Contents
Originally the kvm
package also
provided the KVM kernel modules, but these modules are included with the
kernel now, and only userspace components are included in the current
kvm
package.
The kvm
package provides
qemu-kvm, the program that performs the actual
emulation. In addition to the qemu-kvm program the kvm
package also comes with a monitoring
utility (kvm-stat), firmware components, key-mapping
files, scripts, and windows drivers
(/usr/share/qemu-kvm/win-virtio-drivers.iso
).
Interoperability with other virtualization tools has been tested and is an essential part of Novell's support stance. These tools include:
virt-manager: A graphical management tool for virtual machines. virt-manager is provided by a package of the same name.
vm-install: Define a virtual machine and install its operating system. vm-install is provided by a package of the same name.
qemu-img: A utility to create and convert images.
qemu-img is provided by the package virt-utils
.
virt-viewer: An X viewer client for virtual machines which supports SSL/TLS encryption of x509 certificate authentication. virt-viewer is provided by a package of the same name.
libvirt
: A tool collection to manage virtual
machines and virtualization functionality like network interface storage.
libvirt
provides an API, a daemon, and a shell
(virsh).
KVM is not installed by default. To install KVM and all virtualization tools, proceed as follows:
Start YaST and choose
+Select
and confirm with AcceptConfirm the list of packages that is to be installed with
.Agree to set up a network bridge by clicking
. It is recommended using a bridge on a virtual machine host, but if you prefer to manually configure a different network setup, you can safely skip this step by clicking .
After the setup has been finished, you can either reboot the machine as
YaST suggests, or manually load the required drivers and start the
libvirtd
to avoid a reboot:
Load the kernel modules:
modprobe kvm-intel # on Intel machines only modprobe kvm-amd # on AMD machines only
Start libvirtd
:
rclibvirtd start
Currently Novell only supports KVM full virtualization on x86_64 hosts. KVM is designed around hardware virtualization features included in AMD (AMD-V) and Intel (VT-x) CPUs, and virtualization features of chipsets and PCI devices, such as an I/O Memory Mapping Unit (IOMMU) and Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV)).
You can test whether your CPU supports hardware virtualization with the following command:
egrep '(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo
If this command returns no output, your processor wither does not support hardware virtualization, or this feature has been disabled in the BIOS.
The following websites identify processors which support hardware virtualization:
http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/HVM_Compatible_Processors |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86_virtualization |
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The KVM kernel modules will not load if the cpu does not support hardware virtualization or if this feature is not enabled in the BIOS. |
The general minimum hardware requirements for the host system are the same as outlined in Section “Hardware for AMD64 and Intel 64” (Chapter 2, Installation on x86, AMD64, Intel 64, and Itanium, ↑Deployment Guide). However, additional RAM for each virtualized guest is needed—it should at least be the same amount that is needed for a physical installation. It is also strongly recommended to have at least one processor core or hyper-thread for each guest.
The following itemization lists guest operating systems tested, and the support status. Alloperating systems listed are supported in both 32 and 64 bit x86 versions.
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Guest images created under a previous SUSE Linux Enterprise version are not supported. |
To improve the performance of the guest operating system, para-virtualized drivers (PV drivers) are provided when available. Although they are not required, it is strongly recommended to use them. The following para-virtualized drivers are available in principle:
virtio-net
: Network driver.
virtio-blk
: Device driver for accessing
para-virtualized block devices.
virtio-balloon
: Memory driver for dynamic memory
allocation. Allows to dynamically change the amount of memory allocated
to a guest.
kvm-clock
: Clock synchronisation driver.
Supported KVM Guest Operating Systems on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP1 | ||
Virtualiztion Type: |
Fully virtualized | |
PV drivers: |
kvm-clock, virtio-net, virtio-blk, virtio-balloon | |
Support Status: |
Fully Supported | |
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP3 | ||
Virtualiztion Type: |
Fully virtualized | |
PV drivers: |
kvm-clock, virtio-net, virtio-blk, virtio-balloon | |
Support Status: |
Fully Supported | |
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 SP4 | ||
Virtualiztion Type: |
Fully virtualized | |
Support Status: |
Fully Supported | |
Note: |
| |
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 SP1 | ||
Virtualiztion Type: |
Fully virtualized | |
PV drivers: |
kvm-clock, virtio-net, virtio-blk, virtio-balloon | |
Support Status: |
Tech Preview | |
RedHat Enterprise Linux 4.x / 5.x | ||
Virtualiztion Type: |
Fully Virtualized | |
PV drivers: | ||
Support Status: |
Best Effort | |
Note: |
| |
Windows XP SP3+ / Windows Server 2003 SP2+ / Windows Server 2008+ / Windows Vista SP1+ / Wondows 7 | ||
Virtualiztion Type: |
Best Effort | |
PV drivers: |
virtio-net, virtio-blk, virtio-balloon | |
Support Status: |
Best Effort |
The para-virtualized drivers are available as follows:
included in kernel
FIXME: fhassel will provide a TID
not available
available in RedHat Enterprise Linux 5.4 and newer
/usr/share/qemu-kvm/win-virtio-drivers.iso