SCO UNix in a VM?

[whynotq]

I have taken a look around and it appears that SCO is not supported as a Guest. However it appears that there are people out there using it, so i have these questions.

What is the recommended version to install in a VM?

What are the pitfalls / gotchas ?

any recommendations for configuration parameters and migration strategy?

Be gentle with me guys as i know nothing about SCO, this is for a customer of mine.

[jfrantz]

I have a couple of SCO OpenServer 5.0.6 VMs and they run fairly well. I did have some weird time issues trying to use SMP but one processor works with no problems.

This page can help: http://aplawrence.com/OSR5/smithosr5vmware.html

-Jeff

[filbo · Accepted solution]

Hi --

I've been poking around with this for a while, let me give you a bit of a brain dump.

For the moment I'm only going to talk about SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 (OSR507). There are additional issues with older OSR5 releases, and I haven't poked at OSR6 or UnixWare 7.x much at all.

For OSR507, the biggest trick of all is getting a working disk driver. If you're running under VMware hosted products (Workstation, Server etc.), this is easy -- use a virtual IDE hard disk, OSR5's IDE driver is happy. Since ESX doesn't do IDE disk emulation, you have to use one of the emulated SCSI HBAs: LSI Logic or BusLogic.

I've had best luck with BusLogic. I specifically use the SCO-supplied driver found at ftp://ftp.sco.com/pub/openserver5/507/drivers/blc_3.05.1/blc_3.05.1.btld.img. To prepare this for use under VMware, truncate it to 720K bytes:

dd if=blc_3.05.1.btld.img of=blc_3.05.1-vmw1.btld.img bs=720k count=1

This works around the fact that OSR5's floppy driver autosenses every virtual floppy image as 720KB media. Obviously this only works if the BTLD image fits within 720KB, which fortunately it does.

Boot the OSR507 install CD (physical or image) with:

Boot

: restart link=blc

It eventually asks you if you want to 'r'eplace the existing "blc" driver, or some other choices. 'r' is the right choice.

Proceed through the interactive portion of installation (Installation Query Manager). Eventually it says "The installation can now proceed unattended." Soon after that, you will see messages about copying the BTLD. If you use a 1.44MB copy of the BTLD, this fails and you get to interact with the error handling; but since we're using a 720KB copy, it blows right by this.

A few seconds after it says it's copying the BTLD, do this:

1. hit ALT-F3 to get to the "Bela<

Message was edited by:

filbo (changed to more useful subject)

[RDPetruska]

...yet another valid reason to put virtual IDE disk support into ESX!!!

[filbo]

Since this GOS works fine with its BusLogic driver, I'm not sure I agree. With the 720KB floppy image trick and editing the space.c variable during ISL, the total amount of hassle is barely worth noticing.

Now if you want to use SCO Xenix in an ESX VM, you really will need virtual IDE disk support...

[filbo]

By the way, I would also like to see IDE disk emulation in ESX. I'm not speaking against your thesis, only your use of OSR5 as supporting evidence.

>Bela<

[whynotq]

Thanks for the epilogue....much appreciated.

I have marked this as correct although until VMware recognise SCO as a guest OS there won't be a deffinitive answer.

let's hope your answers help more than just me.

[filbo]

I have marked this as correct although until VMware

recognise SCO as a guest OS there won't be a

deffinitive answer.

I don't know if I would count on there ever being a definitive answer by that definition. Though there are occasional hints of some real demand...

let's hope your answers help more than just me.

I will probably point to that message next time the question comes up on USENET, then it will help plenty of people. And then eventually I'll write up a more formal (though still unsupported) document on the whole OSR5-on-VMware thing. I hope to eventually be able to cover a range of OSR5 releases, operating on various VMware platforms, all in a single document.

