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Technical Note

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems


VMware Infrastructure 3
DatacenterstodayhaveamixofWindowsandLinuxworkloads.IDCestimatesin2008that68percentofall physicalserversshippedareWindowsbased,comparedto23percentthatareLinuxbased.However,the proliferationofLinuxenvironmentsissteadilyincreasing.From2006to2011,IDCforecaststhecompounded annualgrowthrate(CAGR)ofphysicalserverunitsrunningLinuxat28.1percent,withWindowstrailingat 25.0percent.AsmoredatacentersarevirtualizedwithVMwareInfrastructure3,itmakessensethatthese virtualizedenvironmentsarealsotrendingtowardsincreaseduseofLinux.TheCAGRofvirtualserverunits runningLinuxisforecastedbyIDCat44.1percent,withWindowsbehindat39.0percent.Linuxoperating systemsnowhostapplicationsfromdatabasestoWebserverstoapplicationservers,muchastheirWindows counterpartsdo.Linuxguestoperatingsystemsarehere,andVMwareisdedicatedtosupportingthem. Thistechnicalnotedescribesinstalling,configuring,updating,andadministeringLinuxguestoperating systemsinvirtualmachinesrunningonVMwareInfrastructure3version3.5(specificallyVMware VirtualCenter2.5Update2andVMwareESX3.5Update2).Inaddition,thisnoteincludesacollectionofuseful tipsandtricksinfinetuningyourLinuxvirtualmachines,whichmayormaynotapplytoallyourLinuxusage scenarios.AlthoughtherecommendationsinthispaperapplytomostLinuxdistributions,theyaretailored specificallytoRedHatEnterpriseLinux5.IDCobservedin2007thatofallpaidLinuxsubscriptions,RedHat EnterpriseLinuxcameinat62.1percentandNovellSUSELinuxEnterpriseServerplacedsecondat29percent. LinuxadministratorscanusethispaperasasourceforguidelineswhenbuildingandmaintainingLinux virtualmachinesintheirVMwareInfrastructureenvironments.SomeworkingknowledgeofVirtualCenter2.5 Update2,ESX3.5Update2,andLinuxoperatingsystemsisrequired. Thistechnicalnotecoversthefollowingtopics: LinuxSupportonVMwareESXonpage 2 InstallingLinuxinaVirtualMachineonpage 2 InstallingandUpgradingVMwareToolsonpage 4 CloningaLinuxGuestOperatingSystemonpage 9 VMwareUpdateManageronpage 11 LinuxTimeSynchronizationRecommendationsonpage 12 AdditionalNotesonpage 15 Resourcesonpage 19 AppendixA:LinuxVersionsSupportedonESXServeronpage 20 AppendixB:CommandLineOptionsforVMwareToolsUpgradesonpage 21 AppendixC:EnablingVMIinaLinuxKernelandinESX3.5onpage 22

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Linux Support on VMware ESX


VMwareESXsupportsthewidestrangeofLinuxguestoperatingsystemsofanyvirtualizationproduct.ESX supportsRedHatEnterpriseLinux2.1,3,4,and5,SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer8,9,and10,andUbuntu Linux7.04,8.04,and8.10.Inaddition,ESXsupportsalmostallupdatestothesereleasesaswellasspecialized variantsofthem.SeeAppendixA:LinuxVersionsSupportedonESXServeronpage 20foralistingofLinux versionssupportedatthetimethispaperwaswritten.Foracomplete,uptodatelistingofguestoperating systemssupportedbyVMwareproducts,seetheGuestOperatingSystemInstallationGuide.Foralink,see Resourcesonpage 19.ChoosingaLinuxdistributionfromthislistoffersperformancebenefitsover nonsupportedLinuxdistributionsbecauseVMwareproductsoptimizehypervisorsettingsbasedonguest operatingsystemtypes.

Installing Linux in a Virtual Machine


WhenyoucreatethevirtualmachineinwhichyouplantoinstallyourLinuxguestoperatingsystem,besure thatitsdevicesaresetupasyouexpect.ThissectiondescribesthecreationofaLinuxvirtualmachinefrom installablemedia.Onceyouhavecreatedavirtualmachine,youcancreatetemplatesandclonesfromthebase virtualmachine.Thisenablesyoutoprovisionfuturevirtualmachinesquickly.SeeCloningaLinuxGuest OperatingSystemonpage 9fordetails.ForgeneralinstallationguidelinesforallsupportedLinux distributions,seetheGuestOperatingSystemInstallationGuide.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.

Memory Recommendations
Besurethevirtualmachineisconfiguredwithatleast512MBofmemoryforRedHatEnterpriseLinux5or with256MBofmemoryforRedHatEnterpriseLinux3orRedHatEnterpriseLinux4.Ifthememoryinthe virtualmachineislowerthantherecommendedvalues,RedHatEnterpriseLinuxpresentsanerrormessage asitloadscertainVMwaredrivers.

Network Adapter Recommendations


Besuretoselectthecorrectnetworkadapter.Formost32bitguestoperatingsystems,youcanselectFlexible orEnhancedvmxnet.Formost64bitguestoperatingsystems,youcanselectE1000orEnhancedvmxnet. Enhancedvmxnetisnotsupportedonevery32and64bitLinuxdistribution,butiftheoptionexists,we recommendyouselectEnhancedvmxnetasyournetworkadapter.Seevmxnetonpage 8fordetails.

SCSI Adapter Recommendations


Whencreatingthevirtualmachine,besuretoselecttheLSILogicSCSIadapter.RedHatEnterpriseLinux5 doesnotincludeadriverfortheBusLogicSCSIadapter.ManyLinuxguestoperatingsystemsencounter problemsinavirtualmachineconfiguredtousetheBusLogicvirtualSCSIadapter.Inmostcases,VMware recommendsthatyouusetheLSILogicvirtualSCSIadapterwithallRedHatguestoperatingsystems. However,ESXServer2.5.2,2.5.3,2.5.4,and2.5.5supportonlytheBusLogicSCSIadapter.VMwareprovidesa separateBusLogicdriverforRedHatEnterpriseLinux4Upgrades1,2,3,4,and5.Forinstructionson downloadingandinstallingadriverfortheBusLogicadapter,seeArchivesforVMwareESXServer2.x.Fora link,seeResourcesonpage 19. YoucaninstallRedHatEnterpriseLinux5inavirtualmachineusingthestandardRedHatdistributionCD, viathebootfloppy/networkmethod,orfromaPXEserver.IfyouplantouseaPXEservertoinstalltheguest operatingsystemoveranetworkconnection,youdonotneedtheoperatingsysteminstallationmedia.When youpoweronthevirtualmachine,thevirtualmachinedetectsthePXEserver.Formoredetailsoninstallation throughPXE,seetheVMwareknowledgebasearticleUsingPXE(PrebootExecutionEnvironment)toInstall GuestOperatingSystemsoveraNetwork.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

RatherthaninstallingfromaphysicalCDROM,youcancreateanISOimagefilefromtheinstallation CDROM.UsinganISOimagefileinthiswaycanbeparticularlyconvenientifyouneedtoinstallthesame operatingsysteminmultiplevirtualmachines.YoucanstoretheISOfileonthehostmachineoronanetwork driveaccessiblefromthehostmachine.ThenintheVIClient: 1 2 3 4 5 RightclickthevirtualmachineinwhichyouwanttoinstallthenewguestoperatingsystemandclickEdit Settings. SelectCD/DVDDrive1undertheHardwaretab,selectConnectatpoweron,andbrowsetotheISOfile underDatastoreISOfile. PoweronyourvirtualmachinebyclickingthePowerOnbutton. FollowtheinstructionsinInstallationStepsonpage 3. ChangebacktotheirnormalsettingsforCD/DVDDrive1ifyoudonotwanttheISOfiletoremain connectedduringsubsequentreboots.

Installation Steps
1 2 Followtheinstallationstepsasyouwouldforaphysicalmachine.Besuretomakethechoicesoutlinedin thefollowingsteps. AllowautomaticpartitioningofthedisktooccurintheAutomaticPartitioningscreenorpartitionthe virtualdiskmanuallyifyoudonotwanttousetheRedHatdefaults.Youmightseeawarningthatbegins Thepartitiontableondevice<devicename>wasunreadable.Tocreatenewpartitionsitmustbe initialized,causingthelossofALLDATAonthedrive.Thisdoesnotmeanthatanythingiswrongwith theharddriveonyourphysicalcomputer.Itsimplymeansthatthevirtualharddriveinyourvirtual machineneedstobepartitionedandformatted. ClickYestopartitionandformatthevirtualharddrive. DonotselecttheVirtualizationsoftwareoptionduringtheinstallation.UnchecktheVirtualizationbox. Ifyouselectthisoption,RedHatEnterpriseLinux5orFedoraCore7installstheXenhypervisoranda XenLinuxkernel.Youmightexperienceanumberofperformanceandfunctionalityissues.Formore information,seetheVMwareknowledgebasearticleRHEL5andFC7GuestsInstalledwithRedHat VirtualizationAffectsPerformanceofVirtualMachine.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.

