virt July 2009

virt@lists.fedoraproject.org

39 participants
66 discussions

Virtual Disk Setup
by Rich Mahn 15 Jul '09

15 Jul '09

I am setting up several VMs using an F11 host. Most of the VMs will be F11 as well. >From earlier discussions on this list I recognize that the best performance for virtual disks is with the backing storage on the host being a parititon or LV. Since I want some flexibility I will use LVs, with virtio disks on most of the VMs. Here's my questions: 1. Each f11 VM needs three file systems--/boot, root, and swap (assuming you can call swap a file system). Is it better to create three LVs (each) on the hosts, and treat it as three separate disks on the VMs? Or is it better to just create one LV on the host and then divide up that virtual disk on the VM? 2. Do I get better performance/stability by NOT using lvm on the VMs? In other words, just partition the virtio disk and create filesystems directly on the partitions? Or do the wonders of LVM and virtio already build in any advantage that might give? 3. Do I get the best performance/stability by creating an LV for each disk I need, and then NOT partitioning it on the VM, but using the whole disk for a file system. In other words, use vda, not vda1, vda2, etc for the filesystem. This would give the side effect being able to easily mount the filesystem on the host machine when the VM wasn't being run. 4. Lastly (for now) are these issues too miniscule in their effects that I probably shouldn't even be worrying about them? Thanks for all the help. Rich

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fence_xvm and qemu/kvm problem
by Gianluca Cecchi 15 Jul '09

15 Jul '09

Hello, I'm testing this: host = Fedora 11 x86_64 using Qemu/Kvm as virtualization specs on sw versions: libvirt-0.6.2-12.fc11.x86_64 qemu-common-0.10.5-3.fc11.x86_64 qemu-kvm-0.10.5-3.fc11.x86_64 qemu-system-x86-0.10.5-3.fc11.x86_64 qemu-img-0.10.5-3.fc11.x86_64 cman-3.0.0-15.rc1.fc11.x86_64 two guests = CentOS 5.3 x86_64 with cluster suite installed and configured with almost latest packages specs on sw versions: cman-2.0.98-1.el5_3.1 openais-0.80.3-22.el5_3.4 rgmanager-2.0.46-1.el5.centos.3 kernel-2.6.18-128.1.10.el5 the cluster itself works well in preliminary tests (I have quorum disk and one heuristic pinging to the qemu/kvm host as a gateway): poweroff and automatic relocation, manual relocation with clusvcadm, HALVM, ecc. I registered one problem though, that could lead to data corruption or other unintended effects in my opinion. I configured fence_xvm agent on the guests. At the moment the host is a standalone one. I read (bugzilla https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=362351) that I can manage this configuration using on the host side the standalone command fence_xvmd -LX (installing cman and dependencies, but actually not running it as a service) My guests use virbr0 as the prod lan and virbr1 as rhe intracluster one, and I noticed that I had to issue actually this command to keep alive the daemon on host side: fence_xvmd -dLX -i ipv4 -I virbr0 -U qemu:///system (probably the key part is the -I virbr0 option) Otherwise I get: Jul 15 11:54:04 virtfed xvmd[606]: Could not set up multicast listen socket Configuring the fence daemon, at first I was wrong configuring the "domain=" part <clusternode name="node1" nodeid="1" votes="1"> <fence> <method name="1"> <device domain="XXXXXX" name="xvm"/> </method> </fence> In fact initially I put in the node name (node1), instead of the domain name of the guest inside the qemu/kvm HV..... This error gave me the opportunity to detect a wrong behaviour in my combination. If I put node name and issue this command from node2: fence_xvm -H node1 I get: Remote: operation was successful but actually the guest is not fenced at all. The qemu/kvm host /var/log/messages contains: Jul 15 12:17:21 virtfed libvirtd: 12:17:21.566: error : Domain not found Jul 15 12:17:21 virtfed xvmd[658]: Rebooting domain node1... Jul 15 12:17:21 virtfed libvirtd: 12:17:21.574: error : Domain not found Jul 15 12:17:21 virtfed xvmd[658]: Failed to connect to caller: Bad file descriptor Instead, when using the correct domain name part: fence_xvm -H centos53 I again get Remote: operation was successful and the guest is really fenced (rebooted by default) In qemu/kvm host logs I get now: Jul 15 12:18:31 virtfed xvmd[658]: Rebooting domain centos53... Jul 15 12:18:31 virtfed kernel: virbr0: port 2(vnet2) entering disabled state Jul 15 12:18:31 virtfed kernel: device vnet2 left promiscuous mode Jul 15 12:18:31 virtfed kernel: virbr0: port 2(vnet2) entering disabled state Jul 15 12:18:31 virtfed kernel: virbr1: port 2(vnet3) entering disabled state Jul 15 12:18:31 virtfed kernel: device vnet3 left promiscuous mode Jul 15 12:18:31 virtfed kernel: virbr1: port 2(vnet3) entering disabled state Jul 15 12:18:32 virtfed libvirtd: 12:18:32.245: error : operation failed: domain 'centos53' is already defined Jul 15 12:18:32 virtfed kernel: device vnet2 entered promiscuous mode Jul 15 12:18:32 virtfed kernel: virbr0: topology change detected, propagating Jul 15 12:18:32 virtfed kernel: virbr0: port 2(vnet2) entering forwarding state Jul 15 12:18:32 virtfed kernel: device vnet3 entered promiscuous mode Jul 15 12:18:32 virtfed kernel: virbr1: topology change detected, propagating Jul 15 12:18:32 virtfed kernel: virbr1: port 2(vnet3) entering forwarding state Jul 15 12:18:33 virtfed xvmd[658]: Failed to connect to caller: Bad file descriptor Is it my configuration (F11 host with cman part based on 3.0 and centos53 guests with 2.98 cman part) supposed to work? In this case where to bugzilla? Thanks in advance, Gianluca

