Deploy support and requirements in a KVM virtualization environment

Requirements

Before you deploy a virtual appliance, ensure that the following additional requirements are met:

• Your KVM virtual environment is configured as described in Linux Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) requirements and support.
• To deploy a virtual appliance multiple times in parallel or to deploy multiple virtual appliances in parallel, ensure that the default value of your KVM connection is more than 20 to prevent dropped connections. The number of connections to which you must increase the value depends upon the number of virtual appliances that are deployed simultaneously. To increase your connections, complete the following steps:
  1. In the /etc/libvirt/libvirtd.conf file, specify the values for the following parameters according to the number of virtual machines that are deployed simultaneously and parallelly:
     • max_clients
     • max_workers
     • max_requests
     • max_client_requests

     For example, to simultaneously deploy 100 virtual servers, specify the KVM connection values as max_client_requests = 100, max_clients = 200, max_requests = 200, and max_workers = 200.

  2. Run the service libvirtd restart command to restart the libvirtd daemon process after which the new parameter values are effective.
  3. In the /etc/security/limits.conf file, set the values for the following parameters to increase the ulmit value for open files:

     *soft nofile 64000
     *hard nofile 64000

     Note: The new parameter values are effective after you invoke the shell.
     Important: When you delete multiple virtual servers in parallel, ensure that the default value of your KVM connection is more than 20 to prevent dropped connections. The number of connections that you must increase the value to depends on the number of virtual servers that are simultaneously deleted. To increase your connections, modify the libvirtd.conf and limits.conf files as for deployment.

     For example, to simultaneously delete 100 virtual servers, use the KVM connection values of max_client_requests = 100, max_clients = 200, max_requests = 200, and max_workers = 200. Similarly, to simultaneously deploy 100 virtual servers and then to delete the 100 virtual servers, specify the KVM connection values of max_client_requests = 200, max_clients = 400, max_requests = 400, and max_workers = 400.

  4. Reboot or issue the following command set to restart the service so that the configuration changes can take place:
     • service tog-pegasus stop
     • service libvirtd stop
     • service cim-listener stop
     • service tier1slpinst stop
     • service slpd restart
     • service tier1slpinst start
     • service cim-listener start
     • service libvirtd start 2>/dev/null
     • service tog-pegasus start 2>/dev/null
• When deploying to an individual host:
  • The targeted host must be discovered and inventoried by IBM Flex System Manager VMControl.
  • The image repository that is managing the virtual appliance must have NFS access or SAN access to the shared storage on the host in order to deploy the virtual appliance into that storage. The storage mapping wizard panel in the GUI or the lscustomization CLI command displays the NFS or SAN storage pool options for virtual disk deployment. A default storage pool is selected for new disk deployment if at least one valid storage pool is found.
• When deploying to existing virtual server, the targeted server must contain virtual resources that can satisfy virtual deployment requests.
  • The memory and processor resources must meet minimum requirements (equal to or more).
  • The virtual server must have at least as many disks as defined in the virtual appliance. The disks are mapped based on disk order and the disks in the virtual server must be large enough to accommodate the size defined for the corresponding virtual appliance disk.
  • The storage type of the disks must match the storage type of the repository holding the virtual appliance disk images. For example, if you are deploying a SAN disk image, the virtual server disk image must also be in the SAN.
  • The network resources must match what is defined in the virtual appliance.
  • The image repository must have NFS or SAN access to the storage location where the virtual server disk resides. For more information, see Creating and discovering image repositories for KVM.
  • The current operating system of the existing virtual server must not be discovered in the management server before you deploy the virtual appliance. If the operating system is already discovered, you must remove it from the management server and then deploy the virtual appliance in the existing virtual server.
• When deploying to a server system pool, the pool must include one or more KVM hosts that can satisfy virtual deployment requests.
  Deploy to server system pools so that the pool can allocate which host in the pool receives the deployment based on resources. Also, deploy supports the following functions:

  • Choosing whether new virtual disks are created for the deployment or specify existing disks to use.
  • Mapping virtual appliance network interfaces to logical networks on the host.
  • Specifying product properties to configure the newly deployed server with during image activation.
• If you use VMControl Win Activation Engine (VMCWINAE) that is shipped with VMControl 2.4 for Windows virtual servers, after deploying a new virtual appliance on which Windows Sysprep is run, you must set a password on the server.

Restrictions

• KVM deployment supports network provisioning only if you have IBM Flex System Manager Network Control or if you define a network (bridge).
• When mapping a storage volume to a disk, if the virtual appliance is coming from a SAN repository, NFS volumes are not supported, and if the virtual appliance is coming from an NFS repository, SAN volumes are not supported.
• When assigning storage pools to create disks, if the virtual appliance is coming from a SAN repository, NFS pools are not supported, and if the virtual appliance is coming from an NFS repository, SAN pools are not supported.
• Using the IBM Flex System Manager Web interface, you cannot change virtual appliance properties during deployment. For example, you cannot change the number of processors to 3 if the virtual appliance specifies two processors or memory allocations for the resulting server. You can, however, override those properties through the Command-line interface or REST APIs.