Starting a Guest using the Diagnostic ISO File

Connect to the KVM host.

Download the diagnostic ISO file (diagnostics.iso) corresponding to your current Oracle Exadata System Software release.

If required, use the imageinfo command to determine your current Oracle Exadata System Software release.

To find the diagnostic ISO file, search the My Oracle Support (MOS) patch repository using "exadata diagnostic iso" as the search term. You can also locate the Diagnostic ISO file in the Supplemental README that is associated with your Oracle Exadata System Software release. The Supplemental README for each Oracle Exadata System Software release is documented in My Oracle Support document 888828.1.

To start a guest using the diagnostic ISO file:

Configure the guest to boot using the diagnostic ISO file.

Run the vm_maker --boot-from-iso command:

# vm_maker --boot-from-iso ISO-file --domain guest-name

In the command:

ISO-file specifies the name of the diagnostic ISO that you want to use to boot the specified guest.
guest-name specifies the name of the guest that you want to boot using the specified ISO file.

For example:

# vm_maker --boot-from-iso /root/home/diagnostics.iso --domain dm01vm01
[INFO] Running 'virsh undefine dm01vm01.example.com'...
[INFO] Running 'virsh define /var/log/exadatatmp/dm01vm01.example.com.xml.new.357b'...
[INFO] The domain 'dm01vm01.example.com' is ready for booting.
[INFO] Run the following command to boot from the diagnostic iso:
[INFO] 
[INFO] virsh start dm01vm01.example.com --console
[INFO] 
[INFO] If network is needed to be setup on the VM, run 
[INFO] setup_management.sh from the console after the guest has booted.
[INFO] 
[INFO] When finished, run the following commands to restore
[INFO] the domain to boot from its hard disk:
[INFO] 
[INFO] vm_maker --stop-domain dm01vm01.example.com --force
[INFO] vm_maker --boot-from-hd --domain dm01vm01.example.com

Boot the guest using the diagnostic ISO file.

Use the virsh start command specified in the output from the previous vm_maker --boot-from-iso command.
For example:
```
# virsh start dm01vm01.example.com --console
```
The guest now boots using the diagnostic ISO file and the console is displayed in the terminal session.

If required, start the guest network.

If you need network access to the guest while in diagnostic mode, you can start a network interface and SSH server by running setup_management.sh from the guest console and following the prompts to supply the network details.

For example:

Welcome to Exadata Shell!
bash-4.2# setup_management.sh
Ethernet interface (eth0,1,2,3) with optional VLAN id (ethX.YYYY) [eth0]:
IP Address of this host: 192.0.2.132
Netmask of this host: 255.255.255.128
Default gateway: 192.0.2.129
[INFO     ] 192.0.2.129 added as default gateway.
* sshd.service - OpenSSH server daemon
  Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/sshd.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
  Active: inactive (dead)
  Docs: man:sshd(8)
  man:sshd_config(5)
[INFO     ] Starting sshd service

When you are finished using the guest in diagnostic mode, stop the domain and reconfigure it to boot using its primary boot device.

Use the commands specified in the output from the previous vm_maker --boot-from-iso command.

For example:

# vm_maker --stop-domain dm01vm01.example.com --force
[INFO] Running 'virsh destroy dm01vm01.example.com --graceful'...
Domain dm01vm01.example.com destroyed
[INFO] Checking for DomU shutdown...
[INFO] DomU successfully shutdown.

# vm_maker --boot-from-hd --domain dm01vm01.example.com
[INFO] Running 'virsh undefine dm01vm01.example.com'...
[INFO] Running 'virsh define /var/log/exadatatmp/dm01vm01.example.com.xml.new.eab9'...
[INFO] The domain is ready to be restarted.

The guest is now ready to be restarted by using the vm_maker --start-domain command.