Parallels Cloud Server - 6.0 User's Guide
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0
User's Guide
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www.parallels.com
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All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 10
About This Guide .......................................................................................................... 10
Organization of This Guide .................................................................................................... 10
Documentation Conventions ................................................................................................. 11
Getting Help .................................................................................................................. 12
Feedback ...................................................................................................................... 12
Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics ............................................................ 14
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Overview ............................................................................... 14
OS Virtualization Layer ................................................................................................... 16
Basics of OS Virtualization ..................................................................................................... 16
Parallels Containers ............................................................................................................... 16
Memory and IOPS Deduplication ........................................................................................... 18
Templates ............................................................................................................................. 18
Hardware Virtualization Layer ......................................................................................... 19
Basics of Hardware Virtualization ........................................................................................... 19
Parallels Virtual Machines ...................................................................................................... 19
Virtual Machine Hardware ...................................................................................................... 20
Virtual Machine Files .............................................................................................................. 21
Support of Virtual and Real Media ......................................................................................... 21
Parallels Cloud Server Configuration .............................................................................. 22
Resource Management ................................................................................................. 23
Understanding Licensing ............................................................................................... 23
Physical Server Availability Considerations ..................................................................... 24
Managing Virtual Machines and Containers ........................................................... 25
Creating Virtual Machines and Containers ...................................................................... 25
Supported Guest Operating Systems .................................................................................... 27
Choosing OS EZ Template .................................................................................................... 28
Performing Initial Configuration ...................................................................................... 28
Configuring Network Settings ................................................................................................ 29
Setting Passwords for Virtual Machines and Containers ........................................................ 29
Contents
Setting Startup Parameters ................................................................................................... 30
Starting, Stopping, and Querying Status of Virtual Machines and Containers .................. 30
Listing Virtual Machines and Containers ......................................................................... 31
Storing Extended Information on Virtual Machines and Containers .................................. 32
Copying Virtual Machines and Containers within Server .................................................. 32
Suspending Virtual Machines and Containers ................................................................. 34
Running Commands in Virtual Machines and Containers ................................................ 34
Deleting Virtual Machines and Containers ...................................................................... 35
Viewing Detailed Information About Virtual Machines and Containers .............................. 35
Managing Virtual Machine and Container Backups ......................................................... 37
Backups Overview ................................................................................................................. 37
Using prlctl backup and prlctl restore .................................................................................... 38
Using pbackup and prestore ................................................................................................. 41
Managing Templates ..................................................................................................... 44
Creating Templates ............................................................................................................... 45
Listing Templates .................................................................................................................. 45
Deploying Templates ............................................................................................................. 45
Managing Snapshots .................................................................................................... 46
Creating Snapshots ............................................................................................................... 46
Listing Snapshots .................................................................................................................. 48
Reverting to Snapshots ......................................................................................................... 49
Deleting Snapshots ............................................................................................................... 49
Migrating Virtual Machines and Containers ..................................................................... 49
General Migration Requirements ........................................................................................... 50
Migrating Virtual Machines and Containers Between Parallels Servers ................................... 51
Migrating Containers to Virtual Machines ............................................................................... 54
Migrating Physical Computers to Virtual Machines and Containers ........................................ 56
Migrating Virtual Machines to Containers ............................................................................... 60
Migrating Xen Virtual Machines .............................................................................................. 61
Performing Container-Specific Operations ..................................................................... 62
Reinstalling Containers .......................................................................................................... 63
Enabling VPN for Containers ................................................................................................. 64
Performing Virtual Machine-Specific Operations ............................................................. 65
Pausing Virtual Machines ....................................................................................................... 65
Contents
Managing Virtual Machine Devices ........................................................................................ 65
Making Screenshots .............................................................................................................. 72
Assigning USB Devices to Virtual Machines ........................................................................... 72
Configuring IP Address Ranges for Host-Only Networks ....................................................... 74
Converting Third-Party Virtual Machines and Disks ................................................................ 75
Managing Resources .............................................................................................. 77
What are Resource Control Parameters? ....................................................................... 77
Managing CPU Resources ............................................................................................ 77
Configuring CPU Units ........................................................................................................... 78
Configuring CPU Affinity for Virtual Machines and Containers ................................................ 78
Configuring CPU Limits for virtual machines and Containers ................................................. 79
Binding CPUs to NUMA Nodes ............................................................................................. 81
Enabling CPU Hotplug for Virtual Machines ........................................................................... 82
Managing Disk Quotas .................................................................................................. 83
What are Disk Quotas? .......................................................................................................... 83
Disk Quota Parameters ......................................................................................................... 83
Managing Per-Container Disk Quotas ................................................................................... 84
Managing Per-User and Per-Group Disk Quotas ................................................................... 85
Managing Virtual Disks .................................................................................................. 86
Changing Virtual Machine Disk Type...................................................................................... 86
Increasing Disk Capacity ....................................................................................................... 87
Reducing Disk Capacity ........................................................................................................ 88
Compacting Disks ................................................................................................................. 89
Managing Virtual Machine Disk Interfaces .............................................................................. 89
Managing Network Accounting and Bandwidth .............................................................. 90
Network Traffic Parameters ................................................................................................... 90
Configuring Network Classes ................................................................................................ 91
Viewing Network Traffic Statistics .......................................................................................... 92
Turning On and Off Network Bandwidth Management .......................................................... 93
Configuring Network Bandwidth Management ...................................................................... 94
Managing Disk I/O Parameters ...................................................................................... 96
Configuring Priority Levels for Virtual Machines and Containers ............................................. 96
Configuring Disk I/O Bandwidth ............................................................................................. 97
Configuring the Number of I/O Operations Per Second ......................................................... 98
Viewing Disk I/O Statistics ..................................................................................................... 98
Contents
Setting Disk I/O Limits for Container Backups and Migrations ............................................... 99
Locating Disk I/O Bottlenecks for Containers ...................................................................... 100
Managing Memory Parameters for Containers.............................................................. 101
Configuring Main VSwap Parameters .................................................................................. 101
Configuring the Memory Allocation Limit .............................................................................. 102
Configuring OOM Killer Behavior ......................................................................................... 103
Tuning VSwap ..................................................................................................................... 104
