Chapter 4: Oracle VM Server Sizing, Installation and Updates

Last update 11-15-2010

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Chapter 4 covers the following topics:

Introduction to the installation options for Oracle VM server
Oracle VM Server sizing and resource requirements
Walkthroughs of two Oracle VM server CD-ROM installations
Configuring a boot server for an Oracle VM server PXE/kickstart installation
How to create the PXE boot and kickstart files for an automated Oracle VM server installation
Overview of how to update an Oracle VM server from the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN)

Table of Contents

Oracle VM Server Installation Options

Oracle VM Media Pack Download

Oracle VM Server Sizing and Resource Requirements

…High-Availability and Disaster-Recovery Requirements

…Separation of Duties

…Oracle VM Server CPU Requirements

…Oracle VM Server Memory Requirements

…Oracle VM Server Storage Requirements

…Oracle VM Server Network Requirements

…Oracle VM Server Boot From SAN Requirements

CD-ROM Oracle VM Server Pool Member Installation

…Oracle VM Server Boot From SAN

…Installing Oracle VM Server From Other Sources

…Post Installation Checklist

CD-ROM Oracle VM Server Installation with Local Storage

…Installing Oracle VM Server From Other Sources

…Post Installation Checklist

Oracle VM Server PXE/Kickstart Installation

...HTTP Services Configuration

......How to Make the Oracle VM Server Installation Tree Available for a PXE/Kickstart Installation

...DHCP Service Configurations

...TFTP Service Configurations

How to Create the PXE boot Files

Kickstart File Examples

...How to Generate an Encrypted Password with grub-md5-crypt

...How to Stage a Kickstart File for an Oracle VM Server PXE/kickstart Installation

...PXE Boot Client Configuration

...PXE/Kickstart Oracle VM Server Installation and Troubleshooting Tips

How to Register and Update an Oracle VM Server from the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network

...The Oracle Unbreakable Linux Support Program

...Oracle VM Server Update Options

...up2date Program Proxy Configurations

...up2date Program Kernel Configurations

...Import Oracle’s GPG Key

...The Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network Registration Process

…Update an Oracle VM Server Using the up2date Program and the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network

Oracle VM Server Installation Options

Oracle VM server can be installed either from a CD-ROM or over the network using a pre-boot execution environment (PXE). To install Oracle VM server using the CD-ROM or PXE boot method, you will need to visit the Oracle eDelivery/Linux site to download the Oracle VM Media Pack. The Oracle VM Media Pack is delivered as a zip file that contains the Oracle VM server ISO file. The Oracle VM server ISO file can be burned as a bootable disk and used to install Oracle VM server from a CD-ROM drive.

Note: Oracle VM Manager is not supported and should not be installed in Oracle VM server's dom0.

The zip file from the Oracle eDelivery/Linux site contains a single Oracle VM server ISO file; this file is used for both x86 and x86-64 hardware. The Oracle VM server install routine automatically detects the hardware platform and installs the appropriate 32-bit or 64-bit Xen hypervisor. Regardless of the hardware platform, 32-bit or 64-bit, dom0 is 32-bit.

A PXE boot installation requires several additional steps; for example, a boot server and a kickstart file to automate the Oracle VM server installation must be created. The boot server allows a bare-metal system to automatically receive an IP address via DHCP, load a kernel via TFTP, and then boot without an installed operating system. Once the bare-metal server boots, you can install Oracle VM server from the installation media or use a kickstart file to automate the Oracle VM server installation.

The default behavior of the Oracle VM server installer is to install Oracle VM server on the Oracle VM server's local disk. To enable the boot from SAN option, type “boot: linux mpath [enter]” at the installation boot prompt. The installation boot prompt is visable on the first Oracle VM Server installation screen. Typing “boot: linux mpath [enter]” tells the installer to use the device-mapper-multipath drivers.

Oracle VM server can be installed directly from a bootable CDROM, as well as from the Oracle VM server media files that have been staged on a) an Oracle VM server's local hard drive b) on an NFS share c) on an FTP server and/or d) on a web server. The Oracle VM madia files are also refered to as the Oracle VM server media installation tree. To install Oracle VM server from the Oracle VM media files, from the installation boot prompt type "boot: linux askmethod [enter]. Typing "linux askmethod [enter] from the installation boot prompt will enable the Install Method installation screen. From the Install Method screen you can select to install Oracle VM server from a) Local CDROM b) Hard Disk c) NFS image d) FTP or e) HTTP.

Tip: Installing Oracle VM server using a bootable CDROM with Lights out Management (LOM) solutions may generate file copy installation errors. If you experience file copy errors, stage the Oracle VM server media files on the a) Hard Disk b) NFS image c) FTP or d) HTTP and from the installation boot prompt type "boot: linux askmethod [enter] to enable the Install Method installation screen.

Oracle VM Media Pack Download

To download the Oracle VM Media Pack, point your browser to the Oracle eDelivery/Linux site and fill out the registration/export regulations form to gain access to the Oracle VM Media Pack. Once the registration/export regulation form is complete, you be redirected to the Media Pack Search page. From the Media Pack Search page, select Oracle VM from the Select a Product Pack dropdown menu, then select x86 32-bit or x86 64-bit from the Platform dropdown menu. Note that selecting x86 32-bit or x86 64-bit will take you to the same download page; there is only one media pack for both x86 32-bit and x86 64-bit platforms. Click the Go button to be taken to the Oracle VM Media Pack download page.

Figure 1 shows the result from the Media Pack Search for Oracle VM.

Select the desired Oracle VM Media Pack, then press the Continue button or click the Oracle VM <version> Media Pack hyperlink to go to the download page. On the Oracle VM <version> Media Pack download page, click the Download button to download the Oracle VM Server <version> media pack.

Figure 2 shows the Oracle VM Media Pack download page.

The Oracle VM Server media is delivered as a zip file. The zip file name corresponds to the Part Number listed on the download page. Once the zip file is downloaded, use your favorite zip utility to unzip the Oracle VM ISO file. Next, burn the ISO file to a bootable CD or DVD that can be used to install Oracle VM server using a CD-ROM.

Oracle VM Server Sizing and Resource Requirements

This section starts with an introduction to the resource requirements for Oracle VM server. The section concludes with a discussion of Oracle VM server CPU, memory, storage, and networking considerations.

Oracle VM server runs on x86 32-bit and x86 64-bit platforms with Intel or AMD chips. The minimum resource requirement for your Oracle VM hardware depends on the resource requirements of the guests that will run on your Oracle VM servers. For example, Oracle recommends a dual core CPU or multiple CPUs with at least 1GB or 2GB of RAM. Oracle’s minimum resource recommendation for Oracle VM is a great starting point for running a couple guests for an evaluation. To size your Oracle VM server hardware and Oracle VM server pools, you will need document a) the resource requirements of all of your virtual machines b) your organization’s high-availability and disaster-recovery requirements and c) your organization’s separation of duty requirements for the Oracle VM users and groups.

To size your Oracle VM hardware, first calculate the CPU, memory, and storage requirements for all of your guests. Understanding the CPU, memory, and storage requirements for all of your guests allows you to accurately determine the CPU, memory, and storage requirements for your Oracle VM servers and Oracle VM server pools.

Consider, for example, the case of virtualizing one 11g database that requires 16 CPUs, 128GB of memory, and 1TB of storage. The 11g database guest could run on a single Oracle VM server with 4 quad core CPUs (16 cores), 132GB of memory and 1TB of local or remote storage. The Oracle VM server in the example would run the 11g database guest without oversubscribing CPU or memory resources. Please note that dom0 requires a minimum of 512MB of memory, therefore the Oracle VM server in the example allocated 132GB of memory for the virtual machine plus 4GB for the overhead in dom0. If the example Oracle VM server uses local storage, it would be a single server Oracle VM pool. If the Oracle VM server uses a shared storage repository, the Oracle VM server could be a pool member in a multiserver pool.

Tip: An Oracle VM Manager placement policy can be used to restrict the 11g guest to a specific Oracle VM server.

To virtualize two 11g databases, each database with 16 CPUs and 128GB of memory with 1TB of storage, the two 11g database guests could both run on a single Oracle VM server with 4 six core CPUs (24 cores), 260GB of memory, and 2TB of local or remote storage. Running two 11g database guests each with 16 CPUs and 128GB on a single server with 4 six core CPUs (24 cores) would oversubscribe the Oracle VM server by 8 cores, which may not be an option if your database workload is CPU bound. An example of not oversubscribing CPUs with two 11g database guests would be to run each guest on a dedicated Oracle VM server with 4 quad core CPUs, 132 GB of memory, and 1TB of storage.

High-Availability and Disaster-Recovery Requirements

To help calculate the numbers of guests, Oracle VM servers, and Oracle VM server pools for your Oracle VM environment, you will need to understand your organization’s high-availability and disaster-recovery requirements. High availability is an integral data center strategy that allows organizations to meet service level agreements (SLAs) by minimizing or eliminating planned and unplanned downtime. An SLA will specify the levels of availability that determine which high-availability strategy will allow you to meet your availability SLA. For example, a mission-critical application would have an SLA that requires operational continuity in the event of system failure. Conversely, a non-mission-critical application might have an SLA that allows several hours of downtime.

Oracle offers a wide variety of high-availability solutions for databases, applications, and operating systems that offer different levels of availability. For example, RAC is Oracle’s database high-availability solution that offers operational continuity in the event of node failure. Oracle DataGuard and Oracle ApplicationGuard are two other Oracle high-availability solutions that offer operational continuity in the event of failure.

Oracle VM has two high-availability features; a) guest HA and b) Live Migration. Oracle VM HA automatically restarts guests when; a) a guest hangs or b) when an Oracle VM pool member fails or restarts. Oracle VM HA minimizes unplanned downtime by restarting guests. Live Migration is used to eliminate planned downtime by migrating running guests from one Oracle VM pool member to another during a maintenance event, for example, for repairs or an upgrade. Both HA and Live Migration require a pool configuration with a minimum of two Oracle VM servers with sufficient memory to run all the guests on one host and a shared storage repository.

