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Posted to user@vcl.apache.org by Dmitri Chebotarov <dc...@gmu.edu> on 2012/03/29 19:33:40 UTC
ESXi 4.1 image for VCL reservation
Hi, All
Is it posible to add ESXi 4.1 image to VCL, so users can make reservation for ESXi 4.1 server?
May be someone else already has it working…. May be there is separate module for ESXi support?
I have configured xCAT/VCL and I'm able to reload a blade with ESXi 4.1 using kickstart script via Manage Computers.
But when a user makes reservation for ESXi 4.1 - it fails. So far it fails for two reasons - no Public interface and cannot create user on ESXi hosts.
VCL is using Linux.pm module and ESXi doesn't support it.
Thanks.
--
Dmitri Chebotarov
Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
Phone: (703) 993-6175
Fax: (703) 993-3404
Re: ESXi 4.1 image for VCL reservation
Posted by Andy Kurth <an...@ncsu.edu>.
Why yes, you sure could. :) Forgot I created that. It is used for
our ESXi xCAT kickstart installs. All it does is override all of the
things Linux.pm post_load does. It only waits for the ESXi computer
to respond to SSH. Our kickstart file configures everything including
the public and private networking. I can share this if its helpful.
The module is adequate for ESXi server installs (tovmhostinuse state)
and reload reservations. For user reservations, you would need to add
the following subroutines:
-reserve
-grant_access
-is_user_connected
-sanitize (optional - If not implemented the computer will be reloaded
if a user makes a reservation but never logs in)
Also look at OS.pm::process_connect_methods. I haven't worked on this
part of the code myself but you'll need to either implement the
firewall subroutines that process_connect_methods calls.
In order to use the module for the new server reservation feature in
2.3, you'd have to add a manage_server_access subroutine.
To be able to capture images, a pre_capture subroutine is needed.
-Andy
On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 4:38 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <4d...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Andy
>
> Could I extend existing ESXi.pm module
> at /usr/local/vcl/lib/VCL/Module/OS/Linux/ESXi.pm?
> Everyhing you described seems to be already in place - entry for esxi OS
> (OSid), module name/path.
>
> Thanks.
>
> --
> Dmitri Chebotarov
>
> On Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 14:56 , Andy Kurth wrote:
>
> You could create an ESXi.pm OS module. It would inherit from Linux.pm
> since some of the Linux subroutines will work under ESXi. The module
> would reside at:
> lib/VCL/Module/OS/Linux/ESXi.pm
>
> Entries would have to be added to the module and OS tables in the
> database. Set your image.OSid value to the new value you enter in the
> OS table.
>
> Some of the subroutines in Linux.pm already work as you have noticed.
> I changed a few of them a while back to work with ESXi of them to
> which are called by the VMware.pm provisioning module when SSH is used
> to control the VM host. For the ones which don't work, you would
> define subroutines in ESXi.pm to override the ones in Linux.pm or
> OS.pm such as create_user.
>
> For the networking problems, you would probably define a post_load
> subroutine in ESXi.pm which performs operations necessary to configure
> the virtual switches appropriately such as running esxcfg-vswitch and
> esxcfg-vmknic.
>
> This would be very useful for us at NCSU. I would be happy to help
> get this added.
>
> -Andy
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 2:19 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dc...@gmu.edu> wrote:
>
>
> I'm not looking for nested hypervisors - this would work for someone who
> wants to play/study ESXi server. But even in this case VCL needs a module to
> handle ESXi reservation - this step would fail for nested esxi as well…
>
> How would I add/use/load a new pm module for ESXi reservation? I plan to use
> ESXi image along with a Windows sub-image with vSphere client, so ESXi
> server won't need public IP address in this case…
>
> I only need to address reservation steps (ie. get IP, add user, etc.) -
> xCAT/VCL already handles ESXi install process.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> --
> Dmitri Chebotarov
> Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
> 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
> Phone: (703) 993-6175
> Fax: (703) 993-3404
>
> On Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 14:04 , Mike Haudenschild wrote:
>
> There is definitely a performance penalty for running ESXi as a guest OS. I
> don't think the hardware virtualization features of the CPU can be passed on
> to an ESXi guest, which also means no 64-bit guests inside the ESXi guest.