Configuring Legacy Containers ............................................................................................ 104
Managing Memory Parameters for Virtual Machines ..................................................... 105
Configuring Main Memory Parameters ................................................................................. 105
Configuring Additional Memory Parameters ......................................................................... 106
Enabling Memory Hotplug for Virtual Machines .................................................................... 109
Managing Container Resources Configuration .............................................................. 110
Splitting Server Into Equal Pieces ........................................................................................ 111
Scaling Container Configuration .......................................................................................... 111
Applying New Configuration Sample to Container ............................................................... 112
Managing Virtual Machine Configuration Samples ........................................................ 113
Monitoring Resources ................................................................................................. 114
Managing Services and Processes ...................................................................... 116
What Are Services and Processes ............................................................................... 116
Main Operations on Services and Processes................................................................ 117
Managing Processes and Services .............................................................................. 118
Viewing Active Processes and Services ............................................................................... 118
Monitoring Processes in Real Time ...................................................................................... 120
Determining Container Identifiers by Process IDs ................................................................ 121
Managing Parallels Cloud Server Network ........................................................... 122
Managing Network Adapters on the Parallels Server .................................................... 122
Listing Adapters .................................................................................................................. 123
Creating VLAN Adapters ..................................................................................................... 123
Networking Modes in Parallels Cloud Server ................................................................ 124
Container Network Modes ................................................................................................... 124
Virtual Machine Network Modes .......................................................................................... 128
Differences Between Host-Routed and Bridged Network Modes ........................................ 131
Configuring Virtual Machines and Containers in Host-Routed Mode .............................. 131
Contents
Configuring Virtual Machines and Containers in Bridged Mode ..................................... 133
Managing Virtual Networks .................................................................................................. 133
Managing Adapters in Containers ........................................................................................ 138
Managing Adapters in Virtual Machines ............................................................................... 141
Managing Private Networks ......................................................................................... 143
Learning Private Networks ................................................................................................... 143
Setting Up Private Networks ................................................................................................ 146
Configuring Offline Management .................................................................................. 148
Understanding Offline Management .................................................................................... 149
Enabling and Disabling Offline Management ........................................................................ 152
Enabling and Disabling Offline Services ............................................................................... 153
Offline Management Configuration Files ............................................................................... 153
Using Open vSwitch Bridges ....................................................................................... 154
Managing Licenses ............................................................................................... 156
Installing the License ................................................................................................... 156
Updating the Current License ...................................................................................... 157
Transferring the License to Another Server ................................................................... 158
Viewing the Current License ........................................................................................ 159
Viewing the License ............................................................................................................. 159
License Statuses ................................................................................................................. 161
Keeping Your System Up To Date ........................................................................ 162
Updating Parallels Cloud Server ................................................................................... 162
Rebootless Updates ............................................................................................................ 162
Updating All Components.................................................................................................... 163
Updating Kernel ................................................................................................................... 163
Updating EZ Templates ....................................................................................................... 164
Checking for Updates .......................................................................................................... 164
Performing More Actions ..................................................................................................... 164
Updating Software In Virtual Machines ......................................................................... 164
Updating Containers ................................................................................................... 165
Updating EZ Template Packages Inside a Container ........................................................... 165
Updating OS EZ Template Caches ...................................................................................... 166
Advanced Tasks .................................................................................................... 168
Configuring Capabilities ............................................................................................... 168
Contents
Available Capabilities for Containers .................................................................................... 168
Creating Customized Containers ................................................................................. 170
Using OS Template Caches with Preinstalled Application Templates ................................... 170
Using Customized OS EZ Templates ................................................................................... 172
Using EZ OS Template Sets ................................................................................................ 173
Using Customized Application Templates ............................................................................ 175
Changing System Time from Containers ...................................................................... 176
Obtaining Server ID from Inside a Container ................................................................. 177
Restarting Containers .................................................................................................. 177
Enabling VNC Access to Virtual Machines and Containers ............................................ 178
Enabling VNC Access to Virtual Machines ........................................................................... 178
Enabling VNC Access to Containers .................................................................................... 178
Connecting with a VNC Client ............................................................................................. 179
Setting Immutable and Append Flags for Container Files and Directories ...................... 179
Managing iptables Modules ......................................................................................... 179
Using iptables Modules on Servers ...................................................................................... 179
Using iptables Modules in Containers .................................................................................. 180
Creating Configuration Files for New Linux Distributions ............................................... 181
Aligning Disks and Partitions in Virtual Machines .......................................................... 182
Running Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 in Virtual Machines ................................................. 187
Installing Optional Parallels Cloud Server Packages ...................................................... 189
Working with Shared Folders in Linux Virtual Machines ................................................. 189
Sharing with Ownership of a Virtual Machine User ............................................................... 189
Mounting as a Specific User ................................................................................................ 191
Sharing with Ownership of a Server User ............................................................................ 191
Legacy Features .................................................................................................... 193
Using Virtuozzo File System ......................................................................................... 193
Creating VZFS-based Containers................................................................................. 193
Converting VZFS Containers to New Layout ................................................................ 194
Listing Legacy Container Backups ............................................................................... 194
Troubleshooting .................................................................................................... 195
General Considerations ............................................................................................... 195
Kernel Troubleshooting ................................................................................................ 197
Using ALT+SYSRQ Keyboard Sequences ........................................................................... 197
Contents
Saving Kernel Faults (OOPS) ............................................................................................... 197
Finding a Kernel Function That Caused the D Process State ............................................... 199
Problems with Container Management ........................................................................ 199
Failure to Start a Container .................................................................................................. 199
Failure to Access a Container from Network ........................................................................ 200
Failure to Log In to a Container ............................................................................................ 200
Getting Technical Support ........................................................................................... 201
Preparing and Sending Questions to Technical Support ...................................................... 201
Submitting a Problem Report to Technical Support ............................................................. 202
Establishing Secure Channel to Parallels Support ................................................................ 202
Glossary ................................................................................................................. 204
Index ...................................................................................................................... 206
Feedback ............................................................................................................... 12
C
HAPTER
1
Introduction
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 is a virtualization solution that allows you to run multiple virtual machines
and Containers on a single physical server.
