Installing in KVM Environments

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) is an enterprise virtualization product produced by Red Hat. RHEL is based on Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) - an open source, full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware that contains virtualization extensions.

You can install the Cisco Catalyst 8000V virtual router as a virtual machine on Red Hat KVM virtualization. The installation procedure first involves the manual creation of a VM. This is followed by the installation using a .iso file or a qcow2 file. You can install Cisco Catalyst 8000V in a KVM environment by using the:

  • GUI Tool: Download and install the virt-manager RPM package on the KVM server. Virt-manager is a desktop user interface for managing virtual machines. Installation by using the GUI is the recommended installation method.

  • Command Line Interface: In this method of installation, use the command line interface to install the Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM.


Note

Deploying an OVA template in a KVM environment is not supported.

Cisco Catalyst 8000V supports the Virtio vNIC type on the KVM implementation. KVM supports a maximum of 26 vNICs.

Installation Requirements for KVM

This section lists the supported host Linux operating system versions on which Cisco Catalyst 8000V has been validated. All other deployment combinations not mentioned in this section will fall under Cisco Catalyst 8000V non-certified support model. Ask your local Cisco Sales representative for more details.

RHEL Versions (Linux KVM based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux)

Cisco IOS XE Release

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version

Cisco IOS XE 17.18.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 9.2 and 8.10

Cisco IOS XE 17.16.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 9.2 and 8.10

Cisco IOS XE 17.15.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 9.2, 8.10, and 8.4

Cisco IOS XE 17.14.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 9.2, 8.4, and 7.7

Cisco IOS XE 17.13.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 9.2, 8.4, and 7.7

Cisco IOS XE 17.12.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 9.2, 8.4, and 7.7

Cisco IOS XE 17.11.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 8.4 and 7.7

Cisco IOS XE 17.10.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 8.4 and 7.7

Cisco IOS XE 17.9.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 8.4 and 7.7

Cisco IOS XE 17.8.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 8.4 and 7.7

Cisco IOS XE 17.7.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 8.4 and 7.7

Cisco IOS XE 17.6.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 7.7 and 7.5

Cisco IOS XE 17.5.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 7.7 and 7.5

Cisco IOS XE 17.4.x releases

Red Hat Enterprise Linux versions 7.7 and 7.5

From Cisco IOS XE 17.12.1 release, Cisco Catalyst 8000V is also supported on Intel Atom® C3000 processor (Denverton) CPU-based servers with Intel x550 NIC on RHEL 8.4 KVM hypervisor. You can run Cisco Catalyst 8000V on other x86 CPUs with different versions of hypervisor operating systems, but support is only available on the versions in the KVM Version table.

SUSE Linux® Enterprise Server (SLES) Versions

Cisco IOS XE Release

Supported SUSE Linux® Enterprise Server Version

Cisco IOS XE 17.18.x releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP5

Cisco IOS XE 17.16.x releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP5

Cisco IOS XE 17.15.x releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP5

Cisco IOS XE 17.14.x releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP3

Cisco IOS XE 17.13.x releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP3

Cisco IOS XE 17.12.x releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP3

Cisco IOS XE 17.11.x releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP3

Cisco IOS XE 17.10.x releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP3

Cisco IOS XE 17.9.x releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP3

Cisco IOS XE 17.6.3 releases

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server version 15 SP3

Ubuntu Versions

Ubuntu Version

Supported Releases

Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

Cisco IOS XE 17.18.1a and later

Supported VNICs

VNIC

Supported Releases

ConnectX-6

Cisco IOS XE Release 17.18.1a and later

Ixgbe

Cisco IOS XE Release 17.10.1 and later

iavf

Cisco IOS XE Release 17.9.1 and later

ConnectX-5VF

Cisco IOS XE Release 17.9.1 and later

i40evf

Cisco IOS XE Release 17.4.1 to Cisco IOS XE 17.8.x releases

Virtio

Cisco IOS XE Release 17.4.1 and later

ixgbevf

Cisco IOS XE Release 17.4.1 and later

Note

The maximum number of vNICs supported per VM instance is 26, including a maximum of 16 SRIOV interfaces.

