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Gen installation

Contents

OLD PAGE : RETIRED PAGE : Installation Instructions

Setting up the ConVirt environment involves:

Installing ConVirt software on at least one computer. Preparing each Managed Server to be managed by ConVirt. If ConVirt is only used to manage virtual machines on the local computer, you can skip this step. Starting ConVirt and discovering the managed servers you have prepared.

To make the installation process as easy as possible, Convirture hosts a repository of ConVirt packages that include distribution-specific dependencies.

Before you begin

You should take the following steps to prepare for installing and using ConVirt:

  1. Read the Introduction chapter from Getting Started guide. (TODO : make it a link)
  2. Identify the type of configuration scenario you want to support:
    • Basic configuration in which the Xen or KVM virtualization platform is on the local computer where ConVirt is installed.
    • Advanced configuration in which one ConVirt Workstation manages virtual machines running on one or more remote servers.
  3. Check whether the host computer where you plan to install ConVirt is a certified Linux platform. ConVirt can be installed and run on most Linux platforms, but is only tested and certified on a subset of the Linux platforms available.
  4. If you plan to managing virtual machines on the local ConVirt Workstation, you should also verify that computers includes a supported version of Xen hypervisor (Xen) or a Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM).
  5. Verify the ConVirt Workstation has X server installed to enable it to display the ConVirt console.
  6. Verify the ConVirt Workstation can connect to its remote managed servers using SSH.
  7. Check that any remote computer where you plan to manage virtual machines includes a supported version of Xen hypervisor (Xen) or the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM).

ConVirt Installation

To set up ConVirt, you need get the appropriate repository for your operating environment distribution, then use a native package manager like yum or apt-get to check for dependencies and install the package. For specific instructions for your distribution, see one of the following sections:

  • CentOS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x
  • SUSE Enterprise Linux Server (SLES 10.x)
  • Debian 5.0
  • Ubuntu 8.10
  • Other Linux distributions (and tarball)

CentOS/Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x

To install on CentOS or Red Hat Linux 5.x:

  • Log on or switch to the root user.
  • Change to the yum.repos.d directory.
  • Get the ConVirt repository definition from Convirture.
  • Run the install command.
  • Start ConVirt.

For example: 

  cd /etc/yum.repos.d
  wget --no-cache http://www.convirture.com/repos/definitions/rhel/5.x/convirt.repo
  yum install convirt
  convirt

SUSE Enterprise Linux Server (SLES 10.x)

To install on SUSE Enterprise Linux Server 10.x:

  • Log on or switch to the root user.
  • Get the ConVirt repository definition from Convirture.
  • Run the install command.
  • Start ConVirt.

For example: 

  zypper sa http://www.convirture.com/repos/convirt/SLES/10.x convirt
  zypper sa http://www.convirture.com/repos/deps/SLES/10.x convirt-dep
  zypper install convirt
  convirt

Debian 5.0

To install on Debian Linux 5.0:

  • Log on or switch to the root user.
  • Change to the /tmp directory.
  • Get the packaging key for the ConVirt repository from Convirture.
  • Install the key.
  • Change to the /etc/source.list.d directory.
  • Get the repository for ConVirt from Convirture.
  • Run the install commands.
  • Start ConVirt.

For example : 

  cd /tmp
  wget --no-cache http://www.convirture.com/repos/convirture_packaging_pub_key
  apt-key add convirture_packaging_pub_key
  cd /etc/apt/sources.list.d
  wget --no-cache http://www.convirture.com/repos/definitions/debian/5.x/debian_5x_convirt.list
  apt-get update
  apt-get install convirt
  convirt

Ubuntu 8.10

To install on Ubuntu 8.10:

  • Log on or switch to the root user.
  • Change to the /tmp directory.
  • Get the packaging key for the ConVirt repository from Convirture.
  • Install the key.
  • Change to the /etc/source.list.d directory.
  • Get the repository for ConVirt from Convirture.
  • Run the install commands.
  • Start ConVirt.