An organization’s high-availability and disaster-recovery requirements will directly affect the numbers of guests, Oracle VM servers, and Oracle VM server pools required to meet your availability SLA. For example, a corporate policy that states that a mission-critical database requires operational continuity will require a clustering solution such as RAC. From an Oracle VM perspective, supporting a database that requires operational continuity requires one dedicated Oracle VM server per RAC node for production environments. If disaster recovery is a requirement for an Oracle VM environment, the number of Oracle VM servers at the disaster-recovery site would be the minimum number of Oracle VM servers required to run all the guests in the event of an outage of the primary data center.

Separation of Duties

Separation of duties is also a consideration that affects the number of Oracle VM servers and Oracle VM server pools in an Oracle VM environment. For example, many organizations require separation of duties between development and production environments or separation of duties based on geography. Oracle VM supports role-based access control that can be used to isolates Oracle VM resources such as guests and Oracle VM pools based on user and group membership. Oracle VM role-based access control can isolate access to guests within a pool or isolate access to an entire a pool based on user and group membership. For example, role-based access controls could be created for a group named “Development”; these controls could restrict access to resources such as guests, ISO files, templates, and Oracle VM pools used by the Development group.

Isolating resources within a pool, for example, isolating guests for groups a and b, would not affect the number of Oracle VM servers within a pool. But isolating resources at the Oracle VM pool level, for example creating a production pool for the Production group and development pool for the Development group, would require dedicated Oracle VM servers for each group, which, in turn, would require additional Oracle VM servers and Oracle VM pools.

Understanding your organization’s separation of duties requirements will help to accurately determine the total number of Oracle VM servers and Oracle VM pools within your Oracle VM environment.

Oracle VM Server CPU Requirements

Oracle VM server supports two modes of virtualization, paravirtualization mode and hardware-virtualization mode. To support hardware-virtualization mode, the Oracle VM server requires either an Intel CPU with VT (virtualization technology) extensions or an AMD CPU with SVM extensions (also called AMD‐V). The system BIOS settings on the Oracle VM server will need to be edited to enable hardware-virtualization support. Hardware-virtualization support is disabled by default. If the CPU does not support hardware virtualization, paravirtualization can be used for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Oracle Enterprise Linux guests.

To support Live Migration between Oracle VM pool members, each pool member should have CPUs of the same CPU family and model. Attempts at Live Migration between two Oracle VM servers with CPUs that are not of the same CPU family and model may fail. Although the CPUs should be of the same family and model to support Live Migration, each Oracle VM server may have a different number of sockets and cores.

Tip: To validate the CPU family and model of an Oracle VM server’s CPUs, view /proc/cpuinfo on your Oracle VM server.

To effectively size the number of CPUs and cores for an Oracle VM server, the first step is to count the total number of guest CPUs. For example, when a guest is allocated a virtual CPU, the virtual CPU is actually a physical CPU core allocated from an Oracle VM server. A guest with eight virtual CPUs will be allocated eight CPU cores from an Oracle VM server.

Oracle VM server supports oversubscribing CPUs, which means that a single Oracle VM server can overallocate its CPU cores. For example, an Oracle VM server with four 6 core CPUs (24 cores) could allocate more than 24 cores to guests. Oversubscribing CPUs with CPU-bound workloads, such as the Oracle Database or RAC, can quickly lead to nasty performance problems. Oversubscribing CPUs should be used with workloads that are not CPU bound to allow greater utilization of the Oracle VM server hardware. For example, the Oracle SOA Suite is an Oracle application that is not CPU bound. Oversubscribing CPUs with Oracle SOA Suite guests would allow greater utilization of the Oracle VM server hardware.

Oracle VM Server Memory Requirements

By default, each Oracle VM server reserves 512MB of memory for dom0. The average memory overhead for each running guest on a dom0 is approximately 20MB plus 1% of the guest’s memory size. The remaining physical memory can be allocated to guests.

The memory requirement for a guest depends on the guest’s workload, but will not vary from the memory required for the same workload running on bare metal. For example, if you would like to run two Oracle Database 11g guests on a single Oracle VM server and each guest requires 64GB of memory, the Oracle VM server would have to have a minimum of 130GB of memory for the guests plus 512MB for dom0.

Note: That 512MB of memory that is reserved for dom0 is configurable by editing the “dom0_mem=” parameter in /boot/grub/menu.lst file.

The 512MB fixed memory overhead for dom0 is rarely an issue except with servers that only have 1–4GB of memory. There is a noteworthy difference between the memory overhead of paravirtualized guests verses hardware-virtualized guests. The overhead for hardware-virtualized guests is much higher than for paravirtualized guests due to the internal data structures, for example, the use of shadow page tables and dedicated QEMU processes for each guest. The overhead for paravirtualized guests is approximately 8MB per guest, regardless of the amount of memory assigned to the guest.

Tip: To list the total amount of memory on the system type “xm info | grep mem” in dom0.

To effectively size the amount of memory for an Oracle VM server, the first step is to calculate the total amount of memory for all of the guests that could run the Oracle VM server. Do not forget to add the overhead for dom0 and the overhead for each guest, that is, 20MB per guest plus 1% of the each guest’s memory size. The total memory requirements for the guests plus dom0’s memory requirements is the amount of memory required for any Oracle VM server. If HA or Live Migration is used, each Oracle VM server in the pool would need to have enough memory to run all the guests that could run on a given server at any time.

To determine the amount of memory for an Oracle VM server pool, is is necessary to consider the additional memory overhead from an HA event or a Live Migration. For example, in an HA-enabled pool with two servers it would be necessary to have enough memory on each server to run all of the guests in the pool in the event of an Oracle VM server failure.

Oracle VM 2.x does not officially support memory overcommit, which means that an Oracle VM server equipped with xGB of memory can only allocate the available memory. To be able to support an HA event or Live Migration in an Oracle VM server pool, each Oracle VM pool member must have enough free memory to be able to accept any new guests. For example, in an HA-enabled pool with two servers, if one server fails, the available server must have enough free memory to run the guests from the failed server. If an HA event occurrs between two pool members and the target server does not have enough free memory for the guests, the guests will be blocked from starting on the target Oracle VM server.

Note: Oracle VM 2.2/Xen 3.4.0 ships with the experimental Xenballoond memory overcommit feature, although Xenballoond memory overcommit is not enabled or supported by Oracle.

In January 2009, Dan Magenheimer from Oracle announced the "Transcendent Memory" project, "tmem" for short. Tmem will improve on VMware’s long-available but fatally flawed mechanism for "time-sharing" physical memory between virtual machines, commonly known as "ballooning .” The results of tmem will be better memory utilization and fewer disk accesses, which, in turn, will lead to higher performance and greater virtual-machine density per Oracle VM server. Tmem may be included in the Oracle VM 3.0 release.

Oracle VM Server Storage Requirements

Unless the Oracle VM server is booting from SAN, some form of local storage is required. A default Oracle VM 2.2 server installation creates a “local” OCFS2 virtual machine file system that is mounted under /var/ovs/mount/UUID and linked to /OVS. Using a local storage repository restricts pool membership to one Oracle VM server without Live Migration or HA functionality. To increase the capacity of an Oracle VM pool past one Oracle VM server, the addition of a shared back-end storage repository is required.

To determine your storage requirements for a single- or multiple-server Oracle VM server pool, calculate the disk requirements for all of your guests, ISO files, and templates. To account for growth, consider provisioning at least 30% to 50% more storage for your Oracle VM storage repositories than the expected size.

Oracle VM’s installation program does not provide the ability to configure shared storage repositories. Storage administration for storage arrays must be configured after the installation of the server.

Oracle VM Server Network Requirements

Oracle VM server uses Xen bridging to set up the networking for guest traffic. The Xen bridge configuration allows all domUs to appear on the network as individual hosts. All virtual network device communication is routed through a Xen bridge, which operates at layer 2 of the OSI model, effectively acting as an L2 virtual switch.

To ensure that dom0 and your Xen bridges provide sufficient throughput and availability for guests, consider bonding multiple network interfaces to increase throughput and availability. For example, mode4 network bonding (802.3AB), running with tagged VLANs (802.1Q) allows better than single-wire-speed transfers from multiple hosts.

Oracle VM’s installation program does not include network interfaces bonding and VLAN configurations. Network interfaces bonding and VLAN configurations must be done after the installation of the server.

Oracle VM Server Boot From SAN Requirements

The default behavior of the Oracle VM server installer is to install Oracle VM server on the Oracle VM server's local disk. To enable the boot from SAN option, type “boot: linux mpath [enter]” from the installation boot prompt. The installation boot prompt is displayed at the first Oracle VM Server installation screen. Typing “boot: linux mpath [enter]” tells the installer to use the device-mapper-multipath drivers.

Before a boot from SAN installation is started, ensure that the blade chassis or servers are configured to support boot from SAN. Next, provision, zone and mask at least two LUNs. One unique LUN per server is the the boot LUN. The boot LUN is where Oracle VM server is installed. Do not use the second LUN during the installation. After the installation, the second LUN will be formatted with OCFS2 and configured as the shared root storage repository. The shared root storage repository is the virtual machine file system that is shared between all of the Oracle VM server pool members. To enable the boot from SAN installation option, when the server boots using the Oracle VM ISO, it is necessary to pass the mpath parameter. The next example shows how to pass the mpath parameter from the Oracle VM server boot prompt.

boot: linux mpath [enter]

Typing “boot: linux mpath [enter]” from the boot prompt at the first Oracle VM Server screen tells the installer to use the device-mapper-multipath drivers. Once the installer is using the device-mapper-multipath drivers, all zoned and maked LUNs will be visable during the installation process. Be sure to only select the boot LUN for the installation!

CD-ROM Oracle VM Server Pool Member Installation

This section discusses an Oracle VM server installation for an Oracle VM pool member. The difference between an installation for an Oracle VM server pool member and an Oracle VM server with local storage is that the Oracle VM pool member does not need a dedicated /OVS partition. The pool member installation described below will remove the default /OVS partition and reallocate the disk space from the deleted /OVS partition to the / partition. A default Oracle VM server installation will allocate most of the disk space to the /OVS partition. The local disk requirements foran Oracle VM pool member installation is roughly 2GB.

