Top Ten Tips for Using Integrity Virtual Machines

Introduction

For most people, the first time they use a new technology it is not used to its maximum potential. The

same is true for Integrity Virtual Machines (Integrity VM). There are several things in a virtual machine

(VM) environment that can, and often do, cause problems in three general areas:

• Performance – Poor performance of applications running on a VM

• Functionality – The OS running on the VM (guest OS) or virtual hardware functionality is

missing or inoperable

• Reliability – The guest OS is sluggish or unstable.

This white paper outlines the ten most common issues in Integrity VM configurations that can lead to

problems in the above categories. For each issue, the most likely symptoms will be listed using these

categories (Performance, Functionality, Reliability).

The term ‘VM Host’ is used to refer to the physical Integrity server which has the Integrity VM software

installed on it. A virtual machine (VM) runs on the ‘VM Host.’ A virtual machine, along with its OS is

referred to as a ‘guest.’ Accordingly, the ‘guest OS’ is the operating system running on the VM.

#1 – Do Not Install OS using Golden Image of a VM Host

The Integrity VM Host system has the bundles T2767AC and VMKernelSW installed by definition.

The presence of these bundles on a VM is not supported and may render the VM inoperable.

Installation of these bundles on a VM is prevented by SD-UX, but they may still be present whenever

the OS was installed using a golden image created with Ignite-UX tools.

Symptoms: Performance, Reliability

Applications running in the VM, especially those that are I/O intensive, perform very poorly. The

guest OS may crash or appear to be sluggish.

Prevention and Treatment

It is very rare that a golden image of your Integrity VM Host will be useful. If this is the only Integrity

system you have and you need or want to create a golden image with it, then create the golden

image before the Integrity VM software (bundles T2767AC and VMKernelSW) is installed.

In the event you already have several guests created using a VM Host golden image then those

systems can be repaired. On each virtual machine, do the following:

1. Remove the Integrity VM software entirely:

swremove –x autoreboot=true T2767AC VMKernelSW

2. After the system reboots, reset the following tunables (see kctune(1m)) to their defaults or the

settings appropriate for the applications that will run in that VM: dbc_min_pct,

dbc_max_pct, swapmem_on