Sujeet APPS DBA: Installing Oracle VM Server

Pre installation Tasks and Requirements

Before you start the Oracle VM Server installation, make sure your computer meets the minimum hardware and software requirements.

Hardware Requirements

This release of Oracle VM Server supports x86_64 host hardware only. Oracle VM Server requires a 64-bit processor.
For hardware virtualized (unmodified) guest operating systems (for example, Microsoft Windows), a CPU with hardware virtualization support is required. This feature may also need to be enabled in the BIOS. Please refer to your processor documentation for information on whether your processor supports hardware virtualization and how to enable it in the BIOS.
A dual core CPU or multiple CPUs are recommended to run multiple guests.
The minimum memory requirement is 1GB RAM, although it is recommended you have a computer with at least 2GB RAM. Guest memory requirements vary for each guest operating system. You should perform your own memory sizing for guest operating systems.

Software Requirements

There are no prerequisite software requirements. Oracle VM Server includes a small Linux-based management operating system. All previous operating systems and data are lost during the installation of Oracle VM Server.
Migration from any operating system, or previous virtualization environment, is not supported in this release.

Network Requirements

It is recommended that you install Oracle VM Server on a machine with a static IP address. If your machines use DHCP, you should configure your DHCP server to assign static DHCP addresses. This makes sure your host always receives the same IP address. The behavior of the Oracle VM Server host is undefined if used in an environment where your IP address may change due to DHCP lease expiry.
If you use DHCP, you may also encounter problems with the default gateway. Linux systems set the default gateway using the route provided by the DHCP server, regardless of the setting in the computer running Oracle VM Server. This may not be the default route you want. If you use DHCP, you should configure the DHCP server to not provide the default gateway for the machines running Oracle VM Server.
Technically, it is possible to run Oracle VM Server with a single network interface per physical server. During the installation of the Oracle VM Servers the management interface is configured, and during discovery by Oracle VM Manager the server management interfaces are included in the default management network. Since the management network is capable of providing all network functions in Oracle VM, including storage and virtual machine traffic, there is no functional need for additional networks. Even if you wish to separate different types of network traffic, a single interface is enough: the management network can be run on a VLAN and additional network connections can be made via VLAN interfaces configured on top of the single physical network interface.
The main reasons to opt for multiple physical network interfaces are:

Security. You may wish to keep internal and inter-server traffic separated from networks with a route to the internet. Or you may need to guarantee that network traffic from different virtual environments, or different types of network traffic, are physically separated.
Redundancy. You do not want your environment to stop working if one network interface fails. A good way to avoid this is to aggregate two interfaces in a bond interface. A bond port, as it is called in Oracle VM, can work in active-backup mode, but also increases performance when used as an aggregation of two active links with twice the bandwidth and load balancing.
Performance. If you have multiple physical network interfaces, link aggregation is a good way to add bandwidth for a given network function. In addition, or as an alternative, you can create multiple physical networks and use them for dedicated functions; for example a separate storage network or a network for virtual machine traffic only.

Note

Oracle VM Ethernet network functionality can be applied to standard 10/100/1000Mbit Ethernet interfaces as well as 10Gbit Ethernet interfaces.

Oracle VM Server Memory Settings

Oracle recommends you to leave the dom0 memory to the value by default. It is set by default as 502 + 0.0205 * physical-memory (in MB) during the installation.

Getting the Software

If you do not already have the Oracle VM Server software, download the Oracle VM Server ISO file from the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud:
http://edelivery.oracle.com/oraclevm
Burn the Oracle VM ISO file to a bootable CD. To install Oracle VM Server from a CD, see Section 2.2, “Installing Oracle VM Server From a CD”.

To install Oracle VM Server from a CD:

Make sure that the server BIOS is set to boot from CD.
Insert the Oracle VM Server CD into your CD drive.
Boot the server with the Oracle VM Server CD.
The Oracle VM Server screen is displayed.

Press Enter to begin the installation. If you do not press a key for one minute, the installer automatically starts. The installer is only available in text mode.
The CD Found screen is displayed.

If you want to make sure the CD has been created correctly you can have the installer test it for errors. To test the CD, select OK and press Enter. The CD is tested and any errors are reported.
To skip media testing and continue with the install, select Skip and press Enter.
The Keyboard Selection screen is displayed.

Select the keyboard layout type (for example, us for U.S. English) from the list of available options. The keyboard you select becomes the default keyboard for the operating system.
Select OK and press Enter.
The Oracle VM Server 3.x End User License Agreement screen is displayed.

Read the License Agreement text and click Accept to accept the terms of the agreement and continue the installation.
If an existing Oracle VM Server installation is found on the computer, the System to Upgrade screen is displayed.

Select Reinstall System to overwrite the existing installation.
Select Oracle VM Server 3.x (disk) to upgrade the existing installation. Upgrading an Oracle VM Server from Release 2.x is not supported; you must perform a fresh install.
Select OK and press Enter.
The Partitioning Type screen is displayed.

