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DISCLAIMER!

This document provides instuctions for configuring a standalone VCL environment running on a single computer which is able to provision VCL reservations using VMware. It is only provided to help you understand how the various components of VCL operate. This document DOES NOT describe how to configure a production VCL environment. The environment described in this document can however be used to learn, test, and help develop VCL.

Install VCL Components

Begin by completing the installation instructions for the VCL components:

Gather Required Files & Information

You will need the following:

VMware Server 1.x RPM installation file
VMWare Server 1.x serial number

The following instructions assume the following locations

Gather Required Files & Information

You will need the following:

VMware Server 1.x RPM installation file
VMWare Server 1.x serial number

The following instructions assume the following locations on the management node:

VMWare Server RPM: /install/VMware-server-1.0.8-126538.i386.rpm

These instructions assume you have root access and are using a bash shell:

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sudo bash

Configure the VCL Database for the VM Guest and Host

Create the following computer groups:
Go to Manage Groups -> Resource Groups -> Add
- all vm host computers
- all vm guest computers computers

Map all Map all computer groups to management node group
- Management Nodes -> Edit Management Node Mapping

Configure the management node to check in with the database
- Management Nodes -> Edit Management Node Information -> Add
  - Hostname: localhost
  - IP Address: 127.0.0.1
  - Owner: admin
  - State: available
  - Predictive Loading Module: Predictive Loading Level 0 Module
  - Check-in Interval: 5
  - Install Path: /install
  - End Node SSH Identitiy Key Files: /etc/vcl/vcl.key
  - SSH Port for this node: 22
  - Enable Image Library: no
Add VM host computer:
- Manage Computers -> Edit Computer Information -> Submit -> Add Add
  - Hosthame: localvmhost
  - IP Address: 192.168.0.1 (NOTE: there is currently a bug restricting the size of the field, so hopefully one octet has less than 3 digits.)
  - State: maintenance available
  - Owner: admin
  - Platform: i386
  - Note: do not attempt to add the computer in the maintenance state because of the following issue:
    https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/VCL-189
  - Owner: admin
  - Platform: i386
  - Schedule: VCL 24x7
  - RAM: 1024
  - No Processors: 1
  - Processor Speed: 2000
  - Network Speed: 100
  - Type: blade
  - Provisioning engine: xCAT 1.x
  - Computer Groups: all vm host computers
  - Note: the Type and Provisioning engine values don't matter for the localvmhost computer in this test environment because vcld isn't provisioning it
  - Computer Groups: all vm host computers

Add VM guest computer:

Manage Computers -> Edit Computer Edit Computer Information -> Submit -> Add Add
- Hosthame: vmguest-1
- IP Address: current public ip address used by Windows XP VM
- State: available
- Owner: admin
- Platform: i386
- Schedule: VCL 24x7
- RAM: 1024
- No Processors: 1
- Processor Speed: 2000
- Network Speed: 100
- Type: virtualmachine
- Provisioning engine: VMWare Server Provisioning
- Computer Groups: all vm guest computers

Note the fix for the IP address bug is recorded here: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/VCL-193
Configure the VM guest's MAC address in the computer table in the database (as there currently does not seem to be a way to do this through the UI):
- eth0:
Configure the VM guest's MAC address in the computer table:
- eth0: 00:50:56:1a:01:01
- eth1: 00:50:56:1a:01:02
Configure the VM host profile:
- Virtual Hosts -> VM Host Profiles tab -> VMware GSX standard -> configure Profile
  - Virtual Switch 0: VMnet1
  - Virtual Switch 1: VMnet0
Change state of localvmhost to vmhostinuse (edit the database directly, do not use the Virtual Hosts utility on the website)
Assign vm guests to localvmhost
Create node in priviledge tree
- Name: VM image access
- Add resource groups:
  - all vm guest computers
  - all vm guest images

Remove Existing Virtualization Components

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yum groupremove "Virtualization" -y

Make Sure The Host Computer Is Not Running A Xen Kernel

VMWare Server cannot be installed on a computer running a Xen kernel. To determine if a Xen kernel is being used:

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uname -a

The following output indicates a Xen kernel is being used:

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Linux blade1g6-4 2.6.18-92.el5xen #1 SMP Tue Jun 10 19:20:18 EDT 2008 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

