SUSE Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack 2.1

Download and Installation

Download instructions

The SUSE® Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack is available for download as one binary file: a Windows* self-extracting zip file (.exe). There is also a virtual floppy disk (.vfd) for Windows* XP and 2003 and an ISO image (.iso) for Windows* 2008 and newer that may be used for VMs running on KVM.

Prerequisites

  1. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 10 SP4 or later, or SLES 11 SP2 or later
  2. Fully virtualized Windows virtual machines

Setup.exe installation instructions for KVM and Xen

  1. Download the Windows .exe file directly into your Windows VM.
  2. Launch the .exe to extract the installation program.
  3. Launch setup.exe from the root of the newly created directory.
  4. Accept the EULA and follow the prompts to complete the driver installation.
  5. Reboot the VM when prompted by the installation program.

Additional KVM VirtIO setup instructions

Sestup.exe can be run with and without VirtIO devices present in the VM. If the devices are present in the VM when setup is run, the drivers are installed and loaded at that time. If the VirtIO devices are not present when setup is run, shutdown the VM, add the VirtIO devices, and start the VM. Once booted, Windows will discover the new devices and load the previously installed drivers.

To boot a running VM on a VirtIO disk, the VirtIO disk driver must be installed on a secondary/temporary (e:) VirtIO disk. After the driver is installed and controlling the disk, shutdown the VM. From virt-manager, delete the secondary VirtIO disk and delete the IDE boot disk. Now add a disk of type VirtIO or VirtIO SCSI and give it the location for the boot disk. Boot the VM. The VirtIO driver will now be controlling the boot disk.

Failure to install a VirtIO disk driver on a secondary disk before changing the boot disk to a VirtIO or VirtIO SCSI disk will cause the VM to crash with bug check 0x7b, inaccessible boot disk.

.vfd and .iso installation instructions

A Windows* VM may attach the VMDP vfd or iso. The vfd is targeted for Windows* XP and 2003 VMs running on KVM. It contains VirtIO disk drivers and a self-extracting exe that contain all the VirtIO drivers for only Windows* XP and 2003. The ISO contains VirtIO disk drivers for Windows* 2008 and newer. It also contains the full VMDP exe that contains all the VirtIO and Xen drivers for all supported Windows platforms.

.vfd and .iso for VirtIO Boot Disk installation at VM creation instructions

This method is only used for VMs running on KVM and is used to install the VirtIO disk driver on the boot disk while the VM is being installed.

  1. See instructions on creating VMs for attaching floppy disks and ISOs as well as setting the boot disk as a VirtIO disk or VirtIO SCSI disk.
  2. Add the vfd or iso to the VM configuration. Use the vfd for Windows* XP/2003 and the iso for Windows* 2008 and newer.
  3. Set the boot disk to be of type VirtIO or VirtIO SCSI.
  4. Finish all other VM configuration options.
  5. Start the VM installation.
  6. For Windows* XP and 2003, at the very beginning of the installation there is an option to press F6 for an OEM SCSI disk installation. At that time, press F6. The VirtIO disk driver from the vfd can then be selected and installed.
  7. For Windows* 2008 and newer, on the “Where do you want to install Windows” screen, select “Load driver” and follow the prompts. This will allow the VirtIO disk driver to be installed for the boot disk.
  8. Continue the Windows installation.
  9. After the VM is completely installed, the remaining VirtIO drivers can be installed by copying the .exe from the vfd or iso onto the VM's disk and performing a normal .exe installation.

Additional Xen setup instructions

Setup and the /boot_vscsi option: The Xen VMDP SCSI driver is capable of controlling a physical SCSI disk such as /dev/sdb. To run the VMDP SCSI driver on the boot disk, use setup /boot_vscsi. If the /boot_vscsi option is not used in conjunction with setup, pvctrlw.exe can be used later to indicate that the VMDP SCSI driver should control the boot disk. Before using the /boot_vscsi option or pvctrlw.exe, the VM's config file must already contain the necessary SCSI information for the boot disk: the disk line needs to reference the physical disk e.g. disk=['phy:/dev/sdb,...'] and there must be a vscsi= line that corresponds to the physical disk. SCSI devices and disks, other than the boot disk, that are to be controlled by the VMDP SCSI driver are not placed in the disk= line but are only referenced in the vscsi= line.

Known issues

For information on known issues for this release, see the README file within the archive, or consult the SUSE Linux Enterprise Virtual Machine Driver Pack Guides.

Legal notice

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