openstack-manuals/doc/install-guide/section_nova-kvm.xml
Shaun McCance 3f10d9a1f7 Added info about enabling VT in BIOS
There are a few different key words to look for in BIOS options.
Also, even if the grep command outputs, you might still have to
enable something in BIOS.

Change-Id: I3a3b0817926d77347e0cde8f2f421ee9d80f85f2
2013-10-12 22:36:53 -04:00

83 lines
4.2 KiB
XML

<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"
xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
version="5.0"
xml:id="nova-kvm">
<title>Enabling KVM on the Compute Node</title>
<para>
The OpenStack Compute Service requires hardware virtualization support
and certain kernel modules. Follow this procedure to determine whether
your system has hardware virtualization support and the correct kernel
modules available. In many cases, this is installed for you by your
distribution and you do not need to perform any additional action.
</para>
<para>
All steps listed must be performed while logged into the system as the
<systemitem>root</systemitem> user.
</para>
<procedure>
<step>
<para>
Use the <command>grep</command> command to check for the
presence of the <literal>svm</literal> or <literal>vmx</literal>
CPU extensions by inspecting the <filename>/proc/cpuinfo</filename>
file generated by the kernel:
</para>
<screen><prompt>#</prompt> <userinput><command>grep -E 'svm|vmx' /proc/cpuinfo</command></userinput></screen>
<para>
If any output is shown after running this command then the CPU
is hardware virtualization capable. Even if output is shown,
you may still need to enable virtualization in the system BIOS
for full support.
</para>
<para>
If output is <emphasis>not</emphasis> shown then consult your
system documentation to ensure that your CPU and motherboard
support hardware virtualization. Verify that any relevant
hardware virtualization options are enabled in the system BIOS.
</para>
<para>
Each manufacturer's BIOS is different. If you need to enable
virtualization in the BIOS, look for an option containing the
words "virtualization", "VT", "VMX", or "SVM".
</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>
Use the <command>lsmod</command> command to list the loaded
kernel modules and verify that the <literal>kvm</literal>
modules are loaded:
</para>
<screen><prompt>#</prompt> <userinput><command>lsmod | grep kvm</command></userinput></screen>
<para>
If the output includes <systemitem>kvm_intel</systemitem> or
<systemitem>kvm_amd</systemitem> then the <systemitem>kvm</systemitem>
hardware virtualization modules are loaded and your kernel meets
the module requirements for the OpenStack Compute Service.
</para>
<para>If the output does not appear to have the kvm module loaded,
you should be able to load it with:</para>
<screen><prompt>#</prompt> <userinput><command>modprobe -a kvm</command></userinput></screen>
<para>then for your particular CPU, choose either intel:
<screen><prompt>#</prompt> <userinput><command>modprobe -a kvm-intel</command></userinput></screen>
or amd:</para>
<screen><prompt>#</prompt> <userinput><command>modprobe -a kvm-amd</command></userinput></screen>
<para>However, as kvm installation may change the groups your user is
a member of, you may need to re-login for changes to take effect.
</para>
</step>
</procedure>
<para>
This completes the required checks to ensure hardware virtualization
support is available and enabled, and that you have the correct kernel
modules loaded.
</para>
<para>
If the checks indicated that either hardware virtualization support or
the required kernel modules are not available or not enabled then you
must take action to either find a system that does have the required
hardware virtualization support and modules, or enable it on the system
that failed the checks.
</para>
</section>