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cannot mount USB disks even after selinux update for Windows VM
by Paul Lambert 15 Jul '09

15 Jul '09

I have searched the bug list to resolve this problem and after making the same changes as others still am not able to get external USB disks to mount to my Windows virt machine. current versions qemu-system-x86-2.0.10.5-3.fc11 selinux-policy-doc-3..6.12.62.fc11 1) The first problem encountered was a SELinux matter that updating to .62 corrected. There was no virt_use_usb parameter in the version that was previously installed. The absence of this SELinux permission disallowed access to /sbin/ifconig generating a selinux permission error 2) Next I received a "broken pipe" error. I then tried commenting out the line containing "nss_initgroups_ignoreusers" in /etc/ldap.conf which was documented in the bug list and has worked for others. This did not work for me. Current status is the shown below from the virt machine log file. LC_ALL=C PATH=/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin /usr/bin/qemu-kvm -S -M pc -m 768 -s mp 2 -name Windows-XP-SP3-Home -uuid ee3bc9fe-a724-45b5-b675-11251f5c453f -monit or pty -pidfile /var/run/libvirt/qemu//Windows-XP-SP3-Home.pid -boot c -drive fi le=/var/lib/libvirt/images/Windows-XP-SP3-Home.img,if=ide,index=0,boot=on -drive file=,if=ide,media=cdrom,index=2 -net nic,macaddr=54:52:00:7e:1c:92,vlan=0,mode l=virtio -net tap,fd=17,vlan=0 -serial pty -parallel none -usb -usbdevice tablet -vnc 127.0.0.1:0 -usbdevice host:1d6b:0002 char device redirected to /dev/pts/0 char device redirected to /dev/pts/1 husb: open device 2.1 husb: config #1 need -1 husb: 1 interfaces claimed for configuration 1 husb: grabbed usb device 2.1 usb_linux_update_endp_table: Broken pipe Warning: could not add USB device host:1d6b:0002

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KVM update available?
by Paul Lambert 15 Jul '09