Note

If you use a vNIC with an i40evf driver, the maximum number of physical VLANs is limited to 512, shared across all (Virtual Functions) VFs. The number of VLANs for a VF can be further limited by the host (PF) driver for untrusted VFs. The Intel i40e PF driver limits untrusted VFs to a maximum of 8 VLANs/sub-interfaces.

Supported vCPU Configurations

The vCPU configurations listed in this section are supported:

  • 1 vCPU: requires minimum 4 GB RAM allocation

  • 2 vCPUs: requires minimum 4 GB RAM allocation

  • 4 vCPUs: requires minimum 4 GB RAM allocation

  • 8 vCPUs: requires minimum 8 GB RAM allocation

  • 16 vCPUs: requires minimum 8 GB RAM allocation (supported from Cisco IOS XE 17.11.1a)

Creating a KVM Instance

Creating the VM Using the GUI Tool

Before you begin

Download and install the virt-manager RPM package on the KVM server.

Download either the .qcow2 image or the .iso image from the Cisco Software Download page, and copy the file onto a local device or a network device.

Procedure

Step 1

Launch the virt-manager GUI.

Step 2

Click Create a New Virtual Machine.

Step 3

Do one of the following:

  1. If you have downloaded the .qcow2 file, select Import Existing Disk Image.

  2. If you have downloaded the .iso file, select Local Install Media (ISO Image or CDROM).

Step 4

Select the Cisco Catalyst 8000V qcow2 or iso file location.

Step 5

Configure the memory and the CPU parameters.

Step 6

Configure the virtual machine storage.

Step 7

(Optional) To add additional hardware before creating the VM, select Customize configuration before install. The system displays the Add Hardware button. Click this button to add various hardware options, such as additional disks or a serial port interface.

Step 8

(Optional) To add a serial console, follow the procedure as mentioned in Adding a Serial Console.

Step 9

(Optional) If you want to customize your configuration before you create the VM, see Customizing Configuration Before Creating the VM.

Step 10

Click Finish.

Step 11

Access the Cisco Catalyst 8000V console by performing one of the following actions:

  1. If you are using a virtual console, double-click the VM instance to access the VM console.

  2. If you are using a serial console, see Booting the Cisco Catalyst 8000V and Accessing the Console.

Adding a Serial Console

Perfrom this task to enables acces to the Cisco Catalyst 8000V instance by adding a serial console. Add a serial console to the hardware and configure the kernel console option by performing these steps.

Procedure

Step 1

On the vrit-manager GUI, click Add Hardware.

Step 2

Choose the Serial option from the menu.

Step 3

From the Device Type drop-down list, select TCP net console (tcp).

Step 4

Specify the port number, and select the Use Telnet checkbox.

Step 5

Click Finish.

Step 6

After adding all necessary hardware, click Begin Installation.

Add a Host USB Device

If you use a Cisco IOS XE 17.9.x version, a 17.12.x version, or a later version, Cisco Catalyst 8000V on KVM supports USB device pass-through which allows a USB device connected to the host machine to be passed directly to your VM. To add a USB host device, you must modify the VM configuration by using tools like virt-manager, virsh, or by directly editing the XML configuration of the VM. Perform these steps to add the USB host device by using the virt-manager.

Procedure

Step 1

On the virt-manager GUI, click Add Hardware.

Step 2

Select the USB host device.

Step 3

From the USB Device drop-down list, select the USB device that you want to attach to the Cisco Catalyst 8000V.

Step 4

Click Finish.

Note

 

Cisco Catalyst 8000V supports USB disk hot-plug, and up to two USB disk hot-plug devices. When you add the devices, ensure you add one device at a time, by using the virt-manager.

Customizing Configuration Before Creating the VM

Before you begin

Perform the Creating the VM Using the GUI Tool task by using a .qcow2 or an .iso image. Before you click Finish, select the Customize configuration before install option. The Add Hardware button appears. Then, perform this procedure, which tells you how to customize your configuration before you move on to the Day Zero configuration.

