PARALLELS SERVER 4 BARE METAL README -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 16, 2009 © 1999-2009 Parallels Holdings, Ltd. and its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document provides the first-priority information on Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal and supplements the included documentation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. About Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal 2. What's New 3. System Requirements 4. Supported Guest Operating Systems 5. Installing Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal 6. Starting to Work in Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal 7. Known Issues and Restrictions 8. Copyright Notice 9. Contact Information -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. ABOUT PARALLELS SERVER 4 BARE METAL This is the first release of Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal - a virtualization solution that combines the benefits provided by Parallels Server 3.0 with those present in Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.0 for Linux. This solution provides you with the possibility to simultaneously run Parallels virtual machines and Containers on the same physical server. Using Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal, you can efficiently use your server's hardware resources by sharing them among multiple virtual machines and Containers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. WHAT'S NEW Build 697-5612 of Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal includes the following new features and improvements. * Installing Parallels Virtual Automation The possibility of installing Parallels Virtual Automation is available now via the Parallels Server Bare Metal installer. Once the installation is complete, you can log in to Parallels Virtual Automation Control Center by opening http:// in your browser and using the root user name and the password you set during the Parallels Server Bare Metal installation. Build 682-5610 of Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal includes the following new features and improvements. * Combined solution You can now run both virtual machines and Containers on the same physical server. * Command line interface New command line tools - pctl, pmigrate, and pstat - are introduced. These tools allow you to perform different management operations on both virtual machines and Containers. * Migration improvements Now you can migrate Containers to virtual machines. Migrating physical servers to Containers and virtual machines is also supported. * Parallels Virtual Automation support Physical servers running Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal can now be managed using Parallels Virtual Automation 4.5. * Assigning IP address to virtual machines Virtual machines can now be assigned IP addresses from the physical server. For this functionality to work, Parallels Tools must be installed in the virtual machine. * Executing commands inside virtual machines Now you can execute arbitrary commands inside virtual machines by running them from the physical server. For this functionality to work, Parallels Tools must be installed in the virtual machine. * Setting user passwords for virtual machines Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal supports setting user passwords for virtual machines from the physical server. For this functionality to work, Parallels Tools must be installed in the virtual machine. * Migrating virtual machines and Containers You can now migrate virtual machines and Containers between physical servers running Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal. * Backing up virtual machines and Containers Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal supports backing up and restoring virtual machines and Containers on both local and remote physical servers. * Network traffic accounting Network traffic can now be accounted for both virtual machines and Containers. * CPU resources limits and CPU units You can now set the minimal share of the CPU time a Container or virtual machine is guaranteed to receive. You can also set CPU limits they will not be allowed to exceed. * Better performance Parallels improves the performance of its virtualization engine. * 12-way SMP Up to 12 CPUs can be assigned to a virtual machine, which results in a better performance of your virtual machines. * 64GB RAM support for a virtual machine A completely new memory allocation mechanism allows you to set up to 64 GB of RAM for any virtual machine. * Improved network capabilities Up to 16 network adapters can be connected to a virtual machine, which increases the network connection and data transmission speed. * Creating virtual networks Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal supports creating virtual networks, which allows you to include your virtual machines and Containers in different networks. * Resizing and compacting virtual disks A new prl_disk_tool utility allows you to resize and compact virtual disks in your virtual machines. * Changing Windows SIDs You can now change Windows unique security identifiers (SIDs) when cloning a virtual machine or deploying a virtual machine from a template. For this feature to work, Parallels Tools must be installed in the virtual machine. * Kickstart installation You can perform an unattended installation of Parallels Server Bare Metal via a PXE server using a kickstart file. * Creating incremental backups Incremental backups can now be created using both Parallels command-line utilities and Parallels Management Console. * Accessing the guest OS command line You can now gain access to the command line of virtual machines and Containers directly from the Parallels server. * Parallels Management Console Improvements - Migrating and backing up virtual machines. - Displaying resources consumption for your server and virtual machines. - Configuring CPU units, CPU limit, and disk I/O priority. