Installation kit (9.2) hangs on initial startup

[sstillwell]

I'm running virtualized on KVM via Proxmox VE 7.4 (kernel version 5.15.102-1-pve) on a Xeon D-1541, 128 GB RAM. Yay, Community downloads being available!

I defined the VM with 1 socket, 4 cores, cpu type set to "host" (which is important, although not noted in the guide I saw - the default qemu CPU type is normally kvm64, which does not have SSE 4.1 and one other CPU feature, which prevents the installer from proceeding. The VM has two 128 GB virtual SATA drives, EFI storage (do NOT pre-enroll keys, this also blocks it from starting), and TPM storage. I used 8 GB of RAM for the VM.

The ISO image boots fine, and I switch over to the serial console after BOOT DKB100 to receive...

Code: Select all

VSI Primary Kernel SYSBOOT Jun  2 2022 11:43:57

%SYSBOOT-I-VMTYPE, Booting as a KVM (tm) Guest


        VMS Software, Inc. OpenVMS (TM) x86_64 Operating System, V9.2    
                    Copyright 2022 VMS Software, Inc.

  MDS Mitigation active, variant verw(MD_CLEAR)

%SMP-I-CPUTRN, CPU #3 has joined the active set.
%SMP-I-CPUTRN, CPU #2 has joined the active set.
%SMP-I-CPUTRN, CPU #1 has joined the active set.

%ENTROPY, RDRAND instruction enabled for entropy services.

How long should I wait for the process to proceed after this? It has been several minutes and all vCPU cores seem to be running at 100%.

Regards,
Scott

[m_detommaso]

Unfortunately, I never tested KVM until now; currently I use exclusively VirtualBox and Vmware for my tests.

Maybe following information could help you.

From "VSI OpenVMS x86-64 E9.2-1 Release Notes"

"For KVM, VSI recommends ensuring that your system is up-to-date with KVM kernel modules and the associated packages necessary for your particular Linux distribution. VSI has tested VSI OpenVMS x86-64 E9.2-1 with KVM on several Linux distributions. The following table includes the Linux distribution, version, and the QEMU version:

Linux Distribution--------------------------QEMU Version (package information)
openSUSE Leap 15.4 -----------------------6.2.0 (6.2.0-150400.37.8.2)
Rocky Linux 8.6--------------------------- 6.2.0(qemu-kvm-6.2.0-11.module+el8.6.0+1052+ff61d164.6)
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS--------------------------6.2.0 (Debian 1:6.2+dfsg-2ubuntu6.5)"

---

From: "VSI OpenVMS x86-64 E9.2-1 Installation Guide"

"The following instructions have been written for KVM/QEMU 5.2.

To create a virtual machine on KVM/QEMU virtual machine, follow these steps:

1. Download, unzip, and copy the VSI OpenVMS x86-64 E9.2-1 ISO file to an area that is locally accessible to the KVM host server.
2. Run the Virtual Machine Manager and select File > New Virtual Machine from the main menu. The Create a new Virtual Machine wizard opens.
3. Select Local install media (ISO image or CDROM) and click Forward.
4. Click Browse.
5. In the Locate ISO media volume window, click the Browse Local button, then navigate to the VSI OpenVMS E9.2-1 ISO file, select it, and click Open.
6. Uncheck the Automatically detect from the installation media/source box and type in the search box Generic and select the value that contains the text 'unknown'. Click Forward.
7. Select the amount of memory and number of CPUs to use for your VM. VSI recommends a minimum of 8 GB memory and 2 CPUs. Click Forward.
8. The Create a disk image for the virtual machine option is selected by default. Set the disk size for your VM; VSI recommends a minimum of 8 GB

Note
If you don't want your images to be saved in the default directory /var/lib/libvirt/images with default file names, you should either select Select or create custom storage, then click Manage and create your desired storage volumes for your VM disk images. Be sure to select the desired volume, then click the Choose Volume button.

Click Forward.