3 4

Choosing a Kernel
SomeolderLinuxdistributionssuchasRedHatEnterpriseLinux3andRedHatAdvancedServer2.1install kernelsoptimizedforAMDprocessorswhenoneisdetectedatinstalltime.Ifavirtualmachinewithsuchan AMDLinuxkerneliseverrunonanIntelbasedhost,itcanencounterproblems,asdescribedintheVMware knowledgebasearticleLinuxGuestMovedtoaSystemwithDifferentProcessorTypePanicsDuringBoot. Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.KernelsthatareoptimizedforIntelprocessorsarealsocompatiblewith AMDprocessorsanddonothavethisissue,however,itisbettertomatchthekerneltothehardwareplatform. Currentlyfor64bitprocessors,LinuxvendorshaveasinglekernelforAMDandIntelplatforms,sothisisnot anissuefor64bitguestoperatingsystems. ItisalsoimportanttoselectaLinuxkernelthatisappropriateforyourneeds.Linuxdistributionstypically offerachoiceofprecompiledkernelsoptimizedforvarioussystemmemoryandSMPconfigurations.Asa roughruleofthumb,kernelsoptimizedforthefollowingsystemsarelistedinorderofperformance: Uniprocessor(UP). Symmetricmultiprocessor(SMP). Symmetricmultiprocessorwithphysicaladdressextensions(SMPPAE). Symmetricmultiprocessorwithphysicaladdressextensionsandseparationofkernelanduserspace entirelysothateachcanmakefulluseofthe4GBvirtualaddressspaceon32bitsystems(SMPPAE, 4G/4Gsplit).TheseSMPPAE,4G/4GsplitkernelsarenotsupportedbyVMwareproducts.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

OnIntelplatforms,64bitguestscanberunonlywithhardwareassist(IntelVT).OnAMDplatforms64bit guestscanberuneitherwithhardwareassist(AMDV)orusingbinarytranslation.AVTvirtualmachine monitorincurslessoverheadonthenewerIntelCore2processorsthanontheolderPentium4processors.If youhaveachoicebetweena32bitor64bitguest,selectthe32bitguestonolderIntelplatforms(Pentium4). A64bitguestisabetterchoicefornewerIntelplatformsandforguestoperatingsystemsthataccessalarge amountofmemory(morethan4GB),because64bitkernelscanaddresstheentirememoryspacewithout complexmemorymanagementoverhead.Also,theVTmonitorfor64bitguestsworksfasteronnewerIntel processorsthantheolderPentium4processors. ThetablesbelowhighlightthemainRedHatEnterpriseLinux.kernelpackagesandwhattheycontain.Seethe respectiveURLlinksforfulldetailsonallavailablekernelpackagesforeachversionofRedHatEnterprise Linux. Table 1. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 Kernel RPM Descriptions
Information link Kernel RPMs https://www.redhat.com/docs/enUS/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/5.2/html/Deployment_Guide/s1 kernelpackages.html kernel=UP,SMP,nonPAE(4G) kernelPAE=SMP,PAE(upto64G)

Table 2. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 Kernel RPM Descriptions


Information link Kernel RPMs https://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL4Manual/enUS/System_Administration _Guide_/Manually_Upgrading_the_KernelOverview_of_Kernel_Packages.html kernel=UP,SMP,nonPAE(4G) kernelhugemem(notsupported)=SMP,PAE(upto64G),4G/4Gsplit kernelsmp=SMP,PAE(upto16G)

Table 3. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Kernel RPM Descriptions


Information link Kernel RPMs https://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL3Manual/sysadminguide/chkernel.htm l#S1KERNELPACKAGES kernel=UP,SMP,nonPAE(4G) kernelhugemem(notsupported)=SMP,PAE(upto64G),4G/4G kernelsmp=SMP,PAE(upto16G)

The64bitkernelscanaddresstheentirememoryspaceinthevirtualmachinedirectlyanddonotneeda specialmemorymanagementkernel.

Installing and Upgrading VMware Tools


VMwareToolsisasuiteofutilitiesthatenhancestheperformanceofavirtualmachinesguestoperating systemandimprovesmanagementofthevirtualmachine.InstallingVMwareToolsintheguestoperating systemisvital.AlthoughtheguestoperatingsystemcanrunwithoutVMwareTools,youloseimportant functionalityandconvenience.SeeOpenVirtualMachineToolsonpage 19forinformationonanopen sourceprojectthatallowstheuse,modification,andredistributionofmostofthecomponentsofVMware Tools. ThefollowingareinstalledwithVMwareTools: TheVMwareToolsservice(vmware-guestdonLinuxguests).Thisservicesynchronizesthetimeinthe guestoperatingsystemwiththetimeinESX. AsetofVMwaredevicedrivers,includinganSVGAdisplaydriver,thevmxnetacceleratednetworking driver(asdescribedinMajorComponentsInstalledbyVMwareToolsonpage 8),theBusLogicSCSI driver(asdescribedinInstallingLinuxinaVirtualMachineonpage 2),thememorycontroldriverfor efficientmemoryallocationbetweenvirtualmachines,thesyncdrivertoquiesceI/OforVMware ConsolidatedBackup,andtheVMwaremousedriver.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

TheVMwareToolscontrolpanel,whichletsyoumodifysettings,shrinkvirtualdisks,andconnectand disconnectvirtualdevices. Asetofscriptsthathelpsyouautomateguestoperatingsystemoperations.Thescriptsrunwhenthe virtualmachinespowerstatechangesifyouconfigurethemtodoso. TheVMwareuserprocess(vmware-useronLinuxguests),whichenablesyoutocopyandpastetext betweentheguestandmanagedhostoperatingsystems.InLinuxguests,thisprocesscontrolsgrabbing andreleasingthemousecursorwhentheSVGAdriverisnotinstalled. Makesureyouconfiguretheguestoperatingsystemtoincludethedevelopmentpackagesbeforeinstallingor reinstallingVMwareTools.ThisenablesVMwareToolstodeterminethecorrectmouseconfigurationand moduleconfiguration.Animproperlyconfiguredguestoperatingsystemcancauseproblems,includingguest operatingsystemcrashes,whenyouinstallVMwareTools. VMwareToolshasthefollowinglimitationsinLinuxvirtualmachines: Shrinkdiskisnotsupported. ThemousedriverinstallationfailsinXWindowSystemversionsearlierthan4.2.0. NOTEIfyoudonothaveVMwareToolsinstalledinyourvirtualmachine,youcannotusetheshutdownor restartoptionsinVirtualCenter.Youcanuseonlythepoweroptions.Ifyouwanttoshutdowntheguest operatingsystem,shutitdownfromwithinthevirtualmachineconsolebeforeyoupoweroffthevirtual machine. TheinstallersforVMwareToolsarebuiltintoESXasISOimagefiles.AnISOimagefilelookslikeaCDROM toyourguestoperatingsystem.YoudonotuseanactualCDROMdisctoinstallVMwareTools,nordoyou needtodownloadtheCDROMimageorburnaphysicalCDROMofthisimagefile. WhenyouselecttoinstallVMwareTools,VirtualCentertemporarilyconnectsthevirtualmachinesfirstvirtual CDROMdiskdrivetotheISOimagefilethatcontainstheVMwareToolsinstallerforyourguestoperating system.Youarereadytobegintheinstallationprocess. To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest from X with the RPM installer YoucanperformRPMinstallationsonlyincertainLinuxdistributionssuchasRedHatandSUSELinux EnterpriseServer,amongothers.ForotherLinuxdistributions,followtheRMPinstallationguidelines providedwiththedistributionorseethenextsection. 1 2 3 4 Openaconsoletothevirtualmachine. Poweronthevirtualmachine. Aftertheguestoperatingsystemstarts,rightclickthevirtualmachineandselectInstall/Upgrade VMwareTools.Theremainingstepstakeplaceinsidethevirtualmachine. Dooneofthefollowing: IfyouseeaVMwareToolsCDicononthedesktop,doubleclickit,andafteritopens,doubleclick theRPMinstallerintherootoftheCDROM. Ifyouseeafilemanagerwindow,doubleclicktheRPMinstallerfile. InsomeLinuxdistributions,theVMwareToolsCDiconmightfailtoappearonthedesktop.Inthiscase, doubleclickComputeranddoubleclicktheCDROMdriveandyoushouldseea VMwareTools-3.5.0-<xxxxx>.i386.rpmfileaswellasaVMwareTools-3.5.0-<xxxxx>.tar.gzfile (where<xxxxx>isthebuildnumberoftheESXreleaseforexample,buildnumber82663forESX3.5 Update1).OryoumayinstallVMwareToolsfromthecommandline,asdescribedinthenextsection. 5 6 Ifprompted,entertherootpasswordandclickOK.Theinstallerpreparesthepackages. ClickContinuewhentheinstallerpresentsadialogboxthatshowsCompletedSystemPreparation.A dialogboxappearswithaprogressbar.Whentheinstallerisdone,VMwareToolsisinstalled.Thereisno confirmationorfinishbutton,howeveryoucanverifyinstallationinVIClientintheSummarytabofthe Linuxvirtualmachine.Youcandeletethevmware-tools-distribfolder.
5