Select whether you want to:
- Remove all partitions and create a new default partition layout
- Remove all Linux partitions and create a new default partition layout
- Use the free space on selected drives to create a new default partition layout
- Create a minimal partition layout for installation to a USB drive
- Create a custom partition layout
Oracle recommends you use a default partition layout.

Note
As the Oracle VM Server installer can only be run in text mode, you cannot set up LVM (Logical Volume Manager). If you want to create an LVM configuration, press Alt + F2 to use the terminal and run the lvm command. To return to the Oracle VM Server installer, press Alt + F1.
Select which drive(s) you want to use for the installation.
Select OK and press Enter.
If you selected to remove a partition, a Warning screen is displayed to confirm that you want to remove the partition(s), including the data contained on any partitions.

Select Yes and press Enter.
The Review Partition Layout screen is displayed.

If you do not want to review the partition layout and accept the default partition layout, select No and press Enter.
If you want to review the partition layout, select Yes and press Enter.
The Partitioning screen is displayed.

Review the partition layout, and make any changes you want.
Select OK and press Enter to save any changes.
The Boot Loader Configuration screen is displayed.

Be sure to select the option to boot from a multipath device if you install Oracle VM Server on a disk subsystem that allows access through multiple physical paths.

Warning
If only a single path is available at the time of installation, you will need to correct the blacklisting configuration afterwards: identify the SCSI device used to boot from (using mount or df), locate and remove its entry in the file /etc/blacklisted.wwids, then reboot the Oracle VM Server. This allows the server to use multipath SAN boot instead of a single SCSI disk.

If necessary, you can change the drive for the master boot record by clicking Change drive order and selecting a different drive.

Select a drive in the list and click the Move up and Move down buttons to change the order, making sure that the drive to locate the Master Boot Record is at the top.
Select Back and press Enter to return to the Boot Loader Configuration screen.
Select OK and press Enter.
The Oracle VM Management Interface screen is displayed.

Select the network interface to use for management of the computer.
Choose one of these options:
- Select OK to connect the interface to a regular network.
- Select Add to VLAN to connect the interface to a VLAN-type network.
Press Enter.
For non-VLAN installation, proceed to the next step.
If you selected Add to VLAN, the Oracle VM Management VLAN screen is displayed.

If your Oracle VM Management network is on a VLAN, enter the applicable VLAN tag. Note that 0 is reserved and that 1 corresponds with "untagged".
Select OK and press Enter.
The Network Interface Configuration screen is displayed.

If your computer uses a static IP address, enter the IP address and prefix (netmask) for your computer.
If your computer uses DHCP to assign its IP address, select Dynamic IP configuration (DHCP).
Select OK and press Enter.
The Miscellaneous Network Settings screen is displayed.

Enter the Gateway, Primary DNS and optional Secondary DNS in the respective fields.
Select OK and press Enter.
The Hostname Configuration screen is displayed.

If your machine has its own hostname, select manually and enter the hostname or IP address. You should use a fully qualified hostname, for example, myserver.example.com.
If your machine uses DHCP to assign its hostname, select automatically via DHCP. See
Select OK and press Enter.
The Time Zone Selection screen is displayed.

If your operating system uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), select System clock uses UTC.
Select your time zone by selecting the city closest to your computer's physical location.
Select OK and press Enter.
The Oracle VM Agent password screen is displayed.

Enter a password to be used for the Oracle VM Agent in the Password field. This password is used by Oracle VM Manager to manage and monitor the Oracle VM Server, and the guests created and running within it. This is the password you use when discovering Oracle VM Servers in Oracle VM Manager.
Re-enter the password in the Password (confirm) field.
The password characters are not echoed to the screen.
Select OK and press Enter. If the two passwords do not match, the installer prompts you to enter them again.

Note
If you need to change this password, use the applicable option in the Oracle VM Manager user interface. This will change the Oracle VM Agent password for all Oracle VM Servers in the server pool. See Changing Oracle VM Agent Passwords on Oracle VM Servers in the Oracle VM User's Guide for more information.
The Root Password screen is displayed.

Enter a password for the root user in the Password field. The root password must be at least six characters long.
Re-enter the password in the Password (confirm) field.
The password characters are not echoed to the screen.
Select OK and press Enter. If the two passwords do not match, the installer prompts you to enter them again.
The Installation to begin screen is displayed.

Select OK and press Enter. The installer installs and configures Oracle VM Server. You can follow the progress of the package installation on-screen.
When all files are installed and configuration is complete, the Complete screen is displayed.

Remove the Oracle VM CD.
Select Reboot and press Enter. The computer reboots.
After reboot, the Oracle VM Server status console is displayed.

The status console displays useful information about the Oracle VM Server's hardware and configuration as well as its cluster and server pool membership. Right after installation there is very little information available, but this screen is populated with more information when the Oracle VM Server is under the control of Oracle VM Manager.
To log on to the Oracle VM, press Alt+F2 to display the login console.

You can log into Oracle VM as root, with the password you set during the install. To switch back to the status console, press Alt+F1.