This chapter provides general information about Parallels Cloud Server and this guide. You will learn
• goals and target audience of the guide (p. 10)
• guide organization (p. 10)
• documentation conventions used in the guide (p. 11)
• resources to consult to get more information on Parallels Cloud Server (p. 12)
• ways to submit feedback to the Parallels documentation team (p. 12)
In This Chapter
About This Guide ................................................................................................... 10
Getting Help ........................................................................................................... 12
About This Guide
The Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 User's Guide provides comprehensive information on Parallels Cloud
Server 6.0, high-end virtualization software for bare metal servers. The guide covers the necessary
theoretical concepts as well as practical aspects of working with Parallels Cloud Server.
Note: The guide does not explain how to install and configure your Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 system.
For detailed information on these operations, see the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Installation Guide.
The primary audience for this guide is administrators responsible for managing systems that run
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0. The guide assumes that you have a working knowledge of Linux
operating systems (command line, system administration, and so on).
Organization of This Guide
This guide is organized in the following way:
Chapter 1, Introduction (p. 10), gives an overview of the Parallels Cloud Server product and this
guide.
Introduction
Chapter 2, Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics (p. 14), explains the general principles of
Parallels Cloud Server operation.
Chapter 3, Managing Virtual Machines and Containers (p. 25), covers those operations that you
can perform on a virtual machine and Container: creating and deleting virtual machines and
Containers, starting and stopping them, backing up and restoring, etc. You will also learn how to
perform different kinds of migration: migrate virtual machines and Containers between Parallels
servers, migrate a physical server to a virtual machine and Container, and migrate a Container to a
virtual machine.
Chapter 4, Managing Resources (p. 77), focuses on configuring and monitoring the resource
control parameters for virtual machines and Containers. These parameters comprise disk quotas,
network accounting and shaping, CPU and system resources.
Chapter 5, Managing Services and Processes (p. 116), familiarizes you with the operations you
can perform on processes and services in Parallels Cloud Server.
Chapter 6, Managing Parallels Cloud Server Network (p. 122), familiarizes you with the Parallels
Cloud Server network structure and explains how to manage networks in Parallels Cloud Server
systems.
Chapter 7, Managing Licenses (p. 156), provides detailed information on managing licenses in
Parallels Cloud Server.
Chapter 8, Keeping Your System Up To Date (p. 162), informs you of the ways to keep all the
software components of a Parallels server up to date.
Chapter 9, Advanced Tasks (p. 168), enumerates those tasks that are intended for advanced
system administrators who would like to obtain deeper knowledge about Parallels Cloud Server
capabilities.
Chapter 10, Troubleshooting (p. 195), suggests ways to resolve common inconveniences should
they occur during your work with Parallels Cloud Server.
Documentation Conventions
Before you start using this guide, it is important to understand the documentation conventions used
in it.
The table below presents the existing formatting conventions.
Formatting convention Type of Information Example
Special Bold
Items you must select, such as menu
options, command buttons, or items
in a list.
Titles of chapters, sections, and
subsections.
Go to the Resources tab.
Read the Basic Administration chapter.
11
Introduction
Italics
prlctl delete
Preformatted
Saved parameters for Container 101
Monospace Bold
C:\vzlist -a
Monospace
Key+Key Key combinations for which the user
Used to emphasize the importance of
a point, to introduce a term or to
designate a command-line
placeholder, which is to be replaced
with a real name or value.
The names of commands, files, and
directories.
On-screen computer output in your
command-line sessions; source code
in XML, C++, or other programming
languages.
What you type, as contrasted with
on-screen computer output.
must press and hold down one key
and then press another.
These are the so-called OS templates.
To remove a Container, type
ctid.
Use prlctl start to start a Container.
Ctrl+P, Alt+F4
Besides the formatting conventions, you should also know about the document organization
convention applied to Parallels documents: chapters in all guides are divided into sections, which,
in their turn, are subdivided into subsections. For example, About This Guide is a section, and
Documentation Conventions is a subsection.
Getting Help
In addition to this guide, there are a number of other resources available for Parallels Cloud Server
which can help you use the product more effectively. These resources include:
• Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Installation Guide. This guide provides detailed information on
installing Parallels Cloud Server on your server, including the pre-requisites and the stages you
shall pass.