Procedure

Step 1

Click Add Hardware.

Step 2

Click the Storage option.

Step 3

Click the Select Managed Or Other Existing Storage checkbox.

Step 4

Click Browse and navigate to the location where you have the c8000v_config.iso file.

This step is applicable only when you want to add a Day Zero or bootstrap configuration.

Step 5

From the Device-type drop-down list, choose IDE CDROM.

Step 6

Click Finish.

Step 7

To adjust the VM boot options including the boot device order in the virtual manager, select the IDE CDROM or the c8000v_config.iso, and use the Up Arrow to move this device as the first option in the boot order.

Step 8

Click Apply to apply the changes you made to the boot order.

The image disk device option is pushed down as the second option in the boot device order.

Step 9

After adding all the necessary hardware, click Begin Installation to start the new VM deployment.

What to do next

Perform the Day Zero configuration. To learn how to do this, see Day 0 Configuration.

Creating the VM Using CLI

  • Download and install the virt-install RPM package on the KVM server.

  • Download the .qcow2 image from the Cisco Catalyst 8000V software installation image package and copy it onto a local or network device.

Procedure

Step 1

To create the VM for a .qcow2 image, use the virt-install command to create the instance and boot. Use the following syntax:

Example:


virt-install                    \
     --connect=qemu:///system   \
     --name=my_c8kv_vm           \
     --os-type=linux            \
     --os-variant=rhel4         \
     --arch=x86_64              \
     --cpu host                 \
     --vcpus=1,sockets=1,cores=1,threads=1   \
     --hvm                      \
     --ram=4096                 \
     --import                   \
     --disk path=<path_to_c8000v_qcow2>,bus=ide,format=qcow2   \
     --network bridge=virbr0,model=virtio                        \
     --noreboot

Step 2

To create the VM, for a .iso image, perform the following steps:

  1. Create an 8G disk image in the .qcow2 format using the qemu-img command.

    Example:

    
qemu-img create -f qcow2 c8000v_disk.qcow2 8G

  2. Use the virt-install command to install the Cisco Catalyst 8000V instance. This requires the correct permissions to create a new VM. The following example creates a 1 vCPU Cisco Catalyst 8000V with 4G of RAM, one network interface, and one serial port.

    Example:

    
   virt-install               \
    --connect=qemu:///system  \
    --name=my_c8000v_vm          \
    --description "Test VM"   \
    --os-type=linux           \
    --os-variant=rhel4        \
    --arch=x86_64             \
    --cpu host                \
    --vcpus=1,sockets=1,cores=1,threads=1    \
    --hvm                     \
    --ram=4096                \
    --cdrom=<path_to_c8000v_iso>           \
    --disk path=c8000v_disk.qcow2,bus=virtio,size=8,sparse=false,cache=none,format=qcow2   \
    --network bridge=virbr0,model=virtio     \
    --noreboot

    The virt-install command creates a new VM instance and Cisco Catalyst 8000V installs the image onto the specified disk file.

After the installation is complete, the Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM is shutdown. You can start the VM by executing the virsh start command.

Note

 

If you want to provide the day0 configuration through the c8000v_config.iso disk image, add an additional parameter to the virt-install command. For example, --disk path=/my/path/c8000v_config.iso,device=cdrom,bus=ide. For more information, see Day 0 Configuration.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux - Setting Host Mode

Due to an issue specific to Red Hat Enterprise Linux, when you launch Cisco Catalyst 8000V in a Red Hat Enterprise Linux environment using virt-install , set the host mode as follows:

  • In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, use:

    
--cpu host

  • In Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, use:

    
--cpu host-model

Cloning the VM

Issue

In a KVM environment, when you clone a Cisco Catalyst 8000V virtual machine using the virt-manager virtual machine manager, it results in a Cisco Catalyst 8000V virtual machine that you might not be able to boot. The issue is caused by an increase in the size of the cloned image size created by virt-manager compared to the original Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM image. The extra bytes (in the KB range) cause the boot failure.