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

InanXterminal,asroot(su -),runthefollowingfiletoconfigureVMwareTools:
vmware-config-tools.pl

Whendone,exitfromtherootaccount:
exit

InanXterminal,opentheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox:
vmware-toolbox &

To install or upgrade VMware Tools on a Linux guest with the tar installer or RPM installer Forenhancedperformance,youshouldinstallVMwareToolsevenifyouarenotrunningtheXWindow System. 1 2 3 4 Openaconsoletothevirtualmachine. Poweronthevirtualmachine. Aftertheguestoperatingsystemstarts,rightclickthevirtualmachineandselectInstall/Upgrade VMwareTools.Theremainingstepstakeplaceinsidethevirtualmachine. Asroot(su -),mounttheVMwareToolsvirtualCDROMimageandchangetoaworkingdirectory(for example,/tmp),asfollows. NOTESomeLinuxdistributionsautomaticallymountCDROMs.Ifyourdistributionuses automounting,donotusethemountandumountcommandsdescribedinthisprocedure.Forexample, yourCDROMmayalreadybemountedto/mnt/cdromor/media.However,youstillmustuntarthe VMwareToolsinstallerto/tmp. SomeLinuxdistributionsusedifferentdevicenamesororganizethe/devdirectorydifferently.Modify thefollowingcommandstoreflecttheconventionsusedbyyourdistribution:
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom cd /tmp

NOTEIfyouhaveapreviousinstallation,deletethepreviousvmware-tools-distribdirectorybefore installing.Thedefaultlocationofthisdirectoryis: /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib 5 UncompresstheinstallerandunmounttheCDROMimage. DependingonwhetheryouareusingthetarinstallerortheRPMinstaller,dooneofthefollowing: Forthetarinstaller,atthecommandprompt,enter:


tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-3.5.0-<xxxxx>.tar.gz umount /dev/cdrom

Where<xxxxx>isthebuildnumberoftheESXrelease.Forexample,buildnumber82663forESX3.5 Update1. FortheRPMinstaller,atthecommandprompt,enter:


rpm -Uhv /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-3.5.0-<xxxxx>.i386.rpm umount /dev/cdrom

Where<xxxxx>isthebuildnumberoftheESXrelease.Forexample,buildnumber82663forESX3.5 Update1. NOTEIfyouattempttoinstallanRPMinstallationoveratarinstallationorthereversetheinstaller detectsthepreviousinstallationandmustconverttheinstallerdatabaseformatbeforecontinuing. 6 DependingonwhetheryouareusingthetarinstallerortheRPMinstaller,dooneofthefollowing: Forthetarinstaller,runtheVMwareToolstarinstaller:


cd vmware-tools-distrib
Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. 6

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

./vmware-install.pl

Respondtotheconfigurationquestionsonthescreen.PressEntertoacceptthedefaultvalue. Thevmware-config-tools.plscriptshouldrunautomaticallyattheendofthisinstallation. FortheRPMinstaller,youneedtoconfigureVMwareToolsbyrunningvmware-config-tools.pl manually:


vmware-config-tools.pl

VMwareToolsisnowinstalledandcanbeverifiedinVIClientintheSummarytaboftheLinuxvirtual machine.Youcandeletethevmware-tools-distribfolder. 7 Logofftherootaccount.


exit

8 9

Startyourgraphicalenvironment. InanXterminal,opentheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox:
vmware-toolbox &

Configuring VMware Tools with vmware-config-tools.pl


TheVMwareToolsinstallationisincompleteuntilyourunvmware-config-tools.pl,asdescribedinthe installationproceduresabove.Thevmware-config-tools.plscriptconfiguresVMwareToolsbeforethe packagerunsforthefirsttime.Inaddition,youmustrunthisconfigurationscriptagainifyouupgradeor modifytheLinuxkernelofthisvirtualmachine.Runningvmware-config-tools.plalsogivesyouthe opportunitytosetthedisplayresolutionoftheXWindowSystem.Typicallytheresolutionsrangefrom640 480to23641773withthedefaultselectionas1024768.

Verifying VMware Tools Setup


ToverifythatthecomponentsofVMwareToolsareinstalled,checkwhetherthespecificmodulesyouwantto confirmareinstalled.Forexample,listingthemodulestocheckforvmxnetisthebestwaytoverifythatthe vmxnetmoduleisavailableinmemory.Usethefollowinglsmodcommand,whichlistsinformationaboutall loadedmodules:
lsmod | grep vmxnet

Thisshouldreturnalineshowingstatisticsonthevmxnetdriver. Alsocheck/etc/modprobe.confandmakesurethatthepcnet32orvmxnetdriverisnamednexttothe appropriatenetworkdevices.Ifvlanceisincludedinoneoftheselines,thevmxnetdriverisnotusedevenif ithasbeenloadedintomemory.Themodprobe.conffilespecifieswhichoptionsaretobeusedwithwhich moduleswhenthereareconflictingmodulesloaded.Fordescriptionsofvmxnetandvlance,seevmxnet onpage 8.

Displaying the VMware Tools Properties Dialog Box


UsetheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogboxtoconfigureVMwareToolsinsideyourvirtualmachine.Usethis dialogboxtoconfiguresuchthingsastimesynchronizationbetweenhostandguest,notificationsofVMware Toolsupdates,andspecifyingwhichscriptstorunwhenthevirtualmachinespowerstatechanges.For instructionsonusingtheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox,clicktheHelpbuttoninsidethedialogbox. TodisplaytheVMwareToolsPropertiesdialogbox,openaconsoletothevirtualmachineandthenopena terminalwindowandenterthecommand:
/usr/bin/vmware-toolbox &

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Major Components Installed by VMware Tools


ThemajorcomponentsofVMwareToolswheninstalledincludevmblock,vmdesched(tobedeprecatedin upcomingreleasesofVMwareTools),vmhgfs,vmmemctl,vmsync,andvmxnet.Thissectiontakesacloserlook atvmxnet,thecomponentofmostinteresttoLinuxadministrators.

vmxnet
vmxnetisaLinuxkerneldevicedriverfortheVMwarehighspeedvirtualnetworkingdevice.Thenetwork devicesinavirtualmachinearebasedonrealhardware.Forexample,vlanceisavirtualdevicethatprovides strictemulationoftheAMDLancePCNet32Ethernetadapterfor32bitguests,ande1000isavirtualdevice thatprovidesstrictemulationoftheIntelE1000Ethernetadapterfor32bitand64bitguests.Whencreatinga 32bitvirtualmachine,ifyouselectFlexibleasthenetworkadapter,thevirtualmachinedefaultstovlance beforeVMwareToolsisinstalledbutswitchestovmxnetafterVMwareToolsisinstalled.Whencreatinga 64bitvirtualmachine,ifyouselectE1000asthenetworkadapter,thevirtualmachineusese1000asthe networkadapterregardlessofwhetherVMwareToolsisinstalled. Alternatively,forsome32and64bitguests,youcanselectEnhancedvmxnetasthenetworkadapter.vmxnet isspecificallydesignedforvirtualmachinestoimproveperformance.EnhancedVMXNET,introducedinESX 3.5,providesanewversionofthevmxnetvirtualdevice(theVMwareparavirtualizedvirtualnetworking deviceforguestoperatingsystems).EnhancedVMXNETincludesseveralnewnetworkingI/Operformance improvements,suchassupportforTCP/IPsegmentationoffload(TSO)andjumboframes.Allother networkingfeatures,suchasteamingandVLANs,arefullysupported.ToenableTSOandjumboframes,see theESXServer3ConfigurationGuide.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.Youcanalsousethecommand lineinterfacetoconfigureMTU(maximumpacketsize)andtoenableordisableTSO.EnhancedVMXNETis notsupportedonevery32and64bitLinuxdistribution,butiftheoptionexists,werecommendyouselect EnhancedVMXNETasyournetworkadapterforbetterperformance.ThisisespeciallytrueonIntelVTx systemswhereVMEXITcostsarehigh.vmxnethasalowerrateofVMEXITscomparedwithe1000. EnhancedVMXNETissupportedforonlythefollowingLinuxguestoperatingsystems: RedHatEnterpriseLinux5(32and64bit) RedHatEnterpriseLinux4(64bit,nojumboframesupport) SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10(32and64bit) Experimentalsupportisprovidedfor: RedHatEnterpriseLinux3(64bit,noTSO,nojumboframesupport) SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9(64bit,nojumboframesupport) Ubuntu7.04(64bit,nojumboframesupport) Becauseitisbackedbyactualvirtualhardware,EnhancedVMXNETshouldbeloadedautomaticallyby hotplugorudevasneeded.Forbestperformance,werecommendthatyouenableTSOonallinterfacesdriven byvmxnetusingethtool. ToenableTSO,useshellcodesimilartothefollowing:
if which ethtool >/dev/null 2>&1; then for ethif in `ifconfig -a | grep ^eth | cut -d' ' -f1`; do ethtool -K $ethif tso on >/dev/null 2>&1 done fi

