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108 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
108 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
# LinuxKit with VMware Fusion and vCenter
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LinuxKit interacts with VMware desktop products (Fusion/Workstation) through the
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`vmrun` utility that is preinstalled with the desktop products. The interaction
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for VMware vSphere (single hypervisor) or VMware vCenter (vSphere management
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platform) is performed through the XML SOAP API using the govmomi SDK.
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Links:
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- [VMware govmomi](https://github.com/vmware/govmomi)
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- [VMware vmrun](https://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/ws_learning_cli_vmrun.html)
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Supported (Tested) versions:
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- VMware Fusion 8.0/8.5
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- VMware vSphere 6.0/6.5
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- VMware vCenter 6.0
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## Run
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### VMware Workstation/Fusion
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The backend `vmware` currently supports the booting of a `.vmdk` file that is
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created through the `linuxkit build -format vmdk` command and is typically called with
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`linuxkit run vmware <args> ./path`.
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The WS/Fusion backend will construct a config version 8 (Hardware version 12)
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`.vmx` file from the arguments that are passed to the `run` backend and then
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use the `vmrun` utility to start the virtual machine.
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### VMware vSphere/vCenter
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The backend `vsphere` currently supports booting through an `iso` file that is
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created through the `linuxkit build -o iso-bios` and is started with `linuxkit run
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vcenter <args> ./path`.
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The vSphere/vCenter backend requires a user to have `pushed` a linuxkit `iso` to
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a datastore before attempting to issue the `run` command. The VMware GO SDK is
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used to build a new Virtual Machine from the configuration that is passed, the
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new VM is then registered to the host passed as part of the `run` arguments.
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The `waitForIP` requires the `powerOn` argument and will make linuxkit wait
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until the VM has both powered on and the VMware guest tools have started, it
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will then print the guest IP address to `stdout`. This requires the
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`open-vm-tools` container to be added to the linuxkit OS .yml otherwise the wait
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will eventually timeout.
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## Push
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### VMware vSphere/vCenter
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To push an `iso` to a remote VMware datastore:
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```
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linuxkit push vcenter \
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-url=<https://username:password@VCaddress/sdk> \
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-datastore=<datastore_name> \
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-datacenter=<dc_name> [optional, only needed if multiple DCs] \
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-folder=<folder_name> [optional, will create a folder from the image name] \
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-path=<iso_path>
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```
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Alternatively most arguments can be passed as environment variables:
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- `VCURL` - VMware vCenter URL (ensure /sdk is appended)
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- `VCDATACENTER` - VMware vCenter DataCenter name, if more than one
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- `VCDATASTORE` - Name of a Datastore on that DataCenter
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## Console
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VMware makes use of its own KVM (keyboard/video/mouse) console. With the
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WS/Fusion backend the console will be displayed as the VM starts to boot. With
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the vSphere/vCenter backend, the virtual machine will need finding in the
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management tools and connecting to its console.
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**NOTE:** When building an instance for the vSphere/vCenter backend only a
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single `tty` is needed as a serial device isn't added to the VM, adding a `ttyS`
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will result in a debug message printed to the console every few seconds.
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## Disks
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### VMware Workstation/Fusion
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Adding a `-disk` will call on the `vmware-diskmanager` utility to create a disk
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of the set size and add this to the `.vmx` configuration before starting the new
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Virtual Machine.
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### VMware vSphere/vCenter
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The `-persistentSize <size in MB>` will create a persistent disk through the
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VMware SDK and add this disk to the VM configuration. This disk will be created
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in the same folder as the newly created VM.
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## Networking
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### VMware Workstation/Fusion
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Networking is automated and an interface as auto generated and will use NAT to
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create a provide network access.
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### VMware vSphere/vCenter
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The `-network` argument can specify the name of either a vSwitch or a
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Distributed vSwitch. When the VM is created a new VMXNet3 device is created and
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places on the designated virtual switch.
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## Integration services and Metadata
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The `open-vm-tools` container can be added to provide additional functionality
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within a VMware vSphere and vCenter environment.
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## Design decisions
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For the `vcenter` backend, the decision was made to use only an `iso` as the
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medium for the linuxkit VM instead of a `vmdk` file. The basis for this is in
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the limitations between a `vmdk` on local storage and A `vmdk` that is hosted on
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an actual VMware datastore (VMFS filesystem). Creating a local vmdk can make use
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of thin provisioning, however it can't then be transferred to a VMware datastore
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without converting the disk to a "fat" format. This has the result of turning a
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relatively small upload, to an upload of perhaps 1GB.
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