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS The hardware and software requirements for Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal are the following: * Platform: x86 or x86-64 platform with Intel VT-x or AMD-V hardware virtualization support. * CPU: 1.5 GHz or higher processor (a 64-bit processor is required for launching 64-bit guest operating systems). * Memory: 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended). * Hard Disk Space: 3 GB of free disk space. 30 GB of free disk space for each virtual machine. * Network: Ethernet network adapter. Valid IP address. * Other Hardware: DVD-ROM drive. Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal is distributed as a DVD image; so, your server must have a DVD-ROM drive to start the installation. * Operating System: Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal is installed directly on the server hardware and does not need any operating system for its functioning. The actual number of virtual machines you can run on a physical server and their performance depend on the resources they require. In general, the more resources your physical server has, the more virtual machines you can run and the higher is the performance of each virtual machine. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. SUPPORTED GUEST OPERATING SYSTEMS Listed below are the operating systems that you can run in your Parallels virtual machines and Containers. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Operating System | Virtual Machine | Container | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | WINDOWS | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Windows 7 (x32, x64) | yes | no | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Windows Server 2008 R2 (x32, x64) | yes | no | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 and 2 | yes | no | | (x32, x64) | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Windows XP with Service Pack 2 and 3 | yes | no | | (x32, x64) | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Windows Server 2003 R2 (x32, x64) | yes | no | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 (x32, x64) | yes | no | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | LINUX | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.7 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | CentOS 5.3 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | CentOS 4.7 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Fedora 11 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Fedora 10 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Ubuntu Linux 9.04 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Ubuntu Linux 8.10 (x32, x64) | yes | yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | BSD | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | FreeBSD 7 (x32, x64) | yes | no | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | FreeBSD 6 (x32, x64) | yes | no | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. INSTALLING PARALLELS SERVER 4 BARE METAL To install Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal, follow these steps: 1. Switch on the physical server where you wish to install Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal. 2. Configure the server to boot from the CD/DVD-ROM drive. 3. Insert the DVD with the Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal distribution set into the server's CD/DVD-ROM drive, and restart the server. 4. When the server boots, press Enter to continue. 5. Click Next to accept the Parallels end user license agreement and, in the displayed window, click Agree to confirm your decision. 6. Enter the Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal license, and click Next. 7. Select the Remove all partitions on selected drives and create default layout radio button, click Next, and in the displayed window, click Yes. NOTE: Selecting this option and clicking Next will remove all data on the selected drives. 8. In the Network Configuration window, click Next to accept the default network settings. 9. Set your time settings, and click Next. 10. Enter the password for the root account, and click Install. 11. Click Reboot to restart the server. Complete installation instructions on how to set up Parallels Server 4 for Bare Metal on a dedicated server is provided in the Getting Started With Parallels Server Bare Metal guide available on the Parallels web site. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. STARTING TO WORK IN PARALLELS SERVER 4 BARE METAL After you successfully install the product and restart the physical server, you will be provided with the instructions on how to start working in Parallels Server Bare Metal. In general, you have two possibilities to work with Parallels Server 4 for Bare Metal: * Using Parallels command line utilities * Parallels Management Console PARALLELS COMMAND LINE UTILITIES Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal provides a set of utilities that allow you to manage Parallels virtual machines and Containers both locally and remotely. * Connecting to Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal Locally To manage your virtual machines and Containers locally, i.e. from the same server where Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal is installed, do the following: a) Press ALT+F1 on your server's screen to open a terminal window. b) Type root as the user name and the password you provided when installing the product. After you have successfully logged in to the server, you can start creating and managing your Parallels virtual machines and Containers using the following command line utilities: * pctl: use this utility to perform day-to-day operations on your Containers and virtual machines. * pmigrate: use this utility to perform different types of migration on servers running Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal. * pstat: use this utility to collect statistics on your virtual machines and Containers. For more information on these utilities, see their man pages. * Connecting to Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal Remotely To connect to remotely, use the IP address that is indicated on your server's screen. For example, you can use a Secure Shell client to connect to your physical server. When logging in to the server, use the root user name and the password you provided when installing