Oracle VM Server Boot From SAN

Installing Oracle VM Server From Other Sources

Oracle VM server can be installed directly from a bootable CDROM, as well as from the Oracle VM server media files (aka the Oracle VM server installation tree) that have been staged on a) an Oracle VM server's local hard drive b) on an NFS share c) on an FTP server and/or d) on a web server. To install Oracle VM server from the Oracle VM media files, from the installation boot prompt type "boot: linux askmethod [enter]. Typing "linux askmethod [enter] from the installation boot prompt will enable the Install Method installation screen. From the Install Method screen you can select to install Oracle VM server from a) Local CDROM b) Hard Disk c) NFS image d) FTP or e) HTTP.

To install Oracle VM server using a CD-ROM:

1. Insert the Oracle VM server media into the CD-ROM drive.

2. Boot the server with the Oracle VM server media in the CD-ROM drive.

3. The Oracle VM Server screen is displayed, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 shows the Oracle VM Server screen.

4. a) To Install Oracle VM server on the local hard drive: Press the Enter key to start the install program. If the Enter key is not pressed for one minute, the install program will automatically start.

4. b) To install Oracle VM server to Boot from SAN: To enable the boot from SAN option, type “linux mpath [enter]” at the boot prompt. Typing “boot: linux mpath [enter]” tells the installer to use the device-mapper-multipath drivers. The next example show how to enable the boot from SAN option.

boot: linux mpath [enter]

Typing boot: linux mpath [enter] will continue the installation process.

4. c) To Install Oracle VM server from Other Sources: From the installation boot prompt type "boot: linux askmethod [enter] to enable the Install Method installation screen. From the Install Method installation screen, select and enter the details for the Hard drive, NFS image, FTP or HTTP installation media.

The next example show how to enable the Install Method installation screen.

boot: linux askmethod [enter]

Typing boot: askmethod [enter] will continue the installation process.

The CD Found screen

On the CD Found screen, you can test the media for errors. To test the media, use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter. Once the media test is completed, any errors will be reported. To skip the media test and continue with the install, use the Tab key to select the Skip button and press Enter to continue.

Figure 4 shows the CD Found screen.

The Keyboard Selection screen

On the Keyboard Selection screen, use the Tab key to select the list of keyboard models. Then use the UP and DOWN keys (↑ or ↓) to select the desired keyboard model. The keyboard that is selected becomes the default keyboard for dom0. Next, use the Tab key to select OK, and press Enter to continue.

Figure 5 shows the Keyboard Selection screen.

Warning screen

If you see the Warning screen, use the Tab key to select the Yes button, then press Enter to continue.

Figure 6 shows the Warning screen.

Partitioning Type screen

The Partitioning Type screen offers the following four partitioning options:

Remove all partitions and create a new default partition layout
Remove all Linux partitions and create a new default partition layout
Use the free space on selected drives to create a new default partition layout
Create a custom partition layout

Use the Tab key to select the Remove all partitions and create a new default partition layout option. Ensure that the appropriate drive is select in the Which drive(s) do you want to use for this installation section. Use the Tab key to select the OK button to continue.

Figure 7 shows the Partitioning Type screen.

Warning screen

Since we selected the Remove all partitions and create a new default partition layout option, a Warning screen is displayed to confirm that we want to remove the partition(s), including all of the data contained on any of the selected partitions. Use the Tab key to select the YES button to continue.

Figure 8 shows the Warning screen.

Review Partition Layout screen

On the Review Partition Layout screen, use the Tab key to select the YES button to continue to the Partitioning screen.

Figure 9 shows the Review Partition Layout screen.

Partitioning screen

On the Partitioning screen, use the Tab key to select the /OVS Mount Point, then use the Tab key to select the Delete button. Press Enter to continue.

Figure 10 shows the Partitioning screen.

Confirm Delete screen

On the Confirm Delete screen,use the Tab key to select the Delete button, then press Enter to continue.

Figure 11 shows the Confirm Delete screen.

Partitioning screen

On the Partitioning screen, use the Tab key to select the / Mount Point, then use the Tab key to select the Edit button. Press Enter to continue.

Figure 12 shows the Partitioning screen.

Add Partition screen

On the Add Partition screen, use the Tab key to select the Fill all available space option. Next, press the Space bar to select the Fill all available space option. Use the Tab key to select the OK button to proceed.

Figure 13 shows the Add Partition screen

Partitioning screen

On the Partitioning screen, use the Tab key to select the OK button. Press Enter to continue.

Figure 14 shows the Partitioning screen.

The Boot Loader Configuration screen

On the Boot Loader Configuration screen, use the Tab key to select the Master Boot Record (MBR) or the First sector of boot partition as the location to install the boot loader. For this example, we have selected the Master Boot Record (MBR) option.Next, use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter to continue.

Figure 15 shows the Boot Loader Configuration screen.

Oracle VM Server Management Interface screen

On the Oracle VM Server Management Interface screen, use the Tab key to select the network interface that will be dedicated for the dom0 and the Oracle VM agent management traffic. Once the network interface is selected, use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter to continue.

Note: dom0’s management interface defaults to eth0, which is controlled in the /etc/ovs-config file. The dom0 management interface can be changed after the installation.

Figure 16 shows the Oracle VM Server Management Interface screen.

The IPv4 Configuration for eth0 screen

The IPv4 Configuration for eth0 screen offers the following three options:

Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP)
Manual address configuration
IP Address and Prefix (netmask)

If your Oracle VM server will use DHCP to assign its IP address, select the Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP) option.To select the Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP) entry, use the Tab key to highlight the Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP) entry, then use the Space bar to select the Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP) entry. Use the Tab key to select the OK button to continue.

If your Oracle VM server will use a static IP address, select the Manual address configuration entry.To select the Manual address configuration entry use the Tab key to highlight the Manual address configuration entry, then use the Space bar to select the Manual address configuration entry. Next, use the Tab key to enter the IP Address and Prefix (netmask). Use the Tab key to select the OK button to continue.

Figure 17 shows the IPv4 Configuration for eth0 screen.

The Miscellaneous Network Settings screen

On the Miscellaneous Network Settings screen, use the Tab key to select the Gateway, Primary DNS and optional Secondary DNS to enter the networking settings for your environment. Use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter to continue.

Figure 18 shows the Miscellaneous Network Settings screen.

Hostname Configuration screen

On the Hostname Configuration screen, select one of the following two options:

automatically via DHCP
manually

If the machine uses DHCP to assign its hostname, select the automatically via DHCP option. Then, use the Tab key to select the OK button to continue.

To assign a hostname for your Oracle VM server, select the manually option and enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) in the text box. Then, use the Tab key to select the OK button to continue.

Figure 19 shows the Hostname Configuration screen.

Time Zone Selection screen

On the Time Zone Selection screen select the System clock uses UTC option to use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), then use the Tab key and the UP or DOWN key (↑ or ↓) to select the time zone closest to your Oracle VM server’s physical location. Next, use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter to continue.

Figure 20 shows the Time Zone Selection screen.

Oracle VM Agent password screen

On the Oracle VM Agent password screen, enter the password for the Oracle VM agent in the Password field. In the Password (confirm) field, reenter the password. Use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter to continue. If the two passwords do not match, the installation program will ask you to reenter the passwords.

The Oracle VM agent password is used by Oracle VM Manager and the Oracle VM Management Pack to dispatch commands and to retrieve pool-status data. The Oracle VM agent password can be changed after the installation using Oracle VM Manager or the Oracle VM Management Pack and from dom0 by typing “service ovs-agent configure”.

Figure 21 shows the Oracle VM Agent password screen

Root Password screen

On the Root Password screen, enter a password with at least six characters for the root user in the Password field. In the Password (confirm) field, reenter the password. Use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter to continue. If the two passwords do not match, the installation program will ask you to reenter the passwords.

Figure 22 shows the Root Password screen.

Installation to begin screen

On the Installation to begin screen, select OK and press Enter to continue.

Figure 23 shows the Installation to begin screen.

Complete screen

When the Complete screen appears, remove the Oracle VM Server media from the CD-ROM drive and press Enter to reboot the Oracle VM server.

Note: Remain at the Oracle VM servers console until the server reboots in order to accept the End User License Agreement, which is displayed after the server reboots. For example, if you ssh in to the server after the reboot, you will not be presented with the End User License Agreement. If the End User License Agreement is not accepted after the reboot, the Oracle VM agent will not be started.

Figure 24 shows the Complete screen.

End User License Agreement screen

On the End User License Agreement screen use the UP or DOWN key (↑ or ↓) to read the End User License Agreement. Then, use the Tab key to select the Agree button and press Enter to continue.

TIP: If you ssh in to the server after the reboot, you will not be presented with the End User License Agreement. If the End User License Agreement is not accepted after the reboot, the Oracle VM agent will not be started.

Figure 25 shows the End User License Agreement screen.

Oracle VM Server login prompt screen

On the Oracle VM Server login prompt screen, enter the root username and the password to access the dom0 console.

Figure 26 shows the Oracle VM Server login prompt screen.

Post Installation Checklist

1. All Oracle VM servers must be patched from the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN) to ensure that the server and pool configurations will not be hampered by unpatched bugs.

2. Ensure that all the Oracle VM servers’ clocks are synchronized using NTP.

First, open the “/etc/ntp.conf” file by typing “vi /etc/ntp.conf” and validate that at least two available NTP servers entries are listed. The next example shows two bold NTP server entries in an ntp.conf file.

# Use public servers from the pool.ntp.org project.

# Please consider joining the pool (http://www.pool.ntp.org/join.html).

server myntp1.com

server myntp2.com

Ping each NTP server listed in the ntp.conf file from each Oracle VM server to ensure network connectivity.

Next, type "ntpstat" on each Oracle VM server to validate the NTP configuration. The next example shows the output from typing the ntpstat command on an Oracle VM server that has its time synchronized to an NTP server with the IP address of 192.168.4.251.

# ntpstat

synchronized to NTP server (192.168.4.251) at stratum 4

time correct to within 54 ms

polling server every 1024 s

Finally, validate that the time, date and time zone on each Oracle VM server as well as on the Oracle VM Manager host is synchronized by typing the "date" command.