VMware Tools Upgrades


YoucanupgradeVMwareToolsmanually,oryoucanconfigurevirtualmachinestocheckforandinstall newerversionsofVMwareToolsautomatically.Thefollowingarerequiredforautomaticupgrades: VirtualmachinesmusthaveaversionofVMwareToolsshippedwithESXServer3.0.1orgreaterinstalled.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

VirtualmachinesmustbehostedonESXServer3.0.1orgreater,andtheVirtualCenterservermustbe version2.0.1orgreater. VirtualmachinesmustberunningaguestoperatingsystemthatissupportedbyESXServer3.0.1or greaterandVirtualCenter2.0.1orgreater. Virtualmachinesmustbepoweredon. TomanuallyupgradeVMwareTools: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 LaunchtheVIClientandlogintotheVirtualCenterserver. SelecttheInventory>HostsandClustersview. Selectthehostorclusterthatcontainsthevirtualmachinesyouwanttoupgrade. SelecttheVirtualMachinestab. Selectthevirtualmachinesyouwanttoupgradeandpowerthemon. RightclickyourselectionsandselectInstall/UpgradeVMwareTools. (Optional)EntercommandlineoptionsintheAdvancedfield(seeAppendixB:CommandLineOptions forVMwareToolsUpgradesonpage 21). ClickOK.

ToconfigurevirtualmachinestoupgradeVMwareToolsautomatically: 1 2 3 4 MakesureyourvirtualmachineispoweredoffandopentheVirtualMachinePropertiesdialogboxfor thevirtualmachineyouwanttoupgrade. SelectOptionstab>VMwareTools. SelectCheckandupgradeToolsbeforeeachpoweronunderAdvanced. ClickOK.

Thenexttimethevirtualmachineispoweredon,itcheckstheESXhostforanewerversionofVMwareTools. Ifoneisavailable,itisinstalledand,ifrequired,theguestoperatingsystemisrestarted.

Cloning a Linux Guest Operating System


AfteryouhavecreatedandconfiguredaLinuxvirtualmachine,youhavetheoptionofconvertingitintoa template.YoucanthenusetoolsinVirtualCentertocloneadditionalvirtualmachinesfromthistemplate. Duringthecloningprocessatechniquecalledcustomizationallowsyoutocustomizetheidentityandnetwork settingsofyourvirtualmachinesguestoperatingsystemsoitisreadytobeginworkimmediatelyinyour targetenvironment.Cloningandcustomizationallowyoutoprovisionnewvirtualmachinesmuchmore quicklythanyoucanbybuildingthemmanually.Youcansaveyourvirtualmachinesettingsinaspecification thatyoucanrecalllaterandreuse.YoudothisusingtheGuestCustomizationwizard.Thereareseveralways toaccessthecustomizationwizard,asdescribedbelow.

Linux Requirements for Guest Customization


GuestcustomizationofaLinuxguestoperatingsystemcanoccurif: ThecloneortemplatehasoneofthefollowingLinuxversionsinstalled: RedHatEnterpriseLinuxASversions2through5(including64bitversions) RedHatApplicationServerversions2through5(including64bitversions) SUSELINUXEnterpriseServer8,9,or10 NOTECustomizationforRedHatLinux4andgreaterandSUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9andgreater issupportedonlyonhostsrunningESX3.5andgreaterorESXi3.5andgreater. ThemostrecentversionofVMwareToolsisinstalledintheguestoperatingsystem.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Thecloneortemplatehasarootvolumeformattedwithanext2,ext3,orReiserFSfilesystem. NOTESUSELinuxEnterpriseServerdistributionsregistertheEthernetMACaddressinformationintheguest operatingsystemsconfigurationfiles.ThiscausestheprocessofobtainingIPaddressesaftercloningtofail. Toavoidthisissueeditthe/etc/sysconifg/network/configfile,addingthefollowing:


FORCE_PERSISTENT_NAMES=no MANDATORY_DEVICES=no

Customizing a Linux Guest Operating System


YoucanstarttheGuestCustomizationwizardindirectlyfrom: TheDeployTemplatewizard TheCloneVirtualMachinewizard TheCustomizationSpecificationManager byselectingavirtualmachine,thenselectingEdit>CustomizationSpecifications,andthenclickingNew. 1 2 3 StarttheGuestCustomizationwizardusingamethoddescribedabove. IfyouopenedtheGuestCustomizationWizardfromtheCustomizationSpecificationManager,select LinuxastheTargetVirtualMachineOSandgiveitaNameand(optional)Description.ClickNext. OntheComputerNamepage,specifytheComputerNameandtheDomainNameforthevirtual machine.ClickNext. Thecomputernameisthenamegiventotheparticularinstanceofaguestoperatingsystem.The operatingsystemusesthisnametoidentifyitselfonthenetwork.OnLinuxsystems,itiscalledthehost name.ThisisnotthesameastheVMwareInfrastructure3virtualmachinenamethatwasdeclaredearlier intheDeployTemplatewizardorCloneVirtualMachinewizard.Youcansetthecomputernameusing thefollowingoptions: Useaspecificname:Thenamecancontainalphanumericcharactersandtheunderscore(_)and hyphen(-)characters.Itcannotcontainperiods(.)orblankspacesandcannotbemadeupofdigits only.Ifyouwanttoensurethatthenameisuniquesothatyoudonotincurconflicts,selectAppend anumericvaluetoensureuniqueness.Namesarecaseinsensitive:thenamemy_vmisidenticalto My_Vm. Usethevirtualmachinename:ThecomputernamethatVirtualCentercreatesisidenticaltothe nameofthevirtualmachineonwhichtheguestoperatingsystemisrunning. PrompttheuserforanameintheDeployWizard:VIClientpopulatestheDeployVirtualMachine wizardwithapromptforthecomputernameafteryoucompleteallthestepsinthewizard. UseacustomapplicationconfiguredwiththeVirtualCenterServertogenerateaname:Entera parameterthatcanbepassedtothecustomapplication. 4 IfyouwantVirtualCentertoconfigureallnetworkinterfacesautomaticallyfromaDHCPserver,select TypicalsettingsontheNetworkpage.ClickNext. IfusingaDHCPserverisnotappropriateforyourenvironment,selectCustomsettings,andclickNext. 5 Selectthenetworkinterfacecard(NIC)tocustomizeandclickCustomizetomakeadditional specifications. UsetheNetworkPropertiesdialogboxtoperformthesesteps: a OntheGeneraltab,selectwhetheryouwanttouseDHCPtoobtainanIPaddressautomaticallyor entertheIPaddressesmanually.AlsoselectwhetheryouwanttouseDHCPtoobtainaDNSserver addressautomaticallyorentertheDNSserveraddressesmanually. ClickOKtoreturntothepreviousdialogbox.ClickNextontheNetworkGuestCustomizations page.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

OntheDNSandDomainsettingspage,entertheIPaddressesfortheDNSservers.SpecifytheDNS connectionsbyenteringDNSsuffixes.ForeachDNSsuffixyouenter,clickAdd.Ifyouareadding multipleDNSconnections,useMoveUpandMoveDowntospecifytheorderinwhichavirtualmachine istousetheconnections. IfyouopenedtheGuestCustomizationWizardfromtheDeployTemplatewizardortheCloneVirtual Machinewizard,youseeaSaveSpecificationpagewhereyoucanoptionallysavethecustomizedoptions asan.xmlfilebycompletingthesesteps: a b SelectSavethiscustomizationspecificationforlateruse. Specifythefilenameforthespecification,andclickNext.

VirtualCentersavesthecustomizedconfigurationparametersintheVirtualCenterdatabase.Ifthe customizationsettingsaresaved,theadministratoranddomainadministratorpasswordsarestoredin encryptedformatinthedatabase.Becausethecertificateusedtoencryptthepasswordsisuniquetoeach VirtualCenterServer,reinstallingtheVirtualCenterServer,orattachinganewinstanceoftheservertothe database,invalidatestheencryptedpasswords.Thepasswordsmustbereenteredbeforetheycanbe used. 8 ClickFinish. VirtualCenterclosestheGuestCustomizationwizardandreturnsyoutotheDeployTemplatewizard, CloneVirtualMachinewizard,orCustomizationSpecificationManager.