9. Give your virtual machine a name, review your VM's settings, and check the Customize configuration before install checkbox. Click the arrow next to Network Selection and verify your system is using a Bridge device with the appropriate Device name. Then, click Finish

Completing Your KVM/QEMU Virtual Machine Configuration

1. Once you have created your VM, a <VM_name> on QEMU/KVM window opens. Set the following settings.

a. Go to Overview, set the following settings.
i. From the Chipset dropdown, select Q35.
ii. From the Firmware dropdown, select the most basic UEFI x86_64:/usr/share/*code.*option.
iii. Click Apply.

b. If you wish to use SCSI disks, click the Add Hardware button located at the lower left.
i. Go to Controller.
ii. From the Type drop-down list, select SCSI.
iii. Ensure the Model drop-down list is set for VirtIO SCSI.
iv. Click Apply.

c. Go to IDE Disk 1 > Disk bus.
i. For the Disk bus, select either SATA or SCSI, whichever is appropriate for yourenvironment. Other disk controller types are currently not supported.
ii. Click Apply.

d. VSI recommends setting up your VM with at least two disk images – one for the system files, and another for the sysdump.dmp (DOSD) and data files. To add an additional disk (aside from the system disk), click the Add Hardware button in the lower left corner of the screen, then perform the following steps:

i. Go to Storage.
ii. Select either one of the two options:
• Create a disk image for the virtual machine – will create a new qcow2 disk image which will be saved in the default location with a default name.
• Select or create custom storage – will allow you to create a disk volume and specify the desired storage location, name, and disk format.
iii. Set your disk size as well as (if you clicked Select or create custom storage) the location, name, and/or format.
iv. Make sure that Device type: is set to Disk device.
v. Select either SCSI or SATA from the Bus Type drop-down list. Other disk controller types are currently not supported.
vi. Click Finish.
vii. Repeat these steps for each additional disk you wish to add to your configuration.

e. Go to IDE CDROM 1.
i. To specify Source path, click Browse, navigate to the VSI OpenVMS E9.2-1 ISO file and select it. Then, click the Choose Volume button.
ii. For the Disk bus, select either SATA or SCSI, whichever is appropriate for your environment. Other disk controller types are currently not supported.
iii. Click Apply.

2. Go to NIC:<your_mac_address>
a. From the Device model: dropdown, select e1000e.
b. Click the field that shows e1000e and delete the e at the end, so that only e1000 remains.
c. Click Apply."

3. Click Begin Installation

4. The Virtual Machine Manager Console will now be displayed with either the EFI Shell> prompt or the BootMgr> prompt shown. The screen that is displayed is dependent on which operating system that KVM is installed on and on which firmware .bin file was selected when the VM was created.
5. Regardless of which prompt is displayed, type EXIT and immediately press the ESC key repeatedly until the blue platform Boot Manager screen is displayed.
6. Navigate to Boot Manager, then select the EFI Internal Shell option and press ENTER.
7. You will see the EFI Shell prompt now. Enter MAP FS* -B to display just the file systems available on your VM one page at a time.
8. Inspect this list of file systems, and choose the one that maps to the VSI OpenVMS E9.2-1 ISO file. Since that ISO has been set up as a CDROM, the file system that maps to it will be labeled as CDROM. As an example, we will assume that the file system we want is FS0:.
9. At the Shell> prompt, enter FS0:\efi\vms\vms_bootmgr.
10. After this, you should see the VSI Boot Manager screen.

Your virtual machine is now ready to have VSI OpenVMS x86-64 installed on it."

---

/Maurizio

[tim.stegner]

The E9.2-1 documentation set can be found at: https://vmssoftware.com/about/current-openvmsx86/

this includes the Release Notes, Installation Guide, and Boot Manager's guide, as well as additional docs for Cross-Tools.

[sstillwell]

Well, there's a possibility - I was using 9.2, not E9.2-1. I'll give that a shot.

Added in 47 minutes 19 seconds:
Nope, same result with E9.2-1.

Code: Select all

starting serial terminal on interface serial0
BOOT DKA100 
Booting...
%VMS_BOOTMGR-I-INSTALL, Booting an OpenVMS Installation Kit...
100%

%VMS_BOOTMGR-I-HWRPB,   Unable to determine System Serial Number


%%%%%%%%%%% VSI OpenVMS (tm) x86-64 %%%%%%%%%%%


_______________________________________________

      GRAPHICAL OUTPUT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED
      USE A TERMINAL UTILITY FOR ACCESS
_______________________________________________

VSI Primary Kernel SYSBOOT Jan 23 2023 14:03:45

%SYSBOOT-I-VMTYPE, Booting as a KVM (tm) Guest


        VMS Software, Inc. OpenVMS (TM) x86_64 Operating System, E9.2-1  
                    Copyright 2023 VMS Software, Inc.

  MDS Mitigation active, variant verw(MD_CLEAR)

%SMP-I-CPUTRN, CPU #1 has joined the active set.

I've gone through the guide and made sure that my machine config matches as closely as possible. I've tried both SATA and SCSI emulated HDs, 2 and 4 vCPU, eliminated the TPM module. I am using q35 machine type with UEFI boot manager. UEFI sees the two hard drives as BLK0 and BLK1 although VMSBOOTMGR doesn't see them as bootable devices, which I guess makes sense since they aren't bootable yet.

For what it's worth Proxmox VE is based on Debian (same upstream OS as Ubuntu).

I don't know what else I can do to persuade it to finish booting, but I guess I'll keep tinkering when I have a moment.

Regards,

Scott

[finitud]

I've had the same exact problem. However, I can install OpenVMS fine if I start qemu manually on the terminal, so the options proxmox is passing kvm might be the problem. Will investigate further when I have some time and post.

[tim.stegner]

I don't see in the above instructions where one establishes a serial connection to use as the console line.

I suggest using the E9.2-1 installation guide (on the VSI website, click the 'field test' button, then scroll down to the docs) as it has more and addition instructions for connecting to the -required- serial console to access OpenVMS. The BootMGR screen is -not- the console.

[finitud]

The serial console is added as a hardware device from the Proxmox interface, and can be connected to via the "qm terminal" command. This is not the problem, as we've both obviously connected via the serial console, since the point where it's hanging is past the point where only serial output is produced.

[sstillwell]

Agreed - the VM is configured with a serial port, and I am connecting a terminal to it prior to issuing the BOOT command. It fails past the point where the physical console stops producing output and is only issuing serial console output. I AM following the installation guide for E9.2-1

The host system is running a Xeon D-1541 processor with 128 GB RAM.

Code: Select all

~# uname -a
Linux pve-host01 5.15.104-1-pve #1 SMP PVE 5.15.104-2 (2023-04-12T11:23Z) x86_64 GNU/Linux

qemu version is
pve-qemu-kvm: 7.2.0-8
qemu-server: 7.4-3

VM config is:

Code: Select all

balloon: 0
bios: ovmf
boot: order=sata0;ide2;net0
cores: 2
cpu: host
efidisk0: nas1:105/vm-105-disk-0.qcow2,efitype=4m,size=528K
ide2: nas1:iso/X86E921OE.ISO,media=cdrom,size=1612448K
machine: q35
memory: 8192
meta: creation-qemu=7.2.0,ctime=1681537320
name: openvms01
net0: e1000=1E:53:8F:01:A0:AC,bridge=vmbr1
numa: 0
ostype: other
sata0: nas1:105/vm-105-disk-1.qcow2,backup=0,size=16G
sata1: nas1:105/vm-105-disk-2.qcow2,backup=0,size=16G
scsihw: virtio-scsi-single
serial0: socket
smbios1: uuid=f023d86e-3fd2-4f1a-b1d1-d1fd08d0c4b8
sockets: 1
vmgenid: 44c8893c-2db9-4b56-89c4-a23027a4661d

Doesn't matter if I use 1 core or 2 (or 4), 8GB of RAM or 16, SATA or SCSI HDDs, the same thing happens.

[volkerhalle]

It seems like mounting the boot (system) disk does not work.

You may need to set some BOOT FLAGS to obtain further messages from the boot processing, but you would someone from VSI to tell you, which boot flags to use, otherwise you'll end up with 10000s of lines of diagnotic output...

Volker.