If "xen" appears in the output of the previous command, replace the Xen Kernel with the following commands:

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yum update ecryptfs-utils -y yum install kernel kernel-devel -y yum remove xen kernel-xen -y

Check the grub.conf file to make sure it is not configured to boot using the Xen Kernel

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less /boot/grub/grub.conf

The grub.conf file should NOT look like this:

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# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
#          root (hd0,0)
#          kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/sda3
#          initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title CentOS (2.6.18-92.el5xen)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /xen.gz-2.6.18-92.el5
        module /vmlinuz-2.6.18-92.el5xen ro root=LABEL=/ pci=nommconf
        module /initrd-2.6.18-92.el5xen.img

The grub.conf file SHOULD look like this:

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# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
#          all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
#          root (hd0,0)
#          kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/sda3
#          initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/sda
default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title CentOS (2.6.18-128.1.14.el5)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18-128.1.14.el5 ro root=LABEL=/1 pci=nommconf
        initrd /initrd-2.6.18-128.1.14.el5.img

After removing the Xen kernel, reboot the computer:

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reboot

Install VMware Server

Download the latest VMware Server 1.x RPM from http://www.vmware.com
(Note: these instructions assume you saved the RPM into /install)

Install the VMware Server RPM:

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rpm -ivh /install/VMware-server-1.0.8-126538.i386.rpm

Configure VMware Server:

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vmware-config.pl

Note: if you receive an error message you may need to install or update some libraries and then run vmware-config.pl again:

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yum install glibc-devel -y yum install glibc -y yum install libXtst-devel -y

VMware networking should be configured as follows after answering the questions asked by vmware-config.pl

...

Press ENTER to view the license agreement, scroll to the bottom, type yes and press ENTER
Wiki MarkupIn which directory do you want to install the mime type icons? \
[/usr/share/icons\] *ENTER*unmigrated-wiki-markup
What directory contains your desktop menu entry files?
These files have a .desktop file extension. \ [/usr/share/applications\] *ENTER*unmigrated-wiki-markup
In which directory do you want to install the application's icon? \
[/usr/share/pixmaps\] *ENTER*
Wiki MarkupNone of the pre-built vmmon modules for VMware Server is suitable for your
running kernel.  Do you want this program to try to build the vmmon module for
your system (you need to have a C compiler installed on your system)? \ [yes\] *ENTER*
Wiki MarkupWhat is the location of the directory of C header files that match your running
kernel? \ [/lib/modules/2.6.18-128.1.14.el5/build/include\] *ENTER*unmigrated-wiki-markup
Do you want networking for your virtual machines? (yes/no/help) \ [yes\] *ENTER*
Wiki MarkupYour computer has multiple ethernet network interfaces available: eth0, eth1,
virbr0. Which one do you want to bridge to vmnet0? \ [eth0\] *eth1*unmigrated-wiki-markup
Do you wish to configure another bridged network? (yes/no) \ [no\] *ENTER*unmigrated-wiki-markup
Do you want to be able to use NAT networking in your virtual machines? (yes/no) \
[yes\] *no*unmigrated-wiki-markup
Do you want to be able to use host-only networking in your virtual machines? \
[no\] *yes*
Wiki MarkupDo you want this program to probe for an unused private subnet? (yes/no/help) \
[yes\] *no* no
What will be the IP address of your host on the private
network? 192.168.0.1
What will be the netmask of your private network? 255.255.0.0
DHCP information is displayed, press ENTER
Wiki MarkupDo you wish to configure another host-only network? (yes/no) \ [no\] *ENTER*unmigrated-wiki-markup
The default port : 902 is not free. We have selected a suitable alternative
port for VMware Server use. You may override this value now.
Remember to use this port when connecting to this server.
Please specify a port for remote console connections to use \ [904\] *ENTER*
Wiki MarkupIn which directory do you want to keep your virtual machine files? \
[/var/lib/vmware/Virtual Machines\] *ENTER*
Wiki MarkupThe path "/var/lib/vmware/Virtual Machines" does not exist currently. This
program is going to create it, including needed parent directories. Is this
what you want? \ [yes\] *ENTER*
Please enter your 20-character serial number
Type XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX or 'Enter' to cancel: enter the serial number

Verify the host-only network was configured correctly:

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/sbin/ifconfig

You should see a vmnet1 interface using IP address 192.168.0.1:

