System Requirements

This section contains system requirements for running Oracle VM Server for SPARC software.

Supported Platforms

When more than one version of the Oracle VM Server for SPARC software is supported on a hardware platform, bug fixes apply only to the latest version of the software. To receive Premier Support, you must use the latest Oracle VM Server for SPARC software.

You can find the platform documentation on the Oracle Technology Network. You can also find information about the software stacks for the various platforms on the Sun System Software Stacks page.

The Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 software is supported on the following platforms:

• SPARC T4 servers

  • SPARC T4-1 Server (refer to the SPARC T4-1 Server Product Notes)

  • SPARC T4-2 Server (refer to the SPARC T4-2 Server Product Notes)

  • SPARC T4-4 Server (refer to the SPARC T4-4 Server Product Notes)

  • SPARC T4-1B Server (refer to the SPARC T4-1B Server Product Notes)

  • Netra SPARC T4-1 Server (refer to the Netra SPARC T4-1 Server Product Notes)

  • Netra SPARC T4-2 Server (refer to the Netra SPARC T4-2 Server Product Notes)

  • Netra SPARC T4-1BA Server (refer to the Netra SPARC T4-1BA Server Product Notes)

• SPARC T3 servers

  • SPARC T3-1 server (refer to the SPARC T3-1 Server Product Notes)

  • SPARC T3-2 server (refer to the SPARC T3-2 Server Product Notes)

  • SPARC T3-4 server (refer to the SPARC T3-4 Server Product Notes)

  • SPARC T3-1B server (refer to the SPARC T3-1B Server Module Product Notes)

  • Netra SPARC T3-1 server (refer to the Netra SPARC T3-1 Server Product Notes)

  • Netra SPARC T3-1B server (refer to the Netra SPARC T3-1B Server Product Notes)

  • Netra SPARC T3-1BA server (refer to the Netra SPARC T3-1BA Server Product Notes)

• UltraSPARC T2 Plus servers

  • Oracle's Sun SPARC Enterprise T5140 and T5240 servers (refer to the Sun SPARC Enterprise T5140 and T5240 Servers Administration Guide)

  • Oracle's Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 server (refer to the Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 Server Administration Guide)

  • Oracle's Sun Blade T6340 server module (refer to the Sun Blade T6340 Server Module Product Notes)

  • Oracle's Netra T5440 server (refer to the Sun Netra T5440 Server Product Notes)

  • Oracle's Sun Netra T6340 Server Module (refer to the Sun Netra T6340 Server Module Product Notes)

• UltraSPARC T2 servers

  • Oracle's Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120 and T5220 servers (refer to the Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120 and T5220 Servers Administration Guide)

  • Oracle's Sun Blade T6320 server module (refer to the Sun Blade T6320 Server Module Product Notes)

  • Oracle's Netra T5220 server (refer to the Sun Netra T5220 Server Product Notes)

  • Oracle's Netra CP3260 Blade (refer to the Netra CP3260 Blade Server Product Notes)

Required Software and Patches

This section lists the required software and patches for use with the Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 software.

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Caution - Do not downgrade to older versions of individual software and firmware components. Such downgrades are not recommended and might lead to unexpected behavior and failures.

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Required and Recommended Oracle Solaris OS

To use all the features of the Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 software, the operating system on all domains should be at least the Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 OS. This OS can be either an initial installation of or an upgrade to the Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 OS.

The following table shows the patches that are required for older releases of the Oracle Solaris 10 OS to have the Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 functionality. These patches are included in the Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 OS.

Table 1-1 Patches for Older OS Versions and Domains Needing a Patch

Required Software to Enable Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 Features

To enable all the Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 features, you must run at least version 7.4.0 of the system firmware on both UltraSPARC T2 servers and UltraSPARC T2 Plus servers. You must run at least version 8.1.0 of the system firmware on SPARC T3 servers. You must run at least version 8.1.x of the system firmware on SPARC T4 servers. This firmware is preinstalled on the SPARC T4 servers. For information about the required Oracle Solaris OS, see Required and Recommended Oracle Solaris OS.