Completing Linux Guest Operating System Customization


Thecustomizationprocessisnotcompleteuntiltheguestoperatingsystemboots,runsthefinalizationscripts, andreachestheloginpage.AcustomizedLinuxvirtualmachinedoesnotneedanyadditionalrebootingand isoperationalassoonastheloginpageappearsafterthefirstboot.Ifconfigurationerrorsoccur,theyare displayedinthevirtualmachinesconsolewindowwhiletheguestoperatingsystemisbooting.Theseerrors arealsologgedto/var/log/vmware/customization.log.

VMware Update Manager


VMwareUpdateManagerenablesadministratorstoapplyupdatesandpatchesacrossESXhostsandall managedvirtualmachines.UpdateManagerprovidestheabilitytocreateuserdefinedsecuritybaselines whichrepresentasetofsecuritystandards.Securityadministratorscancomparehostsandvirtualmachines againstthesebaselinestoidentifysystemsthatarenotincompliance.SeetheVMwareUpdateManager ReleaseNotesforthelatestlistofsupportedguestoperatingsystems.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19. Currently,VMwareUpdateManager1.0Update2supportsscanningofthefollowingpoweredoffand poweredonLinuxguestoperatingsystems: RedHatEnterpriseLinuxAS3.0(Update5orlater) RedHatEnterpriseLinuxES3.0(Update5orlater) RedHatEnterpriseLinuxAS4.0(Update2orlater) RedHatEnterpriseLinuxES4.0(Update2orlater)

Installing the Update Manager Guest Agent


VMwareUpdateManagerGuestAgentfacilitatesUpdateManagerprocesses.TheGuestAgentisinstalledat differenttimesdependingontheoperatingsystemthevirtualmachineisrunning.ForLinuxguestoperating systems,usingVirtualCenter2.5Update2,theGuestAgentisinstalledwhenascanoperationisperformed byVMwareUpdateManagerforthefirsttime. Forbestresults,ensurethatthelatestversionoftheGuestAgentisinstalled.If,forsomereason,GuestAgent installationdoesnotcompletesuccessfully,scanningoperationswillfail.Insuchacase,manuallyinstallthe GuestAgent.TheGuestAgentinstallationpackagesforLinuxguestsareintheWindowslocationyou specifiedwheninstallingUpdateManagerserver.Inthatdirectory,GuestAgentinstallationpackagesareat

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

\docroot\vci\guestAgent\.Forexample,ifUpdateManagerwasinstalledinC:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager,theGuestAgentinstallersareatC:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Update Manager\docroot\vci\guestAgent\.TheGuestAgent requiresnouserinputsothattheinstallationcompletessilently. InLinux,installtheVMware-VCIGuestAgent-Linux.rpmfilebyissuingthefollowingcommand:


rpm -ivh VMware-VCIGuestAgent-Linux.rpm

TheGuestAgentmonitorschangestotheguestoperatingsystemsRPMpackagedatabase.Wheneverthat databaseischanged,theGuestAgentreportstheRPMpackagedatabasecontentstoUpdateManagerserver. Ifthevirtualmachineisonlineatthetimeofthescan,theGuestAgentreportsthecurrentpackageinformation duringthescan.

Scanning a Linux guest operating system


Duringascanningoperation,UpdateManagercomparesaguestoperatingsystemspackagedatabase contentsagainstapredefinedbaselineofpatches.Specifically,theUpdateManagerGuestAgentmonitors changestotheguestoperatingsystemsRPMpackagedatabase.Wheneverthatdatabaseischanged,theGuest AgentreportstheRPMpackagedatabasecontentstotheUpdateManagerserver.Ifthevirtualmachineis poweredonatthetimeofthescan,theGuestAgentimmediatelyreportsthecurrentpackageinformation duringthescan.ThescanresultindicateswhethertheLinuxguestoperatingsystemiscompliantor noncomplianttothebaseline.Fornoncompliantoperatingsystems,thescanindicatesthespecificpatchesthat aremissing.YoucanremediatethesemissingpatchesintheLinuxguestoperatingsystembyinvokingeither thesoftwareupdaterutilityortheup2dateutilityfoundinmostLinuxdistributions.Theseutilitiesenableyou todownloadandinstallspecificpatchpackages.

Linux Time Synchronization Recommendations


Therecommendationsbelowincludebestpracticesontheparticularkernelcommandlineoptionstousefor specificLinuxoperatingsystems.Thissectionalsoprovidesadescriptionoftherecommendedsettingsand usageforNTPtimesynchronization,configurationofVMwareToolstimesynchronization,andvirtual hardwareclockconfigurationtoachievebesttimekeepingresults.Formoredetails,seeVMwareknowledge basearticle1006427TimekeepingbestpracticesforLinuxandthepaperTimekeepinginVMwareVirtual Machines.Forlinks,seeResourcesonpage 19. Tables4and5showalistingofcommonLinuxguestoperatingsystemsandgiveskernelparametersrequired forbettertimekeeping.TheNotescolumnindicateswhetherthatguestoperatingsystemisrecommendedor ifyoushouldavoidusingitfortimesensitivevirtualmachines.Inallothercases,theguestoperatingsystem hasacceptabletimekeepingperformance. WhenbothSMPandUPkernelsareavailable,theymustbeusedinvirtualmachinesconfiguredwiththe correspondingvirtualhardwaremultipleprocessorsforanSMPkernelorasingleprocessorforaUP kernelotherwisethemismatchmaycausetimetodrift.

Editing Kernel Configuration


Kernelcommandlineparametersarespecifiedinthe/etc/lilo.confor/boot/grub/grub.conffile, dependingonyourchoiceofbootloader. ForLILO,putthekernelcommandlineparametersattheendoftheappendline.Forexample,iftheappend linelookslike:
append="resume=/dev/hda6 splash=silent"

andyouwanttoaddclock=pmtmr divider=10,theupdatedtextis:
append="resume=/dev/hda6 splash=silent clock=pmtmr divider=10"

Remembertorun/sbin/liloaftereditinglilo.conf,sothatyoureditstakeeffect.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

ForGRUB,putthekernelcommandlineparametersattheendofthekernelline.Forexampleifthekernel linelookslike:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18 ro root=/dev/hda2

andyouwanttoaddclock=pmtmr divider=10,theupdatedtextis:
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18 ro root=/dev/hda2 clock=pmtmr divider=10

Foradditionalinformationaboutworkingwithbootloaders,seeyourLinuxdistributionsdocumentation. Table 4. Settings for 32-bit Kernels


Linux Version RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.2 RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1 RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.0 RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.7 RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.0,4.1,4.2,4.3, 4.4,4.5,4.6 RedHatEnterpriseLinux3(allupdates) SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2on ESX3.5andlater SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2on ESXServer3.0.xandearlier SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP1 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9(all updates) Ubuntu8.04onESX3.5andlater Ubuntu8.04onESXServer3.0.xand earlier Ubuntu7.04,7.10 Ubuntu5.04,5.10,6.06,6.10 clocksource=acpi_pm clocksource=acpi_pm clock=pmtmr clock=pmtmr clock=pmtmr clock=pmtmr clock=pmtmr Recommended.Usea VMIenabledkernel. Kernel Parameters divider=10 clocksource=acpi_pm divider=10 clocksource=acpi_pm clocksource=acpi_pm clock=pmtmr divider=10 clock=pmtmr Noadditionalkernel parametersrequired. Recommended.Usea VMIenabledkernel. Notes

AmongRedHatEnterpriseLinux4versions,RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.7hasthebesttimekeeping performancebecauseoftheavailabilityofthedivider=10option. AmongRedHatEnterpriseLinux5version,RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1and5.2havethebesttimekeeping performancebecauseoftheavailabilityofthedivider=10option. Table 5. Settings for 64-bit Kernels


Linux Version RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.2 RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1with RHSA2007:099313 RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1without RHSA2007:099313 RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.0 RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.7 RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.2,4.3,4.4,4.5,4.6 RedHatEnterpriseLinux4.0,4.1 notsc divider=10 notsc Doesnotsupportnotsc.Avoidusingif possible. Kernel Parameters notsc divider=10 notsc divider=10 notsc Noadditionalkernelparametersrequired. Notes

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Table 5. Settings for 64-bit Kernels


Linux Version RedHatEnterpriseLinux3(allupdates) SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2onESX 3.5andlater SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2onESX Server3.0.xandearlier SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP1 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9withkernel version2.6.57.312orlater SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9withkernel version2.6.57.311orearlier Ubuntu7.10,8.04 Ubuntu5.10,6.06,6.10,7.04 Ubuntu5.04 clocksource=acpi_pm notsc Doesnotsupportnotsc.Avoidusingif possible. notsc notsc notsc ignore_lost_ticks Hasnoworkaroundforlosttick overcompensation.Avoidusingifpossible. Kernel Parameters Notes Hasnoworkaroundforlosttick overcompensation.Avoidusingifpossible. Recommended.

