Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) requirements and support

KVM requirements when deploying KVM with the Deploy compute node images task

You can use the Deploy compute node images task in the management software to deploy RHEL and KVM hypervisors to multiple X-Architecture compute nodes. If you use this method, some of the requirements that are listed in the following sections might be completed automatically. For example, the Deploy compute node images task automatically installs the KVM Platform Agent and sets up KVM hosts.

For more information about the Deploy compute node images task and the operating-system settings that it configures, see the section Using the Deploying compute node images task to deploy operating systems.

Requirements with NFS-based storage

1. IBM Flex System Manager VMControl is activated.
2. An NFS x86_64 Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) server is set up and configured. The following diagram shows the KVM virtualization environment with NFS storage.
   Figure 1. KVM virtualization environment with NFS storage

   
   1. At least one NFS export on the NFS server is defined:
      • For image and disk inventory to work, the export path must end in /images. For example: /share/kvm/images. Additionally, if you are not setting up additional security in your environment, you must use the no_root_squash export option. For example:

        $ cat /etc/exports
        /nfs/kvm/images 192.168.0.0/255.255.0.0 \
        (rw,no_root_squash,sync,no_subtree_check)

        If you cannot change your NFS export setup to have image files be inventoried from an export path that ends in something other than /images, complete the following steps:
        1. In the file, /opt/ibm/director/lwi/conf/overrides/USMIKernel.properties, add a line for the following property: director.services.extendeddiscovery.nfs.suffix For example: director.services.extendeddiscovery.nfs.suffix=/img-kvm. This addition results in inventorying the image files within NFS export paths that end in /img-kvm instead of the default, /images.
        2. Restart theIBM Flex System Manager after you add or change the USMIKernel.properties file.
      • For consistency, name image and disk files that are stored on NFS with a .dsk, .img, or .raw extension.
   2. Ensure that the NFS services are started. For example, by running the command service nfs start.
   3. KVM Platform Agent is downloaded and installed. For instructions, see "Installing and Uninstalling the Platform Agent."
      Note: If you use the Deploy compute node images task to deploy RHEL and KVM, the KVM Platform Agent is installed automatically. See Using the Deploying compute node images task to deploy operating systems for more information.
   4. The NFS server is discovered, accessed, and inventoried by IBM Flex System Manager.
3. The image repository is set up and meets all of the following requirements. The image repository is used for storing and deploying virtual appliances.
   1. Common Agent is installed on your image repository server. For instructions, see "Installing common agent."
   2. The shared NFS exported storage is mounted on the Image Repository server.
   3. The image repository server is discovered and inventory is collected.
   4. The image repository is created from VMControl. For instructions to create an image repository, see "Creating and discovering image repositories for KVM."
4. One or more RHEL KVM hosts are set up and available:
   Note: If you use the Deploy compute node images task to deploy RHEL and KVM, KVM hosts are set up automatically. See Using the Deploying compute node images task to deploy operating systems for more information.
   1. KVM Platform Agent is downloaded and installed on the KVM hosts. For instructions, see "Installing and Uninstalling the KVM Platform Agent."
   2. KVM hosts are discovered, accessed, and inventoried from your IBM Flex System Manager.
   3. Storage is set up. To set up storage, right-click a KVM host, select Edit Host, and click Storage Pools. Configure a shared NFS storage pool for the NFS server export that you created, then click OK to create the storage pools.

Requirements with SAN storage

Supported hosts, Linux versions, and firmware versions

KVM virtualized environments must run on X-Architecture compute nodes.

You must use the following Linux versions for the KVM virtualization environment.

• IBM Flex System Manager: You can use any IBM Flex System Manager with IBM Flex System Manager VMControl activated.
• Hosts require Red Hat Enterprise Linux version 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, or 6.4 with KVM installed. For more information about installing KVM on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, or 6.4, see the "Red Hat Enterprise Linux Virtualization Guide."

Supported networks

Supported storage

Image repository and virtual disk storage options include the following types:

• NFS version 3 server that is running on RHEL version 6.2 and 6.3.
• NFS version 3 server that is running on RHEL version 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, or 6.4 with KVM installed.
• Supported SAN devices. See "Task support for storage products" to determine support.

Supported tasks

In the KVM virtualization environment, you can complete these tasks:

• Create and delete NFS storage pools on a host
• Create and delete NFS or SAN virtual disks
• Suspend or resume virtual servers and workloads (without release of resources)
• Create, edit, and delete virtual servers
• Power® operations for virtual servers
• Relocate virtual servers
• Turn maintenance mode on and off for hosts that are in server system pools
• Import a virtual appliance package that contains one or more raw disk images
• Capture a workload or virtual server into a virtual appliance
• Deploy a virtual appliance package to a new virtual server with hardware and product customizations
• Deploy a virtual appliance package to an existing virtual server with adequate resources.
• Start, stop, and edit a workload
• Create, edit, and delete server system pools
• Create, edit, and delete network system pools (If you are using IBM Flex System Manager Network Control with VMControl)
• Adjust the virtualization monitor polling interval for KVM using the KvmPlatformPollingInterval parameter

KVM requirements

In addition to the packages required by the KVM platform agent, the genisoimage.x86_64 package must also be installed for VMControl support. See "Installing and uninstalling KVM Platform Agent" to determine other necessary packages.

You must update the firewall to allow INPUT network traffic based on certain rules. To update the firewall, complete the following steps:

1. Insert the following rules before any reject rules that might exist on the INPUT chain:
   1. iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 427 --syn -j ACCEPT
   2. iptables -I INPUT -p udp --dport 427 -j ACCEPT
   3. iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 22 --syn -j ACCEPT
   4. iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 15988 --syn -j ACCEPT
   5. iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 15989 --syn -j ACCEPT
2. To save the firewall settings, run the following command: service iptables save
3. Update the firewall rules to allow Virtual Network Computing (VNC) connectivity to the virtual server (VS) console. Add the following rule before any reject rules that might exist on the INPUT chain: -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 5900:5999 -j ACCEPT. This rule allows 100 virtual servers for the host. Update the port numbers if more virtual servers are deployed on the host.
4. Update the firewall rules to allow virtual server relocation between hosts. Add the following rule before any reject rules that might exist on the INPUT chain: -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 49152:49215 -j ACCEPT..
5. Firewall reject rules might restrict VS network traffic. So it is important to update the firewall rules to ensure that traffic on bridges that are used by virtual servers are allowed. For example, if VS uses bridge br500, you can insert the following rule to precede reject rules and allow unrestricted network traffic on bridge br500: -A FORWARD -i br500 -j ACCEPT.

Restrictions