>
> Suggest reading the notes on this blog:
> http://www.vcritical.com/2009/05/vmware-esx-4-can-even-virtualize-itself/
>
> Regards,
> Mike
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 13:59, Aaron Peeler <aa...@ncsu.edu> wrote:
>
> Definitely doable.
>
> Also might be worth doing it within a ESXi server. Nested hypervisor -
> possibly a bit better control on which networks are visible.
>
> With the connection methods in the next release, you could define
> vsphere client as the connection method.
>
> Aaron P.
>
> On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 1:33 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dc...@gmu.edu> wrote:
>
> Hi, All
>
> Is it posible to add ESXi 4.1 image to VCL, so users can make reservation
> for ESXi 4.1 server?
> May be someone else already has it working…. May be there is separate
> module
> for ESXi support?
>
> I have configured xCAT/VCL and I'm able to reload a blade with ESXi 4.1
> using kickstart script via Manage Computers.
> But when a user makes reservation for ESXi 4.1 - it fails. So far it fails
> for two reasons - no Public interface and cannot create user on ESXi
> hosts.
> VCL is using Linux.pm module and ESXi doesn't support it.
>
> Thanks.
> --
> Dmitri Chebotarov
> Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
> 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
> Phone: (703) 993-6175
> Fax: (703) 993-3404
>
>
>
>
> --
> Aaron Peeler
> Program Manager
> Virtual Computing Lab
> NC State University
>
> All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
> are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
> Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
>
>
Re: ESXi 4.1 image for VCL reservation
Posted by Dmitri Chebotarov <4d...@gmail.com>.
Andy
Could I extend existing ESXi.pm module at /usr/local/vcl/lib/VCL/Module/OS/Linux/ESXi.pm?
Everyhing you described seems to be already in place - entry for esxi OS (OSid), module name/path.
Thanks.
--
Dmitri Chebotarov
On Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 14:56 , Andy Kurth wrote:
> You could create an ESXi.pm OS module. It would inherit from Linux.pm
> since some of the Linux subroutines will work under ESXi. The module
> would reside at:
> lib/VCL/Module/OS/Linux/ESXi.pm
>
> Entries would have to be added to the module and OS tables in the
> database. Set your image.OSid value to the new value you enter in the
> OS table.
>
> Some of the subroutines in Linux.pm already work as you have noticed.
> I changed a few of them a while back to work with ESXi of them to
> which are called by the VMware.pm provisioning module when SSH is used
> to control the VM host. For the ones which don't work, you would
> define subroutines in ESXi.pm to override the ones in Linux.pm or
> OS.pm such as create_user.
>
> For the networking problems, you would probably define a post_load
> subroutine in ESXi.pm which performs operations necessary to configure
> the virtual switches appropriately such as running esxcfg-vswitch and
> esxcfg-vmknic.
>
> This would be very useful for us at NCSU. I would be happy to help
> get this added.
>
> -Andy
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 2:19 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dchebota@gmu.edu (mailto:dchebota@gmu.edu)> wrote:
> >
> > I'm not looking for nested hypervisors - this would work for someone who
> > wants to play/study ESXi server. But even in this case VCL needs a module to
> > handle ESXi reservation - this step would fail for nested esxi as well…
> >
> > How would I add/use/load a new pm module for ESXi reservation? I plan to use
> > ESXi image along with a Windows sub-image with vSphere client, so ESXi
> > server won't need public IP address in this case…
> >
> > I only need to address reservation steps (ie. get IP, add user, etc.) -
> > xCAT/VCL already handles ESXi install process.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Dmitri Chebotarov
> > Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
> > 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
> > Phone: (703) 993-6175
> > Fax: (703) 993-3404
> >
> > On Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 14:04 , Mike Haudenschild wrote:
> >
> > There is definitely a performance penalty for running ESXi as a guest OS. I
> > don't think the hardware virtualization features of the CPU can be passed on
> > to an ESXi guest, which also means no 64-bit guests inside the ESXi guest.