3. All Oracle VM servers have consistent name resolution using DNS with both forward and reverse lookups.

First, open the “/etc/resolv.conf” file by typing “vi /etc/resolv.conf” and validate that two available DNS servers are listed. The next example shows two DNS servers listed in a resolve.conf file.

# vi /etc/resolve.conf

nameserver <MY DNS SERVER1 IP ADDRESS>

nameserver <MY DNS SERVER2 IP ADDRESS>

From each Oracle VM server ping each DNS server listed in the resolv.conf file to ensure network connectivity.

Next, validate the forward and reverse lookups for each Oracle VM pool member and the Oracle VM Manager host using the “host” command. For example, to validate server2's forward lookup from server1 type “host server2” as shown in the next example.

# host server2

server2 has address 192.168.4.6

Next, to validate server2's reverse lookup from server1 type “host 192.168.4.6” as shown in the next example.

# host 192.168.4.6

6.4.168.192.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer

server2

Note: Using hosts files without DNS is not advised and may produce unpredictable results.

4. The Oracle VM server’s host name in the /etc/hosts file must be associated with the Oracle VM server's public IP address. If an Oracle VM pool member's host name is associated with 127.0.0.1, the cluster.conf file will be malformed and the Oracle VM pool will not be operational. The next example shows the improper syntax from an Oracle VM server's hosts file entry.

127.0.0.1 servername.com servername localhost.localdomain localhost

192.168.4.8 servername.com servername

The next example shows the proper syntax for an Oracle VM server’s hosts file entry.

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost

192.168.4.8 servername.com servername

5. ocfs2 network connectivity between all Oracle VM server pool members must be operational before creating a multiple server pool. Check the ocfs2 network connectivity between all Oracle VM pool members by typing "nc -zv <myoraclevmserver1> 7777". For example, if you have two Oracle VM servers named ovs1 and ovs2, from ovs1 type "nc -zv ovs2 7777". Typing "nc -zv ovs2 7777" from ovs1 should return "succeeded!". If you receive a "failed: Connection refused" message between any Oracle VM servers, something (firewall, switch, router, cable, etc..) is restricting communication between the hosts.

The iptables firewall on an Oracle VM server may be blocking the ocfs2 connectivity. If iptables is disabled and allowing all connections, the output from typing “iptables -L” will look like the next example.

# iptables -L

Chain INPUT (policy ACCEPT)

target prot opt source destination

Chain FORWARD (policy ACCEPT)

target prot opt source destination

Chain OUTPUT (policy ACCEPT)

target prot opt source destination

If typing “iptables -L” lists firewall rules, you can a) disable iptables by typing "service iptables stop && chkconfig iptables off" or b) add the following bold iptables rule to the /etc/sysconfig/iptables file prior to the last line on all Oracle VM pool members.

-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 7777 -j ACCEPT

-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited

COMMIT

After you have added the above bold iptables rule, restart the iptables service by typing "service iptables restart".

CD-ROM Oracle VM Server Installation with Local Storage

This section discusses a default Oracle VM installation with local storage. A default Oracle VM server installation will allocate most of the disk space to the /OVS partition. The difference between an installation for an Oracle VM server with local storage and a pool member is that the pool member does not need an /OVS partition with dedicated storage. A pool member installation removes the default /OVS partition and reallocates the disk space from the /OVS partition to the / partition.

Installing Oracle VM Server From Other Sources

To install Oracle VM server using a CD-ROM:

1. Insert the Oracle VM server media into the CD-ROM drive.

2. Boot the server with the Oracle VM server media in the CD-ROM drive.

3. The Oracle VM Server screen is displayed, as shown in Figure 31.

Figure 27 shows the Oracle VM Server screen.

4. b) To Install Oracle VM server from Other Sources: From the installation boot prompt type "boot: linux askmethod [enter] to enable the Install Method installation screen. From the Install Method installation screen, select and enter the details for the Hard drive, NFS image, FTP or HTTP installation media.

The next example show how to enable the Install Method installation screen.

boot: linux askmethod [enter]

Typing boot: askmethod [enter] will continue the installation process.

The CD Found screen

Figure 28 show the CD Found screen.

The Keyboard Selection screen

On the Keyboard Selection screen, use the Tab key to select the list of keyboard models. Then use the UP or DOWN key (↑ or ↓) to select the desired keyboard model. The keyboard that is selected becomes the default keyboard for dom0. Next, use the Tab key to select OK, then press Enter to continue.

Figure 29 shows the Keyboard Selection screen.

Warning screen

If you see the Warning screen, use the Tab key to select the Yes button, then press Enter to continue.

Figure 30 shows the Warning screen.

Partitioning Type screen

The Partitioning Type screen offers the following four partitioning options:

Remove all partitions and create a new default partition layout
Remove all Linux partitions and create a new default partition layout
Use the free space on selected drives to create a new default partition layout
Create a custom partition layout

Figure 31 shows the Partitioning Type screen.

Warning screen

Figure 32 shows the Warning screen.

Review Partition Layout screen

From the Review Partition Layout screen, use the Tab key to select the NO button and press Enter to continue.

Figure 33 shows the Review Partition Layout screen.

The Boot Loader Configuration screen

On the Boot Loader Configuration screen, use the Tab key to select the Master Boot Record (MBR) or the First sector of boot partition as the location to install the boot loader. For this example, we selected the Master Boot Record (MBR) option.Use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter to continue.

Figure 34 shows the Boot Loader Configuration screen.

Oracle VM Server Management Interface screen

Note: dom0’s management interface defaults to eth0, which is controlled in the /etc/ovs-config file. The dom0 management interface can be changed after the installation.

Figure 35 shows the Oracle VM Server Management Interface screen.

The IPv4 Configuration for eth0 screen

The IPv4 Configuration for eth0 screen offers the following three options:

Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP)
Manual address configuration
IP Address and Prefix (netmask)

If your Oracle VM server will use DHCP to assign its IP address, select the Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP) option.You can select the Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP) entry by using the Tab key to highlight the Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP) entry then use the Space bar to select the Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP) entry. Use the Tab key to select the OK button to continue.

If your Oracle VM server will use a static IP address, select the Manual address configuration entry.You can select the Manual address configuration entry by using the Tab key to highlight the Manual address configuration entry, then use the Space bar to select the Manual address configuration entry. Next, use the Tab key to enter the IP Address and Prefix (netmask). Use the Tab key to select the OK button to continue.

Figure 36 shows the IPv4 Configuration for eth0 screen.

The Miscellaneous Network Settings screen

On the Miscellaneous Network Settings screen, use the Tab key to select the Gateway, Primary DNS, and optional Secondary DNS to enter the networking settings for your environment. Use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter to continue.

Figure 37 shows the Miscellaneous Network Settings screen.

Hostname Configuration screen

On the Hostname Configuration screen, select one of the following two options:

automatically via DHCP
manually

If the machine uses DHCP to assign its hostname, select the automatically via DHCP option. Use the Tab key to select the OK button to continue.

To assign a hostname for your Oracle VM server, select the manually option and enter the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) in the text box. Use the Tab key to select the OK button to continue.

Figure 38 shows the Hostname Configuration screen.

Time Zone Selection screen

On the Time Zone Selection screen select the System clock uses UTC option to use Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), then use the Tab key and the UP or DOWN key (↑ or ↓) to select the time zone closest to your Oracle VM server’s physical location. Use the Tab key to select the OK button and press Enter to continue.

Figure 39 shows the Time Zone Selection screen.

Oracle VM Agent password screen

The Oracle VM agent password is used by Oracle VM Manager and the Oracle VM Management Pack to dispatch commands and to retrieve pool status data. The Oracle VM agent password can be changed after the installation using Oracle VM Manager or the Oracle VM Management Pack, or from dom0 by typing “service ovs-agent configure”.

Figure 40 shows the Oracle VM Agent password screen

Root Password screen

Figure 41 shows the Root Password screen.

Installation to begin screen

On the Installation to begin screen, select OK and press Enter to continue.

Figure 42 shows the Installation to begin screen.

Complete screen

When the Complete screen appears, remove the Oracle VM Server media from the CD-ROM drive and press Enter to reboot the Oracle VM server.

TIP: Remain at the Oracle VM servers console until the server reboots to be able to accept the End User License Agreement, which is displayed after the server reboots. For example, if you ssh in to the server after the reboot you will not be presented with the End User License Agreement. If the End User License Agreement is not accepted after the reboot, the Oracle VM agent will not be started.

Figure 43 shows the Complete screen.

End User License Agreement screen

On the End User License Agreement screen, use the UP or DOWN key (↑ or ↓) to read the End User License Agreement. Use the Tab key to select the Agree button and press Enter to continue.

TIP: If you ssh in to the server after the reboot you will not be presented with the End User License Agreement. If the End User License Agreement is not accepted after the reboot the Oracle VM agent will not be started.

Figure 44 shows the End User License Agreement screen.

Oracle VM Server login prompt screen

On the Oracle VM Server login prompt screen, enter the root username and the password to access the dom0 console.

Figure 45 shows the Oracle VM Server login prompt screen.

Post Installation Checklist

1. The Oracle VM servers must be patched from the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN) to ensure that the server and pool configurations will not be hampered by unpatched bugs.

2. Ensure that all the Oracle VM servers’ clock is synchronized using NTP.

# Use public servers from the pool.ntp.org project.

# Please consider joining the pool (http://www.pool.ntp.org/join.html).

server myntp1.com

server myntp2.com

Ping each NTP server listed in the ntp.conf file from each Oracle VM server to ensure network connectivity.

# ntpstat

synchronized to NTP server (192.168.4.251) at stratum 4

time correct to within 54 ms

polling server every 1024 s

Finally, validate that the time, date and time zone on each Oracle VM server as well as on the Oracle VM Manager host is synchronized by typing the "date" command.

3. The Oracle VM server must have consistent name resolution using DNS with both forward and reverse lookups.

# vi /etc/resolve.conf

nameserver <MY DNS SERVER1 IP ADDRESS>

nameserver <MY DNS SERVER2 IP ADDRESS>

From each Oracle VM server ping each DNS server listed in the resolv.conf file to ensure network connectivity.