>Bela<

[Oczkov]

Hi,

We have sucessfully installed the SCO OpenServer 5.0.6 in a ESX 3.0.2 VM. We started with the mmunix driver available from one of the private sites (I mean during installation process) - it worked OK. However we couldn't get the SMP configuration working. The machine was generally running OK (as uniprocessor), but when we heavy-loaded the disks (we actully noticed this when doing loads of data to the Informix Dynamic Server 7.31) we have these errors in the /var/adm/messages log:

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/74 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=438804

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/74 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=489556

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=527056

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=858348

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=858436

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=859632

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=898192

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=651100

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=651304

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=651880

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=674000

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=719736

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=720264

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=825640

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error writing SCSI disk 1 dev 1/72 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=825956

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/82 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=1371800

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=1002254

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 0 dev 1/0 (ha=0 bus=0 id=0 lun=0) block=1330485

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=1504702

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 2 dev 1/139 (ha=1 bus=0 id=0 lun=0) block=2288464

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=112352

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=112384

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=2471066

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=125312

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=847992

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=848024

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=477916

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=4910304

NOTICE: Sdsk: Unrecoverable error reading SCSI disk 1 dev 1/64 (ha=0 bus=0 id=1 lun=0) block=4910336

The simple way to replicate the problem is to run multiple rounds of:

1. dd if=/dev/dsk/1s0 of=/dev/null bs=4096

... on different disks you have. On each of the virtual disks we are easily geting these errors both for reading and writing (the latter ones only while loading the database with the data which is logic). The storage is on EMC CLARiiON CX3, but I think this is not related to the underlying HW.

We changed the driver to what SCO claims to be working and is awailable here:

They say:

HARDWARE: BusLogic BT-440C SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-445S SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-540CF SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-542B SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-542D SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-545S SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-646D SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-646S SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-742A SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-747D SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-747S SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-757C SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-757CD SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-930 FlashPoint LT SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-948 SCSI host adapter
          BusLogic BT-958 SCSI host adapter
          VMware virtual machines

PROBLEM:  SCO OpenServer Release 5 includes a version of the "blc" 
          host bus adapter driver which incorrectly enumerates PCI 
          devices when running in a multiprocessor (SMP) enviroment 
          or when running under VMware (which emulates a BusLogic 
          BT-958 SCSI host adapter).  This results in a a "no
          root disk controller found" message when the system 
          is first booted after installation.

However after installing the SMP the system is behaving exactly the same as with the mmunix (reboots in a loop) and the Uncrecoverable errors related to disk (using the new SCOs driver which installed without a single worning) are still easy to obtain.The only strange thing after installing the new blc dirver was that the system after the install-required reboot failed to boot saying that the controller is not ready. After the power-OFF and ON it worked OK and the system came up normally.Can anybody of you guys check this scenario on you machines?Any suggestions or hints?Let me (and the community) know. Best regards,Oczkov

[Ultramar]

I'm trying to install OSR507 and I have the same unrecoverable errors but during install. I was able after five tries to install completely with only one unrecoverable error.

Howeve, installing MP5 is impossible. There's too many unrecoverable errors popping up every few seconds.

I'm using SCO's BLC 3.05.1 drivers on VI3 3.0.2.

Other then that, the system operates quite normaly... but with disks error, I can't put anything production or pre-prod related.

Was someone able to get thru that hurdle?

Martin

[Ultramar]

FYI

I was able to stop these error by using an RDM instead of a VMDK.

Hope this info helps someone.

Martin

[dufflerpud]

I'm not sure if your "unrecoverable error" messages went away when you installed the recommended driver.

Do we know if these messages are benign? That is, is it actually failing or just saying it is?

I really don't want to go to rdms unless I have to.

[Layechang]

Hi Ultramar,

which RDM modle have you used? (Virtuale machine compatibility or Physical compatibilty ?)

thanks!

[Ultramar]

dufflerpud: Well, I had read errors but writes too. If it was only reads, I guess I could have ran tests to see if they could be ignored but write errors is another matter. I understand that RDM are not as easy as VMDK to manage from a storage point of view but it seems to work in this case. I wish I knew why exactly these errors come up with a VMDK and not with a RDM. It’s still the same storage, just presented in another fashion.