15 Jul '09

On the SourceForge page there is a new Fedora KVM release 87 available. No date, no version. When I open add/remove software under Gnome (Fedora 11) I find that I have QEMU system emulator x86-2:0.10.5-3.fc11 installed and x86-2:0.10-16.fc11 available. This looks like a newer verion but how to I know? There is no release date or release version shown in the lower right pane where the package information is shown. Additionally, the 10.5-3 versus 10-16 versioning makes me hesitate since I am not sure these are one in the same package. Several problems here that are all contributing to the amount of blog and Email traffic: Consistent documentation and identification of what is current. If the two packages are the same and 10-16 is an update then it should be 10.16-0(?) for consistency. Should I install this update? PJAL

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kvm/qemu network problem
by Bret Rusnak 15 Jul '09

15 Jul '09

In installed win xp and everything installed fine, however my virtual network card is not getting an ip address from my router. It is showing up as a realtek RTL 8139 network card and is showing that the device is working properly. Anyone had similar issues or have a way to fix this? Thanks in advance

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[ANNOUNCE] libguestfs 1.0.59 released
by Richard W.M. Jones 14 Jul '09

14 Jul '09

[This announcement covers version 1.0.58 too since it didn't get a separate message.] We are pleased to announce the release of libguestfs 1.0.59. Home page: http://libguestfs.org/ Downloads: http://libguestfs.org/download Git repo: http://git.et.redhat.com/?p=libguestfs.git;a=summary New in this release: - Support for Linux extended attributes. - Allow guestfish to be controlled remotely, so you can use one guestfish instance in a long-running shell script. - Support for reiserfs. - New function 'guestfs_zfile' -- 'file' inside compressed files. - New guestfish command 'reopen' -- reopen guestfish connection. - guestfish -x option (echo commands). - New function 'guestfs_version' to get the library version. - Many bugfixes and minor improvements: http://git.et.redhat.com/?p=libguestfs.git;a=log Thanks to Matthew Booth and Jon Fautley for their contributions and testing. Rich. -- Richard Jones, Emerging Technologies, Red Hat http://et.redhat.com/~rjones Read my programming blog: http://rwmj.wordpress.com Fedora now supports 75 OCaml packages (the OPEN alternative to F#) http://cocan.org/getting_started_with_ocaml_on_red_hat_and_fedora

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Update on virtio network driver performance
by Paul Lambert 13 Jul '09

13 Jul '09

Just some feedback for Rich on performance after switching to virtio network driver. Before both cpus were running at 70-90%. After virtio driver cpus running 20-30%. That's something like 67% less loading. The real test is whether the keyboard, mouse and window dragging "shadow" or delay when moving. This is much better but not equal to that of performing these functions on the host machine. OK, so where's the virtio drivers for Windows? I found a link dated early March that stated they were coming soon. Can't find them anywhere. PJAL

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RE: [fedora-virt] cannot mount USB disks even after selinux update for Windows VM: UPDATE
by Paul Lambert 13 Jul '09

