10.1 System Requirements

To create an OES 2 SP3 VM guest, you need a SLES 10 SP4 or OES 2 SP3 server that is set up as a Xen VM host server.

10.1.1 OES 2 SP3 VM Host Considerations

When you set up a virtual machine host for OES 2 SP3 VM guests, ensure that the host server has the following:

    • Time synchronization: Set the server’s time configuration to the same reliable, external time source as the eDirectory tree that the virtual machines on that host will be joining.

      To set the time source, use Yast > Network Services > NTP Time Configuration.

      The time source can be running NTP or Timesync with the NTP option selected.

    • RAM: Enough memory to support each virtual machine that you want to run concurrently on the host server.

      For example, if you are installing one OES 2 SP3 virtual machine, you need a minimum of 1 GB of memory (512 MB for the host plus 512 MB for the OES 2 Linux VM).

      If you are installing two virtual machines, and the first VM guest’s services need 1 GB and the second guest’s need 1.5 GB, you need 2.5 GB for the VM guests and 512 MB for the host—a total of 3 GB.

    • Disk Space: Enough disk space on the host for creating and running your VM guests.

      The default disk space required for an OES 2 SP3 VM guest is 4 GB and the default allocation for each VM guest in Xen is 10 GB, leaving approximately 6 GB for data files, etc. The space you need is dependent on what you plan to use the virtual server for and what other virtual storage devices, such as NSS volumes, that you plan to attach to it.

10.1.2 Novell Storage Services Considerations

If you want to set up Novell Storage Services (NSS) on the virtual machine, note the following:

  • NSS can recognize physical, logical, or virtual devices up to 2 TB in size (where 1 TB = 2E40 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes).

  • In a virtual environment, the devices that you want to use for the NSS file system on the guest operating system cannot exceed the 2 TB limit, even if the host operating system and guest operating system can handle larger devices.

    For information, see Device Size Limit in the OES 2 SP3: NSS File System Administration Guide for Linux.

10.1.3 Setup Instructions

As mentioned in Section 10.1, System Requirements, you can use either a SLES 10 SP4 server or an OES 2 SP3 server as your VM host server.

For setup procedures, see the following information: