kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Yinghai Lu]

anyone tried to use linux kernel to kexec vmware esx?

YH

Re: kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Zachary Amsden]

On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:08 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
> anyone tried to use linux kernel to kexec vmware esx?

That would not be a recommended practice.  It might work.  It should not
be very useful.

Zach

Re: kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Yinghai Lu]

On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 2:21 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:08 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
>> anyone tried to use linux kernel to kexec vmware esx?
>
> That would not be a recommended practice.  It might work.  It should not
> be very useful.
>

esx 3.0.2 relys on correct mps table,
could boot linux with update_mptable or alloc_mptable, and then load
vmware with kexec.

YH

Re: kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Zachary Amsden]

On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:40 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 2:21 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
> > On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:08 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
> >> anyone tried to use linux kernel to kexec vmware esx?
> >
> > That would not be a recommended practice.  It might work.  It should not
> > be very useful.
> >
> 
> esx 3.0.2 relys on correct mps table,
> could boot linux with update_mptable or alloc_mptable, and then load
> vmware with kexec.

And end up running ESX on hardware where it is not supported and you
already have a buggy BIOS?  Yeah, it might work, but it should not be
very useful.

Zach

Re: kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Yinghai Lu]

On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 2:48 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:40 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
>> On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 2:21 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
>> > On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:08 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
>> >> anyone tried to use linux kernel to kexec vmware esx?
>> >
>> > That would not be a recommended practice.  It might work.  It should not
>> > be very useful.
>> >
>>
>> esx 3.0.2 relys on correct mps table,
>> could boot linux with update_mptable or alloc_mptable, and then load
>> vmware with kexec.
>
> And end up running ESX on hardware where it is not supported and you
> already have a buggy BIOS?
BIOS is not buggy... vmware seems not to be smart enough to correct pic mode.
because current linux kernel could works well with acpi=off

YH

Re: kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Zachary Amsden]

On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:58 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 2:48 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
> > On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:40 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
> >> On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 2:21 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
> >> > On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:08 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
> >> >> anyone tried to use linux kernel to kexec vmware esx?
> >> >
> >> > That would not be a recommended practice.  It might work.  It should not
> >> > be very useful.
> >> >
> >>
> >> esx 3.0.2 relys on correct mps table,
> >> could boot linux with update_mptable or alloc_mptable, and then load
> >> vmware with kexec.
> >
> > And end up running ESX on hardware where it is not supported and you
> > already have a buggy BIOS?
> BIOS is not buggy... vmware seems not to be smart enough to correct pic mode.
> because current linux kernel could works well with acpi=off

BIOS is missing correct MP table.  Thus buggy.  You should not be trying
to run ESX on buggy hardware.

Zach

Re: kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Yinghai Lu]

On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 3:08 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:58 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
>> On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 2:48 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
>> > On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:40 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
>> >> On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 2:21 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
>> >> > On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 14:08 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
>> >> >> anyone tried to use linux kernel to kexec vmware esx?
>> >> >
>> >> > That would not be a recommended practice.  It might work.  It should not
>> >> > be very useful.
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> esx 3.0.2 relys on correct mps table,
>> >> could boot linux with update_mptable or alloc_mptable, and then load
>> >> vmware with kexec.
>> >
>> > And end up running ESX on hardware where it is not supported and you
>> > already have a buggy BIOS?
>> BIOS is not buggy... vmware seems not to be smart enough to correct pic mode.
>> because current linux kernel could works well with acpi=off
>
> BIOS is missing correct MP table.  Thus buggy.  You should not be trying
> to run ESX on buggy hardware.

BIOS has correct mptable for linux but not for esx.

ok, my question is: anyone tried to use kexec with vmware?

YH

Re: kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Zachary Amsden]

On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 15:51 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:

> ok, my question is: anyone tried to use kexec with vmware?

Do you mean has anyone tried to use kexec in Linux running under VMware,
or do you mean has anyone tried to use kexec to start ESX?

My answers: yes, and I would hope not.

Zach

Re: kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Yinghai Lu]

On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 3:58 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 15:51 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
>
>> ok, my question is: anyone tried to use kexec with vmware?
>
> Do you mean has anyone tried to use kexec in Linux running under VMware,

that should work

> or do you mean has anyone tried to use kexec to start ESX?

yeah, that is strange request. hope it work..

YH

Re: kexec with vmware esx 3.0.2

[Zachary Amsden]

On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 16:45 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 3:58 PM, Zachary Amsden <zach@vmware.com> wrote:
> > On Fri, 2008-10-03 at 15:51 -0700, Yinghai Lu wrote:
> >
> >> ok, my question is: anyone tried to use kexec with vmware?
> >
> > Do you mean has anyone tried to use kexec in Linux running under VMware,
> 
> that should work

It does.

> > or do you mean has anyone tried to use kexec to start ESX?
> 
> yeah, that is strange request. hope it work..

Well you're a braver soul than me.  If your hardware is really so horked
you can't boot Linux without noacpi, I seriously doubt the vmkernel will
run properly.  You might be able to kexec the Linux pre-bootstrapping
bit, the the vmkernel is not even close to the same code lineage and has
a limited and very fixed set of hardware requirements.  And you are
talking about fixing up the MP table and interfering with the custom
boot process?  I would not for any amount of money want to find out what
kind of squirrels are hiding in that nest.

I mean can you run Oracle on an overclocked budget brand laptop?  Well,
maybe.

But you're talking about running an enterprise class application on
dodgy hardware, and that is seriously stretching the realms of sanity.

I kinda don't think this is really interesting to the folks on LKML, you
could try asking over on the VMware forums.

Good luck,

Zach