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dswd edited this page Jun 21, 2011 · 4 revisions

KVM Device

KVM Devices use the KVM virtualization technology with hardware emulated by qemu.

Features

Most things that are possible on physical computers is also possible on KVM. Most operating systems run on KVM. Known limitations include:

  • Virtualization solutions might not work. Since the virtual machine itself is virtualized it does not expose the AMD-V/VT-x processor features to the guest operating system.
  • The hardware clock runs on GMT time zone. This will be a problem with Microsoft operating systems since they assume the hardware clock to be local time.
  • Timer precision will not be as high as on real hardware since the virtual machine's process is scheduled by the host system.

Virtual Hardware

The following hardware is emulated by qemu:

  • One processor (SMP, 1 socket, 1 core)
  • 512 MB Ram
  • One hard-disk connected to the first IDE as master
  • Intel motherboard
  • Cirrus Logic GD5446 Video card
  • Intel E1000 network cards
  • PS/2 mouse and keyboard (german layout)
  • Additionally a USB tablet input device (for absolute mouse positioning)

Console

The console access is realized as vnc connection to the graphics output. The console will show exactly the output of the graphics card of the virtual machine. Keyboard or mouse events will be sent to the server via its emulated keyboad and mouse devices. This has several implications:

  • The console is not text-based even if a text-based console is displayed.
  • Multiple console windows will show the same console.
  • The meaning of pressed keys depends on the keyboard layout configured for the emulated virtual keyboard in the virtual machine, not on the real keyboard of the user.
  • Closing the console is the same as disconnecting the monitor cable from a computer (emulated keyboard and mouse are not disconnected)

Images

The hard-disk images are stored in the qcow2 format. When they are downloaded they can be run in Qemu. Disk images in the qcow2 format can be uploaded and run. For operating systems that have problems with hardware changes qemu should be configured to emulate the same hardware as in the testbed.

kvm -cpu kvm64 -usbdevice tablet -smp sockets=1,cores=1 -nodefaults -vga cirrus -tdf -k de -enable-kvm  -net nic,model=e1000 ...

This way even Windows operating systems can be run:

(large image)

Tempates

The templates for KVM devices are located at https://fileserver.german-lab.de/files/glabnetman/templates/kvm

The following rules apply for KVM templates:

  • Templates must not run any services on startup to minimize the security threat.
  • Templates must allow simple upgrades using standard methods
  • Templates should configure interfaces automatically using dhcpd
  • Uninstall unneeded packages and disable unneeded services

see KvmTemplateInstructions for detailed instructions

debian-5.0_glab_x86

  • Template basis: debian 5 "lenny" x86
  • Last update: 2010-10-29
  • Modifications:
    • Installed ssh, iperf, tcpdump, screen
    • Disabled sshd startup
    • Set time zone to Europe/Berlin
    • Set locale to en_US.UTF-8
  • Passwords:
    • root:glab-root
    • user:glab-user
  • Remarks:
    • SSH-Key will be generated on first start
    • Passwords should be changed immediately

debian-5.0_glab_x86_64

  • Template basis: debian 5 "lenny" x86_64
  • Last update: 2010-10-29
  • Modifications:
    • Installed ssh, iperf, tcpdump, screen
    • Disabled sshd startup
    • Set time zone to Europe/Berlin
    • Set locale to en_US.UTF-8
  • Passwords:
    • root:glab-root
    • user:glab-user
  • Remarks:
    • SSH-Key will be generated on first start
    • Passwords should be changed immediately

debian-6.0_glab_x86

  • Template basis: debian 6 "squeeze" x86
  • Last update: 2010-10-29
  • Modifications:
    • Installed ssh, iperf, tcpdump, screen
    • Disabled sshd startup
    • Set time zone to Europe/Berlin
    • Set locale to en_US.UTF-8
  • Passwords:
    • root:glab-root
    • user:glab-user
  • Remarks:
    • SSH-Key must be generated before sshd start
    • Passwords should be changed immediately

debian-6.0_glab_x86_64

  • Template basis: debian 6 "squeeze" x86_64
  • Last update: 2010-10-29
  • Modifications:
    • Installed ssh, iperf, tcpdump, screen
    • Disabled sshd startup
    • Set time zone to Europe/Berlin
    • Set locale to en_US.UTF-8
  • Passwords:
    • root:glab-root
    • user:glab-user
  • Remarks:
    • SSH-Key must be generated before sshd start
    • Passwords should be changed immediately

ubuntu-10.10_glab_x86

  • Template basis: ubuntu 10.10 "maverick" x86
  • Last update: 2010-10-29
  • Modifications:
    • Installed ssh, iperf, tcpdump, screen
    • Disabled sshd startup
    • Set time zone to Europe/Berlin
    • Set locale to en_US.UTF-8
  • Passwords:
    • root does not have a password (set with sudo passwd)
    • user:glab-user
  • Remarks:
    • SSH-Key must be generated before sshd start
    • Passwords should be changed immediately

freebsd-8.1_glab_x86

  • Template basis: freebsd 8.1 x86
  • Last update: 2010-10-29
  • Modifications:
  • Passwords:
    • root:glab-root
    • user:glab-user
  • Remarks:
    • Passwords should be changed immediately
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