Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Editing the Launch Options for an Instance

You can tune the compatibility and performance of virtual machine (VM) instances by changing the networking type or the boot volume attachment type.

Networking Launch Types

The networking interface handles functions such as disk input/output and network communication. The following networking types are available:

  • Paravirtualized networking: For general purpose workloads such as enterprise applications, microservices, and small databases. Paravirtualized networking also provides increased flexibility to use the same image across different hardware platforms. Linux images with paravirtualized networking support live migration during infrastructure maintenance.
  • Hardware-assisted (SR-IOV) networking: Single root input/output virtualization. For low-latency workloads such as video streaming, real-time applications, and large or clustered databases. Hardware-assisted (SR-IOV) networking uses the VFIO driver framework.
Important

To use a particular networking type, both the shape and the image must support that networking type.

Shapes: The following table lists the default and supported networking types for VM shapes.

Shape Default Networking Type Supported Networking Types
VM.Standard1 series SR-IOV Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.Standard2 series Paravirtualized Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.Standard3.Flex Paravirtualized Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.Standard.E2 series Paravirtualized Paravirtualized only
VM.Standard.E3.Flex

Paravirtualized

 Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.Standard.E4.Flex

Paravirtualized

 Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.Standard.A1.Flex Paravirtualized Paravirtualized only
VM.DenseIO1 series SR-IOV Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.DenseIO2 series Paravirtualized Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.DenseIO.E4.Flex Paravirtualized Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.GPU2 series SR-IOV Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.GPU3 series SR-IOV Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.GPU.GU1 (VM.GPU.A10) series SR-IOV Paravirtualized, SR-IOV
VM.Optimized3.Flex SR-IOV Paravirtualized, SR-IOV

Images: Paravirtualized networking is supported on these platform images:

  • Oracle Linux 9, Oracle Linux 8, Oracle Autonomous Linux 8.x, Oracle Autonomous Linux 7.x, Oracle Linux Cloud Developer 8: All images.
  • Oracle Linux 7, Oracle Linux 6: Images published in March 2019 or later.
  • CentOS Stream 8, CentOS 7: Images published in July 2019 or later.
  • Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04: All images.
  • Ubuntu 18.04: Images published in March 2019 or later.
  • Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019: All images.
  • Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2: Images published in August 2019 or later.

SR-IOV networking is supported on all platform images, with the following exceptions:

  • Images for Arm-based shapes do not support SR-IOV networking.
  • On Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022, when launched using a shape in the VM.Standard2 series, SR-IOV networking is not supported.
  • On Windows Server 2012 R2, SR-IOV networking is supported on platform images released in April 2021 or later.
  • The Server Core installation option for Windows Server does not support SR-IOV networking.

Boot Volume Attachment Types

The following boot volume attachment types are available:

  • iSCSI: A TCP/IP-based standard used for communication between a volume and attached instance.

  • Paravirtualized: A virtualized attachment available for VMs. This is the default for boot volumes and remote block storage volumes on platform images.

Supported Shapes

You can edit the launch options for instances that use these shapes:

  • VM.Standard1 series
  • VM.Standard.B1 series
  • VM.Standard2 series
  • VM.Standard3.Flex
  • VM.Standard.E2 series
  • VM.Standard.E3.Flex
  • VM.Standard.E4.Flex
  • VM.Standard.A1.Flex
  • VM.DenseIO1 series
  • VM.DenseIO2 series
  • VM.GPU3 series
  • VM.GPU.GU1 (VM.GPU.A10) series
  • VM.Optimized3.Flex

These shapes cannot be edited:

  • VM.Standard.E2.1.Micro
  • VM.DenseIO.E4.Flex
  • VM.GPU2 series
  • VM instances that run on dedicated virtual machine hosts

Limitations and Considerations

Caution

Some instances might not function properly if you change the networking type or the boot volume attachment type. This happens due to shape and image compatibility and driver support. After the instance reboots and is running, connect to it. If the connection fails or the OS doesn't behave as expected, the changes are not supported. Revert the instance to the original settings.