For example: 

  cd /tmp
  wget --no-cache http://www.convirture.com/repos/convirture_packaging_pub_key
  apt-key add convirture_packaging_pub_key
  cd /etc/apt/sources.list.d
  wget --no-cache http://www.convirture.com/repos/definitions/ubuntu/8.x/ubuntu_8x_convirt.list
  apt-get update
  apt-get install convirt
  convirt

Other Linux distributions and tarball

For other Linux distributions and versions, you can do the following:

1 Check your Linux distribution for required packages. For example, ConVirt requires the paramiko library to communicate with the managed server, and the paramiko library itself depends on the pycrypto package. Depending on your distribution, you should check for the following dependencies:

  • SUSE/SLES xen, xen-tools, xen-libs, python, xml, python-gtk, vte, socat, python-paramiko, python-crypto
  • Fedora/RHEL/CentOS xen, pygtk2, vte, socat, python-paramiko, python-crypto, vnc
  • Ubuntu python-paramiko, ssh, python-xen-3.3, libxen3, socat
  • Debian ssh, python-paramiko, xen-utils, socat

Note If you are only managing the KVM virtualization platform, you can ignore all *xen* dependencies.

In most cases, the required packages should be available in the distribution or can be installed using the native package manager, such as yum, apt-get, zypper, or yast2.

If you are missing any required packages and cannot install them using the native package manager, you can search for appropriate .rpm or .deb packages for your distribution and 32-bit or 64-bit architecture.

For more information about dependencies and installing and pycrypto on Fedora, Cent OS, and Red Hat, see: http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3?stat=3&search=python-paramiko

To install paramiko and pycrypto dependencies on Debian or Ubuntu, try the following command: 

 apt-get python-paramiko

You may also want to check out the following resources for dependencies:

Packages built on OpenSuse Build Service : [Virtualization Repository]

main paramiko site: http://www.paramiko.com

2 If you are planning to create KVM virtual machines on the ConVirt Workstation, you also need to install socat. The socat utility is included in most distributions and can be installed using yum or apt-get. If socat is not already available in your distribution, see: http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3?stat=3&search=socat

3 Install VNC Viewer for your distribution.

4 Download the convirt software package from the ConVirt Web site. For example, go to: 

 http://www.convirture.com/downloads

5 Log on or switch to the root user.

6 Run the appropriate command to install the package. For the .rpm file, run: 

 rpm -Uvh convirt-1.0-1.fedora.noarch.rpm

For the .deb file, run: 

 dpkg -i convirt-1.0_1_all.deb

For the compressed tarball file, run: 

 tar -xzf convirt-1.0.tar.gz

7 Check and patch paramiko, if required. For example, run the following command to check the version of paramiko installed: 

 python -c -import paramiko; print paramiko.__version__-

If the version returned is < 1.7.2, then you need to patch paramiko using following commands. For the .rpm or .deb package, run: 

 cd /usr/share/convirt/install/common/patches
 ./patch_paramiko

For tarball, run: 

 cd <convirt_install_dir>/install/common/patches
 ./patch_paramiko

8 You can now start ConVirt as the root user. For example: 

 convirt

Preparing Managed Servers

Before you can manage a remote server, you need to perform the following steps:

  • Install and configure Xen (3.0.4 or higher) or KVM (kvm-70 or higher).
  • Verify that you can remotely log on to the managed server

from the ConVirt Workstation using ssh.

  • Download the convirture-tools tar ball from: 
 http://www.convirture.com/downloads/convirture-tools/1.0/
  • Extract the contents of the archive into a directory. For

example: 

 tar -xzf convirture-tools-1.0.tar.gz
  • Change to the <install_dir>/convirture-tools/install/managed_server/scripts directory, then use the convirt-tool command to check or configure the managed server.

For example: 

  cd ./convirture-tools/install/managed_server/scripts
  To view the usage message, run:
  ./convirt-tool -h
  To validate the platform without making any changes, run:
  ./convirt-tool --detect_only setup
  To configure the server, run:
  ./convirt-tool setup
For the Xen platform, running this command configures the Xend Server to listen on port 8006 and opens port 8002 for migration. The command also detects the default bridge and writes a summary of its operations to the /var/cache/convirt/server_info file.
For the KVM platform, the command detects the bridge and writes a summary of its operations to the /var/cache/convirt/server_info file. If you are using a firewall with KVM, you should verify that TCP port 8002 is open to allow migration.

Distribution Specific Details/Tips


For ConVirt to work, you need KVM-70 or higher installed on the managed server. Check your distribution to see if it already has KVM-70 or higher available as an rpm or deb package in the repository. Check out the Virtualization KVM link. Otherwise, download it from the KVM downloads page.

  • [If you have successfuly set up KVM for your distribution, or know of a good step by step guide for another distribution, please add the content/pointer here.]
 
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