the product. PARALLELS MANAGEMENT CONSOLE If you prefer working with GUI tools, you can set up Parallels Management Console to remotely connect to Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal. However, this tool is intended for managing Parallels virtual machines only. So, if you need to create a Container or perform any operation on it, you should use the corresponding Parallels command line utilities. To set up Parallels Management Console: a) Make sure that the computer where you are going to install Parallels Management Console meets the necessary system requirements. b) Download the Parallels Management Console installation file: - Open your favorite browser and type the IP address of the server running Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal. - In the Welcome to Parallels Server 4 window, click the link corresponding to your system architecture and download the installation file. c) Install Parallels Management Console. d) Launch Parallels Management Console and connect to the server with Parallels Management Console. For more information on these operations, refer to the Getting Started With Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal guide. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. KNOWN ISSUES AND RESTRICTIONS The list of known issues for Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal is given below. * Parallels Management Console may sometimes consume a significant amount of memory. To fix this problem, restart Parallels Management Console. * Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal installer may fail to detect the necessary drivers for some USB DVD-ROM drives. * A virtual machine may freeze sometimes when installing Windows Server 2003 over a network using a PXE (Preboot Execution Environment) server. * After migrating a virtual machine to another Parallels server, the prl_vm_app process may consume up to 100% CPU time. * The prl_disk_resize utility may work incorrectly with SUSE-based virtual disks. * Parallels Management Console installed on some rare Linux distributions may fail to show the virtual machine's screen. * A virtual machine may crash after executing the sysrq-p command on the Parallels server. * Running the pctl enter and pctl exec commands in virtual machines (especially in Windows-based virtual machines) may produce an incorrect output or no output at all. * Parallels Transporter does not support migrating LVM physical volumes based on whole disks. * Migrating Containers is supported from Hardware Nodes running Parallels Virtuozzo Containers 4.5 for Windows Hotfix 1 and higher. * Due to a known bug in the mainstream Linux kernel, the process of starting services inside virtual machines running Linux operating systems may hang on launching the udev service. The problem was fixed in the 2.6.25 kernel. To work around this problem in earlier kernel versions, set the following kernel boot option: clock=(pmtmr|acpi_pm) * Parallels Power Panel can manage Parallels virtual machines only if they are formatted as FAT32, NTFS, ext2, or ext3. * The Parallels Tools installation may not start automatically for virtual machines created by migrating physical servers or Containers. To work around this problem, start the Parallels Tools installation manually. * Migrating Containers running Windows Server 2008 to virtual machines is not supported. * Parallels Management Console installed on Mac OS X may not remember server connection passwords even if you ask it to do so. * The Parallels Tools installation may not start automatically if you are creating a virtual machine with Windows Vista and select the Express Windows Installation mode during the installation. To work around this problem, start the Parallels Tools installation manually. * Running guest operating systems with the Xen kernel inside virtual machines is not supported. * Creating split virtual disks greater than 1.8 TB may fail. * Migrating a virtual machine between Parallels servers may fail if the virtual machine has one or more CD/DVD-ROM drives connected to the client computer. To work around this problem, disable all CD/DVD-ROM drives connected to the client computer before starting the migration: 1. Open Virtual Machine Configuration. 2. Under Hardware, click the name of the CD/DVD-ROM drive to be disabled. 3. Clear the Enabled check box, and click OK. * Running the 'time sleep' command with the same value in different virtual machines may take a different amount of time. * Starting a 'CentOS 5.3 x64'-based virtual machine the first time after installing Parallels Tools in it may take a rather long run. * Copying/pasting text to/from a virtual machine using Parallels Management Console on a Linux computer may not work. * When switching a virtual machine to the full screen mode, its screen resolution may change even if the "Keep the virtual machine's screen resolution in full screen" option is enabled in the virtual machine configuration. * Backing up a virtual machine to a mounted USB drive may fail. * Hibernating a virtual machine running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 may fail. As an alternative to hibernating a virtual machine, you can suspend it instead. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright© 1999-2009 by Parallels Holdings, Ltd. All rights reserved. Parallels, Coherence, Parallels Transporter, Parallels Compressor, Parallels Desktop, and Parallels Explorer are registered trademarks of Parallels Software International, Inc. Virtuozzo, Plesk, HSPcomplete, and corresponding logos are trademarks of Parallels Holdings, Ltd. The Parallels logo is a trademark of Parallels Holdings, Ltd. This product is based on a technology that is the subject matter of a number of patent pending applications. Distribution of this work or derivative of this work in any form is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained from the copyright holder. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, Windows NT, Windows Vista, and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Apple, Mac, and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. CONTACT INFORMATION Product website: http://www.parallels.com/