Required and Recommended System Firmware Patches

To take advantage of all features of Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1, ensure that your server runs at least these revisions of the following system firmware patches:

147307-01

Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120 and T5220 Servers

147308-01

Sun Blade T6320 Server Module

147309-01

Netra T5220 Server

147310-01

Sun SPARC Enterprise T5140 and T5240 Servers

147311-01

Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 Server

147312-01

Sun Blade T6340 Server Module

147313-01

Netra T5440 Server

147314-01

Sun Netra T6340 Server Module

147315-01

SPARC T3-1 Server

147316-01

SPARC T3-2 Server

147317-01

SPARC T3-4 Server

147318-01

SPARC T3-1B Server

147319-01

Netra SPARC T3-1 Server

147320-01

Netra SPARC T3-1B Server

147284-01

SPARC T4-1 Server

147285-01

SPARC T4-2 Server

147286-01

SPARC T4-4 Server

147287-01

SPARC T4-1B Server

147289-01

Netra SPARC T4-1 Server

147290-01

Netra SPARC T4-2 Server

147292-01

Netra SPARC T4-1BA Server

Minimum Version of Software Required

Running the Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 software along with at least the minimum versions of the other software components specified in Table 1-2 is supported. In such a configuration, you might not get all the features of the Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 software. For production environments, it is best to run with the recommended system firmware version described in Required Software to Enable Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 Features, and with the Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 OS.

An alternate OS strategy is to do one of the following:

• Upgrade the control and service domains to the Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 OS (or to the Oracle Solaris 10 8/11 OS for SPARC T4 systems)

• Apply the patches listed in Table 1-1

You can continue running the guest domains at their existing patch level.

Following is a matrix of the minimum versions of software required. The Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 package, SUNWldm, can be applied to a system running at least the following versions of software. The minimum software versions are platform specific and depend on the requirements of the CPU in the machine. The minimum Oracle Solaris OS version for a given CPU type applies to all domain types (control, service, I/O, and guest). See the data sheet for your platform at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/sparc-tseries-servers-252697.html.

Table 1-2 Minimum Versions of Software

Direct I/O Hardware and Software Requirements

To successfully use the direct I/O (DIO) feature to assign direct I/O devices to domains, you must run the appropriate software and use supported PCIe cards.

• Hardware Requirements. Only certain PCIe cards can be used as a direct I/O endpoint device on an I/O domain. You can still use other cards in your Oracle VM Server for SPARC environment, but they cannot be used with the DIO feature. Instead, they can be used for service domains and for I/O domains that have entire root complexes assigned to them.

  Refer to your platform's hardware documentation to verify which cards can be used on your platform. For an up-to-date list of supported PCIe cards, see Doc 1325454.1: Oracle VM Server for SPARC Direct I/O Feature.

• Software Requirements. To use the DIO feature, the following domains must run the supported OS:

  • primary domain. At least the Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 OS plus patch ID 145868-01

  • I/O domain. Any Oracle Solaris OS that is supported by the platform

Live Domain Migration Requirements

The Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 release introduces live migration, which provides performance improvements that enable an active domain to be migrated while it continues to run. See Chapter 9, Migrating Domains, in Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 Administration Guide.

To take advantage of these migration performance improvements, the source and target machines must run at least these versions of the software components:

• Logical Domains Manager: Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1

• System firmware:

  • Version 7.4.0 for UltraSPARC T2 and UltraSPARC T2 Plus systems

  • Version 8.1.0 for SPARC T3 systems

  • Version 8.1.x for SPARC T4 systems

In addition, the domain being migrated must run at least the Oracle Solaris 10 9/10 OS.

Location of Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 Software

You can find the Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 software to download at http://www.oracle.com/virtualization/index.html.

The OVM_Server_SPARC-2_1.zip file that you download contains the following:

• Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 software (SUNWldm.v)

• The ldm(1M), ldmconfig(1M), and ldmd(1M) man pages in the SUNWldm.v package are installed when the package is installed

• Installation script for Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 software (install-ldm)

• Oracle VM Server for SPARC Management Information Base (SUNWldmib)

• Physical-to-Virtual Conversion Tool (SUNWldmp2v)

The directory structure of the zip file is similar to the following:

OVM_Server_SPARC-2_1/
   Install/
      install-ldm
   Product/
      SUNWldm.v
      SUNWldmib
      SUNWldmp2v
   README.txt

Location of Patches

You can find system firmware for your platform at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/patches/firmware/index.html.

You can find the required the Logical Domains Manager and Oracle Solaris OS patches at http://support.oracle.com.

Location of Documentation

The Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 Administration Guide, the Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 Reference Manual, and these Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 Release Notes can be obtained from:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/documentation/vm-sparc-194287.html

The Oracle VM Server for SPARC 2.1 man pages are installed on your system as part of the SUNWldm.v and SUNWldmp2v packages.

For information about the Oracle Solaris OS, see the following libraries on the Oracle Technology Network:

• Oracle Solaris 11 Documentation

• Oracle Solaris 10 Documentation