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vmnet1    Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:50:56:C0:00:01
          inet addr:192.168.0.1 Bcast:192.168.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::250:56ff:fec0:1/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

Restart the vmware service (/sbin/service vmware restart), you should see the following:

unmigrated-wiki-markup

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Starting VMware services:    Virtual machine monitor                                  \[ OK \]    Virtual ethernet                                         \[ OK \]    Bridged networking on /dev/vmnet0                        \[ OK \]    Host-only networking on /dev/vmnet1 (background) \[ OK \]    Starting VMware virtual machines...                     \[ OK \
   Virtual machine monitor                                  [ OK ]
   Virtual ethernet                                         [ OK ]
   Bridged networking on /dev/vmnet0                        [ OK ]
   Host-only networking on /dev/vmnet1 (background) [ OK ]
   Starting VMware virtual machines...                     [ OK ]

Configure /etc/hosts

Modify the /etc/hosts file to include entries for the VM host and guest computers:

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vi /etc/hosts

Add the entries in bold:

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127.0.0.1 localhost 192.168.0.1 localvmhost 192.168.1.1 vmguest-1

Configure the sshd Service to Listen on the Virtual Private Network

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vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Add the following line to the end of the file:

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ListenAddress 192.168.0.1

Restart the sshd service on the management node:

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/sbin/service sshd restart

Configure The VM Host To Be Able To SSH To Itself

Add the VM host's public key to its own authorized_keys file to allow it to SSH to itself without a password prompt:

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cat /etc/vcl/vcl.key.pub >> /root/.ssh/authorized_keys

The following command should execute without having to enter a password:

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ssh localvmhost 'ls /'

Configure vcld to use vcl.key

Configure the keys column in the managementnode table in the VCL database

...

Configure the vcld.conf file to use vcl.key:

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vi /etc/vcl/vcld.conf

Modify all of the IDENTITY lines to specify the vcl.key file:

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IDENTITY_blade_linux=/etc/vcl/vcl.key IDENTITY_solaris_lab=/etc/vcl/vcl.key IDENTITY_linux_lab=/etc/vcl/vcl.key IDENTITY_blade_win=/etc/vcl/vcl.key

Configure The DHCP Service

Save a copy of the original dhcpd.conf file:

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mv /etc/dhcpd.conf /etc/dhcpd.conf.orig

Configure the dhcpd.conf file:

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vi /etc/dhcpd.conf

The dhcpd.conf file should contain the following:

No Format

ddns-update-style none;
 shared-network vmnet1 {
         subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.0.0 {
                 ignore unknown-clients;
                 option routers 192.168.0.1;
                 host vmguest-1 {
                         option host-name "vmguest-1";
                         hardware ethernet 00:50:56:1a:01:01;
                         fixed-address 192.168.1.1;
                         filename "/tftpboot/pxelinux.0";
                         option dhcp-server-identifier 192.168.0.1;
                         next-server 192.168.0.1;
                 }
          }
}

The DHCP daemon should only listen on the virtual private network (vmnet1) to avoid conflicts with other production VCL networks. Configure the dhcpd service startup script to only listen on the vmnet1 interface:

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vi /etc/init.d/dhcpd

Add vmnet1 the to the daemon $dhcpd line as shown:

No Format

start() {
    [ -x $dhcpd ] || return 5
    [ -f $conf ] || return 6

    pidofproc $prog >/dev/null 2>&1
    RETVAL=$?
    [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ] && return $RETVAL

    echo -n $"Starting $prog: "
    daemon $dhcpd vmnet1 $DHCPDARGS 2>/dev/null
    RETVAL=$?
    echo
    [ $RETVAL = 0 ] && touch $lockfile
    return $RETVAL
}

Configure the dhcpd service to automatically start at runlevels 3-5:

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/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 dhcpd on

Start the dhcpd service:

...

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Key

DISCLAIMER!

Install VCL Components

Gather Required Files & Information

Gather Required Files & Information

Configure the VCL Database for the VM Guest and Host

Remove Existing Virtualization Components

Make Sure The Host Computer Is Not Running A Xen Kernel

Install VMware Server

Configure /etc/hosts

Configure the sshd Service to Listen on the Virtual Private Network

Configure The VM Host To Be Able To SSH To Itself

Configure vcld to use vcl.key

Configure The DHCP Service