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Program Scope

The goal of this program is to validate hardware with Oracle Linux and Oracle VM, and to identify issues and configuration details that would impact customer deployments. Oracle developed the program to go far beyond the standard certification testing normally performed with operating systems. Hardware vendors participating in this program perform thorough testing of the hardware in real-world configurations with Oracle Linux and Oracle VM.

This is not a database certification. Oracle Database is a component of the environment because it is demanding on hardware resources (processor, memory, cache, storage, network) and the operating system, and well suited for this advanced level of testing. The validation program uses Oracle Database as a tool and hardware is not certified with Oracle Database as a result of the validation program.

For more information please see the program's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

OVM Configuration Summary
Validated Configuration Details
Publication Date15-DEC-09
Version1.0
Server PlatformDell PowerEdge R900
Storage ModelDell EqualLogic PS5000 Storage Arrays, PS Series
Guest VMsOracle Database Single Instance on OEL 5 Update 2 x86_64 , OEL 4 Update 6 x86_64
Linux DistributionOracle VM Server 2.1.5 x86 and x86_64
Guest VM Configurations
Oracle recommends Paravirtualized guests
Server and Storage Platform Details
Server Model Dell PowerEdge R900
Processors4 X Quad Core Intel Xeon 2.4GHz
Hardware Virtualization SupportYes
TypeVT-x
Memory32GB RAM
Network/Interconnect1 X Quad port Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM5708 1000Base-T (B2) PCI-X Gigabit Ethernet
MultipathDevice mapper multipath version 0.4.7
Storage ModelDell EqualLogic PS5000 Storage Arrays, PS Series
Storage Details SAS HDDs: Seagate ST3146855SS 15K.5 SAS 3Gb/s, 146.8-GB Hard Drive (RAID 50), Firmware Version 3.3
 
Oracle VM Server Details
OSOracle VM Server 2.1.5 x86 and x86_64
Kernelkernel-ovs-2.6.18-8.1.15.3.1.el5.i686.rpm or higher
Xen Versionxen-64-3.1.4-0.1.40.el5.noarch.rpm or higher
Additional InfoNone
 
Configuration Files
File Name
 Conf File Settings Comments
/etc/multipath.confmultipaths {multipath {wwid xxx1 alias OVS}} 
 defaults {polling_interval 10 no_path_retry 5 user_friendly_names yes} 
Driver Modules
Driver ModuleNetwork driver module(bnx2)
Version1.7.6b
SettingsNone
Additional Info.The driver is supplied with Oracle VM Server
 
Driver ModuleQLogic Fibre Channel HBA Driver
Version8.03.00.04.03.00-k
SettingsNone
Additional Info.The driver is supplied with Oracle VM Server
 
Miscellaneous
Two gigabit networks, 1 for public(igb) and 1 private(igb).
The swap partition is 16GB.
Configuration Feedback
Bug No7442030
SummaryLive Migration of EL4U6 PVHVM virtual machine fails
AffectsLive migration of EL4U6 PVHVM virtual machine
Symptomxm migrate command hang or virtual machine boot on the destination server hangs.
Solution/WorkaroundBug fix is available, upgrade the virtual machine kernel version to 2.6.9-67.0.22.0.1 or higher for OEL 4.6 and upgrade to pvdriver version kmod-xenpv-smp-0.1-10.0.1.el4.i686.rpm or higher. On server, upgrade xen version to xen-3.1.4-0.1.21.el5.i386 or higher
 
Bug No7483238
SummaryLive migration of EL5U2 x86_64 PVHVM virtual machine may panic
AffectsLive migration of EL5U2 x86_64 PVHVM virtual machine.
SymptomMigration of EL5U2 x86-64 PVHVM virtual machine fails with the xm migrate command completing but the virtual machine panics on the destination machine.
Solution/WorkaroundBug fix is available, upgrade to pvdriver version kmod-xenpv-0.1-9.0.1.el5.i686.rpm or higher. For virtual machine, recreate the virtual machine initrd image and reboot the virtual machine.
 