13 Jul '09

Yes, I saw Mark's comments yesterday. I now have a USB disk working as prescribed. The issue was due to adding the Linux Foundation USB 2.0 hardware when I actually had the ext USB disk plugged into the one USB port that is part of a JM20336, Sata, USB Combo. Once I added this hardware I did get the USB disk to work. I then tested the ext USB disk on the other two USB ports that use the Linux Foundation USB 2.0 drivers. They both worked too. I would second the comment to Bug#508645 to make the USB devices dynamic if the managed field is set to yes. This should be done by implementing a button or checkbox ("auto connect enable") on the details page of the VM when the specific USB hardware is selected. Similar to the CDROM "connect" button. Can the --usbdevice host:auto:*:*:xxxx:xxxx statement be hacked into the KVM startup script somewhere or is this a feature for the next release? Though solving the ext USB disk matter, it created another one in the process. While I was at it I connected my ext disk via the eSata connection on my laptop just for kicks. The ext. case has dual connections, USB/eSATA. I noticed when I went back to add the hardware to the VM that the "Sata" and "USB" references were now gone. This might be a Fedora matter first since the ext. disk does not mount to it either. Needless to say, the Windows VM did not see the eSata ext disk either. The eSata bug appears to be reported in bug#485666. The combo interface is a JM20366 Dual sata/usb interface; http://www.jmicron.com/JM20336.html. Getting SATA to work is important since running more than a few VMs on the same disk won't make it. I searched around for Linux drivers for this device and only could find that these should already be part of the Linux distro. Note: [There is strange behavior when adding and removing hardware. I went back to repeat my steps and removed the JM20336 combo which was installed as a USB device. When I went back to re-install it, the entry for the hardware device was not there. I then deleted the other USB device and rebooted. Still nothing. Finally I added the Logitech Camera that was also a part of the combo and then removed it. Presto, they all reappeared. I then added the Sata/USB combo and then went back to add additional hardware. The Sata/USB was still listed. I added it again then there were two entries for the same device in the .xml file. I deleted it again and the re-added it. After this it was not listed in the available hardware. I have experienced similar such things when adding/removing hardware.] On 7/12/09, Richard W.M. Jones <rjones(a)redhat.com> wrote: > On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 11:35:59AM -0400, Paul Lambert wrote: >> I have searched the bug list to resolve this problem and after making >> the same changes as others still am not able to get external USB disks >> to mount to my Windows virt machine. > > You've read Mark's thread? > > http://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-virt/2009-June/msg00182.html > > Rich. > > -- > Richard Jones, Emerging Technologies, Red Hat http://et.redhat.com/~rjones > virt-top is 'top' for virtual machines. Tiny program with many > powerful monitoring features, net stats, disk stats, logging, etc. > http://et.redhat.com/~rjones/virt-top >

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Re: [fedora-virt] Virt USB issues (doesn't work without customizing)
by Gianluca Sforna 12 Jul '09

12 Jul '09

On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 4:39 AM, Paul Lambert<eb30750(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks for the tip. Yes, I was able to get the selinux software > updated. But, I do believe the Gnome software should allow for > alternative hosts to be selected to download from other sites than > just the main Fedora page. I am not sure what you mean but both the gnome updater (PackageKit) and the CLI one (yum) picks from fedora servers a list of mirrors and downloads from them, all without user intervention. > > After relaunching virt I did get past the selinux error but now I am > getting blocked at the USB device with could not add the usb host . > /proc/bus/usb/002/001 and 004. This appears to be directory > permission error. Root has rw but root group on only r. I switched > to root when launching virt manager so I should be OK anyway. Made > any progress yourself? I did not test this stuff myself, sorry. Please when replying make sure you hit "reply all" otherwise you're not replying to list -- Gianluca Sforna http://morefedora.blogspot.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucasforna

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Virt USB issues (doesn't work without customizing)
by Paul Lambert 11 Jul '09

11 Jul '09

Lot's of blog material out there. Trying to get ext. USB disk to map in Windows virt image. Here is where I am. 1) I found a link to someone who did get external USB disks working with FE.11 Virt the issues that prevent this from working by just adding the hardware through the virt manager are: a) need selinux-policy-target-3.6.12-62.fcc11.noarch or later b) selinux blocks access to this device and must be customized. 2) OK, this should take that long. (or should it?) a) went to add/remove software through Gnome and did not find any pending updates for selinux. b) after searching for another hour found how to command line Yum for selinux updates. Here's what I got. [root@BRSINC-VC01 qemu]# rpm -qa | grep selinux libselinux-utils-2.0.80-1.fc11.i586 libselinux-python-2.0.80-1.fc11.i586 selinux-policy-targeted-3.6.12-53.fc11.noarch libselinux-2.0.80-1.fc11.i586 selinux-policy-3.6.12-53.fc11.noarch [root@BRSINC-VC01 qemu]# yum -y upgrade selinux-policy-targeted Loaded plugins: refresh-packagekit rpmfusion-nonfree-updates | 3.8 kB 00:00 updates/metalink | 23 kB 00:01 Setting up Upgrade Process No Packages marked for Update Based on this I would assume there are no updates even though others claim there are. Where is 62 and why does it not show up in the Gnome software update tool?

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