Linux Virtualization

[skjbalaji]

Hi Everyone,
For a testing purpose iin our environment we need to setup a Linux based virtual machines.
For that i come to know there is a option in RHEL using xen or kvm.
can anyone provide me the detailed step by step for setting up virtualization in rhel?
Also i have few doubts like, is redhat subscription needed for achieve this?
also there is a possible to do vmotion thing which is in vmware,can we do that with rhel virtualization without rhel subscription.

All suggestions are welcome.
TiA

[Crypt]

VMware also has a product that I use for virtualization called ESX, which is a paid version and ESXI is a free version that works really well. I have it set up on a machine at home that at the moment is running 4 OS's. The only thing about it that isn't the best is you need to build the machine to the requirements that the software needs...it is very specific.

[nplusplus]

I would suggest using CentOS (centos.org) or Scientific Linux (scientificlinux.org). Those projects aim to maintain binary compatibility with the well known upstream Linux vendor to which you referred by building distributions from the upstream vendor's source with the upstream vendor's branding and licensing-maintenance-specific packages removed. Otherwise, you will need to purchase a Redhat subscription to use Redhat with any reasonable degree of ease and maintenance.

The "HowTos" section at wiki.centos.org has good information on how to do anything with CentOS, including virtualization. So, I'll leave it at that for your step-by-step virt setup, with a couple of pointers. Make sure to install virt-manager, virt-install, and qemu. Then, briefly peruse the man pages for those packages. Virt-manager is about the easiest way to start out setting up a guest for KVM or Xen on RHEL-based linuxes. If you want easy flexibility with setting up your guest networks, use Xen.

Also, both Xen and KVM provide live migration. Although, I am not sure how well it holds up to VMotion as I have no experience with that. Regardless, I believe Xen and KVM require a hardware setup similar to VMotion, though probably cheaper.

Best,
nplusplus

[previso]

Sun Virtualbox. No special kernel, 3d acc., usb, network, sound, FREE. Download, install. Run, install guest OS, run guest OS. Close guest OS (save state). Reboots guest OS in 10 sec.

[silvagroup]

rhel virtual is kvm. You can set up kvm with fedora, I use ubuntu w/kvm. Install kvm from your program manager in ferdora. As already mentioned make sure virt-manager, virt-viewer and qemu are also installed. Then it's very simple to install your os's. For best vm performance you need enough ram to keep the host happy and enough to make your vm's happy, a cpu that supports hardware virtualization well here is a real good howto for ubuntu and should be fairly similar for fedora: howtoforge.com/virtualization-with-kvm-on-ubuntu-8.10
Have fun !!!

[skjbalaji]

Guys,
Thanks for the this much of response,
i will try with the things and post you all incase any problem or a mini howto

[druid001]

Sun VirtualBox is definitely worth trying. Easy install for me (intermediate noob in Ubuntu) and easy to use.

[nplusplus]

There are a couple of replies about VirtualBox. I just started using it, and the major things that stand out about it for me are as follows.

1) Pro: It is as easy to setup as VMWare Server (You know, the other free VMWare product). Xen and KVM are not quite as straight-forward.
2) Pro: It has "VMotion-like" capabilities, which is great for a product that is free and so easy to use.
3) Con: The rpm installer (and I believe the deb) does not include any SysV init scripts, so you have to roll your own start up and shutdown scripts.
4) Con: Running it "headless" is not as straight forward.
5) Con: It requires a VT-enabled processor to run 64-bit guests, whereas VMWare Server does not. Of course, Xen and KVM require the same.

In my opinion, it appears to be a better product for use by a single user on a workstation, possibly for development. For what you described, I think you will get more mileage out of KVM or Xen.

[skjbalaji]

Friends,There is a real quick clarification,
i plan to setup the virtualization with xen in the base of centos5.5.
My major goal is need to enable migrating a host from one to another.
The clarification i required is :
1.If i need to migrate from one to another host,is the hosts need to be clustered?
2.For achieve this is should require a storage ? like SAN or NAS otherwise can we configure that with any one existing partitions?

Expecting valuable guidance.