This records my configuration of a host used for Linux CN development. The host is a relatively current Intel box with 64 GiB of RAM. It is running Fedora 30.
I had initially gone down the route of using QEMU/KVM and this worked pretty well except:
- SmartOS CNs were unable to run bhyve instances. This is problematic for testing unrelated to the Linux CN project.
- debian-live CNs were unable to use MACVLAN in their nspawn configuration to bridge to my office network. Watching traffic generated by the container using MACVLAN, I could see that DHCP requests would make it to the DHCP server. The responses were seen on the Fedora 30 host but not in the debian-live guest. No amount of mucking about or googling lead to a solution.
With VMware Workstation Pro, I was able to boot debian-live VMs without trouble. In the default bridged networking configuration, MACVLAN networks were still not recieving replies. However, the VMware GUI popped up a warning saying that promiscuous mode was not allowed due to permission problems on /dev/vmnet devices. After chmod 666 /dev/vmnet* and restarting the VM all is well.
I have the following networks:
| Name | Type | External Connection | Host Connection | DHCP | MTU | Triton Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vmnet0 | bridged | eno2 | external0 | |||
| vmnet1 | host-only | none | vmnet1 | yes | host0 | |
| vmnet2 | host-only | note | none | no | 9000 | admin0 |
| vmnet8 | NAT | NAT | vmnet8 | yes |
A serial console is enabled with the following in a machine's vmx file:
serial0.fileType = "pipe"
serial0.fileName = "/tmp/console-debian-live-template"
To access the console, use vmware-sercons. To build it I needed:
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a6b9126..f902399 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ ifeq ($(OS),SunOS)
CFLAGS += -m32
CFLAGS += -lnsl -lsocket
endif
+ifeq ($(OS),Linux)
+CFLAGS += -lpthread
+endif
PROG = sercons
Once it is built:
$ ./sercons /tmp/console-debian-live-1
* Waiting for socket (/tmp/console-debian-live-1)........
When the VM starts:
* Waiting for socket (/tmp/console-debian-live-1)...................................................
* Connected. Escape sequence is <Enter>#.
[ 0.000000] Linux version 4.19.0-8-amd64 (debian-kernel@lists.debian.org) (gcc version 8.3.0 (Debian 8.3.0-6)) #1 SMP Debian 4.19.98-1 (2020-01-26)
...
To disconnect from sercons, type #..
The complete vmx file is:
.encoding = "UTF-8"
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "16"
mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
pciBridge0.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge4.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge4.functions = "8"
pciBridge5.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge5.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge5.functions = "8"
pciBridge6.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge6.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge6.functions = "8"
pciBridge7.present = "TRUE"
pciBridge7.virtualDev = "pcieRootPort"
pciBridge7.functions = "8"
vmci0.present = "TRUE"
hpet0.present = "TRUE"
displayName = "debian-live-template"
guestOS = "ubuntu"
nvram = "debian-live-template.nvram"
virtualHW.productCompatibility = "hosted"
powerType.powerOff = "soft"
powerType.powerOn = "soft"
powerType.suspend = "soft"
powerType.reset = "soft"
usb.vbluetooth.startConnected = "TRUE"
tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
sound.startConnected = "FALSE"
sound.autoDetect = "TRUE"
sound.fileName = "-1"
numvcpus = "4"
vcpu.hotadd = "TRUE"
memsize = "4096"
mem.hotadd = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualDev = "lsilogic"
scsi0.present = "TRUE"
sata0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.fileName = "debian-live-template.vmdk"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
sata0:1.deviceType = "cdrom-image"
sata0:1.fileName = "/data/vmware/debian-live.iso"
sata0:1.present = "TRUE"
svga.graphicsMemoryKB = "786432"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
serial0.fileType = "pipe"
serial0.fileName = "/tmp/console-debian-live-template"
ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
extendedConfigFile = "debian-live-template.vmxf"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
ethernet0.connectionType = "custom"
ethernet0.vnet = "/dev/vmnet0"
serial0.present = "TRUE"
The entire template configuration is available for download.
To create a new instance from the template:
newname=debian-live-3
vmrun clone debian-live-template/debian-live-template.vmx $newname/$newname.vmx full
sed -i -e "s/debian-live-template/$newname/g" -e 's/Clone of //' $newname/$newname.vmx
mv $newname/debian-live-template-cl1.vmdk $newname/$newname-cl1.vmdkOnce a new instance is created, it may be booted then configured. See First boot build machine setup.