XEN Hypervisor

Linux Distribution Support

Virtual HMC Appliance XEN on:

  • SuSe Linux Enterprise 12
  • Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

Note:        The following packages are required: XEN hypervisor(Ubuntu), XEN Server(SLES), XEN tools, XEN Utils(Ubuntu), VNC Server and VNC Viewer.
                  HMC Virtual appliance supports XEN version 4.2 or later.

Virtual HMC Ubuntu/SLES XEN Deployment

Initial Setup

  • Create a folder to store Virtual HMC Components.
  • Copy the Virtual HMC Tar file into the folder.
  • Extract the Virtual HMC tar file into the folder.
  • The following files should be displayed:
    • README
    • vHMC-Conf.xml
    • disk1.img
    • checksum
    • vHMC.cfg

Configure vHMC.cfg

  • Open vHMC.cfg with a text editor
    XENConfig
  • Edit the following values:
    • Change the name of the Virtual HMC(Optional)
      XENNameImage
    • Replace DISK_PATH with the path for disk1.img
      XENDIskImage
    • Replace ethernet adapter and add MAC Address(Optional)
      XENEthernetImage
      Optional MAC Address
      XENMACImage
      Note:   XEN will re-generate an auto-generated MAC when Virtual HMC is rebooted, adding the optional MAC Address will solve this issue.

    • Replace FlOPPYPATH if using Activation Engine
      XENFloppyImage

Deployment

  • Create and Start Virtual HMC using edited vHMC.cfg
    Command:   xl create vHMC.cfg
  • Verify that Virtual HMC was added to the list of defined VMs.
    Command:   xl list
    XENListImage
  • Access the VM local console
    Command:    vncviewer localhost 0

Deploying with Virtual Manager

Virtual Machine Manager is a Graphical User Interface for creating and managing guest virtual machines.
The following procedure displays how to deploy Virtual HMC using Virtual Machine Manager:


Note: Virt-manager packages are required to use Virtual Manager.

Open Virtual Machine Manager

Launch Virtual Machine Manager from Applications menu and System Tools submenu or
by command line using virt-manager command (Root priveledges are needed).

Create a new Virtual Machine

Click the Create a new virtual machine button.
VirtManagerImage

New Virtual Machine Settings

Select Import existing disk image.
Select Virt Type xen(fullvirt) for full virtualization.
Note: Paravirtualize guest is not supported.
XENVirtCreate

Select Virtual HMC image

  • Click browse
    DiskPanelImage

  • Specify the Virtual HMC disk1.img path
    SelectDiskImage

  • Select Linux OS type and Red Hat Enterprise 6 or above
    OSSelectionImage

VM CPU and Memory Allocation

Select RAM memory and CPUs
MemoryPanelImage
Note:    Virtual HMC Minimum requirements are 8GB ram and 4 CPUs

VM Name and Network Allocation

Name the Virtual HMC Instance.
Select Host Host Device for Virtual HMC.
XenVerify


Note:   XEN will re-generate an auto-generated MAC when Virtual HMC is rebooted. Selecting the optional Set a fixed MAC address and assigning a MAC address will solve this issue.

Advance Configuration

  • Select Custimize configuration before install
    ConfigImage
  • Configuration Settings
    ConfigPanelImage