# host server2

server2 has address 192.168.4.6

Next, to validate server2's reverse lookup from server1 type “host 192.168.4.6” as shown in the next example.

# host 192.168.4.6

6.4.168.192.in-addr.arpa domain name pointer

server2

Note: Using hosts files without DNS is not advised and may produce unpredictable results.

127.0.0.1 servername.com servername localhost.localdomain localhost

192.168.4.8 servername.com servername

The next example shows the proper syntax for an Oracle VM server’s hosts file entry.

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost

192.168.4.8 servername.com servername

Oracle VM Server PXE/Kickstart Installation

This section starts with a discussion of an Enterprise Linux boot server configuration using RPM packages from the Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN). After the boot server configuration, we will learn how to create and stage a kickstart file to automate an Oracle VM server installation. Next, we will discuss the PXE boot client requirements and configurations. The section concludes with PXE/kickstart installation troubleshooting tips.

This section discusses how to configure an Enterprise Linux boot server with DHCP, TFTP, and HTTP. The boot server allows a bare-metal system to receive an IP address via DHCP, load a kernel via TFTP, and boot without an operating system. Next, the kickstart file orchestrates an automated Oracle VM server installation. Once the installation is completed, a personalized Oracle VM server is booted and can be added to a pool using Oracle VM Manager or the Oracle VM Management Pack.

The DHCP service will be configured with network-specific details along with the IP addresses of the Oracle VM servers you will PXE/kickstart install. You will need to change the example network details with your specific environmental networking details.

The TFTP service will be configured with a /tftpboot directory populated with:

The pxelinux.0 bootloader program in /tftpboot
The vmlinuz compressed Linux kernel in /tftpboot
The initrd.img initial RAM disk in /tftpboot/ovm/2.2
A subdirectory named pxelinux.cfg with the PXE boot files. The example will have the following two PXE boot files:
- C0A804C7
- C0A804C6

The HTTP server will be configured with default settings and used to host the Oracle VM media files and the kickstart files.

HTTP Services Configuration

This section starts with the installation and configuration of Apache. The section concludes with the steps to mount and copy the Oracle VM installation media files (aka, the Oracle VM server installation tree) to the /var/www/html/oraclevm2.2/ directory.

Installing Apache from a registered Enterprise Linux host from the Unbreakable Linux Network is accomplished by typing “up2date -i httpd” while logged in as root or using sudo. Once Apache is installed, configure Apache to automatically start by typing “chkconfig httpd on”. Next, start Apache by typing “service httpd start”. The next example shows how to install, configure and start Apache.

# sudo up2date -i httpd

# sudo chkconfig httpd on

# sudo service httpd start

Once the “up2date -i httpd”, “chkconfig httpd on” and “service httpd start” commands have finished, test your Apache server by pointing a web browser to the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the IP address of the Apache server. You will see the default Apache test page as shown in Figure 46.

Tip: If you don’t see the default Apache test page, check if iptables is blocking http traffic on the Apache host. Consider disabling iptables to test Apache by typing “sudo /sbin/service iptables stop”.

The “If you are the website administrator:” section of the default Apache test page explains how to disable the test page and to enable the default web root directory at /var/www/html. To disable the Apache test page and to enable the default web root at /var/www/html, access the Apache server and comment out all the entries in the /etc/httpd/conf.d/welcome.conf file. The next example shows the default /etc/httpd/conf.d/welcome.conf file.

# This configuration file enables the default "Welcome"

# page if there is no default index page present for

# the root URL. To disable the Welcome page, comment

# out all the lines below.

Options -Indexes

ErrorDocument 403 /error/noindex.html

</LocationMatch>

The next example shows the /etc/httpd/conf.d/welcome.conf file with all the entries commented out.

# This configuration file enables the default "Welcome"

# page if there is no default index page present for

# the root URL. To disable the Welcome page, comment

# out all the lines below.

#<LocationMatch "^/+$">

# Options -Indexes

# ErrorDocument 403 /error/noindex.html

#</LocationMatch>

To test the new configuration restart Apache, as shown in the next example.

# sudo service httpd restart

Stopping httpd: [ OK ]

Starting httpd: [ OK ]

To view the default root directory of your Apache server located at /var/www/html refresh your browser or point a browser to the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the IP address of the Apache server. You will be presented with the Apache root directory as shown in Figure 47.

How to Make the Oracle VM Server Installation Tree Available for a PXE/Kickstart Installation

This section discusses how to make the Oracle VM server installation tree available for a PXE/kickstart installation on a boot server in the /var/www/html/ovs2.2 directory. All of the steps below are completed on the boot server using sudo or root.

Create a directory named ovs2.2 in /var/www/html, by typing “mkdir -p /var/www/html/ovs2.2”.
Copy the Oracle VM server ISO file to the Apache server.
From the directory with the ISO file, mount the ISO file, for example in /tmp/mnt by typing “mkdir –p /tmp/mnt” and then “mount -o loop,ro OracleVM-Server-2.2.0.iso /tmp/mnt/”.
Copy the installation files to the /var/www/html/ovs2.2 directory by typing “cp –avr /tmp/mnt/* /var/www/html/ovs2.2”.
Change the ownership of the files in the ovs2.2 directory by typing “chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/ovs2.2”.

The next example shows how to create the directories, mount and copy the installation files and change the ownership of the ovs2.2 directory.

# sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/ovs2.2

# sudo mkdir -p /tmp/mnt

# sudo mount -o loop,ro OracleVM-Server-2.2.0.iso /tmp/mnt/

# sudo cp -avr /tmp/mnt/* /var/www/html/ovs2.2

# sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/ovs2.2

To confirm that the Oracle VM server installation tree is available for the PXE/kickstart installation via HTTP, point your browser to the ovs2.2 directory, that is, http://<FQDN>/ovs2.2. You will see the installation files as shown in Figure 48.

DHCP Service Configurations

In this section, we will install and configure DHCP with the IP addresses of the Oracle VM servers that will be PXE booted and installed using a kickstart file.

1- The first step is to install the DHCP service. Using sudo or root, type “up2date -i dhcp” as shown in the next example.

# sudo up2date -i dhcp

2- Next, we will configure the startup parameters for the dhcpd daemon, by typing “chkconfig --list dhcpd”. Then, type “chkconfig dhcpd on” to configure the dhcpd daemon to start at runlevels 2, 3, 4 and 5. Next, type “chkconfig --list dhcpd” to validate the dhcpd runlevels, as shown in the next example.

# sudo chkconfig --list dhcpd

dhcpd 0:off 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off

# sudo chkconfig dhcpd on

# sudo chkconfig --list dhcpd

dhcpd 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off

3- Next, we will configure the DHCP server’s /etc/dhcpd.conf file. The default DHCP configuration file is located at /etc/dhcpd.conf. An example dhcpd.conf file is located at /usr/share/doc/dhcp-3.0.5/dhcpd.conf.sample.

Replace the bold section with your environmental details.

ddns-update-style none;

allow booting; # support PXE booting

allow bootp; # respond to bootp queries

subnet 192.168.4.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {

option routers 192.168.4.254;

option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;

option nis-domain "example.com";

option domain-name "example.com";

option domain-name-servers 192.168.4.11;

option time-offset -28800; # Pacific Standard Time

default-lease-time 120;

max-lease-time 120;

next-server 192.168.4.11;

pool {

range dynamic-bootp 192.168.4.199 192.168.4.230;

}

#Oracle VM 2.2 Kickstart boxes

group {

filename "pxelinux.0";

host ovs2

{ hardware ethernet 00:30:48:7F:44:6E; fixed-address 192.168.4.199; }

host ovs3

{ hardware ethernet 00:30:48:7F:35:0A; fixed-address 192.168.4.198; }

}

The example dhcpd.conf file will configure the DHCP server to respond to DHCP requests on the 192.168.4.0 network with a netmask of 255.255.255.0, as shown in the next example.

subnet 192.168.4.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {

Replace the 192.168.4.0 network address and the 255.255.255.0 subnet mask with your network address and subnet mask.

The next section of the dhcpd.conf file configures the router, subnet mask, nis-domain, domain name, name server, and time zone.

option routers 192.168.4.254;

option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;

option nis-domain "example.com";

option domain-name "example.com";

option domain-name-servers 192.168.4.11;

option time-offset -28800; # Pacific Standard Time

Replace the router, subnet mask, nis-domain (if applicable), domain name (optional), name server (DNS), and time zone with your environmental details.

Tip: Time zone details are listed in the /usr/share/zoneinfo/ directory.

The next section lists the next-server entry, which is the IP address of your boot server.

next-server 192.168.4.11;

Replace 192.168.4.11 with the IP address of your boot server.

The next section of the dhcpd.conf file shows the IP address range the DHCP server will assign to DHCP clients. For example, the DHCP server will assign IP addresses from 192.168.4.199 to 192.168.4.230.

range dynamic-bootp 192.168.4.199 192.168.4.230;

Replace the 192.168.4.199 192.168.4.230 address range with your DHCP IP address range.

The next section of the dhcpd.conf file lists a descriptive name, MAC address, and the fixed IP address of each Oracle VM server that will PXE boot.

host ovs2

{ hardware ethernet 00:30:48:7F:44:6E; fixed-address 192.168.4.199; }

host ovs3

{ hardware ethernet 00:30:48:7F:35:0A; fixed-address 192.168.4.198; }

Replace the host section with a descriptive name for your Oracle VM server, for example, “host server-name”. Next, replace the MAC address and the fixed IP address with your server’s details.

Tip: If your servers have an OS installed, type “ifconfig -a” for nix hosts or “ipconfig /all” for Windows to list each NICs MAC address. If your servers do not have an OS, enable the PXE boot option in the system BIOS. Once PXE boot is enabled, you should be able to see the MAC addresses during the system startup.

4- Once you have the entries in the dhcpd.conf file, restart the DHCP service by typing “service dhcpd restart”, as shown in the next example.

# sudo service dhcpd start

Starting dhcpd: [ OK ]

Note: It’s necessary to restart the DHCP service to recognize any modifications made to the dhcpd.conf file.

TFTP Service Configurations

In this section we will configure the tftp service.

