can I enable paravirtualization for ubuntu guest in ESX 3.0.2?

[donlee]

reading the guest OS guide, it suggests that I can enable paravirtulization for my guest OS but never actually gives instructions on how to do it or even points to a location where I can find the proceedure. Is this enabled by default?

thanks

[Texiwill]

Hello,

Paravirtualization happens at the driver level. You should install Vmware-tools to get the paravirtualized drivers (vmxnet, vmon, balloon driver, etc.)

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky, author of the forthcoming 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', publishing January 2008, (c) 2008 Pearson Education. Available on Rough Cuts at http://safari.informit.com/9780132302074

[donlee]

Actually, the paravirtualization I am talking about goes much deeper than simple device drivers found in vmware tools. The paravirtualization I am talking about is at the kernel level where the Guest OS is not at all fooled that it is running on hardware and is actually "vm aware". There are many articles about this and I know that there is a flavor of ubuntu that leverages this technology as well as others. I guess the settings in VMware Workstation products actually has an easy to find paravirt-ops setting for the Guest OS, but in ESX it appears the setting is nonexistant or a little harder to find. In the guest OS install guide they make mention of ubuntu 7.0.4 in particular having this capability but many other versions of linux and windows do not.

thanks

[jprior]

I'd also be interesting to know if this is an option that needs enabling. I would like to test some applications running under guest ubuntu 7.10 OS on ESX 3.0.2

[wtreutz]

If you look on the VMware VI "features side" http://www.vmware.com/products/vi/features.html you find same funktions with a tab "new".

Looks like upcoming features with the next Version of VI-3, when it will be released ;o))))

regards

Werner

[wila]

Isn't that simply a matter of using apt-get to install the vm aware kernel?

[wtreutz · Accepted solution]

it is an option, how the vmm works -- in BT Mode or in paravirtualization

Understanding Full Virtualization, Paravirtualization, and Hardware Assist

[donlee]

Ok, so it sounds like this is still a VMware Workstation/VMware Player option but us ESX users will continue to wait.

thanks for the article.