> >
> > Suggest reading the notes on this blog:
> > http://www.vcritical.com/2009/05/vmware-esx-4-can-even-virtualize-itself/
> >
> > Regards,
> > Mike
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 13:59, Aaron Peeler <aaron_peeler@ncsu.edu (mailto:aaron_peeler@ncsu.edu)> wrote:
> >
> > Definitely doable.
> >
> > Also might be worth doing it within a ESXi server. Nested hypervisor -
> > possibly a bit better control on which networks are visible.
> >
> > With the connection methods in the next release, you could define
> > vsphere client as the connection method.
> >
> > Aaron P.
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 1:33 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dchebota@gmu.edu (mailto:dchebota@gmu.edu)> wrote:
> > > Hi, All
> > >
> > > Is it posible to add ESXi 4.1 image to VCL, so users can make reservation
> > > for ESXi 4.1 server?
> > > May be someone else already has it working…. May be there is separate
> > > module
> > > for ESXi support?
> > >
> > > I have configured xCAT/VCL and I'm able to reload a blade with ESXi 4.1
> > > using kickstart script via Manage Computers.
> > > But when a user makes reservation for ESXi 4.1 - it fails. So far it fails
> > > for two reasons - no Public interface and cannot create user on ESXi
> > > hosts.
> > > VCL is using Linux.pm module and ESXi doesn't support it.
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > > --
> > > Dmitri Chebotarov
> > > Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
> > > 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
> > > Phone: (703) 993-6175
> > > Fax: (703) 993-3404
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Aaron Peeler
> > Program Manager
> > Virtual Computing Lab
> > NC State University
> >
> > All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
> > are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
> > Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
> >
>
>
>
Re: ESXi 4.1 image for VCL reservation
Posted by Andy Kurth <an...@ncsu.edu>.
You could create an ESXi.pm OS module. It would inherit from Linux.pm
since some of the Linux subroutines will work under ESXi. The module
would reside at:
lib/VCL/Module/OS/Linux/ESXi.pm
Entries would have to be added to the module and OS tables in the
database. Set your image.OSid value to the new value you enter in the
OS table.
Some of the subroutines in Linux.pm already work as you have noticed.
I changed a few of them a while back to work with ESXi of them to
which are called by the VMware.pm provisioning module when SSH is used
to control the VM host. For the ones which don't work, you would
define subroutines in ESXi.pm to override the ones in Linux.pm or
OS.pm such as create_user.
For the networking problems, you would probably define a post_load
subroutine in ESXi.pm which performs operations necessary to configure
the virtual switches appropriately such as running esxcfg-vswitch and
esxcfg-vmknic.
This would be very useful for us at NCSU. I would be happy to help
get this added.
-Andy
On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 2:19 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dc...@gmu.edu> wrote:
>
> I'm not looking for nested hypervisors - this would work for someone who
> wants to play/study ESXi server. But even in this case VCL needs a module to
> handle ESXi reservation - this step would fail for nested esxi as well…
>
> How would I add/use/load a new pm module for ESXi reservation? I plan to use
> ESXi image along with a Windows sub-image with vSphere client, so ESXi
> server won't need public IP address in this case…
>
> I only need to address reservation steps (ie. get IP, add user, etc.) -
> xCAT/VCL already handles ESXi install process.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> --
> Dmitri Chebotarov
> Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
> 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
> Phone: (703) 993-6175
> Fax: (703) 993-3404
>
> On Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 14:04 , Mike Haudenschild wrote:
>
> There is definitely a performance penalty for running ESXi as a guest OS. I
> don't think the hardware virtualization features of the CPU can be passed on
> to an ESXi guest, which also means no 64-bit guests inside the ESXi guest.
>
> Suggest reading the notes on this blog:
> http://www.vcritical.com/2009/05/vmware-esx-4-can-even-virtualize-itself/
>
> Regards,
> Mike
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 13:59, Aaron Peeler <aa...@ncsu.edu> wrote:
>
> Definitely doable.
>
> Also might be worth doing it within a ESXi server. Nested hypervisor -
> possibly a bit better control on which networks are visible.
