virtinst: do I have virtualization or not?

[Mike Wright]

Hi all,

Using f14-x86_64 installed from the LiveCD with myoung's f12-xendom0. 
It boots both standalone and with xen.


/sys/hypervisor is populated.

/proc/cpuinfo reports CPU is AMD Phenom II X4 B60 "Black Edition". 
Virtualization is [ENABLED] in the BIOS.

I'm trying to add a virtual machine using Virtual Machine Manager 0.8.5 
but when I select *New* I receive the following:

"Warning: Host does not appear to support hardware virtualization. 
Install options may be limited."

According to this link (s.b. one line) it does.

"http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20II%20X2%20560%20-%20HDZ560WFK2DGM%20%28HDZ560WFGMBOX%29.html".

Now according to another webpage the AMD processor must have the flag 
"svm" to have virtualization.  My CPU does NOT have that flag but it 
does have one called "hypervisor".

The question becomes "will this CPU work with Xen?".  If it will, does 
this mean there is a bug in virtinst?  Can I ignore the warning?

Thanks for any help,
Mike Wright

[Cole Robinson]

On 03/16/2011 03:00 PM, Mike Wright wrote:
>  Hi all,
>  
>  Using f14-x86_64 installed from the LiveCD with myoung's f12-xendom0. 
>  It boots both standalone and with xen.
>  
>  
>  /sys/hypervisor is populated.
>  
>  /proc/cpuinfo reports CPU is AMD Phenom II X4 B60 "Black Edition". 
>  Virtualization is [ENABLED] in the BIOS.
>   
Could help to provide the full /proc/cpuinfo output, as well as 'virsh
--connect xen:/// capabilities' as root

>  I'm trying to add a virtual machine using Virtual Machine Manager
> 0.8.5 
>  but when I select *New* I receive the following:
>  
>  "Warning: Host does not appear to support hardware virtualization. 
>  Install options may be limited."
>  
>  According to this link (s.b. one line) it does.
>  
>
> "http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20II%20X2%20560%20-%20HDZ560WFK2DGM%20%28HDZ560WFGMBOX%29.html".
>  
>  Now according to another webpage the AMD processor must have the flag 
>  "svm" to have virtualization.  My CPU does NOT have that flag but it 
>  does have one called "hypervisor".
>   
Hmm, not sure what the hypervisor flag is, but virtinst is looking for vmx or
svm reported in libvirt capabilities

>  The question becomes "will this CPU work with Xen?".  If it
> will, does 
>  this mean there is a bug in virtinst?  Can I ignore the warning?
>   
That link claims your cpu should be showing the svm flag AFAICT. If you
recently enabled virt in the bios, make sure you fully turn off your machine
and let it sit for a couple minutes (yes this can actually make a difference
with bios settings).

Additionally check your motherboard manufacturer website and make sure your
board supports your CPU and has the latest bios update installed.

- Cole

[Mike Wright]

On 03/16/2011 12:53 PM, Cole Robinson wrote:
>  On 03/16/2011 03:00 PM, Mike Wright wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Using f14-x86_64 installed from the LiveCD with myoung's f12-xendom0.
> > It boots both standalone and with xen.
> >
> > /sys/hypervisor is populated.
> >
> > /proc/cpuinfo reports CPU is AMD Phenom II X4 B60 "Black Edition".
> > Virtualization is [ENABLED] in the BIOS.
> > 
Thanks for the reply, Cole.
>  Could help to provide the full /proc/cpuinfo output, as well as 'virsh
>  --connect xen:/// capabilities' as root 
http://pastebin.com/t6pUs03p

