF service on the target machine to accept guest migration from a system named host1. The caret (^) and dollar sign ($) are pattern-matching characters to ensure that the entire host name matches. The host1 name must match the name the target thinks the machine is called, which could be a host name, but could also be a fully qualified domain name (FQDN).


# svccfg -s svc:system/xvm/xend
svc:/system/xvm/xend> setprop config/xend-relocation-address = ""
svc:/system/xvm/xend> setprop config/xend-relocation-hosts-allow = "^host1\.?.*$ ^localhost$"
svc:/system/xvm/xend> end
# svcadm refresh svc:system/xvm/xend:default && \
svcadm restart svc:system/xvm/xend:default

You can test the connection by using:


host1# telnet target-host 8002

If connection fails, check the /var/log/xen/xend.log file on the target system.

Configuring the Guest Domain to Be Migrated

In addition to configuring the target system to accept migrations, you must also configure the domain that will be migrated so that the domain's storage is accessible from both the source and the target systems. The domain's accessible disks must reside on some form of shared storage, such as NFS files or iSCSI volumes. This document uses the NFS method available in the OpenSolaris 2009.06 release.

Prepare the NFS Storage on the NFS Server

On the NFS server, share the directory:


# sharectl set -p nfsmapid_domain=sun.com nfs
# svcadm restart svc:/network/nfs/mapid:default
# share -F nfs -o "sec=sys,root=host1:host2,rw" /vdisks

On both the host1 source system and the host2target system, also execute the sharectl to set the NFS mapid name to sun.com, and the svcadm command restart the xend service.

Create a PV Guest on the Source Machine (host1)


# virt-install -p --nographics -n domain -r 1024 -l /isos/os0906/os0906.iso -f /net/hostname_of_nfs_server/vdisks/testpv

The virt-install command then creates the virtual disk on the NFS server and starts the guest installation process.

iscsi Volume Method, Available in a Later Build


Note –

This method should be available in a build after the OpenSolaris 2009.06 release.


An iscsi-backed guest would be created with this base command:


# virt-install -n <name> -r <ram> -p --nographics -l /path/to/iso \
-m <mac address> \
--disk path=/static/<iscsi target ip address>/<lun>/<iqnnumber>,driver=phy,subdriver=iscsi 

An example would be:


# virt-install -n ubuntu -r 1024 -p --nographics -l /net/xvm-4200m2-03/isos/ubuntu-7.04-32.iso \ 
--disk path=/static/172.20.26.10/0/iqn.1986-03.com.sun:02:52ac879e-788e-e0ea-bf5c-f86b2b63258a,driver=phy,subdriver=iscsi

In addition to setting up the xend relocation host allow field as described above in the section "Enabling Live Migration on a Target Host,” also issue the following command to enable static discovery on both dom0s:


# iscsiadm modify discovery -s enable 

Migrating the Guest Domain

Use the following command to migrate the guest.


host1# virsh migrate domain --live xen:// xenmigr://target-host

Note –

While the use of the virsh command is preferred, you can try the following command if the virsh command appears to fail.


host1# xm migrate -l domain target-host

You can observe the migration while it occurs by monitoring the domain status on both machines using virsh list.

Note that the domain definition remains on the system on which it was created. You can start the domain on that system's dom0 with the virsh start domain command.

Assigning a CD-ROM Device to a Guest

Assigning the CD-ROM Device to an HVM Guest

You cannot add temporary access to a device for an HVM domU because you cannot dynamically add IDE CD-ROM devices. To make a CD-ROM available for use in an HVM guest, you must add the device before you boot the guest. You can then change the media by using virsh attach-disk.

Note that in an HVM domU, you must use eject in the domU to unlock a removable-media device, such as a CD device, before running the attach-disk subcommand.

The attach-disksubcommand is also used to change the media in a CD drive.

For additional explanation, see the virsh(1M) man page, including “Example 4 Changing a CD in a Solaris HVM Guest Domain.”

Assigning the CD-ROM Device to a PV Guest

In PV guest domains, you can use virsh attach-disk to add a CD device and detach-disk to remove it. These commands can be used on halted or running domUs. If you want to change the CD after attaching the device, you must use virshdetach-disk and then virsh attach-disk with the new media.