• Getting Started With Parallels Cloud Server 6.0. This guide provides basic information on how
to install Parallels Cloud Server on your server, create new Containers and virtual machines, and
perform main operations on them. As distinct from the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Installation
Guide, it does not contain detailed description of all the operations needed to install and set
Parallels Cloud Server to work (e.g., installing Parallels Cloud Server in text mode).
• Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Templates Management Guide. This guide is meant to provide
complete information on Parallels templates - an exclusive Parallels technology allowing you to
efficiently deploy standard Linux applications inside your Containers and to greatly save the
physical server resources (physical memory, disk space, etc.).
• Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Command Line Reference Guide. This guide is a complete reference
on all Parallels Cloud Server configuration files and command line utilities.
Feedback
12
Introduction
If you spot a typo in this guide, or if you have an opinion about how to make this guide more
helpful, you can share your comments and suggestions with us by completing the Documentation
Feedback form on our website (http://www.parallels.com/en/support/usersdoc/).
13
Physical Server Availability Considerations .............................................................. 24
C
HAPTER
2
Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
This chapter provides a brief description of Parallels Cloud Server 6.0, Parallels virtual machines
and Containers, their specifications and underlying technologies.
In This Chapter
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Overview ........................................................................ 14
OS Virtualization Layer ............................................................................................ 16
Hardware Virtualization Layer .................................................................................. 19
Parallels Cloud Server Configuration ....................................................................... 22
Resource Management .......................................................................................... 23
Understanding Licensing ........................................................................................ 23
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Overview
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 allows you to simultaneously run multiple Parallels virtual machines and
Containers on a single physical server. Using this software, you can efficiently use your server's
hardware resources by sharing them among virtual machines and Containers.
Graphically, a server with the Parallels Cloud Server software installed can be represented as
follows:
Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
At the base resides server hardware. Next is the Parallels Cloud Server software which is installed
directly on the server hardware and does not need any operating system for its functioning.
Parallels Cloud Server includes two virtualization layers:
• Hardware virtualization layer. This layer provides the necessary environment for creating and
managing Parallels virtual machines.
• OS virtualization layer. This layer provides the necessary environment for creating and
managing Parallels Containers.
For more information on both layers, see OS Virtualization Layer (p. 16) and Hardware
Virtualization Layer (p. 19).
Effectively uniting both virtualization technologies, Parallels Cloud Server provides the best value for
cost conscious organizations enabling them to:
• standardize server hardware platforms
• effectively consolidate server resources
• consolidate and support legacy OSs and applications
• streamline server and application deployment, maintenance, and management
• simplify software testing and development
• optimize server and application availability
You can use the following tools to manage virtual machines and Containers:
• Command line interface (CLI). This tool comprises a set of Parallels command line utilities and
15
Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
can be used to manage virtual machines and Containers both locally and remotely.
• Parallels Virtual Automation. Parallels Virtual Automation is a tool for managing physical
servers, Containers, and virtual machines with the help of a standard Web browser on any
platform.
OS Virtualization Layer
This section provides detailed information on the OS virtualization layer, one of the two components
of Parallels Cloud Server, responsible for providing support for Parallels Containers.
Basics of OS Virtualization
The OS virtualization allows you to virtualize physical servers on the operating system (kernel) layer.
The diagram below shows the basic architecture of OS virtualization.
The OS virtualization layer ensures isolation and security of resources between different Containers.
The virtualization layer makes each Container appear as a standalone server. Finally, the Container
itself houses its own applications and workload. OS virtualization is streamlined for the best
performance, management, and efficiency. Its main advantages are the following:
• Containers perform at levels consistent with native servers. Containers have no virtualized
hardware and use native hardware and software drivers making its performance unbeatable.
• Each Container can seamlessly scale up to the resources of an entire physical server.
• OS virtualization technology provides the highest density available from a virtualization solution.
You can create and run up to 100s of Containers on a standard production physical server.
• Containers use a single OS, making it extremely simple to maintain and update across
Containers. Applications may also be deployed as a single instance.
Parallels Containers
From the point of view of applications and Container users, each Container is an independent
system. This independence is provided by the Parallels Cloud Server OS virtualization layer. Note
that only a negligible part of the CPU resources is spent on virtualization (around 1-2%). The main
features of the virtualization layer implemented in Parallels Cloud Server are the following:
16
Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
• A Container looks like a normal Linux system. It has standard startup scripts; software from
/vz/private/
/vz/private/
/root.hdd/root.hdd
/vz/root/
vendors can run inside Containers without any modifications or adjustment.
• A user can change any configuration file and install additional software inside Containers.
• Containers are fully isolated from each other (file system, processes, sysctl variables) and
Parallels virtual machines.
• Containers share dynamic libraries, which greatly saves memory.
• Processes belonging to a Container are scheduled for execution on all available CPUs.
Consequently, Containers are not bound to only one CPU and can use all available CPU power.
The two key parts of any Container are the contents and configuration. By default, all Container files
are stored in the /vz/private/<CT_ID> directory on the Parallels server, also called private
area.
Key Container directories and files:
File Name Description
ve.conf
<CT_ID>
<CT_ID>
<CT_ID>
Container private area.
Virtual hard disk with Container contents.
Container mount point.
Container configuration file:
• Is symlinked to /etc/vz/conf/<CT_ID>.conf.
• Defines Container parameters, such as allocated
resource limits, IP address and hostname, and so
on.
• Overrides matching parameters in the global
configuration file.
All Container files are stored in a single image (/vz/private/<CT_ID>/root.hdd/root.hdd),
similar to a virtual machine's hard disk. Such standalone nature:
• Enables easier migrations and backups due to a faster sequential I/O access to Container
images than to separate Container files.