Recommended Configurations
BasedonvendorsupportintheirLinuxkernels,weexpectthefollowingconfigurationstohavethebest timekeepingbehaviorinaLinuxvirtualmachine: SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP232bitor64bitrunningonESX3.5Update2orlater Ubuntu8.0432bitrunningonESX3.5Update2orlater AmongRedHatEnterpriseLinux4and5,versionswiththedivider=10optionhavebettertimekeeping behaviorthanthosewithout. FormoreinformationonVMIenabledkernels,seethefollowingVMwareknowledgebasearticles: HowtoenableavirtualmachineinterfaceinaLinuxkernelandinESXServer3.5 EnablingVMIwithSLES10SP232bitvirtualmachinesonESX Forlinks,seeResourcesonpage 19.

NTP Recommendations
Wheneverpossible,useNTPinsteadofVMwareToolsperiodictimesynchronization.Also,youmayneedto openthefirewall(UPD123)toallowNTPtraffic. ToenableNTP,youmustmodify/etc/ntp.conf.Thefollowingisasample/etc/ntp.conf:
tinker panic 0 restrict 127.0.0.1 restrict default kod nomodify notrap server 0.vmware.pool.ntp.org server 1.vmware.pool.ntp.org server 2.vmware.pool.ntp.org driftfile /var/lib/ntp/drift

Thefollowingisasample/etc/ntp/step-tickers:
0.vmware.pool.ntp.org 1.vmware.pool.ntp.org

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Theconfigurationdirectivetinker panic 0instructsNTPnottogiveupifitseesalargejumpintime.This isimportantforcopingwithlargetimedriftsandalsoresumingvirtualmachinesfromtheirsuspendedstate. NOTEThedirectivetinker panic 0mustbeatthetopofthentp.conffile. Itisalsoimportantnottousethelocalclock,oftenreferredtoastheundisciplinedlocalclock,asatimesource. NTPhasatendencytofallbacktothissourceinpreferencetotheremoteserverswhenthereisalargeamount oftimedrift. Anexampleofsuchaconfigurationis:
server 127.127.1.0 fudge 127.127.1.0 stratum 10

Commentoutbothoftheselinesfrom/etc/ntp.conf. AftermakingchangestotheNTPconfiguration,youmustrestarttheNTPdaemon.Seeyouroperatingsystem vendorsdocumentationfordetails.

VMware Tools Time Synchronization Configuration


WhenusingNTPintheguestoperatingsystem,disableVMwareToolsperiodictimesynchronizationusing oneofthefollowingoptions: 1 2 3 Settools.syncTime = "0"intheconfigurationfile(.vmxfile)ofthevirtualmachine. DeselectTimesynchronizationbetweenthevirtualmachineandthehostoperatingsysteminthe VMwareToolstoolboxGUIintheguestoperatingsystem. Runthecommandvmware-guestd --cmd "vmx.set_option synctime 1 0"intheguestoperating system.

TheseoptionsdonotdisableonetimesynchronizationsdonebyVMwareToolsforeventssuchastools startup,takingasnapshot,revertingtoasnapshot,resumingfromsuspend,orVMotion.Theseevents synchronizetimeintheguestoperatingsystemwithtimeinthehostoperatingsystem,soitisimportantto makesurethatthehostoperatingsystemstimeiscorrect. TodothisforVMwareACE,VMwareFusion,VMwarePlayer,VMwareServer,andVMwareWorkstation,run timesynchronizationsoftwaresuchasNTPorw32timeonthehost.ForVMwareESX,runNTPintheservice console.ForVMwareESXi,runNTPintheVMkernel.

Virtual Hardware Clock Configuration


WhenconfiguringaLinuxguestoperatingsystem,ifyouaregivenachoicebetweenkeepingthehardware clock(thatis,thevirtualCMOStimeofdayclock)inUTCorlocaltime,chooseUTC.Thisavoidsanyconfusion whenyourlocaltimechangesbetweenstandardanddaylightsavingtime(inEngland,summertime).

Additional Notes
ThissectionprovidesadditionalusefulnotesforLinuxadministratorswhowanttooptimizetheirLinuxguest operatingsystems.ThesenotesdonotdetailstepbystepinstructionsforfinetuningyourLinuxvirtual machines,buttheyofferfurtherinsightintounderstandingthebehaviorofyourvirtualmachines.Thissection coversthefollowingtopics: AsynchronousI/Oonpage 16 LinuxTimerRatesforVirtualMachinesonVMwareESXonpage 16 LinuxSwappinessonpage 17 ParavirtualizationandVirtualMachineInterfaceonpage 17 OpenVirtualMachineToolsonpage 19

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Asynchronous I/O
SupportforasynchronousI/OinthekernelandcorrespondingsystemcallsareincludedinLinuxkernel version2.6.ButtheAPIfortheappropriatesystemcallsdiffersfromtheoriginalfunctions,soasimple recompilationofexistingapplicationsmightbeinsufficienttousethenewchange.Thechangerequiressource codemodificationthathasoccurredindifferentapplicationsatdifferentrates. BeawareofthisissuewhenconsideringapplicationsthatuseasynchronousI/O.Inbenchmarking,for example,IometerisatoolthatcanbeusedforstoragesystemperformancemeasurementsonbothWindows andLinux.However,becauseitssourcecodewasneverupdatedtousethenew,correctedasynchronousI/O systemcallsonLinux,thenumbersitproducesonLinux(usingrawdevices)areartificiallyandunfairlylow. ConsiderthiswhendoingLinuxtoWindowscomparisonsanduseasynchronousI/Oawaretoolssuchas aiostress,whenneeded.

Linux Timer Rates for Virtual Machines on VMware ESX


Modernsystemsuseahardwaretimerforavarietyoffinegrainedoperationsattheoperatingsystemlevel. VMwaresvirtualizationplatformsvirtualizethistimerintheESXkernel.Becausethevirtualtimerprovided tothevirtualmachineisactuallysoftware,itissubjecttothesameresourcerestrictionsasotherprocesses.The busierthesystem,themorethetimerexecutionmustcontendwithotherhypervisoractivities.Therearetwo implicationsofthis: Whenthesystemisverybusy,thesoftwaretimermightnotexecuteasregularlyasitdoeswhenthe systemislessbusyandvirtualtimecanfallbehind. Dependingonhowfrequentlytheoperatingsystemisinterruptedbythetimer,thehypervisormustdo differentamountsofwork. TheamountofworkrequiredtomanagethevirtualtimerisgreatestwithRedHatEnterpriseLinux5SMP systems,whichuseaclockfrequencyof1000Hzandsufferfromamultiplicativeamountofworkbecauseof SMPsupport.Forinstance,thefollowingtableshowsthenumberoftimerinterruptsona1000HzRedHat EnterpriseLinux5virtualmachine: Table 6. Timer Interrupts for Multiple Virtual CPUs in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
Virtual CPU Count 1 2 4 8 Timer Interrupts per Second per Virtual Machine 1000 6000 20000 72000

Table 7. Timer Interrupts for Selected Linux Distributions


Linux Version RedHatEnterpriseLinux5 RedHatEnterpriseLinux4 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP1 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer8 Timer Interrupts per Second per Virtual CPU 1000 100 250 1000 100

Theamountofworkthatneedstobedonebythehypervisorincreasesdramaticallywiththeadditionof virtualCPUs.Inaddition,decreasingthetimerinterruptrategreatlydecreasestheworkthatneedstobedone bytheVMkerneltovirtualizethetimer.RedHatEnterpriseLinux5.1andRedHatEnterpriseLinux4.7offer aLinuxkernelthatenablesreducingthetimerrate.Byaddingtheparameterdivider=10totheboot parametersasdescribedinLinuxTimeSynchronizationRecommendationsonpage 12,youcanreducethe amountofworkrequiredoftheVMkerneltovirtualizethetimerbyanorderofmagnitude.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

ThemainlineLinuxkernelhasmovedtoaticklesstimekeepingmodelinwhich,insteadofcountingperiodic interruptstotellthetime,theLinuxkernelqueriesahardwaretimesourcewhenitneedstoknowthetime. ThesechangesmakeLinuxamuchbetterbehavedoperatingsysteminphysicalaswellasvirtual environments.Ticklesskernelskeepbettertimeandreducepowerutilizationonlaptopsandothermobile deviceswherebatterylifeisimportant.Invirtualmachines,ticklesskernelsareidealbecausetheyimposeless overheadonthehypervisorandkeepveryaccuratetime.Toserveourcustomersbetter,VMwarehasworked directlywiththemainlineLinuxkernelaswellasCanonical,thepublisheroftheUbuntudistribution,to implementoperatingsystemchangestosupportticklesstimekeeping.Becausethemigrationtoatickless kernelwascompletedrecently,onlyrecentUbuntuLinuxreleasesincorporatethisfunctionality. Accurateticklesstimekeepingcanalsobeachievedthroughparavirtualization,inwhichtheoperatingsystem ismodifiedtobeawarethatitisrunningonahypervisor.TheVirtualMachineInterface(VMI),developedby VMwareinconjunctionwiththeLinuxcommunityandnowpartofthemainlineLinuxkernel,isa paravirtualizationsolutionthat,inadditiontoprovidinghigherperformance,ensuresaccuratetimekeeping invirtualmachines.VMwareworkedwithNovellandCanonicaltosupportVMIenabledguestoperating systems,suchas32bitSUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2andUbuntu8.04LTS,forESX3.5Update2and later.The32bitversionsofUbuntu7.10and7.04supportVMIonESX3.5andlater.VMwarehasencouraged RedHattoincorporatesupportforVMIintoitsreleases.OutsideofVMI,VMwarealsoworkedwithNovell toimplementticklesstimekeepingthroughparavirtualizing64bitSUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10SP2.