Bug No7528612
SummaryUnable to boot PVHVM virtual machine after adding second disk as SCSI
Affects32 bit PVHVM virtual machines with IDE (hda) as primary disk
SymptomVirtual Machine failure to boot or the newly added SCSI disk discovery failure
Solution/WorkaroundFor EL4 virtual machine adding "alias sym53c8xx off" in /etc/modprobe.conf files prevent crash when "sda" entry is added (scsi disk) in vm.cfg file and For EL5 virtual machine, remove sym53c8xx.ko from /lib/modules/`uname -r`/ directory.
 
Bug No7528616
SummaryEL4U6/U7/U8 PVM virtual machine scsi driver do not recognize scsi disk added by vm manager.
AffectsEL4U6/U7/U8 PVM virtual machine with IDE (hda) as primary disk
SymptomVirtual Machine failure to recognize the newly added SCSI disk
Solution/WorkaroundRemove the SCSI driver from the virtual machine initrd image and reboot the virtual machine , E.g.: Command to remake initrd image without SCSI module (scsi_mod.ko) for 2.6.9-67.0.22.0.1.ELxenU kernel, mkinitrd --omit-scsi-modules --with=xenblk --with=xennet /boot/initrd-2.6.9-67.0.22.0.1.ELxenU.img.scsifix 2.6.9-67.0.22.0.1.ELxenU
 
Bug No8499326
SummaryStartup of multipathd results in cannot open /sbin/dasd_id and /sbin/gnbd_import
AffectsNone so far
SymptomWhen starting multipathd, you see the following errors:multipathd: cannot open /sbin/dasd_id : No such file or directory,multipathd: cannot open /sbin/gnbd_import : No such file or directory
Solution/WorkaroundFixed in OVM 2.2. For OEL5U3 and OEL5U4, contact Oracle support
 
Bug NoOracle Bugzilla 4818
SummarySystem time on virtual machine may drift
AffectsApplications that require time synchronization across the servers or virtual machines. This affects both hardware virtualized and paravirtualized virtual machines.
SymptomThe symptoms include the network to restart on a system configured with dhcp; cron jobs may not be executed at the required time.
Solution/WorkaroundTo maximize clock accuracy, ntp service should be enabled in domain0.For PVM virtual machines perform the following steps: (1) Edit /etc/sysctl to set xen.independent_wallclock to 1; run sysctl -p to make the change effective; (2) Enable ntp service: chkconfig ntpd on; service ntpd start. For PVHVM virtual machines perform the following steps: (1) Verify that timer_mode parameter in vm.cfg is set to 0 for 32bit Linux, 1 for Windows, and 2 for 64 bit Linux. With OVM 2.1. release, these values should be set manually. In OVM 2.1.1 and higher versions, those values are set automatically if the virtual machine is created by Oracle VM manager or by virt-install command invoked with --os-type and --os-variant options (2) modify /etc/grub.conf in the virtual machine to add kernel parameters "clock=pit nohpet nopmtimer".
 
Bug No8509820
SummaryiSCSI detected conn error seen just after bootup of machine
AffectsNone so far
SymptomDuring bootup of the OVM server, the following error is seen in /var/log/messages and dmesg iscsi: detected conn error (1011)
Solution/WorkaroundContact Oracle support
 
Bug No8634902
SummaryOn the R900,Bios version 1.1.6, causes high TSC Skew
AffectsPerformance of OVM server and VMs
SymptomOne or all of the following symptoms are seen:- TIMER ISR/14: TIME WENT BACKWARDS messages in /var/log/messages and dmesg.- The time taken to bootup a PVHVM VMs increases substanitally ( ~8-10 times).- Performance of the VMs when running database workloads.
Solution/WorkaroundUpgrade BIOS to Version: 1.1.10.Steps Followed to upgrade BIOS: Read over the release information presented by executing the"./PER900_BIOS_LX_1.1.10_1.BIN --version" command from the shell.Download and install any prerequisites identified in the above step before proceeding.Install any necessary Embedded Systems Management firmware prior to this BIOS update.Run the update by executing "./PER900_BIOS_LX_1.1.10_1.BIN" from the shell.Follow the remaining prompts to perform the update.
 
 
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