[opensuse] VMware Server 1 on openSUSE 11.1 (was: grub no longer being maintained? ...)
Carlos E. R. wrote:
At first this meant that I had to take a bit more care during kernel updates, no really big deal. Then kernel updates made impossible my usage of VMware Server 1 -- after that I stopped applying kernel updates at all...
You have to re-run the vmware setup program after a kernel update. This recompiles some modules, asks some silly questions, and then the server works as always.
It would be great if the problem would be as trivial as that. VMware Server 1.x kernel modules do not compile with kernel 2.6.27+ out of the box; one has to use some patches. (These are not the ubiquitous vmware-any-any patches which dropped support for Server 1.x.) Up to and including 2.6.27.7-9-pae this worked more or less decent; with the only problem that VMware time synchronization doesn't work in Windows clients and needs to be done extra. (Probably a problem with clocksources and/or hpet timer, it has not been important enough for a full investigation.) Starting with kernel package 2.6.27.19-9.1, VMware instances with Windows clients grab 100% of the host's CPU time when started. This is what was meant when I wrote "made my usage of VMware Server 1 impossible". The patched VMware kernel modules still compile, but between 2.6.27.7 and 2.6.27.19 several kernel config options have been changed by SUSE that are related to virtualization and idle handling, maybe it's one of those. OTOH, I also don't know if the problem would disappear if I switch to VMware Workstation 6.x. (VMware Server 2 is not relevant owing to its Web browser-based console interface and very heavy resource usage.) That's not easy to test either as one cannot install both Server 1.x and Workstation 6.x on the same system. It's a drag, and not even related to getting real work done... Joachim -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Joachim Schrod Email: jschrod@acm.org Roedermark, Germany -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Saturday, 2009-06-13 at 16:56 +0200, Joachim Schrod wrote:
Carlos E. R. wrote:
At first this meant that I had to take a bit more care during kernel updates, no really big deal. Then kernel updates made impossible my usage of VMware Server 1 -- after that I stopped applying kernel updates at all...
You have to re-run the vmware setup program after a kernel update. This recompiles some modules, asks some silly questions, and then the server works as always.
It would be great if the problem would be as trivial as that.
VMware Server 1.x kernel modules do not compile with kernel 2.6.27+ out of the box; one has to use some patches. (These are not the ubiquitous vmware-any-any patches which dropped support for Server 1.x.) Up to and including 2.6.27.7-9-pae this worked more or less decent; with the only problem that VMware time synchronization doesn't work in Windows clients and needs to be done extra. (Probably a problem with clocksources and/or hpet timer, it has not been important enough for a full investigation.)
Ah... I see. I'm using 2.6.25.20 myself, on OS 11.0 still. That will be another problem to add to the list of problems I have with upgrading to 11.1 :-( Just for the record, for Linux I use: tools.syncTime = "FALSE" host.useFastclock = "FALSE" in my "OpenSuSE 11.1.vmx" file. For windows (me) I have: tools.syncTime = "TRUE" but I don't remember adjusting this one. The config for Linux is intentional: I don't need a precise and fast clock there, and uses less cpu this way.
Starting with kernel package 2.6.27.19-9.1, VMware instances with Windows clients grab 100% of the host's CPU time when started. This is what was meant when I wrote "made my usage of VMware Server 1 impossible". The patched VMware kernel modules still compile, but between 2.6.27.7 and 2.6.27.19 several kernel config options have been changed by SUSE that are related to virtualization and idle handling, maybe it's one of those.
Well, in my case I see a high cpu usage on the host when I run vmware machines; not just now, but always. I actually limit it using the cpulimit utility.
OTOH, I also don't know if the problem would disappear if I switch to VMware Workstation 6.x. (VMware Server 2 is not relevant owing to its Web browser-based console interface and very heavy resource usage.) That's not easy to test either as one cannot install both Server 1.x and Workstation 6.x on the same system.
I think the same about server version 2, yes. Probably I should use the workstation version, but... dunno. Do you know the price, per chance? Just curious.
It's a drag, and not even related to getting real work done...
Well, if you can't run something, it can be more than a nuisance. It could block your job. - -- Cheers, Carlos E. R. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAkoz7q0ACgkQtTMYHG2NR9UAMQCfQde/MUkK8LZ3RlSJLczAEnst g4oAn3H/7Lo/u1WNtO3Zll+8R5dLmVtJ =9wh5 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (2)
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Carlos E. R. -
Joachim Schrod