• Removes the need for OS and application templates once a Container is created.
• Allows the use of native Linux disk quotas that are journaled and does not require quota
recalculation after disasters like server crashes.
Note: Using Containers that store all files in an image file (also known as Containers with the Container-
in-an-image-file layout) is supported only for /vz partitions formatted as ext4.
17
Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
Memory and IOPS Deduplication
Parallels Cloud Server supports memory and IOPS deduplication that helps eliminate memory and
I/O bottlenecks in the new image-based Containers and increases the number of running
Containers per Parallels server.
Identical files in multiple Containers are efficiently cached and the resulting cache can be stored on
an SSD drive to further improve overall system performance and reduce the starting times of
multiple similar Containers.
Note: Memory and IOPS deduplication can be managed with the pfcache utility described in the
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Command Line Reference Guide.
Templates
A template (or a package set) in Parallels Cloud Server is a set of original application files
repackaged for use by Parallels Cloud Server. Usually, it is just a set of RPM packages for Red Hat
like systems. Parallels Cloud Server provides tools for creating templates, installing, upgrading,
adding them to and removing them from a Container.
Using templates lets you:
• Share RAM among similar applications running in different Containers to save hundreds of
megabytes of memory.
• Deploy applications simultaneously in many Containers.
• Use different versions of an application in different Containers (for example, perform upgrades
only in certain Containers).
There are two types of templates: OS and application:
• An OS template is an operating system and the standard set of applications to be found right
after the installation. Parallels Cloud Server uses OS templates to create new Containers with a
preinstalled operating system.
• An application template is a set of repackaged software packages optionally accompanied with
configuration scripts. Application templates are used to add extra software to existing
Containers.
For example, you can create a Container on the basis of the redhat OS template and add the
MySQL application to it with the help of the mysql template.
Note: For detailed information on Parallels templates, see the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Templates
Management Guide.
18
Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
Hardware Virtualization Layer
This section familiarizes you with the second component of Parallels Cloud Server - the hardware
virtualization layer. This layer provides the necessary environment for creating and managing
Parallels virtual machines.
Basics of Hardware Virtualization
Parallels Cloud Server is based on the concept of hardware virtualization. Hardware virtualization
has a base layer—a hypervisor. This layer is loaded directly on the bare server and acts as an
intermediary between the server hardware and virtual machines. To allocate hardware and
resources to virtual machines, Parallels Cloud Server virtualizes all hardware on the server. Once
virtualized, hardware and resources can be easily assigned to virtual machines. Based on the virtual
hardware, a virtual machine runs its own complete copies of an operating system and applications.
The following diagram shows the basic architecture of hardware virtualization.
Like OS virtualization, hardware virtualization also provides many benefits the main of which are
listed below:
• Create multiple virtual machines with different operating systems on a single physical computer.
• Run several guest operating systems and their applications simultaneously on a single physical
computer without rebooting.
• Consolidate and virtualize the computing environment, reduce hardware costs, lower operating
expenses, and increase productivity.
• Use open APIs and SDK to extend management integration with in-house and third-party
applications.
Parallels Virtual Machines
From the point of view of applications and virtual machine users, each virtual machine is an
independent system with an independent set of virtual hardware. This independence is provided by
19
Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
the Parallels Cloud Server hardware virtualization layer. The main features of the virtualization layer
•
•
•
•
are the following:
• A virtual machine looks like a normal computer. It has its own virtual hardware, and software
applications can run in virtual machines without any modifications or adjustment.
• A user can easily change the virtual machine configuration (e.g., add a new virtual disk or
increase memory).
• Virtual machines are fully isolated from each other (file system, processes, sysctl variables)
and Parallels Cloud Server.
• Install any of the supported operating systems in the virtual machine. The guest operating
system and its applications are isolated inside a virtual machine and share physical hardware
resources with other virtual machines.
Intel and AMD Virtualization Technology Support
Parallels Cloud Server provides support for Intel and AMD virtualization technologies comprising a
set of processor enhancements and improving the work of virtualization solutions. Utilizing these
technologies, Parallels Cloud Server can offload some workload to the system hardware, which
results in the "near native" performance of guest operating systems.
Virtual Machine Hardware
A Parallels virtual machine works like a stand-alone computer with the following hardware:
CPU
Motherboard
RAM
Video Adapter
Video RAM
Floppy Disk Drive
SATA Devices
Hard Disk
CD/DVD-ROM Drive
SCSI Devices
Hard Disk
Generic SCSI Device
Network Interfaces
Serial (COM) Ports
Parallel (LPT) Ports
Sound Card
Up to 32 Intel/AMD CPUs
Intel i965-based motherboard
Up to 128 GB of RAM
VGA/SVGA video adapter with VBE 3.0
Up to 256 MB of video memory
1.44 MB floppy disk drive mapped to an image file or a physical floppy drive
Up to 6 SATA devices
Hard disk drive mapped to an image file (up to 5 TB each)
CD/DVD-ROM drive mapped to a physical drive or an image file
Up to 15 SCSI devices
Hard disk drive mapped to an image file (up to 5 TB each)
Generic SCSI device
Up to 16 Intel e1000 virtual network adapters.