The tftp service is managed by xinetd. The default xinetd configuration disables tftp. To enable the tftp service, edit /etc/xinetd.d/tftp and change the “disable = off” line to “disable = on”.

Once the tftp service is enabled, configure the startup parameters for the xinetd daemon by typing “chkconfig xinetd on”. Typing “chkconfig xinetd on” configures the xinetd daemon to start at runlevels 2, 3, 4, and 5. Next, type “chkconfig --list xinetd” to list xinetd’s runlevels, as shown in the next example.

# sudo chkconfig xinetd on

# sudo chkconfig --list xinetd

xinetd 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off

Next, restart the xinetd service by typing “service xinetd restart”, as shown in the next example.

# sudo service xinetd restart

Stopping xinetd: [ OK ]

Starting xinetd: [ OK ]

To confirm that the tftp service is running, type “netstat -l -u | grep tftp”, as shown in the next example.

# netstat -l -u | grep tftp

udp 0 0 *:tftp *:*

If no output is displayed after typing “netstat -l -u | grep tftp”, the tftp service is not running. The example confirms that the tftp service is up.

Tip: Consider disabling iptables during the testing phase by typing “sudo /sbin/service iptables stop”.

How to Create the PXE boot Files

In this section, we will prepare the PXE boot files on the boot server in the /tftpboot directory. The tftp service will be configured with a /tftpboot directory populated with:

a bootloader program “pxelinux.0” in /tftpboot
a compressed Linux kernel “vmlinuz” in /tftpboot
an initial RAM disk “initrd.img” in /tftpboot/ovm/2.2
a subdirectory “pxelinux.cfg” with PXE boot files for two Oracle VM servers:

- C0A804C7
- C0A804C6

In the next section, we will prepare the PXE boot files in the /tftpboot directory. All of the steps below are completed on the boot server using sudo or root.

Create the /tftpboot/ovm/2.2/ directory by typing “mkdir -p /tftpboot/ovm/2.2/”.
Create the /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg directory by typing “mkdir -p /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg”
Copy the bootloader program from the boot server in /usr/lib/syslinux/pxelinux.0 to the /tftpboot/ directory by typing “cp /usr/lib/syslinux/pxelinux.0 /tftpboot/”.
Copy the initrd.img file located on the <Oracle VM Server media>/images/pxeboot/initrd.img directory to the /tftpboot/ovm/2.2/ directory by typing cp <Oracle VM Server media>/images/pxeboot/initrd.img /tftpboot/ovm/2.2/.
Copy the vmlinuz file from the <Oracle VM Server media>/images/pxeboot/ vmlinuz to the /tftpboot directory by typing “cp <Oracle VM Server media>/images/pxeboot/ vmlinuz /tftpboot/”.

The next example shows the commands from Steps 1 through 5.

# sudo mkdir -p /tftpboot/ovm/2.2/

# sudo mkdir -p /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg

# sudo cp /usr/lib/syslinux/pxelinux.0 /tftpboot/

# sudo cp <Oracle VM Server media>/images/pxeboot/initrd.img /tftpboot/ovm/2.2/

# sudo cp <Oracle VM Server media>/images/pxeboot/ vmlinuz /tftpboot/

The next example show the contents of the /tftpboot directory after Steps 1 through 5.

# tree /tftpboot/

/tftpboot/

|-- ovm

| `-- 2.2

| `-- initrd.img

|-- pxelinux.0

|-- pxelinux.cfg

`-- vmlinuz

Next, we will create two unique PXE boot files. Each PXE boot file has a unique name that represents the hex number of the IP address of the server. A PXE boot file contains the PXE boot and kickstart configurations. The PXE boot configurations are identical for all Oracle VM servers and allow the bare-metal systems to load a kernel via TFTP and boot without an operating system. The kickstart configuration is different for each PXE boot file. Each PXE boot file parses a unique kickstart file that personalizes the kickstart installation.

To convert an IP address to the hex value for a PXE boot file, use the “gethostip” program by typing “gethostip -x <IP ADDRESS>”. The next example shows how to list the hex values for 192.168.4.199 and 192.168.4.198.

# gethostip -x 192.168.4.199

C0A804C7

# gethostip -x 192.168.4.198

C0A804C6

The first PXE boot file is named C0A804C7 and is for the Oracle VM server in the dhcpd.conf file named ovs2. The next example shows ovs2’s entry in the dhcpd.conf file.

host ovs2

{ hardware ethernet 00:30:48:7F:44:6E; fixed-address 192.168.4.199; }

The next example shows how to get the name of the PXE boot file for ovs2, that is, 192.168.4.199.

# gethostip -x 192.168.4.199

C0A804C7

The second PXE boot file named is C0A804C6 and is for the Oracle VM server in the dhcpd.conf file named ovs3. The next example shows ovs3’s entry in the dhcpd.conf file.

host ovs3

{ hardware ethernet 00:30:48:7F:35:0A; fixed-address 192.168.4.198; }

The next example shows how to get the name of the PXE boot file for ovs3, that is 192.168.4.198.

# gethostip -x 192.168.4.198

C0A804C6

Next, create the PXE boot file for ovs2 (192.168.4.199) by typing “vi /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/C0A804C7”. Enter the configurations shown below and save the file.

# vi /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/C0A804C7

default ovsboot

label ovsboot

kernel vmlinuz

append initrd=ovm/2.2/initrd.img ks=http://192.168.4.11/ovs2-ks.cfg ksdevice=eth0

:wq!

Typing “vi /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/C0A804C7” creates a PXE boot file C0A804C7 in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/. The default line is required. You can change the description from the default line, that is, replace ovsboot with any descriptive name. The label line is also required. You can change the description from the label line, that is, replace ovsboot with any name. The kernel vmlinuz line configures the PXE boot system to load the compressed Linux kernel “vmlinuz”. The append initrd=ovm/2.2/initrd.img ks=http://192.168.4.11/ovs2-ks.cfg ksdevice=eth0 line configures a) the initial RAM disk “initrd.img” and b) the kickstart file ovs2-ks.cfg on the boot server. Pressing the Esc key followed by :wq! saves the C0A804C7 file.

Note: The kickstart file can be staged using http, ftp, or nfs, as shown in the next example.

ks=http://192.168.4.11/ovs3-ks.cfg

ks=ftp:// 192.168.4.11/ovs3-ks.cfg

ks=nfs:192.168.4.11/ovs3-ks.cfg

Next, create a PXE boot file for ovs3 (192.168.4.198) by typing “vi /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/ C0A804C6”. Enter the configurations shown below and save the file.

vi /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/C0A804C6

default ovsboot

label ovsboot

kernel vmlinuz

append initrd=ovm/2.2/initrd.img ks=http://192.168.4.11/ovs3-ks.cfg ksdevice=eth0

:wq!

Finally, make sure all files and directories in /tftpboot have the right permission set. The next example shows how to set the correct permissions for the files and directories in /tftpboot.

# find /tftpboot/ -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

# find /tftpboot/ -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;

The next example shows all of the directories and files in the /tftpboot directory.

# tree /tftpboot/

/tftpboot/

|-- ovm

| `-- 2.2

| `-- initrd.img

|-- pxelinux.0

|-- pxelinux.cfg

| `-- C0A804C7

| `-- C0A804C6

`-- vmlinuz

Kickstart File Examples

This section discusses how to create, stage, test, and troubleshoot a kickstart file to automate an Oracle VM server installation. The section starts with an overview of a default Oracle VM anaconda kickstart file followed by three example kickstart files. Then, we will learn how to generate encrypted passwords for a kickstart file. Next, we review with how to stage a kickstart file on a boot server for a PXE/kickstart installation. The section concludes with PXE client configurations and PXE/kickstart installation troubleshooting.

Each Oracle VM server installation generates a generic anaconda kickstart file in the /root directory, named anaconda-ks.cfg. The kickstart file is used by anaconda during the installation process to define the installation parameters. The default anaconda-ks.cfg file lists the answers to each Oracle VM server installation question and field entry required by the installation program. If any of the required fields are missing from a kickstart file the installation halts and waits for input.

Example 1 shows a default Oracle VM anaconda kickstart file. The bold sections need to be modified to create a kickstart file for your environment.

Example 1

# Kickstart file automatically generated by anaconda.

install

cdrom

lang en_US.UTF-8

network --device eth0 --bootproto static --ip 192.168.4.6 --netmask 255.255.255.0 --gateway 192.168.4.254 --nameserver 192.168.4.11 --hostname ovs1.sf.itnc.com

ovsagent --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ovsmgmntif eth0

rootpw --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

firewall --enabled --port=21:tcp --port=22:tcp --port=53:udp --port=53:tcp --port=80:tcp --port=2049:tcp --port=5900-5950:tcp --port=8002:tcp --port=8003:tcp --port=8899:tcp --port=7777:tcp

authconfig --enableshadow --enablemd5

selinux --disabled

timezone --utc America/Los_Angeles

bootloader --location=mbr --dom0_mem=569 --driveorder=sda

# The following is the partition information you requested

# Note that any partitions you deleted are not expressed

# here so unless you clear all partitions first, this is

# not guaranteed to work

#clearpart --all --drives=sda

#part /boot --fstype ext3 --size=100 --ondisk=sda

#part / --fstype ext3 --size=3072 --ondisk=sda

#part /OVS --fstype ocfs2 --size=1024 --grow --ondisk=sda

#part swap --size=1024 --ondisk=sda

%packages

@office

@admin-tools

@editors

@text-internet

@gnome-desktop

@dialup

@core

@base

@games

@java

@base-x

@graphics

@printing

@sound-and-video

@ovs-virtualization

@graphical-internet

tftp

bridge-utils

squashfs-tools

The default kickstart file must be modified before you can test a PXE/kickstart installation. The next list show the sections of the default kickstart file that need to be modified for your environment.

cdrom
network --device eth0 --bootproto static --ip 192.168.4.7 --netmask 255.255.255.0 --gateway 192.168.4.254 --nameserver 192.168.4.11 --hostname ovs2.sf.itnc.com
ovsagent --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
rootpw --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
timezone --utc America/Los_Angeles
#clearpart --all --drives=sda
#part /boot --fstype ext3 --size=100 --ondisk=sda
#part / --fstype ext3 --size=3072 --ondisk=sda
#part /OVS --fstype ocfs2 --size=1024 --grow --ondisk=sda
#part swap --size=1024 --ondisk=sda
%packages

Tip: To review an exhaustive list of kickstart file options, please consult the following resources:

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-5-manual/Installation_Guide-en-US/s1-kickstart2-options.html
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Anaconda/Kickstart

Example 2 is a commented kickstart file that was modified from the default anaconda kickstart file and will be used to install an Oracle VM server pool member named ovs2.sf.itnc.com. The Oracle VM server ovs2.sf.itnc.com will not have a local storage repository, that is, an /OVS directory. The bold sections need to be modified for your environment.