> > I'm trying to add a virtual machine using Virtual Machine
> Manager 0.8.5
> > but when I select *New* I receive the following:
> >
> > "Warning: Host does not appear to support hardware virtualization.
> > Install options may be limited."
> >
> > According to this link (s.b. one line) it does.
> >
> >
> "http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20II%20X2%20560%20-%20HDZ560WFK2DGM%20%28HDZ560WFGMBOX%29.html".
> >
> > Now according to another webpage the AMD processor must have the flag
> > "svm" to have virtualization.  My CPU does NOT have that flag but it
> > does have one called "hypervisor".
> >
>
>  Hmm, not sure what the hypervisor flag is, but virtinst is looking for vmx or
>  svm reported in libvirt capabilities 
Could be as simple as adding "hypervisor" to the list of acceptable 
flags, but I wouldn't put a paycheck on that guess ;)

> > The question becomes "will this CPU work with Xen?".  If it will, does
> > this mean there is a bug in virtinst?  Can I ignore the warning?
> >
>
>  That link claims your cpu should be showing the svm flag AFAICT. If you
>  recently enabled virt in the bios, make sure you fully turn off your machine
>  and let it sit for a couple minutes (yes this can actually make a difference
>  with bios settings). 
Done!  Strange about the power off thing...

>  Additionally check your motherboard manufacturer website and make sure your
>  board supports your CPU and has the latest bios update installed. 
Brand spanking new, but I'll check on that, too.

[Cole Robinson]

On 03/16/2011 04:32 PM, Mike Wright wrote:
>  On 03/16/2011 12:53 PM, Cole Robinson wrote:
> > On 03/16/2011 03:00 PM, Mike Wright wrote:
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> Using f14-x86_64 installed from the LiveCD with myoung's f12-xendom0.
> >> It boots both standalone and with xen.
> >>
> >> /sys/hypervisor is populated.
> >>
> >> /proc/cpuinfo reports CPU is AMD Phenom II X4 B60 "Black Edition".
> >> Virtualization is [ENABLED] in the BIOS.
> >>
>  
>  Thanks for the reply, Cole.
> >
> > Could help to provide the full /proc/cpuinfo output, as well as 'virsh
> > --connect xen:/// capabilities' as root
>  
>  http://pastebin.com/t6pUs03p
>   
Well, seems like libvirt is reporting that you can indeed install fullvirt
guests, so despite that error message in virt-manager things should work fine.

> >> I'm trying to add a virtual machine using Virtual Machine
> Manager 0.8.5
> >> but when I select *New* I receive the following:
> >>
> >> "Warning: Host does not appear to support hardware virtualization.
> >> Install options may be limited."
> >>
> >> According to this link (s.b. one line) it does.
> >>
> >>
> "http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20II%20X2%20560%20-%20HDZ560WFK2DGM%20%28HDZ560WFGMBOX%29.html".
> >>
> >>
> >> Now according to another webpage the AMD processor must have the flag
> >> "svm" to have virtualization.  My CPU does NOT have that flag but it
> >> does have one called "hypervisor".
> >>
> >
> > Hmm, not sure what the hypervisor flag is, but virtinst is looking for vmx or
> > svm reported in libvirt capabilities
>  
>  Could be as simple as adding "hypervisor" to the list of acceptable flags, but
>  I wouldn't put a paycheck on that guess ;)
>   
After some googling, I found this debian bug report:

http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=604160

Seems like hypervisor just means you are booted into xen, and doesn't say
anything about whether fullvirt is supported.

Does booting into a regular kernel show svm in cpuinfo? Anything interesting
in 'xm dmesg'?