Linux Swappiness
Inavirtualizedenvironment,thefrequencyofswappingapplicationsinandoutofmemorycanhaveadverse effectsonaLinuxvirtualmachinesresponsivenessafterlongidleperiods.Youcanadjustthisfrequency,or swappiness,bysetting/proc/sys/vm/swappinesstoarangebetween0and100.TuneLinuxswappiness downtomakeLinuxvirtualmachinesmoreresponsiveusingacommandinsidetheLinuxvirtualmachine similartothefollowing:
echo 0 > /proc/sys/vm/swappiness

Ifyouwantthissettingtopersist,addthefollowinglineto/etc/sysctl.confintheLinuxvirtualmachine:
vm.swappiness=0

Whenyoulowertheswappinesssetting,idleprocessesinthevirtualmachinearenotpenalizedasLinux,by default,triestoswapthemout.Swappingandpagefaultsinavirtualmachinearemoreexpensivethanina nativeenvironment.Forexample,alarge,idleapplicationwithitsownlargecachewouldnotbenefitfrom beingswappedoutofmemory.Ifitisswappedout,ittakesalongtimeforitspagestoswapbackintomemory whentheapplicationisaccessed.Theimpactofchangestotheswappinesssettingismorepronouncedin LinuxvirtualmachinesthaninLinuxdistributionsrunningnatively.

Paravirtualization and Virtual Machine Interface


ESX3.5introducessupportforguestoperatingsystemsthatuseVMwaresparavirtualizationstandard, VirtualMachineInterface. Twotechniquesforvirtualizingunmodifiedguestoperatingsystemkernelsarebinarytranslationand hardwarevirtualization.AcomparisonofthesefullvirtualizationtechniquescanbefoundinthepaperA ComparisonofSoftwareandHardwareTechniquesforx86Virtualization.Adifferenttechniqueis paravirtualization,whichrequiresmodificationstotheguestoperatingsystemandcanbeusedinconjunction withthefirsttwotechniquesoronitsown.Foradditionaldetailsonthistechnique,seethepaper PerformanceofVMwareVMI.Forlinkstothesepapers,seeResourcesonpage 19.

Paravirtualization
Paravirtualizationisatechniqueinwhichamodifiedguestoperatingsystemkernelcommunicatestothe hypervisoritsintenttoperformprivilegedCPUandmemoryoperations.Thistechniquereducesthework requiredofthehypervisor,thusmakingitsimplerthanabinarytranslationhypervisor.Although paravirtualizationdoesnoteliminatevirtualizationoverhead,itcanimproveguestoperatingsystem performance.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Theideaofguesthostinteractionisnotanewconcept.IthaslongbeenapartofVMwareproductsintheform ofVMwareTools.Forexample: TheVMwareSVGAdriversharesdatastructureswiththehypervisortoallowfasterscreenupdates. TheVMwarehighperformancevirtualEthernetdriver,vmxnet,sharesdatastructureswiththe hypervisortoreduceCPUoverhead. TheVMwareballoondriverisusedbythehypervisortocontroltheguestoperatingsystemsmemory usage. TheVMwareToolsserviceenablestimesynchronizationbetweenhostandguest. Whilesuchguesthostcommunicationprovidesimprovedperformanceandcanbeclassifiedas paravirtualization,noneoftheseexamplesinvolvechangestotheunderlyingguestoperatingsystemkernel. However,inordertoparavirtualizetheCPUandthememorymanagementunit,changestotheguest operatingsystemkernelarerequired.Opensourceoperatingsystems,suchasLinux,allowustomakesuch changes.

Virtual Machine Interface


Earlyparavirtualizationrequiredoperatingsystemsandapplicationstobecertifiedonmanydifferent kernelssomefornativehardwareandotherstorunonahypervisor.Also,thelackofastandardguesthost interfaceledtofrequentinterfacechanges,whichinturncausedversiondependenciesbetweentheguest operatingsystemkernelandthehypervisor.Inordertoaddresstheseissues,VMwareproposedanew guesthostinterface,calledVirtualMachineInterface,whichdefinesasetofhypercallsanoperatingsystem canusetocommunicatewiththehypervisor.Fordetails,seetheParavirtualizationAPIVersion2.5 specification.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19. ThestandardizedinterfaceprovidedbyVMIallowstheguestoperatingsystemkernelandthehypervisorto evolveindependently.TheVMIspecificationalsomakesitpossibleforothervendorstoenabletheir hypervisorstosupportguestoperatingsystemsthatuseVMI. VMIwasdesignedtoabstractnativehardware.Thisfeature,calledtransparentparavirtualization,allowsa VMIenabledkerneltorunbothonnativehardwareandonhypervisorsthatsupporttheinterfacewithno additionalmodificationtotheoperatingsystemkernel. VMIcodeisincludedin32bitLinuxmainlinekernels2.6.22andabove.TheUbuntuLinuxdistribution includesVMIsupportinversion7.04(FeistyFawn)andlater.NovellincludesVMIsupportinSUSELinux EnterpriseServer10SP2.ToenableVMI,seeAppendixC:EnablingVMIinaLinuxKernelandinESX3.5 onpage 22.

VMI Performance Benefits


TheVMwareimplementationofVMIoffersanumberofperformanceandresourceutilizationbenefits: Thesyscallentryandexitpathisfaster.Thisspeedsupsyscalldominatedworkloads. VMIenabledLinuxkernelsbydefaultuseanalternatetimerinterruptmechanismthatresultsinreduced physicalCPUconsumption,especiallywhenthevirtualmachineisidle,andinmoreaccurate timekeeping,evenwhenrunningmanyvirtualmachines. Becausetheguestkernelcommunicatestothehypervisoritsintenttoperformmemorymanagementunit (MMU)relatedoperations,MMUvirtualizationoverheadisreduced.Dependingontheworkload,this canhavevaryingperformancebenefits. SMPvirtualmachinesrunningVMIenabledoperatingsystemsusesharedshadowpagetables.Asa resulttheyhavelessmemoryspaceoverheadthanthoserunningnonVMIenabledoperatingsystems. Formoreinformationonshadowpagetables,seethepaperESXServerArchitectureandPerformance Implications.Foralink,seeResourcesonpage 19.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Whenaworkloadrunsinusermode,theVMwarevirtualmachineinwhichitisrunningisindirectexecution mode.BecausedirectlyexecutedcodealreadyrunsatnativespeedsinbothbinarytranslationandVMIstyle paravirtualization,workloadsthatspendthemajorityoftheirtimeinusermodegainonlymodest performanceimprovementsfromparavirtualization.

Open Virtual Machine Tools


AspartoftheOpenVirtualMachineToolsproject,VMwarehasopensourcedportionsofVMwareToolsfor Linux,FreeBSDandSolarisandmovedtoacollaborativedevelopmentmodelwiththeopensource community.Thismoveallowstheuse,modification,andredistributionofthecodebeingopensourced. ThirdpartydevelopersoutsideVMwarecancontributethroughcommunitydevelopmentandcollaborate withVMwareengineersforrapidinnovation,developmentofportstoadditionalguestoperatingsystemsfor whichVMwareToolspackagesdonotyetexist,andoveralleaseofmaintenance.Customersandpartnerscan alsosimplifytheincorporationofVMwareToolsinstallationandupgradeaspartoftheirguestoperating systemlifecyclemanagementandredistributionasopensourcesoftwarecomponents. OpenVirtualMachineToolsalsowillaidLinuxdistributionsinbundlingOpenVirtualMachineToolsfora betteroutoftheboxguestoperatingsystemexperienceonVMwareplatformsbyallowingthedistributions toprovideOpenVirtualMachineToolsthatmatchtheguestoperatingsystemskernelversion.Thisis especiallyusefulforLinuxreleasesthatshipbetweenreleasesofVMwareplatformsoftware. Inaddition,thevirtualappliancemarketisdrivingneedsforsupportfornewer,nontraditionalguest operatingsystems.Thissupportrequiresarapiddevelopmentmodelmadepossiblethroughcommunity involvementanddevelopment.Ingeneral,nowthatvirtualizationhasbecomemainstream,openingVMware Toolsfacilitatescollaborativedevelopmentinvolvingthewidercommunity. Currently,onlythefollowingcomponentsthatarepartofVMwareToolsarenotpartofOpenVirtualMachine Tools: VMwareToolsupgrader (experimental)VMwareDescheduledTimerAccounting(VMDesched) ThecentralactivitycenteroftheOpenVirtualMachineToolsprojectisatSourceforge.Foralink,see Resourcesonpage 19.TheSourceforgepageprovideslinkstoannouncements,technicaldiscussions, administrativeprocesses,documents,developmentprocesses,bugs,usergroups,contributions,projects, merges,andmore.Italsoallowsyoutobrowse,download,andcontributetothesourcecode.

