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Creating Linux Templates for SCVMM 2012 SP1 Beta

BMC Server Automation 8.3 (without SP1) supports the beta version of SCVMM 2012 SP1. This topic provides instructions for installing Linux as the Guest OS and preparing Linux Templates for this SCVMM release.

Before You Begin Linux OS Installation

The main prerequisite is to add the Linux OS ISOs to the Library Server. Then download the Linux ISOs from the Library server to the Library Server share. Once done, go to the Library Server within the SCVMM Console and refresh it. You will now see the ISOs that you have added. These ISOs are required for installing the Linux Guest OS.

Note

Linux Guest OS installation is only applicable for Hyper-V platform.

Creating a VM

To create a VM:

  1. Choose Create the new virtual machine with a blank virtual hard disk and click Next.
  2. Give a name and description for your Virtual Machine and click Next.
  3. You should be careful about CPU, memory and network adapter. It is very important to use 1 vCPU and emulated network adapter with your Linux VM template.
  4. From the Next screen, choose Place the virtual machine on a host.
  5. Select a host and storage volume, then click Next.
  6. Choose Virtual Network for VM and click Next.
  7. Set additional properties and click Next. Here, select the Guest OS as required.
  8. Click Create and finish this process and create the VM.

Installing Linux OS

To install the Guest OS, you need to edit the VM and attach the Linux ISO to the VM. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Right-click the VM and click Properties.
  2. In the Hardware Configuration tab, select the Virtual DVD Drive.
  3. Select Existing image file as the capture mode and click Browse.
  4. Select the first Linux ISO from the Library Server which is the closest to the physical Hyper-V Host.
  5. Click OK and ensure the Share image file instead of copying it option is cleared.

  6. Click OKon the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box and wait for the Reconfigure task to be completed. Once that is complete, you can start the Linux OS installation.

    Note

    If the Reconfigure task fails, then most likely your setup is not correctly networked. The Library Server should be able to copy the ISO to the Hyper-V Host. For this the DNS should be setup correctly.

Installation Steps

To install Linux OS, follow these steps:

  1. Start the VM to install the Linux OS.

    Tip

    • The mouse would not work during the entire installation and even post the OS is installed. For using the mouse within a Linux VM in SCVMM, we need to install some drivers which would only happen towards the end of this guide. For browsing through the menu use the Alt+F1, Arrow Keys, Tab, Ctrl+Tab and Enter buttons.
    • For browsing through the pages use the Tab, Ctrl+Tab and Enter buttons.
  2. Click Enter to start Red Hat 5.3 installation.
  3. Skip CD checking and choose a language.
  4. Choose Keyboard and click Next.
  5. You will see a warning about initializing disk drive. Click Yes and continue.
  6. Continue with default settings until you reach the Software Components window.
  7. Ensure the Customize Now radio button is selected and click Next.
  8. Select the Development title in the window on the left and select the Development Libraries and Development Tools on the right and click Next.
  9. Click Next to start the installation.
  10. During the installation, you may be asked to give different ISOs for the installation. For this, follow the steps in Before You Begin Linux OS Installation.
  11. Once complete, select Reboot to restart the VM.
  12. When the VM reboots, there would be some post-install configurations to be done. Complete these and let the VM come up completely.
  13. Log on to the system as root.

Installation of Linux Integration Services and Mouse Driver

Linux Integration Services on RHEL 5

For installing Linux Integration Services on RHEL 5, one needs to download the ISO containing the tools manually from Microsoft.
 The current version of these tools for RHEL 5 is v2.1. Download link: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24247

Once you have downloaded the ISO, follow the steps below:

  1. Upload the ISO to a Library Share which the VM can access.
  2. Refresh the library share and attach the ISO to the VM.
  3. Mount the CD-ROM to a folder within the VM (if not automatically mounted) using the following command:
    # mount /dev/cdrom /media
  4. Browse to the CD-ROM through the filesystem and copy its entire contents to a folder within  /media/
  5. Run the following command:
    ./install.sh
  6. Reboot by running the reboot command. This is a mandatory step.
  7. The CD-ROM can now be unmounted and detached from the VM.
  8. Browse to /opt/tools (or to wherever you copied the contents of the CD) and run the following commands:
    make
    make install
  9. Reboot the VM.
  10. Ensure that there have been no errors in any of the commands above.

Tip

Install additional software from CD or DVD
 If you have forgotten to install the Development Tools at the time of OS installation, do not worry. You can install this later.

For this, you need to:

  1. Mount your RHEL CD or DVD to say /media.
  2. Add a file named rhel-cd.repo under /etc/yum.repos.d/.
  3. Edit this file and add the following contents to it:
    [rhel-cd]
    name=RHEL-CD
    baseurl=file:///media/Server/
    enabled=1
    gpgcheck=0 //
     The CD or DVD is mounted at /media, so it is /media/Server. If you have mounted it elsewhere, ensure that you give the correct path till the /Server directory within the CD / DVD.
  4. Run yum clean all to clear the yum cache.
  5. Open the 'Add Additional Software Packages' application / use yum to install additional software.
    For example, from any dir, you can run: yum install xorg-x11-server-sdk
     It would automatically search for this and install the package.
    Giving complete path of the rpm might result in a Public key not installed error.

Linux Integration Services on RHEL 6

For installing Linux Integration Services on RHEL 6, one needs to download the ISO containing the tools manually from Microsoft.
 The current version of these tools for RHEL 5 is v3.2. Download link: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=28188

Mouse Driver

By default, the Linux Integration Services v2.1 do not have a mouse driver included with it. If one wants mouse support on RHEL 5, follow the steps below:

  1. Download the ISO from http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=28188.
  2. Upload the ISO to a Library Share which the VM can access, refresh the library share and attach the ISO to the VM.
  3. Mount the CD-ROM to a folder within the VM (if not automatically mounted).
  4. Browse to the CD-ROM through the filesystem and copy its entire contents to a folder within /opt. For example: /opt/mouse.

  5. The CD-ROM can now be unmounted and detached from the VM.

    Note

    If required (if the SDK was not installed during the OS install), Install the xorg-x11-server-sdk package from the CD or DVD or Internet. You can refer to the steps mentioned in the tip above for "Install additional software from CD / DVD".

  6. Browse to /opt/mouse (or to wherever you copied the contents of the CD).
  7. Run ./install.sh
  8. Reboot the VM.

 

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