Workaround

There are three workarounds:

  • Use the virt-clone command to clone the Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM image.

  • For a cloned Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM image created by virt-manager during the bootup, select the GOLDEN image to boot instead of packages.conf.

  • In the Create a new virtual machine window, deselect Allocate Entire Disk Now before the new Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM is created. This ensures that the cloned Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM image is able to boot up. However, this workaround does not support nested cloning. Use this method only on the first cloned Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM image.

Increasing the KVM Configuration Performance

You can increase the performance for a Cisco Catalyst 8000V running in a KVM environment by modifying some settings on the KVM host. These settings are independent of the IOS XE configuration settings on the Cisco Catalyst 8000V instance.

To improve the KVM configuration performance, Cisco recommends that you:

  • Enable vCPU pinning

  • Enable emulator pinning

  • Enable numa tuning. Ensure that all the vCPUs are pinned to the physical cores on the same socket.

  • Set hugepage memory backing

  • Use virtio instead of IDE

  • Use graphics VNC instead of SPICE

  • Remove unused devices USB, tablet etc.

  • Disable memballoon


Note

These settings might impact the number of VMs that you can be instantiate on a server.

Tuning steps are most impactful for a small number of VMs that you instantiate on a host.

In addition to the above mentioned, do the following:

Enable CPU Pinning

Increase the performance for the KVM environments by using the KVM CPU Affinity option to assign a virtual machine to a specific processor. To use this option, configure CPU pinning on the KVM host.

In the KVM host environment, use the following commands:

  • virsh nodeinfo: To verify the host topology to find out how many vCPUs are available for pinning by using the following command.

  • virsh capabilities: To verify the available vCPU numbers.

  • virsh vcpupin <vmname > <vcpu# > <host core# >: To pin the virtual CPUs to sets of processor cores.

    This KVM command must be executed for each vCPU on your Cisco Catalyst 8000V instance. The following example pins virtual CPU 1 to host core 3:

    virsh vcpupin c8000v 1 3

    The following example shows the KVM commands needed if you have aCisco Catalyst 8000V configuration with four vCPUs and the host has eight cores:

    virsh vcpupin c8000v 0 2

    virsh vcpupin c8000v 1 3

    virsh vcpupin c8000v 2 4

    virsh vcpupin c8000v 3 5

    The host core number can be any number from 0 to 7. For more information, see the KVM documentation.


Note
When you configure CPU pinning, consider the CPU topology of the host server. If you are using a Cisco Catalyst 8000V instance with multiple cores, do not configure CPU pinning across multiple sockets.

BIOS Settings

Optimize the performance of the KVM configuration by applying the recommended BIOS settings as mentioned in the following table:

Configuration

Recommended Setting

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

 Disabled

Number of Enable Cores

ALL

Execute Disable

Enabled

Intel VT

Enabled

Intel VT-D

Enabled

Intel VT-D coherency support

Enabled

Intel VT-D ATS support

Enabled

CPU Performance

High throughput

Hardware Prefetcher

Disabled

Adjacent Cache Line Prefetcher

Disabled

DCU Streamer Prefetch

Disable

Power Technology

Custom

Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology

Disabled

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Enabled

Processor Power State C6

Disabled

Processor Power State C1 Enhanced

Disabled

Frequency Poor Override

Enabled

P-State Coordination

HW_ALL

Energy Performance

Performance

For information about Red Hat Enterprise Linux requirements, see the subsequent sections.

Host OS Settings

In the host side, Cisco recommends that you use hugepages and enable emulator pinning. The following are some of the recommended settings in the host side:

  • Enable IOMMU=pt

  • Enable intel_iommu=on

  • Enable hugepages

  • Use SR-IOV if your system supports it for higher networking performance. Please check SR-IOV limitations your system might have.

In addition to enabling hugepages and emulator pinning, the following settings are also recommended: nmi_watchdog=0 elevator=cfq transparent_hugepage=never


Note

If you use Virtio VHOST USER with VPP or OVS-DPDK, you can increase the buffer size to 1024 (rx_queue_size='1024' ) provided the version of your QEMU supports it.