Before you change the networking type or the boot volume attachment type, you must ensure that paravirtualized drivers are installed on the image. The steps depend on the image:

Oracle Linux 7.x, CentOS 7.x, CentOS Stream 8, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04

Paravirtualized drivers are installed on platform images.

Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2

The Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows release 1.1.5 must be installed on platform images.

  1. To determine whether the VirtIO drivers are installed, connect to the instance using a Remote Desktop connection. Then, do either of the following things:
    • Open Control Panel, and then open Program and Features. If Oracle Windows VirtIO Drivers is installed, note the version number.
    • In Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\Software\\Wow6432Node\\Oracle Corporation\\Oracle Windows VirtIO Drivers. If the VirtIO drivers are installed, note the version number.
  2. If the drivers are not installed or a version that is not 1.1.5 is installed, download Oracle VirtIO Drivers release 1.1.5:
    1. Sign in to the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud site.
    2. In the All Categories list, select Release.
    3. Type Oracle Linux 7.7 in the search box and click Search.
    4. Add REL: Oracle Linux 7.7.x to your cart, and then click Continue.
    5. In the Platforms/Languages list, select x86 64 bit. Click Continue.
    6. Accept the license agreement and then click Continue.
    7. Select the check box next to Oracle VirtIO Drivers Version for Microsoft Windows 1.1.5. Clear the other check boxes.
    8. Click Download and then follow the prompts.
  3. Install the drivers and then restart the instance. For steps, see Installing the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows on Existing Microsoft Windows Guests.
Oracle Linux 6.x

For platform images, connect to the instance using a Secure Shell (SSH) connection. Then, run the following commands:

sudo bash
cd /boot/efi
echo "fs0:\EFI\redhat\grub.efi"> startup.nsh
chmod 500startup.nsh
sync
Images that are not platform images

To verify that your system has paravirtualized drivers installed, run the following command:

lsinitrd | grep virtio
  • If paravirtualized drivers are installed, you will see multiple files listed with paths similar to lib/modules/4.4.21-69-default/kernel/drivers/block/virtio_blk.ko.
  • If no files are listed, your system either does not support paravirtualized drivers, or does not have paravirtualized drivers installed. Refer to the documentation for your operating system for more information.

Required IAM Policy

To use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, you must be granted security access in a policy  by an administrator. This access is required whether you're using the Console or the REST API with an SDK, CLI, or other tool. If you get a message that you don’t have permission or are unauthorized, verify with your administrator what type of access you have and which compartment  to work in.

For administrators: The policy in Let users launch compute instances includes the ability to edit the launch options for an instance. If the specified group doesn't need to launch instances or attach volumes, you could simplify that policy to include only manage instance-family, and remove the statements involving volume-family and virtual-network-family.

If you're new to policies, see Getting Started with Policies and Common Policies. For reference material about writing policies for instances, cloud networks, or other Core Services API resources, see Details for the Core Services.

Using the Console

  1. Open the navigation menu and click Compute. Under Compute, click Instances.
  2. Click the instance that you're interested in.
  3. Click More Actions, and then click Edit.
  4. Click Show advanced options. The Launch options tab displays.
  5. To change the networking type, in the Networking type section, select from the following options:
    • Hardware-assisted (SR-IOV) networking: Single root input/output virtualization. For low-latency workloads such as video streaming, real-time applications, and large or clustered databases.
    • Paravirtualized networking: For general purpose workloads such as enterprise applications, microservices, and small databases. The image must have paravirtualized drivers, as described in Limitations and Considerations.

    For more information, see Recommended Networking Launch Types.

  6. To change the boot volume attachment type, in the Boot volume attachment type section, select from the following options:
    • iSCSI: A TCP/IP-based standard used for communication between a volume and attached instance.
    • Paravirtualized: A virtualized attachment available for VMs. This is the default for boot volumes and remote block storage volumes on platform images.
  7. Click Save changes.

    If the instance is running, it is rebooted. Confirm when prompted.

  8. Connect to the instance after it reboots and is running. If the connection fails or the OS doesn't behave as expected, the changes are not supported. Revert the instance to the original settings.
  9. If necessary, reattach any secondary VNICs and block volumes.