Note: Timezone details and entries are listed in the /usr/share/zoneinfo/ directory.

Example 2

### Installation

Install

### Keyboard layout

lang en_US.UTF-8

keyboard us

### Skips using X windows

skipx

### Installation source

url --url http://192.168.4.11/ovs2.2/

### Network configurations

network --device eth0 --bootproto static --ip 192.168.4.7 --netmask 255.255.255.0 --gateway 192.168.4.254 --nameserver 192.168.4.11 --hostname ovs2.sf.itnc.com

### Oracle VM server agent password

ovsagent --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

### Oracle VM agent management interface

ovsmgmntif eth0

### Root password

rootpw --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

### dom0 iptables configuration

firewall --enabled --port=21:tcp --port=22:tcp --port=53:udp --port=53:tcp --port=80:tcp --port=2049:tcp --port=5900-5950:tcp --port=8002:tcp --port=8003:tcp --port=8899:tcp --port=7777:tcp

### Authentication settings

authconfig --enableshadow --enablemd5

### SELinux configuration

selinux –disabled

### Timezone settings

timezone --utc America/Los_Angeles

### Bootloader configuration

bootloader --location=mbr --dom0_mem=569 --driveorder=sda

### Automatic reboot after install

#reboot

## Partitioning

clearpart --linux

part /boot --fstype=ext3 --size=256

part / --fstype=ext3 --size=1 --grow

part swap --fstype=swap –recommended

## Packages

%packages

@core

@base

@ovs-virtualization

tftp

bridge-utils

Note: Example 2 uses a web server to host the installation source. The installation source can be hosted using http, nfs, or ftp. The next list shows http, nfs and ftp entries in a kickstart file hosting the installation source.

url --url http://192.168.4.11/ovs2.2/
nfs --server=192.168.4.11 --dir=/ovs2.2/
url --url=ftp:// 192.168.4.11/ovs2.2/

Example 3 was modified from the default anaconda kickstart file and is used to install an Oracle VM server pool member named ovs3.sf.itnc.com. ovs3.sf.itnc.com will not have an /OVS directory. The bold sections need to be modified for your environment.

Example 3

install

key --skip

lang en_US.UTF-8

keyboard us

skipx

url --url http://192.168.4.11/ovs2.2/

network --device eth0 --bootproto static --ip 192.168.4.8 --netmask 255.255.255.0 --gateway 192.168.4.254 --nameserver 192.168.4.11 --hostname ovs3.sf.itnc.com

ovsagent --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ovsmgmntif eth0

rootpw --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

firewall --enabled --port=21:tcp --port=22:tcp --port=53:udp --port=53:tcp --port=80:tcp --port=2049:tcp --port=5900-5950:tcp --port=8002:tcp --port=8003:tcp --port=8899:tcp --port=7777:tcp

authconfig --enableshadow --enablemd5

selinux --disabled

timezone --utc America/Los_Angeles

bootloader --location=mbr --dom0_mem=569 --driveorder=sda

#reboot

clearpart --linux

part /boot --fstype=ext3 --size=256

part / --fstype=ext3 --size=1 --grow

part swap --fstype=swap --recommended

%packages

@core

@base

@ovs-virtualization

tftp

bridge-utils

Example 4 was modified from the default anaconda kickstart file and is used to install a stand-alone Oracle VM server named ovs1.sf.itnc.com. ovs1.sf.itnc.com will have a local storage repository in the /OVS directory. The bold sections need to be modified for your environment.

Example 4

install

key --skip

lang en_US.UTF-8

keyboard us

skipx

url --url http://192.168.4.11/ovs2.2/

network --device eth0 --bootproto static --ip 192.168.4.5 --netmask 255.255.255.0 --gateway 192.168.4.254 --nameserver 192.168.4.11 --hostname ovs1.sf.itnc.com

ovsagent --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

ovsmgmntif eth0

rootpw --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

firewall --enabled --port=21:tcp --port=22:tcp --port=53:udp --port=53:tcp --port=80:tcp --port=2049:tcp --port=5900-5950:tcp --port=8002:tcp --port=8003:tcp --port=8899:tcp --port=7777:tcp

authconfig --enableshadow --enablemd5

selinux --disabled

timezone --utc America/Los_Angeles

bootloader --location=mbr --dom0_mem=569 --driveorder=sda

# The following is the partition information you requested

# Note that any partitions you deleted are not expressed

# here so unless you clear all partitions first, this is

# not guaranteed to work

#reboot

clearpart --all --drives=sda

part /boot --fstype ext3 --size=100 --ondisk=sda

part / --fstype ext3 --size=3072 --ondisk=sda

part /OVS --fstype ocfs2 --size=1024 --grow --ondisk=sda

part swap --size=1024 --ondisk=sda

%packages

@core

@base

@ovs-virtualization

tftp

bridge-utils

Note: None of the example kickstart files will automatically reboot the server after the installation. Uncomment the reboot section of the kickstart file to have the Oracle VM server automatically reboot after the installation. After a successful PXE/kickstart installation, either disable the PXE boot feature from the BIOS or comment out the Oracle VM server’s entries in the dhcpd.conf file to disable PXE boot and to preclude the system from performing additional PXE/kickstart installations.

How to Generate an Encrypted Password with grub-md5-crypt

This section reviews how to generate the encrypted passwords for the root user account and the ovs-agent account for an Oracle VM server kickstart file. The following list shows the two password entries in an Oracle VM server kickstart file that require encrypted passwords.

ovsagent --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
rootpw --iscrypted xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To generate encrypted passwords for the root user account and the ovs-agent account, use the grub-md5-crypt program. From an Enterprise Linux host , while logged in as root or using sudo, type “grub-md5-crypt”. You will be prompted for a password and then asked to confirm the password. The password will not be visible as you type it. The grub-md5-crypt program will then print out the MD5-encrypted password.

Note: The Oracle VM installation program requires at least six characters each for the root and Oracle VM agent passwords.

The following example shows the output from grub-md5-crypt.

# grub-md5-crypt
Password:
Retype password:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Once you have generated the encrypted passwords for the root user account and the ovs-agent account, place the encrypted passwords in the kickstart file and stage the kickstart file on the boot server.

How to Stage a Kickstart File for an Oracle VM Server PXE/kickstart Installation

The section discusses how to stage a kickstart file on a web server for an Oracle VM server PXE/kickstart installation.

Kickstart files can be staged using http, ftp, or nfs. The next example shows a PXE boot file named C0A804C7 that points to a kickstart file (ovs2-ks.cfg) staged on a web server (192.168.4.11).

# vi /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg/C0A804C7

default ovsboot

label ovsboot

kernel vmlinuz

append initrd=ovm/2.2/initrd.img ks=http://192.168.4.11/ovs2-ks.cfg ksdevice=eth0

:wq!

Note: Kickstart files can be staged using http, ftp, or nfs, as shown in the next example.

ks=http://192.168.4.11/ovs3-ks.cfg

ks=ftp:// 192.168.4.11/ovs3-ks.cfg

ks=nfs:192.168.4.11/ovs3-ks.cfg

To stage kickstart files to a web server, copy the kickstart files to the directory specified in the PXE boot file. The above example uses the web root directory at /var/www/html, although the example could have used any subdirectory with a descriptive name, such as http://192.168.4.11/kickstart-files/ovs2-ks.cfg.

Figure 49 shows the staged installation tree in the ovs2.2/ directory along with the kickstart file ovs2-ks.cfg and ovs3-ks.cfg in the web root directory, that is, the /var/www/html of the example 192.168.4.11 boot/web server.

Note: A kickstart file can be staged in any directory on a web, ftp, or nfs server.

PXE Boot Client Configuration

This section discusses how to configure a system’s network interface card (NIC) to be a PXE boot client.

The final step in preparing a PXE boot environment is to enable each system on which you want to perform a PXE/kickstart installation to boot using PXE. To enable a system’s PXE boot capability, reboot the system and access the system BIOS. From the system BIOS, locate and enable the PXE boot feature. In some cases, it may be necessary to change the boot order and place PXE boot at the top of the list.

Tip: Many systems use the "F12" hotkey to access the boot methods selection screen, while others systems require BIOS access to enable PXE boot. Consult your vendor’s website for details about your hardware.

You are now ready to test your PXE/kickstart installation.

PXE/Kickstart Oracle VM Server Installation and Troubleshooting Tips

This section discusses Oracle VM server PXE/Kickstart installation troubleshooting tips.

If you run into problems when testing your boot server and PXE/kickstart configurations, check /var/log/messages, /var/log/httpd/access_log and /var/log/httpd/error_logs on the boot server for errors. The /var/log/messages, /var/log/httpd/access_log and /var/log/httpd/error_log log files on the boot server are where all the DHCP, TFTP and HTTP errors are logged. The next list shows a PXE/kickstart check list.

PXE/kickstart check list

Check that your boot server is ready to answer requests from the PXE clients.

Is your tftp service is running? From the boot server, type “netstat -l -u | grep tftp”, as shown in the next example to confirm that the tftp server is running.

# netstat -l -u | grep tftp

udp 0 0 *:tftp *:*

If no output is displayed after typing “netstat -l -u | grep tftp”, the tftp service is not running. The example confirms that the tftp service is up.

Check if iptables is blocking traffic on the boot server.

Consider disabling iptables to test the boot server by typing “sudo /sbin/service iptables stop”.