Up to 4 serial (COM) ports mapped to a socket, a real port, or an output file
Up to 3 parallel (LPT) ports mapped to a printer, a real port, or an output file
AC'97-compatible sound card, sound recording support
Keyboard
20
Generic USB, PS/2 keyboard
Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
Mouse
.pvm
.iso
Generic USB, PS/2 wheel mouse
Virtual Machine Files
A virtual machine has at least two files: a configuration file (PVS file) and a hard disk image file (HDD
file). It can also have additional files: a file for each additional virtual hard disk and output files for
virtual ports. By default, the virtual machines files are stored in the /var/parallels directory on
the Parallels server.
The list of files related to a virtual machine is given in the table below:
File Name Description
.pvs
.sav
.mem
.hdd
.txt
A bundle that contains the virtual machine files.
A virtual machine configuration file. It defines the hardware and resources configuration of the
virtual machine. The configuration file is automatically generated during the virtual machine
creation.
A dump file created when you suspend the virtual machine. This file contains the state of the
virtual machine and its applications at the moment the suspend was invoked.
A file containing the memory dump for the suspended virtual machine. For a running virtual
machine, it is a temporary virtual memory file.
A file representing a virtual hard disk. When you create a virtual machine, you can create it with a
new virtual hard disk or use an existing one. A virtual machine can have several hard disks.
An image file of a CD or DVD disc. Virtual machines treat ISO images as real CD/DVD discs.
Output files for serial and parallel ports. The output .txt files are generated when a serial or
parallel port connected to an output file is added to the virtual machine configuration.
Support of Virtual and Real Media
This section lists the types of disks that can be used by Parallels virtual machines and provides the
information about basic operations you can perform on these disks.
Supported Types of Hard Disks
Parallels virtual machines can use only virtual hard disks image files as their hard disks.
Virtual Hard Disks
The capacity of a virtual hard disk can be set from 100 MB to 5 TB.
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Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
Virtual hard disks can be of either plain or expanding format. When you create a virtual machine in
Express Windows or Typical mode (in the New Virtual Machine wizard), the disk is created in the
expanding format.
Type Description
plain
expanding
A plain virtual hard disk image file has a fixed size. The size is determined when the disk is created.
Plain disks can be created with the help of New Virtual Machine wizard (the Custom mode.)
An expanding virtual hard disk image file is small initially. Its size grows as you add applications and
data to the virtual hard disk in the guest OS.
Split disks
A virtual disk of either format can be a single-piece disk or a split disk. A split disk is cut into 2 GB
pieces and is stored as a single .hdd file.
CD/DVD Discs and Their Images
Parallels Cloud Server can access real CD/DVD discs and images of CD/DVD discs.
Parallels Cloud Server has no limitations on using multi-session CD/DVD discs. A virtual machine
can play back audio CDs without any limitations on copy-protected discs.
If your server has a recordable optical drive, you can use it to burn CD or DVD discs in a virtual
machine.
Parallels Cloud Server supports CD/DVD disc images in ISO, CUE, and CCD formats.
Floppy Disks and Floppy Disk Images
Parallels Cloud Server can use two types of floppy disks:
• Real diskettes inserted into a real floppy disk drive that is connected to the virtual machine.
• Floppy disk image files having the .fdd extension and connected to the virtual machine.
Parallels Cloud Server treats floppy disk images like real diskettes. Parallels Cloud Server supports
floppy disk image files that have the .fdd extension and are 1.44 MB in size.
With Parallels Cloud Server, you can also create an image of a blank floppy using the Floppy Disk
pane of the Virtual Machine Configuration dialog.
Note: Parallels Cloud Server cannot create images of real diskettes.
Parallels Cloud Server Configuration
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Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
Parallels Cloud Server allows you to configure settings for the physical server in general and for
each Container in particular. Among these settings are disk and user quotas, network parameters,
default file locations, sample configuration files, and other.
Parallels Cloud Server stores all OS virtualization-related configuration information in the global
configuration file /etc/vz/vz.conf. It defines Container parameters like the default OS
templates, disk quotas, logging, and so on. For a list of parameters constituting the global
configuration file, refer to the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Command Line Reference Guide.
The configuration file is read when the Parallels Cloud Server software and/or Containers are
started. However, many settings can also be changed on the fly by means of Parallels Cloud Server
standard utilities like prlctl, with or without modifying the corresponding configuration file to keep
the changes for the future.
Resource Management
Parallels Cloud Server resource management controls the amount of resources available to virtual
machines and Containers. The controlled resources include such parameters as CPU power, disk
space, a set of memory-related parameters. Resource management allows you to:
• effectively share available physical server resources among virtual machines and Containers
• guarantee Quality-of-Service in accordance with a service level agreement (SLA)
• provide performance and resource isolation and protect from denial-of-service attacks
• simultaneously assign and control resources for a number of virtual machines and Containers
• collect usage information for system health monitoring
Resource management is much more important for Parallels Cloud Server than for a standalone
server since server resource utilization in such a system is considerably higher than that in a typical
system.
Understanding Licensing
To start using the Parallels Cloud Server software, you need a special license - Parallels Cloud
Server license. You must install this license on your server after or when installing Parallels Cloud
Server on it. Every physical server hosting virtual machines and Containers must have its own
license. Licenses are issued by Parallels and define a number of parameters in respect of your
physical server. The main licensed parameters are listed below:
• The number of CPUs which can be installed on the physical server. Keep in mind that each of
the Dual Core and Hyperthreading processors is regarded as one CPU.
• The license expiration date. Any license can be time-limited or permanent.
Parallels Cloud Server licenses have a start date, and if they are time-limited, can also have an
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Learning Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Basics
expiration date specified in them. You must set up your system clock correctly; otherwise, the
license validation may fail.
• The number of virtual machines and Containers that can simultaneously run on he physical
server.