Resources
AComparisonofSoftwareandHardwareTechniquesforx86Virtualization http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/528 ArchivesforVMwareESXServer2.x http://www.vmware.com/download/esx/drivers_tools.html BasicSystemAdministration http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_admin_guide.pdf EnablingVMIwithSLES10SP232bitvirtualmachinesonESX http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1005701 ESXServer3ConfigurationGuide http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35/vi3_35_25_3_server_config.pdf ESXServerArchitectureandPerformanceImplications http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/resources/433 GuestOperatingSystemInstallationGuide http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf HowtoenableavirtualmachineinterfaceinaLinuxkernelandinESXServer3.5 http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003644

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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ImprovingGuestOperatingSystemAccountingforDescheduledVirtualMachinesinESXServer3.x Systems http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/526 InstructionsondownloadingandinstallingadriverfortheBusLogicvirtualSCSIadapter http://www.vmware.com/download/esx/drivers_tools.html LinuxGuestMovedtoaSystemwithDifferentProcessorTypePanicsDuringBoot http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1572 OpenVirtualMachineToolsmainpageatSourceforge http://openvmtools.sourceforge.net/ ParavirtualizationAPIVersion2.5specification http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vmi_specs.pdf PerformanceofVMwareVMI http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/1038 RHEL5andFC7GuestsInstalledwithRedHatVirtualizationAffectsPerformanceofVirtualMachine http://kb.vmware.com/kb/9134325 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServerinformation http://www.novell.com/products/server/ TimekeepingbestpracticesforLinux http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1006427 TimekeepinginVMwareVirtualMachines http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/1066 UbuntuLinuxdownloadpage http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download VMwareUpdateManagerReleaseNotes http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pages/vi_pubs_35u2.html UsingPXE(PrebootExecutionEnvironment)toInstallGuestOperatingSystemsoveraNetwork http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1162

Appendix A: Linux Versions Supported on ESX Server


Table8liststheLinuxandFreeBSDversionssupportedonspecificversionsofESXServer.SeetheGuest OperatingSystemInstallationGuideforthemostrecentcompatibilityinformation.Foralink,seeResources onpage 19. Table 8. Supported Linux and FreeBSD Operating Systems
Guest Operating System CentOS5.0 RedHatEnterpriseLinux5 RedHatEnterpriseLinux4 RedHatEnterpriseLinux3 RedHatEnterpriseLinux2.1 RedHatLinux9.0 RedHatLinux8.0 RedHatLinux7.3 RedHatLinux7.2 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer10 SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer9 ESX Server 3.0.33.5U2 3.0.23.5U2 2.5.23.5U2 2.0.13.5U2 2.03.5U2 2.02.5.5 2.02.5.5 2.02.5.5 2.02.5.5 3.0.13.5U2 2.53.5U2

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Table 8. Supported Linux and FreeBSD Operating Systems


Guest Operating System SUSELinuxEnterpriseServer8 SUSELinux9.3 SUSELinux9.2 SUSELinux9.1 SUSELinux9.0 SUSELinux8.2 UbuntuLinux8.04 UbuntuLinux7.10 UbuntuLinux7.04 FreeBSD4.11 FreeBSD4.10 FreeBSD4.9 ESX Server 2.03.5U2 2.5.22.5.5 2.5.12.5.5 2.52.5.5 2.12.5.5 2.02.5.5 3.5U2 3.5U1U2 3.0.23.5U2 2.5.42.5.5 2.52.5.5 2.5

Appendix B: Command-Line Options for VMware Tools Upgrades


WhenyouinstallorupgradeVMwareTools,youcanenterseveralcommandlineoptions,listedinTable9. RightclickavirtualmachineandselectInstall/UpgradeVMwareTools.Thenenterthecommandline optionsintheAdvancedfield.SeeBasicSystemAdministrationformoredetails.Foralink,seeResourceson page 19. Table 9.
Option -u user -p password -n vmname Description Specifiesauserwithsufficientprivilegesonthetargetvirtualmachine,including VirtualMachine.Config.*,VirtualMachine.Interact.*,andVirtualMachine.Provisioning.* Specifiesapasswordonthecommandline.Ifthisisomitted,thetoolimmediatelypromptsfor apassword. Thenameofthevirtualmachinetoupgrade.Thisnamecorrespondstothedisplaynameofa virtualmachine.Specifymultiplevirtualmachinesusingmultiple-nparameters.The-noption isignoredif-hisspecified. Attemptstoupgradeallthevirtualmachinesonaparticularhost.Failsifthespecifiedhostis notESXversion3.0orgreater. Onaparticularhost,powerononlythisnumberofvirtualmachinesatatime. SpecifiestheVirtualCenterServerport,ifoneotherthanthedefaultport902hasbeen configured. Afterthetoolsupgradeisscheduledonavirtualmachine,thevirtualmachineispoweredon andallowedtorunthroughthetoolsinstallationprocess.Inmostcases,theguestpowersoffthe machinewhentheprocesscompletes.Thisparameterallowsausertosetthemaximumamount oftimeforavirtualmachinetobepoweredonincasetheguestisunabletoshutdownthe machineitself. Skipsthetoolsanddoesonlythevirtualhardwareupgrade. Worksquietly.Doesnotproducestatusorcompletionmessagesonshutdown.

-h host -m maxpowerons -o port -t maxpowerontime

-s -q

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

Appendix C: Enabling VMI in a Linux Kernel and in ESX 3.5


TouseVMI,youmustenableitinyourLinuxkernelandfortheESX3.5virtualmachinesinwhichthatkernel isrunning.ThefollowinginstructionscanalsobefoundintheVMwareknowledgebasearticleHowto enableavirtualmachineinterfaceinaLinuxkernelandinESXServer3.5.Foralink,seeResourceson page 19.

Enabling VMI in ESX 3.5


InESX3.5,eachvirtualmachinecanhaveVMIeitherenabledordisabled.ToenableVMIforaparticular virtualmachine,ontheSummarytabforthatvirtualmachine,clickEditSettings,selecttheOptionstab,click Paravirtualization,andmakesureSupportVMIParavirtualizationischecked,asillustratedinFigure1. Figure 1. VMI Paravirtualization option in ESX 3.5

WhenVMIisenabledinthevirtualmachinesettings,thelspcioutputintheguestoperatingsystemincludes anewPCIdevice(identifiedasamemorycontroller),asshownbelow.
linux-iwwp:~ # lspci 00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 01) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 01) 00:07.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 08) 00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01) 00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 08) 00:0f.0 VGA compatible controller: VMware Inc [VMware SVGA II] PCI Display Adapter 00:10.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic 53c1030 PCI-X Fusion-MPT Dual Ultra320 SCSI (rev 01) 00:11.0 Ethernet controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] 79c970 [PCnet32 LANCE] (rev 10) 00:12.0 Memory controller: VMware Inc Unknown device 0801 (rev 01)

NOTETheVMIPCIdevice,likeothervirtualPCIdevices,takesupavirtualPCIslot.

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Installing and Configuring Linux Guest Operating Systems

ThepresenceoftheVMIdeviceinthelspcioutput,however,doesnotconfirmthattheguestoperating systemisrunninginVMImode.ThefollowingdmesgoutputconfirmsVMImode,indicatingthatVMIis enabledinthevirtualmachinesettingsaswellasintheLinuxkernel.


Detected VMI ROM version 3.0 VMI Timer active.

NOTEVMIenabledkernelsareincludedinsomeLinuxdistributions.CheckwithyourLinuxvendortosee ifaVMIenabledkernelisavailable.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,397,242, 6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966, 6,880,022, 6,944,699, 6,961,806, 6,961,941, 7,069,413, 7,082,598, 7,089,377, 7,111,086, 7,111,145, 7,117,481, 7,149, 843, 7,155,558, 7,222,221, 7,260,815, 7,260,820, 7,269,683, 7,275,136, 7,277,998, 7,277,999, 7,278,030, 7,281,102, 7,290,253, and 7,356,679; patents pending. VMware, the VMware boxes logo and design, Virtual SMP and VMotion are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. Revision 20081120 Item: TN-070-PRD-01-01

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