IO Settings

You can use SR-IOV for better performance. However, note that this might bring in some limitations such as number of virtual functions (VF), OpenStack limitations for SR-IOV like QoS support, live migration and security group support.

If you use a modern vSwitch like fd.io VPP or OVS-DPDK, reserve at least 2 cores for the VPP worker threads or the OVS-DPDK PMD threads.

Configure the following parameters to run the VPP through command line:

  • -cpu host: This parameter causes the VM to inherit the host OS flags. You require libvirt 0.9.11 or greater for this to be included in the xml configuration.

  • -m 8192: You require 8GB RAM for optimal zero packet drop rates.

  • rombar=0: To disable PXE boot delays, set rombar=0 to the end of each device option list or add "<rom bar=off />" to the device xml configuration.

Sample XMLs for KVM Performance Improvement

Sample XML for numa tuning

  <numatune>
    <memory mode='strict' nodeset='0'/>
  </numatune>

Sample XML for vCPU and emulator pinning

 <cputune>
    <vcpupin vcpu='0' cpuset='3'/>
    <emulatorpin cpuset='3'/>
  </cputune>

Sample XML for hugepages

 <currentMemory unit='KiB'>4194304</currentMemory>
  <memoryBacking>
    <hugepages>
      <page size='1048576' unit='KiB' nodeset='0'/>
    </hugepages>
    <nosharepages/>
  </memoryBacking>

Sample XML for virtio instead of IDE

<devices>
    <emulator>/usr/libexec/qemu-kvm</emulator>
    <disk type='file' device='disk'>
      <driver name='qemu' type='qcow2'/>
      <source file='/var/lib/libvirt/images/rhel7.0.qcow2'/>
      <backingStore/>
      <target dev='vda' bus='virtio'/>
      <boot order='1'/>
      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x05' function='0x0'/>
    </disk>

Sample XML for VNC graphics

<graphics type='vnc' port='5900' autoport='yes' listen='127.0.0.1' keymap='en-us'>
      <listen type='address' address='127.0.0.1'/>
    </graphics>

XML for disabling memballon

<memballon model='none'>

Configure the halt_poll_ns Parameter

halt_poll_ns is a KVM parameter that allows you to alter the behaviour of how idle KVM guest virtual CPUs (vcpus) are handled.

When a virtual CPU in a KVM guest has no threads to run, the QEMU traditionally halts the idle CPU. This setting specifies a period of 400 nanoseconds by default, where a virtual CPU waits and polls before entering a CPU Idle state.

When new work arrives during the polling period before the vcpu is halted, the vcpu is immediately ready to execute the work. If the vcpu has been idle when new work arrives, the vcpu must be brought out of the idle state before the new work can be started. The time taken from idle to running state induces additional latency which negatively impacts latency sensitive workloads.

With the default kernel parameters, the guest Cisco Catalyst 8000V router CPU consumes 100% of the host CPU.

You can configure halt_poll_ns in two ways:

  • Large halt_poll_ns: In this case, more CPU is spent busy-spinning for events that wake the virtual CPU, and less acpi deep sleeps occur. This means more power is consumed. However, there are less wakeups from deep states states, which depending on the state that’s configured, can cause issues like cache misses etc.

  • Small halt_poll_ns: In this case, less CPU time is spent busy-spinning for events that wake the CPU, more acpi deep sleeps occur. Here, less power consumed, but more wakeups from deep sleep states are required. More wakeups can cause large amounts of deep sleep instances, which depending on the configuration, can cause large amounts of cache misses and long wakeup time.

Configuring the halt_poll_ns parameter

You can configure the halt_poll_ns parameter in the following ways:

  1. At run time, run the following: echo 0 > /sys/module/kvm/parameters/halt_poll_ns.

  2. When you load the module, perform the following configuration:

     # rmmod kvm_intel
 # rmmod kvm
 # modprobe kvm halt_poll_ns=0
 # mpdprobe kvm_intel

  3. When you boot the device, add kvm.halt_poll_ns=<specify value> in the parameters section of grub2.