Check the BIOS of each PXE client to ensure that PXE boot is enabled.

When the system boots, do you see the NIC looking for an IP address via DHCP? If not, PXE boot is not enabled.

Check that your PXE client is connected to the same network as the boot server.

If the PXE client is located across a router from the boot server, the PXE client may not be able to receive an IP address from the DHCP service.

How to Register and Update an Oracle VM Server from the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network

This section discusses how to register and update an Oracle VM server from the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network. The section starts with a brief introduction to the Oracle Unbreakable Linux support program and the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network (ULN). The section concludes with an overview of how to register and update an Oracle VM server from the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network using the up2date program.

Tip: Even after a fresh installation of Oracle VM, it’s advisable to patch the system before any testing to avoid troubleshooting patched bugs.

The Oracle Unbreakable Linux Support Program

The Oracle Unbreakable Linux support program is an add-on component of Oracle’s enterprise support package for Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux. The Oracle Unbreakable Linux support program uses the same support infrastructure, support phone number and My Oracle Support account for Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux as with all other Oracle technologies. Using Oracle support for Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux allows an Oracle support service request (SR) to transition between groups with issues that require cross-stack collaboration. For example, if you open a service request for an application issue and the root cause is at the virtualization layer, the service request will automatically transition between the application and Oracle VM support engineers.

The Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network is a cloud resource for Oracle Unbreakable Linux support customers that hosts the Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux RPM repositories, including software patches, updates and fixes. The Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network’s web portal is located at http://linux.oracle.com. The Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network web portal provides a dashboard and management interface for all registered Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux systems and RPM channels. The Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network repositories are used to patch and install RPMs for Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux systems. Oracle Unbreakable Linux support customers have the option to patch and install RPMs for Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux systems from the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network using the up2date program, or from a local yum repository.

Note: Before you can access the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network it's necessary to create an Oracle Single Signon account. Your existing My Oracle Support (MOS) Oracle Single Signon account will not work with the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network until the account has been registered with the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network. Click the Register link at the the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network portal to a) create a new Oracle Single Signon account or to b) associate your existing Oracle Single Signon account with the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network.

Figure 50 highlights the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network web portal.

The Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network and My Oracle Support, formerly Metalink, are entirely separate systems, accessed by different URLs, and use different customer service identifiers (CSIs). My Oracle Support is used to interface with Oracle’s enterprise support organization, whereas the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network is used to monitor registered Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux systems and RPMs. A valid customer service identifier (CSI) for Oracle VM or Enterprise Linux is required to access the RPMs at the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network. The customer service identifiers for Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux are only valid for the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network, not for My Oracle Support.

Note: The customer service identifiers for Oracle VM and Enterprise Linux cannot be entered at the My Oracle Support portal.

Oracle VM Server Update Options

There are three options for updating an Oracle VM Server. The first option is to use the up2date program to register and update Oracle VM servers from the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network. The up2date program communicates with the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network over an SSL encrypted connection and downloads and installs all requested packages in an RPM format. Consult up2date’s man page by typing “man up2date” from dom0 as root to view a comprehensive list of command augments.

Note: Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network access requires a valid Oracle VM customer service identifier.

Figure 51 shows an Oracle VM server being updated from the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network using the up2date program.

The second option is to update Oracle VM servers using a local yum repository. A local yum repository can be hosted on any Enterprise Linux system that has been registered with the Unbreakable Linux Network with internet access and Apache. Local yum repositories are populated and synchronized with RPMs that are hosted at the Unbreakable Linux Network using a script and a local cron job. The up2date program or the yum program can be used with a local yum repository.

Figure 52 shows an Oracle VM server being updated from a local yum repository.

The third option is boot an Oracle VM server with the latest Oracle VM media in the CD-ROM drive and to select the update option from the boot prompt. Selecting the update option from the boot prompt will update the Oracle VM Server to the version of the Oracle VM server media. Once the server has been updated, the system must be patched from the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network or from a local yum repository.

In the next section, we discuss the process for registering and updating an Oracle VM Server. The examples will all be performed from dom0 as root using the up2date command.

up2date Program Proxy Configurations

The up2date program defaults may need to modified to meet your environmental and business requirements. For example, if you’re using a proxy server, you will need to edit the up2date configuration to enter your proxy details. To edit the up2date program defaults, from dom0 as root type “up2date --configure”. Typing “up2date --configure” lists the up2date program defaults. There are five proxy configurations that can be edited to allow access from your Oracle VM server to the internet. The following list shows the up2date proxy configuration items with their default settings and item numbers.

3. enableProxy No
4. enableProxyAuth No
11. httpProxy
21. proxyPassword
22. proxyUser

To edit an up2date program item type “up2date –configure” then type the item number. Then, type C to clear the default value or type q to quit without saving. Next, type the new value and press Enter to save the new value and to exit. If you need to enter multiple values, separate them with semicolons (;).

Another default up2date configuration for Oracle VM is to not update the Oracle VM server’s kernel. The default configuration avoids a “blind” kernel update, which could affect any installed programs or third-party drivers that are dependent on a specific kernel version. If the default kernel configuration is modified to allow kernel updates, previous kernels are not removed, which allows a system to be rebooted into the previous kernel if things go wrong.

up2date Program Kernel Configurations

To enable kernel updates, clear the “pkgSkipList” and the “pkgsToInstallNotUp” items by typing the item number and then typing C to clear the item list. Next, select Enter to save and exit up2date. The following list shows the default “pkgSkipList” and the “pkgsToInstallNotUp” configurations.

19. pkgSkipList ['kernel*']
20. pkgsToInstallNotUp ['kernel', 'kernel-modules', 'kernel-devel']

The next example shows the default up2date --config configurations with the proxy and kernel items in bold.

# up2date --config

0. adminAddress ['root@localhost']

1. debug No

2. disallowConfChange ['noReboot', 'sslCACert', 'useNoSSLForPackages', 'noSSLSe

3. enableProxy No

4. enableProxyAuth No

5. enableRollbacks No

6. fileSkipList []

7. forceInstall No

8. gpgKeyRing /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date-keyring.gpg

9. headerCacheSize 40

10. headerFetchCount 10

11. httpProxy

12. isatty Yes

13. keepAfterInstall No

14. networkRetries 5

15. noBootLoader No

16. noReboot No

17. noReplaceConfig Yes

18. noSSLServerURL http://linux-update.oracle.com/XMLRPC

19. pkgSkipList ['kernel*']

20. pkgsToInstallNotUp ['kernel', 'kernel-modules', 'kernel-devel']

21. proxyPassword

22. proxyUser

23. removeSkipList ['kernel*']

24. retrieveOnly No

25. retrieveSource No

26. rhnuuid 3cfb2ee2-6a22-11dd-9022-001c23b73c3a

27. serverURL https://linux-update.oracle.com/XMLRPC

28. showAvailablePacka No

29. sslCACert /usr/share/rhn/ULN-CA-CERT

30. storageDir /var/spool/up2date

31. systemIdPath /etc/sysconfig/rhn/systemid

32. updateUp2date Yes

33. useGPG Yes

34. useNoSSLForPackage No

35. useRhn Yes

36. versionOverride

Enter number of item to edit <return to exit, q to quit without saving>:

Import Oracle’s GPG Key

Before an Oracle VM server can connect to the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network, Oracle’s GPG key must be imported using the rpm program. To import the Oracle’s GPG key, from dom0 as root type “rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY”, as shown in the next example.

#rpm --import /etc/pki/rpm-gpg/RPM-GPG-KEY

Once the GPG key has been imported, the Oracle VM Server can be registered at the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network by typing “up2date” to start the registration process. The registration process requires you to select a user name and password and to enter a valid Oracle VM Support Identifier number (CSI). The user name and password that are selected during the registration process become the user name and password to log on to the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network. The first time you log on and authenticate your account on the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network, you will be prompted to convert your user name and password to an Oracle SSO user name and password. Oracle SSO accounts can be used across Oracle’s web properties, for example on the Oracle Technical Network (OTN). You can change your user name and password after you have authenticated your account by clicking the Profile link.

The Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network Registration Process

The following list shows the six steps to register an Oracle VM host with the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network:

1. Review the Unbreakable Linux Privacy Statement

2. Register a User Account

3. Register a System Profile—Hardware

4. Register a System Profile—Packages

5. Send Profile Information to the Unbreakable Linux Network

6. Finished Registration

Step 1. Review the Unbreakable Linux Privacy Statement

From the Review the Unbreakable Linux Privacy Statement screen use the Alt key to select the Next tab, once the Next tab is selected press the Enter key to proceed.

Figure 53 shows the Review the Unbreakable Linux Privacy Statement screen.

Step 2. Register a User Account

On the Register a User Account screen, enter a User name, Password, Password confirmation and a valid Oracle VM CSI number. Use the Alt key to select the Next tab, and then press the Enter key to proceed.

Figure 54 shows the Register a User Account screen.

Step 3. Register a System Profile—Hardware

On the Register a System Profile—Hardware screen, accept the defaults and use the Alt key to select the Next tab. Once the Next tab is selected, press the Enter key to proceed.

Note: The information gathered from the system profile step is saved in your user profile at the Oracle Unbreakable Linux Network.

Figure 55 shows the Register a System Profile—Hardware screen.

Step 4. Register a System Profile— Packages

On the Register a System Profile—Packages screen, accept the defaults and use the Alt key to select the Next tab. Once the Next tab is selected, press the Enter key to proceed.

Figure 56 shows the Register a System Profile—Packages screen.

Step 5. Send Profile Information to the Unbreakable Linux Network

From the Send Profile Information to the Unbreakable Linux Network screen, accept the defaults and use the Alt key to select the Next tab. Once the Next tab is selected, press the Enter key to proceed.

Figure 57 shows the Send Profile Information to the Unbreakable Linux Network screen.

Step 6 Finished Registration

On the Finished Registration screen, accept the defaults and use the Alt key to select the Next tab. Once the Next tab is selected, press the Enter key to proceed.

Figure 58 shows the Finished Registration screen.

The Oracle VM server has been successfully registered.

Once a system is registered type “up2date -u” to update the system.

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Chapter 4: Oracle VM Server Sizing, Installation and Updates

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