- Cole

[Pasi Kärkkäinen]

On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 08:24:31PM -0400, Cole Robinson wrote:
>  On 03/16/2011 04:32 PM, Mike Wright wrote:
>  > On 03/16/2011 12:53 PM, Cole Robinson wrote:
>  >> On 03/16/2011 03:00 PM, Mike Wright wrote:
>  >>> Hi all,
>  >>>
>  >>> Using f14-x86_64 installed from the LiveCD with myoung's f12-xendom0.
>  >>> It boots both standalone and with xen.
>  >>>
>  >>> /sys/hypervisor is populated.
>  >>>
>  >>> /proc/cpuinfo reports CPU is AMD Phenom II X4 B60 "Black
> Edition".
>  >>> Virtualization is [ENABLED] in the BIOS.
>  >>>
>  > 
>  > Thanks for the reply, Cole.
>  >>
>  >> Could help to provide the full /proc/cpuinfo output, as well as 'virsh
>  >> --connect xen:/// capabilities' as root
>  > 
>  > http://pastebin.com/t6pUs03p
>  > 
>  
>  Well, seems like libvirt is reporting that you can indeed install fullvirt
>  guests, so despite that error message in virt-manager things should work fine.
>  
>  >>> I'm trying to add a virtual machine using Virtual Machine Manager 0.8.5
>  >>> but when I select *New* I receive the following:
>  >>>
>  >>> "Warning: Host does not appear to support hardware virtualization.
>  >>> Install options may be limited."
>  >>>
>  >>> According to this link (s.b. one line) it does.
>  >>>
>  >>>
> "http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20II%20X2%20560%20-%20HDZ560WFK2DGM%20%28HDZ560WFGMBOX%29.html".
>  >>>
>  >>>
>  >>> Now according to another webpage the AMD processor must have the flag
>  >>> "svm" to have virtualization.  My CPU does NOT have that flag but
> it
>  >>> does have one called "hypervisor".
>  >>>
>  >>
>  >> Hmm, not sure what the hypervisor flag is, but virtinst is looking for vmx or
>  >> svm reported in libvirt capabilities
>  > 
>  > Could be as simple as adding "hypervisor" to the list of acceptable flags,
> but
>  > I wouldn't put a paycheck on that guess ;)
>  > 
>  
>  After some googling, I found this debian bug report:
>  
>  http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=604160
>  
>  Seems like hypervisor just means you are booted into xen, and doesn't say
>  anything about whether fullvirt is supported.
>  
>  Does booting into a regular kernel show svm in cpuinfo? Anything interesting
>  in 'xm dmesg'?
>   
When running under Xen you need to use "xm info" and check the caps
if you can run HVM (hardware virtualized) or not.

Dom0 Linux kernel won't see the cpu flags in /proc/cpuinfo
since dom0 is a VM, and the hypervisor is hiding the flags from VMs.
(at least until Xen Nested Hw Virt is merged, which should be soon).

Other option is to read "xm dmesg" for supported features:
http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/XenCommonProblems#head-39c253c76df6f0fa4fb7ff...

-- Pasi

[Cole Robinson]

On 03/17/2011 04:27 AM, Pasi Kärkkäinen wrote:
>  On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 08:24:31PM -0400, Cole Robinson wrote:
> >
> > After some googling, I found this debian bug report:
> >
> > http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=604160
> >
> > Seems like hypervisor just means you are booted into xen, and doesn't say
> > anything about whether fullvirt is supported.
> >
> > Does booting into a regular kernel show svm in cpuinfo? Anything interesting
> > in 'xm dmesg'?
> >
>  
>  When running under Xen you need to use "xm info" and check the caps
>  if you can run HVM (hardware virtualized) or not.
>  
>  Dom0 Linux kernel won't see the cpu flags in /proc/cpuinfo
>  since dom0 is a VM, and the hypervisor is hiding the flags from VMs.
>  (at least until Xen Nested Hw Virt is merged, which should be soon).
>  
>  Other option is to read "xm dmesg" for supported features:
>
> http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/XenCommonProblems#head-39c253c76df6f0fa4fb7ff...
>   
Thanks for the info. Since libvirt still correctly detects hypervisor caps, I
patched virtinst to not report an error if HVM guest support is reported. The
original reported wouldn't see an error using current upstream code:

http://git.fedorahosted.org/git?p=python-virtinst.git;a=commit;h=b17faec2...

Thanks,
Cole