>
> With the connection methods in the next release, you could define
> vsphere client as the connection method.
>
> Aaron P.
>
> On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 1:33 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dc...@gmu.edu> wrote:
>> Hi, All
>>
>> Is it posible to add ESXi 4.1 image to VCL, so users can make reservation
>> for ESXi 4.1 server?
>> May be someone else already has it working…. May be there is separate
>> module
>> for ESXi support?
>>
>> I have configured xCAT/VCL and I'm able to reload a blade with ESXi 4.1
>> using kickstart script via Manage Computers.
>> But when a user makes reservation for ESXi 4.1 - it fails. So far it fails
>> for two reasons - no Public interface and cannot create user on ESXi
>> hosts.
>> VCL is using Linux.pm module and ESXi doesn't support it.
>>
>> Thanks.
>> --
>> Dmitri Chebotarov
>> Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
>> 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
>> Phone: (703) 993-6175
>> Fax: (703) 993-3404
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Aaron Peeler
> Program Manager
> Virtual Computing Lab
> NC State University
>
> All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
> are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
> Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
>
>
>
Re: ESXi 4.1 image for VCL reservation
Posted by Dmitri Chebotarov <dc...@gmu.edu>.
I'm not looking for nested hypervisors - this would work for someone who wants to play/study ESXi server. But even in this case VCL needs a module to handle ESXi reservation - this step would fail for nested esxi as well…
How would I add/use/load a new pm module for ESXi reservation? I plan to use ESXi image along with a Windows sub-image with vSphere client, so ESXi server won't need public IP address in this case…
I only need to address reservation steps (ie. get IP, add user, etc.) - xCAT/VCL already handles ESXi install process.
Thanks.
--
Dmitri Chebotarov
Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
Phone: (703) 993-6175
Fax: (703) 993-3404
On Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 14:04 , Mike Haudenschild wrote:
> There is definitely a performance penalty for running ESXi as a guest OS. I don't think the hardware virtualization features of the CPU can be passed on to an ESXi guest, which also means no 64-bit guests inside the ESXi guest.
>
> Suggest reading the notes on this blog:
> http://www.vcritical.com/2009/05/vmware-esx-4-can-even-virtualize-itself/
>
> Regards,
> Mike
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 13:59, Aaron Peeler <aaron_peeler@ncsu.edu (mailto:aaron_peeler@ncsu.edu)> wrote:
> > Definitely doable.
> >
> > Also might be worth doing it within a ESXi server. Nested hypervisor -
> > possibly a bit better control on which networks are visible.
> >
> > With the connection methods in the next release, you could define
> > vsphere client as the connection method.
> >
> > Aaron P.
> >
> > On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 1:33 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dchebota@gmu.edu (mailto:dchebota@gmu.edu)> wrote:
> > > Hi, All
> > >
> > > Is it posible to add ESXi 4.1 image to VCL, so users can make reservation
> > > for ESXi 4.1 server?
> > > May be someone else already has it working…. May be there is separate module
> > > for ESXi support?
> > >
> > > I have configured xCAT/VCL and I'm able to reload a blade with ESXi 4.1
> > > using kickstart script via Manage Computers.
> > > But when a user makes reservation for ESXi 4.1 - it fails. So far it fails
> > > for two reasons - no Public interface and cannot create user on ESXi hosts.
> > > VCL is using Linux.pm module and ESXi doesn't support it.
> > >
> > > Thanks.
> > > --
> > > Dmitri Chebotarov
> > > Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
> > > 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
> > > Phone: (703) 993-6175 (tel:%28703%29%20993-6175)
> > > Fax: (703) 993-3404 (tel:%28703%29%20993-3404)
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Aaron Peeler
> > Program Manager
> > Virtual Computing Lab
> > NC State University
> >
> > All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
> > are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
> > Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
>
Re: ESXi 4.1 image for VCL reservation
Posted by Mike Haudenschild <mi...@longsight.com>.
There is definitely a performance penalty for running ESXi as a guest OS.
I don't think the hardware virtualization features of the CPU can be
passed on to an ESXi guest, which also means no 64-bit guests inside the
ESXi guest.