[sstillwell]

It looks like in the VM configuration file that Proxmox uses, you can use an

Code: Select all

args:

line to pass specific arguments to qemu/kvm. Without tinkering, I pulled the following out of what Proxmox used to launch the VM (under which it hangs as described above)

Code: Select all

/usr/bin/kvm -id 105 \
	-name openvms01,debug-threads=on \
	-no-shutdown \
	-chardev socket,id=qmp,path=/var/run/qemu-server/105.qmp,server=on,wait=off \
	-mon chardev=qmp,mode=control \
	-chardev socket,id=qmp-event,path=/var/run/qmeventd.sock,reconnect=5 \
	-mon chardev=qmp-event,mode=control \
	-pidfile /var/run/qemu-server/105.pid \
	-daemonize \
	-smbios type=1,uuid=f023d86e-3fd2-4f1a-b1d1-d1fd08d0c4b8 \
	-drive if=pflash,unit=0,format=raw,readonly=on,file=/usr/share/pve-edk2-firmware//OVMF_CODE_4M.secboot.fd \
	-drive if=pflash,unit=1,id=drive-efidisk0,format=qcow2,file=/mnt/pve/nas1/images/105/vm-105-disk-0.qcow2 \
	-smp 2,sockets=1,cores=2,maxcpus=2 \
	-nodefaults \
	-boot menu=on,strict=on,reboot-timeout=1000,splash=/usr/share/qemu-server/bootsplash.jpg \
	-vnc unix:/var/run/qemu-server/105.vnc,password=on \
	-cpu host,+kvm_pv_eoi,+kvm_pv_unhalt \
	-m 8192 \
	-readconfig /usr/share/qemu-server/pve-q35-4.0.cfg \
	-device vmgenid,guid=44c8893c-2db9-4b56-89c4-a23027a4661d \
	-device usb-tablet,id=tablet,bus=ehci.0,port=1 \
	-chardev socket,id=serial0,path=/var/run/qemu-server/105.serial0,server=on,wait=off \
	-device isa-serial,chardev=serial0 \
	-device VGA,id=vga,bus=pcie.0,addr=0x1 \
	-iscsi initiator-name=iqn.1993-08.org.debian:01:38cfe8efc7 \
	-drive file=/mnt/pve/nas1/template/iso/X86E921OE.ISO,if=none,id=drive-ide2,media=cdrom,aio=io_uring \
	-device ide-cd,bus=ide.1,unit=0,drive=drive-ide2,id=ide2,bootindex=101 -device ahci,id=ahci0,multifunction=on,bus=pci.0,addr=0x7 \
	-drive file=/mnt/pve/nas1/images/105/vm-105-disk-1.qcow2,if=none,id=drive-sata0,format=qcow2,cache=none,aio=io_uring,detect-zeroes=on \
	-device ide-hd,bus=ahci0.0,drive=drive-sata0,id=sata0,bootindex=100 \
	-drive file=/mnt/pve/nas1/images/105/vm-105-disk-2.qcow2,if=none,id=drive-sata1,format=qcow2,cache=none,aio=io_uring,detect-zeroes=on \
	-device ide-hd,bus=ahci0.1,drive=drive-sata1,id=sata1 \
	-netdev type=tap,id=net0,ifname=tap105i0,script=/var/lib/qemu-server/pve-bridge,downscript=/var/lib/qemu-server/pve-bridgedown \
	-device e1000,mac=1E:53:8F:01:A0:AC,netdev=net0,bus=pci.0,addr=0x12,id=net0,bootindex=102 \
	-machine type=q35+pve0

If you know of any specific options that must or must not be present, or if you have specific qemu command lines that work, I can tinker here to get Proxmox to launch it that way from its UI. I know the args config line is used frequently when trying to boot "Hackintosh" VMs since there has to be stuff injected into SMBIOS to successfully fake Apple hardware.

Added in 3 hours 40 seconds:
I guess if someone can post a

Code: Select all

ps eax | cat

(so that the output doesn't get right-truncated) and snip out the process where you're SUCCESSFULLY running E9.2-1 on qemu/kvm, that'd help. So far I haven't found the right combination of parameters to allow it to run.

Added in 3 hours 54 minutes 16 seconds:
Well, here's a thought...I'll just install Rocky Linux as a VM on Proxmox, then use qemu/kvm as a nested hypervisor there (I already have nested virtualization enabled in the Proxmox kernel) to install. It's not ideal, and I'll pay a small performance penalty for it, but it gets me past the problem until I can find out the actual problem on Proxmox itself.