• The platform and architecture with which the Parallels Cloud Server software is compatible.
Physical Server Availability Considerations
The availability of a physical server running Parallels Cloud Server is more critical than the availability
of a typical PC server. Since it runs multiple virtual machines and Containers providing a number of
critical services, physical server outage might be very costly. It can be as disastrous as the
simultaneous outage of a number of servers running critical services.
To increase physical server availability, we suggest that you follow the recommendations below:
• Use a RAID storage for critical virtual machines and Containers. Do prefer hardware RAIDs, but
software mirroring RAIDs might suit too as a last resort.
• Do not run any software on the server itself. Create special virtual machines and Containers
where you can host necessary services such as BIND, FTPD, HTTPD, and so on. On the server,
you need only the SSH daemon. Preferably, it should accept connections from a pre-defined
set of IP addresses only.
• Do not create users on the server itself. You can create as many users as you need in any
virtual machine and Container. Remember: compromising the server means compromising all
virtual machines and Containers as well.
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Performing Virtual Machine-Specific Operations ...................................................... 65
C
HAPTER
3
Managing Virtual Machines and Containers
This chapter describes how to perform day-to-day operations on virtual machines and Containers.
Note: We assume that you have successfully installed, configured, and deployed your Parallels Cloud
Server system. If you have not, refer to the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Installation Guide for detailed
information on these operations.
In This Chapter
Creating Virtual Machines and Containers ............................................................... 25
Performing Initial Configuration ............................................................................... 28
Starting, Stopping, and Querying Status of Virtual Machines and Containers ............ 30
Listing Virtual Machines and Containers .................................................................. 31
Storing Extended Information on Virtual Machines and Containers ........................... 32
Copying Virtual Machines and Containers within Server ........................................... 32
Suspending Virtual Machines and Containers .......................................................... 34
Running Commands in Virtual Machines and Containers ......................................... 34
Deleting Virtual Machines and Containers ................................................................ 35
Viewing Detailed Information About Virtual Machines and Containers ....................... 35
Managing Virtual Machine and Container Backups .................................................. 37
Managing Templates .............................................................................................. 44
Managing Snapshots .............................................................................................. 46
Migrating Virtual Machines and Containers .............................................................. 49
Performing Container-Specific Operations ............................................................... 62
Creating Virtual Machines and Containers
This section explains how to create new Parallels virtual machines and Containers. The options you
should pass to this command differ depending on whether you want to create a virtual machine or
Container.
Creating a Container
To create a Container, use the prlctl create command. The following parameters are
required:
Managing Virtual Machines and Containers
Argument Description
prlctl create
Container name
OS template name
Type of virtual server
Name to assign to the Container. A name may contain digits and letters.
When using digits only, start with numbers greater than 100 (101, 102, etc.).
The name of the OS template to base your Container on. Parallels Cloud Server is
shipped with a number of ready-to-use OS templates. To find out the names of the
available templates, use the vzpkg list -O command.
For the list of operating systems you can run in your Virtual Machines and
Containers, see Supported Guest Operating Systems (p. 27).
Tells the
command to create a Container.
Thus, for example, you can create a new Container by executing the following command:
# prlctl create 101 --ostemplate centos-6-x86 --vmtype ct
In this case Parallels Cloud Server creates a new Container with the name of 101 and the CentOS
operating system installed inside. All Container contents will be stored in its private area. To find out
where the Container private area is located, use the prlctl list command as follows:
# prlctl list 101 -i | grep "Home"
Home: /vz/private/101
Notes:
1. For more information on options you can pass to prlctl create when creating Containers, see the
Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Command Line Reference Guide.
2. For information on creating Containers with preinstalled applications, see Using OS Template Caches
with Preinstalled Applications (p. 170).
Creating a Virtual Machine
The process of creating a new virtual machine includes the following steps:
1 Creating a virtual machine configuration.
2 Installing an operating system in the virtual machine.
3 Installing Parallels Tools in the virtual machine, a set of special utilities that facilitate your work
with virtual machines.
The example below shows you how to make a new virtual machine configuration using the prlctl
create command:
# prlctl create MyVM --distribution win-2008 --vmtype vm
This creates a virtual machine with the name of MyVM, adjusts its configuration for installing the
Windows Server 2008 operating system in it, and places all virtual machine-related files in the
/var/parallels directory.
Once the virtual machine configuration is ready, you can install Windows Server 2008 and Parallels
Tools in it. To do this, you can
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Managing Virtual Machines and Containers
• Use the Parallels Virtual Automation application. For details on using this application, consult
the Parallels Virtual Automation Administrator's Guide.
• Enable VNC support in the virtual machine configuration and install the operating system and
Parallels Tools using your favorite VNC client. For information, on configuring VNC support in
virtual machines, see Enabling VNC Access to Virtual Machines and Containers (p. 178).
Note: For more information on options you can pass to prlctl create when creating virtual
machines, see the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Command Line Reference Guide.
Supported Guest Operating Systems
Listed below are the operating systems that have been tested in virtual machines and Containers
and are officially supported in Parallels Cloud Server 6.0.