Suggest reading the notes on this blog:
http://www.vcritical.com/2009/05/vmware-esx-4-can-even-virtualize-itself/
Regards,
Mike
On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 13:59, Aaron Peeler <aa...@ncsu.edu> wrote:
> Definitely doable.
>
> Also might be worth doing it within a ESXi server. Nested hypervisor -
> possibly a bit better control on which networks are visible.
>
> With the connection methods in the next release, you could define
> vsphere client as the connection method.
>
> Aaron P.
>
> On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 1:33 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dc...@gmu.edu>
> wrote:
> > Hi, All
> >
> > Is it posible to add ESXi 4.1 image to VCL, so users can make reservation
> > for ESXi 4.1 server?
> > May be someone else already has it working…. May be there is separate
> module
> > for ESXi support?
> >
> > I have configured xCAT/VCL and I'm able to reload a blade with ESXi 4.1
> > using kickstart script via Manage Computers.
> > But when a user makes reservation for ESXi 4.1 - it fails. So far it
> fails
> > for two reasons - no Public interface and cannot create user on ESXi
> hosts.
> > VCL is using Linux.pm module and ESXi doesn't support it.
> >
> > Thanks.
> > --
> > Dmitri Chebotarov
> > Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
> > 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
> > Phone: (703) 993-6175
> > Fax: (703) 993-3404
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Aaron Peeler
> Program Manager
> Virtual Computing Lab
> NC State University
>
> All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
> are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
> Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
>
Re: ESXi 4.1 image for VCL reservation
Posted by Aaron Peeler <aa...@ncsu.edu>.
Definitely doable.
Also might be worth doing it within a ESXi server. Nested hypervisor -
possibly a bit better control on which networks are visible.
With the connection methods in the next release, you could define
vsphere client as the connection method.
Aaron P.
On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 1:33 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dc...@gmu.edu> wrote:
> Hi, All
>
> Is it posible to add ESXi 4.1 image to VCL, so users can make reservation
> for ESXi 4.1 server?
> May be someone else already has it working…. May be there is separate module
> for ESXi support?
>
> I have configured xCAT/VCL and I'm able to reload a blade with ESXi 4.1
> using kickstart script via Manage Computers.
> But when a user makes reservation for ESXi 4.1 - it fails. So far it fails
> for two reasons - no Public interface and cannot create user on ESXi hosts.
> VCL is using Linux.pm module and ESXi doesn't support it.
>
> Thanks.
> --
> Dmitri Chebotarov
> Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
> 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
> Phone: (703) 993-6175
> Fax: (703) 993-3404
>
--
Aaron Peeler
Program Manager
Virtual Computing Lab
NC State University
All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.
Re: ESXi 4.1 image for VCL reservation
Posted by Aaron Peeler <aa...@ncsu.edu>.
Definitely doable.
Also might be worth doing it within a ESXi server. Nested hypervisor -
possibly a bit better control on which networks are visible.
With the connection methods in the next release, you could define
vsphere client as the connection method.
Aaron P.
On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 1:33 PM, Dmitri Chebotarov <dc...@gmu.edu> wrote:
> Hi, All
>
> Is it posible to add ESXi 4.1 image to VCL, so users can make reservation
> for ESXi 4.1 server?
> May be someone else already has it working…. May be there is separate module
> for ESXi support?
>
> I have configured xCAT/VCL and I'm able to reload a blade with ESXi 4.1
> using kickstart script via Manage Computers.
> But when a user makes reservation for ESXi 4.1 - it fails. So far it fails
> for two reasons - no Public interface and cannot create user on ESXi hosts.
> VCL is using Linux.pm module and ESXi doesn't support it.
>
> Thanks.
> --
> Dmitri Chebotarov
> Virtual Computing Lab Systems Engineer, TSD - Ent Servers & Messaging
> 223 Aquia Building, Ffx, MSN: 1B5
> Phone: (703) 993-6175
> Fax: (703) 993-3404
>
--
Aaron Peeler
Program Manager
Virtual Computing Lab
NC State University
All electronic mail messages in connection with State business which
are sent to or received by this account are subject to the NC Public
Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.