9.2 Setting Up a Virtual Machine Host

This section documents how to set up and use openSUSE as a virtual machine host. For the latest Novell virtualization documentation, see http://www.novell.com/documentation/vmserver/.

9.2.1 Virtual Machine Host Requirements

The following sections list the system and software requirements for running virtualization.

Hardware Requirements

In most cases, the hardware requirements for the virtual machine host are the same as those for the openSUSE system, but additional CPU, disk, memory, and network resources should be added to accommodate the resource demands of all planned virtual machines.

HINT: Remember that virtual machines, just like a physical machines, perform better when they run on faster processors and have access to more system memory.

The following table lists the minimum hardware requirements for running openSUSE with a Linux virtual machine.

Table 9-1 Hardware Requirements

System Component

Minimum Requirements

Recommended Requirements

Computer

Server-class computer with Pentium* II or AMD* K7 450 MHz processor

Server-class computer with Pentium III, Pentium III Xeon*, Pentium 4, Intel Xeon 700 MHz, AMD K8 CPUs (Athlon* 64 and Opteron*), Intel EM64T or higher processor.

Memory

512 MB of RAM for the host

512 MB of RAM for each Linux virtual machine

512 MB

1 GB of RAM

Free Disk Space

7 GB of available, unpartitioned disk space for the host.

3.7 GB of available, unpartitioned disk space for each Linux virtual machine

7 GB or more of available, unpartitioned disk space for the host.

10 GB or more of available, unpartitioned disk space. Additional disk space might be required depending on which components are selected and how they are used.

CD-ROM Drive

4X CD-ROM drive

48X CD-ROM drive

Hard Drive

20 GB

Network Board

Ethernet 100 Mbps

IP Address

  • One IP address on a subnet for the host

  • One IP address on a subnet for each virtual machine

  • Subnet mask

  • Default gateway

Mouse

N/A

USB or PS/2

Server Computer BIOS

If you are doing a CD-ROM installation, prepare the BIOS on your server computer so that it boots from the CD-ROM drive first.

Software Requirements

The virtual machine host requires the following software packages and their dependencies to be installed:

  • kernel-xen

  • xen

  • xen-tools

  • xen-tools-ioemu (required for full-virtualization mode)

  • kernel-xenpae (used instead of kernel-xen, this package is required to enable a 32-bit virtual machine host to access memory over 3 GB)

  • yast2-vm

Updates are available through your update channel. Make sure to update to the most recent packages available.

9.2.2 Installing the Xen Virtual Machine Host Software

The Xen virtualization software can be installed during the initial installation of openSUSE or added to a computer already running an operating system.

Remember, for best performance, only those applications and processes required for virtualization should be installed on the virtual machine host.

Installing Virtualization During the Initial Setup of openSUSE

  1. During installation of openSUSE, select the software pattern Xen Virtual Machine Host Server.

  2. Select or remove additional software to meet your specific configuration requirements.

    It is recommended that you select only the software and system tasks required for the virtualization environment. Running additional services, such as Web servers, mail servers, or print servers directly in the management domain (domain 0) affects the performance of all hosted virtual machines.

    For best performance, deselect all but the following items:

    • Server Base System

    • GNOME or KDE Desktop Environment

    • X Window System (required for graphical user interface)

    • Xen Virtual Machine Host Server

  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation program.

The Xen software is now installed on the computer. Continue to Section 9.2.3, Starting the Virtual Machine Host.

Adding Virtualization to openSUSE

If you are already running openSUSE, use one of the following methods from the desktop or command line interface to install the virtualization software.

  • From the desktop, run YaST > Virtualization > Install Hypervisor and Tools. Complete the on-screen instructions and restart the computer.

  • From a command line interface, enter yast2 xen. Complete the on-screen instructions and restart the computer.

9.2.3 Starting the Virtual Machine Host

If virtualization software is correctly installed, the computer boots to display the GRUB boot loader with a Xen option on the menu. Select this option to start the virtual machine host.

You can manually edit the boot loader to select the Xen option by default.

  1. Log in as the root user.

  2. In YaST, click System > Boot Loader.

  3. Change the default boot to the Xen label, then click Set as Default.

  4. Click Finish.

  5. Reboot the system by clicking Computer > Log out > Log out. Then click Reboot and enter the root password.

If the GRUB boot loader does not display or the Xen option is not on the menu, review the steps for installation and verify that the GRUB boot loader has been updated.

After booting, the management virtual machine starts and displays its graphical desktop environment. If you did not install a graphical desktop, the command line environment appears.

For more information about managing virtual machines, see Section 9.4, Managing a Virtualization Environment.