OpenSolaris

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Release Notes

General Information

Note that the use of the virsh and virt-install commands are preferred over the use of the legacy xm command whenever possible.

Domain 0

To configure dom0, the control domain, see the document dom0 configuration for admins at http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/xen/docs/configuring-dom0/.

Note the following issues when configuring dom0:

  • ZFS ARC limitation needed

    ZFS must be prevented from taking too much memory from dom0. Limit the ARC by adding the following line to /etc/system:

    set zfs:zfs_arc_max = 0x10000000

    Reboot the system.

  • Limit dom0 memory

    Limit dom0 to a specific amount of memory by using the Xen dom0_mem option. For example, if you have 4Gb of memory, give dom0 1Gb in /rpool/boot/grub/menu.lst: 

    ...
kernel$ /boot/$ISADIR/xen.gz dom0_mem=1024M
...

Guest Domains

Supported guests are:
  • HVM: Fully virtualized guests,referred to as hardware-assisted virtual machines (HVMs). These are virtual machines that utilize Intel-VT and AMD-V extensions. In addition to having the right CPU, the extensions must also be enabled by the BIOS; see "Tips," below.
  • HVM + PVIO: These guests provide better performance through the use of PVIO drivers.

    For Windows guests, obtain the Sun xVM Guest Additions (Early Access 3) drivers and Sun xVM Guest Additions (Early Access 3) Installation guide here.

    For Solaris 10 guests, the Solaris 10 5/09 release, which includes the drivers, is recommended.

    If you choose to use a release prior to Solaris 10 10/08, download Solaris 10 patch 137112-06 (or later) from SunSolve.

  • Paravirtualized (PV): A PV guest OS is a modified OS that is aware that is operating under a hypervisor, which results in higher performance.

Notes
You cannot add temporary access to a device for an HVM domU because you cannot dynamically add IDE CD-ROM devices. To make a CD-ROM available for use in an HVM guest, you must add the device before you boot the guest. You can then change the media by using virsh attach-disk. Note that in an HVM domU, you must use eject in the domU to unlock a removable-media device, such as a CD device, before running the attach-disk subcommand. For additional explanation, see the virsh(1M) man page, including "Example 4 Changing a CD in a Solaris HVM Guest Domain."

For Windows guests that require Microsoft support, run the hypervisor on Windows Server 2008 logo certified hardware.

Bugs

Bugs Affecting xVM Installs

Bugs Affecting Control Domains

Bugs Affecting Guest Domains

Bugs Affecting Machines

  • Tecra-M5 Workaround

    There is an INI routine in this machine's ACPI tables that can't tolerate being run twice. A recompile of the ACPI routines that removed the offending INI portion fixed the problem. To obtain the revised file, go to this location.

    Untar the tar file. 

    cd / 
tar xvf acpi.tar

    Then you should be able to reboot into dom0.

  • 6476572 hci1394 causes NMI (because of PCI SERR) on Tyan 2895, Ultra-40

    You cannot boot dom0 on Ultra-40 systems when this error condition occurs.

    The workaround is to add the following to the end of the unix line in the grub entry in /boot/grub/menu.lst (or in grub itself): 

     -B disable-hci1394=true

    For example: 

    title Solaris xVM 
kernel$ /boot/$ISADIR/xen.gz console=com1 com1=9600,8n1
module$ /platform/i86xpv/kernel/$ISADIR/unix /platform/i86xpv/kernel/$ISADIR/unix -B disable-hci1394=true
module$ /platform/i86pc/$ISADIR/boot_archive

Bugs Affecting Console Settings

Known Issues

No Support for Access to the Performance Counter

Currently, there is no support for access to the performance counter under Xen and Solaris xVM. cputrack -h operations do not work. libcpc(3LIB) is not supported. An RFE, CR 6534225, has been filed.

Tips

Booting and VT-x or AMD-V Extensions

In some systems with Intel or AMD processors, the hardware virtualization extensions used by xVM for HVM mode are disabled by default in the BIOS. Before booting Windows or other operating systems in HVM mode, you might need to change the BIOS settings to enable either Intel VT-x or AMD-V.

Some system manufacturers do not provide a BIOS option to enable these extensions. If you have such a system, you will be unable to use HVM, even if you have an HVM-capable CPU. In this case, contact the system vendor to see if there is a BIOS upgrade available.

Sending CTRL+ALT+DEL to an HVM domU

The key sequence to send a CTRL+ALT+DEL to a guest Windows DomU while using virt-manager is: Control,Control,Control,Alt+Del.

Press Control three times, then Alt+Del.

How to Determine Whether a Machine Is HVM-Capable

To determine whether a machine is HVM-capable, run the virt-install command with the -v option. If HVM is not supported, an error message displays: 
# virt-install -v
ERROR    Host does not support virtualization type 'hvm'

IDE Drives

  • Legacy ATA (IDE) drives are not recommended as the root or image drive on which control domain 0 is installed, for performance reasons.

xVM Bugfixes in OpenSolaris SXCE Builds

SXCE Build 116

SXCE Build 114

SXCE Build 113

SXCE Build 111

SXCE Build 110

SXCE Build 109

SXCE Build 108

SXCE Build 107

SXCE Build 106

SXCE Build 105

SXCE Build 104

SXCE Build 103

SXCE Build 102

SXCE Build 101

SXCE Build 100

SXCE Build 99

SXCE Build 98

SXCE Build 97

SXCE Build 96

SXCE Build 95

SXCE Build 94

SXCE Build 93

SXCE Build 92

SXCE Build 91

SXCE Build 90

SXCE Build 89

SXCE Build 88

SXCE Build 87

SXCE Build 86

SXCE Build 85

SXCE Build 84

SXCE Build 83

SXCE Build 82

SXCE Build 81

SXCE Build 80

SXCE Build 79a

SXCE Build 79

SXCE Build 78

SXCE Build 77

SXCE Build 76

Known xVM Issues with each OpenSolaris SXCE Build

SXCE Build 82

SXCE Build 81

SXCE Build 80

SXCE Build 79a

SXCE Builds 78 & 79

SXCE Build 77

Copyright 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.