Layechang: Physical. But you seem to have a point there. As soon as I can, I'll try the other mode. I have a huntch that I'll get errors...

The virtualization of my SCO machines have been put on hold so I can't really tell if ultimately it will be the solution but I ran a lot of dd if=/dev/XsX of=/dev/null bs=4096 and I was not getting any more errors on any disks. Furthermore, while using VMDKs the installation and MP update was riddled with disk errors. Using RDMs, I saw absolutely no errors.

[Layechang]

Thanks Ultramar,I will do some test in this week!

[jharsem]

Heya,

I was wondering has anyone managed to migrate a fully working install of sco 5.0.7 into a VMware environment ? I am not a SCO specialist (I tend to lean to the linux side) it seems if the drive type changes to IDE (from SCSI) a lot of filesystem pointers would have to be changed ? Is such a migration feasible ?

[cron2]

Hi,

I've just done a migration of a live SCO OpenServer 3.0 into a VM, and that was a bit painful (the available buslogic SCSI driver doesn't work with VMware, the old SCO doesn't like IDE disks bigger tha 8 Gbyte, and I'm not sure whether I'll ever get X11 to work).

OSR 5.0.x should be fairly straightforward:

1. create a VM that has the same sort of disks as the "life" system that you are going to migrate (IDE or SCSI, if SCSI choose "buslogic")

2. install OSR 5.0.x according to the instruction found here

3. add a second disk, same size as the disk you use in your existing installation (# mkdev hd)

4. copy over your existing installation (via "dd | rcmd ... dd" - this requires exactly the same geometry. If you want to adjust file system sizes etc., copy via "rsync", and make the new disk bootable with /etc/instbb)

4a. if you have IDE disks, that's about it

4b. if you have SCSI disks, and the original system does not have a BusLogic adapter, you need to install the blc driver now -&gt; in your VM, mount the root partition of the newly copied disk to /mnt, chroot to /mnt, install the blc driver, and edit /etc/conf/cf.d/mscsi, replace the old driver type (alad, bhba, gdth, ... with "blc"), build a and install a new kernel (inside the chroot environment, on the

5. shutdown this VM

6. set up a new VM that has the newly-created disk (secondary disk of the "original" VM) as single disk

7. boot, be happy

8. run "netconfig" to tell the system that you have a new network card (AMD PCnet-PCI), run "mkdev graphics" to adjust the video mode (this is similar to what needs to be done to a fresh install)

Well. Re-reading this, it is straightforward if you know your way around SCO Unix and commands like "dd if=/dev/hd00" don't scare you - otherwise it's indeed a bit hairy. But it can be done. The trick is to use a fresh installation that will be able to boot and access the copied-over disk, to fiddle with that installation as long as it takes to get it to boot.

Have fun,

gert

[Thorsten_Schnei]

Hi Gert,

I'm currently migrating SCO OpenServer 5.0.7 to ESX 3.5 and followed your guidelines. However, when booting the new VM I get this error message:

PANIC : srmountfun - Error 22 mounting rootdev hd (1/42)

Cannot dump 65423 pages to dumpdev hd (1/41) Space for only 0 pages."

I've doublechecked all of the steps and the proper driver shows up in the info section just above the error. So it picked the correct driver. Also the file mscsi has been changed and the kernel rebuilt.

Do you have any hints how to get it working ?

Thanks in advance

Thorsten

[rossco4434]

1. Use VMware-convertercd-3.0.3-89816.zip to convert. We had an IDE server.

2. During the cloning make sure you select exact size, otherwise it won't boot.

2. Remove the SCSI & Controller disk from the VM via vSphere client

3. Edit the VMDK so it says IDE instead of Buslogic

4. Boot.

5. Netconfig in the new netcard

6. Finish.