Virtual Machines
Windows
Windows 8 (x64)
Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (x86, x64)
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 (x64)
Windows Server 2003 R2 with Service Pack 2 (x86, x64)
Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (x64) and Service Pack 3 (x86)
Linux
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x (x86, x64)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x (x86, x64)
Fedora 17 (x86, x64)
Fedora 16 (x86, x64)
CentOS 6.x (x86, x64)
CentOS 5.x (x86, x64)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 with Service Pack 2 (x86, x64)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 (x86, x64)
openSUSE 12.x (x86, x64)
Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 (x86, x64)
Ubuntu 12.10 (x86, x64)
Ubuntu 11.10 (x86, x64)
Ubuntu Server 12.04 (x86, x64)
Ubuntu Server 10.04 (x86, x64)
FreeBSD
FreeBSD 9 (x86, x64)
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Managing Virtual Machines and Containers
Containers
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x (x86, x64)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.x (x86, x64)
Fedora 17 (x86, x64)
Fedora 16 (x86, x64)
CentOS 6.x (x86, x64)
CentOS 5.x (x86, x64)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 with Service Pack 2 (x86, x64)
openSUSE 12.1 (x86, x64)
openSUSE 11.4 (x86, x64)
Debian GNU/Linux 6.0 (x86, x64)
Ubuntu 12.10 (x86, x64)
Ubuntu 12.04 (x86, x64)
Ubuntu 11.10 (x86, x64)
Ubuntu 10.04 (x86, x64)
Choosing OS EZ Template
Before starting to create a Container, you shall decide on which OS EZ template your Container will
be based. There might be several OS EZ templates installed on the server and prepared for the
Container creation; use the vzpkg list command to find out what OS EZ templates are available
on your system:
# vzpkg list -O
centos-6-x86
centos-6-x86_64 2012-05-10 13:16:43
Using the -O option with the vzpkg list command, you can list only the OS EZ templates
installed on the server. The time next to an OS EZ template indicates when the template was
cached.
You can also use the --with-summary option to display brief information on the installed OS EZ
templates:
# vzpkg list -O --with-summary
centos-6-x86 :CentOS 6 EZ OS template
centos-6-x86_64 :CentOS 6 (for AMD64/Intel EM64T) EZ OS Template
For detailed information on the vzpkg list command, consult the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0
Command Line Reference Guide.
Performing Initial Configuration
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Managing Virtual Machines and Containers
Before starting your newly created virtual machine and Container, you first need to configure it. This
section describes the main configuration steps for virtual machines and Containers.
Configuring Network Settings
To make virtual machines and Containers accessible from the network, you need to assign valid IP
addresses to them and configure DNS servers. The session below illustrates setting these
parameters for the MyVM virtual machine and Container 101:
• Assigning IPv4 and IPv6 addresses:
# prlctl set MyVM --device-set net0 --ipadd 10.0.186.100/24
# prlctl set MyVM --device-set net0 --ipadd 1fe80::20c:29ff:fe01:fb07
# prlctl set 101 --ipadd 10.0.186.101/24
# prlctl set 101 --ipadd fe80::20c:29ff:fe01:fb08
net0 in the commands above denotes the network card in the VM virtual machine to assign the
IP address to. You can view all network cards of a virtual machine using the prlctl list
VM_name -i command.
• Setting DNS server addresses:
# prlctl set MyVM --nameserver 192.168.1.165
# prlctl set 101 --nameserver 192.168.1.165
Notes:
1. You can configure the network settings only for virtual machines that have Parallels Tools installed.
2. To assign network masks to Containers operating in the venet0 network mode, you must set the
USE_VENET_MASK parameter in the /etc/vz/vz.conf configuration file to yes.
Setting Passwords for Virtual Machines and Containers
In Parallels Cloud Server, you can use the --userpasswd option of the prlctl set command
to create new accounts in your virtual machines and Containers directly from the Parallels server.
The created account can then be used to log in to the virtual machine and Container. The easiest
way of doing it is to run this command:
# prlctl set MyVM --userpasswd user1:2wsx123qwe
This command creates the user1 account in the MyVM virtual machine and sets the 2wsx123qwe
password for it. Now you can log in to the MyVM virtual machine as user1 and administer it in the
same way you would administer a standalone server: install additional software, add users, set up
services, and so on.
The prlctl set command can also be used to change passwords for existing accounts in your
virtual machines and Containers. For example, to change the password for user1 in the MyVM
virtual machine to 0pi65jh9, run this command:
# prlctl set MyVM --userpasswd user1:0pi65jh9
When setting passwords for virtual machines and Containers, keep in mind the following:
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Managing Virtual Machines and Containers
• You can use manage user accounts only inside virtual machines that have Parallels Tools
installed.
• You should use passwords that meet the minimum length and complexity requirements of the
respective operating system. For example, for Windows Server 2008, a password must be
more than six characters in length and contain characters from three of the following categories:
uppercase characters, lowercase characters, digits, and non-alphabetic characters.
• You should not create accounts with empty passwords for virtual machines and Containers
running Linux operating systems.
Setting Startup Parameters
The prlctl set command allows you to define the onboot startup parameter for virtual
machines and Containers. Setting this parameter to yes makes your virtual machine and Container
automatically boot at the physical server startup. For example, to enable Container 101 and the
MyVM virtual machine to automatically start on your server boot, you can execute the following
commands:
• For Container 101:
# prlctl set 101 --onboot yes
• For the MyVM virtual machine:
# prlctl set MyVM --onboot yes
Notice that the onboot parameter will have effect only on the next server startup.
Starting, Stopping, and Querying Status of Virtual Machines and Containers
After a virtual machine and Container has been created, it can be managed like a usual computer.
Starting Virtual Machines and Containers
You can use the prlctl start command to start your virtual machines and Containers:
• To start Container 101:
# prlctl start 101
• To start a virtual machine with the name of MyVM:
# prlctl start MyVM
Stopping Virtual Machines and Containers
The prlctl stop command is used to stop your virtual machines and Containers:
• To stop Container 101:
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