VM Shared Kernel Support
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Note: 11 May 2009
The VM Share Kernel Support procedure documented on this page was created a few years ago for use with an older Linux Kernel.
For documentation about NSS, see "Device Drivers, Features, and Commands" book on the developerWorks documentation page. The 'Shared kernel support' chapter describes how you can create and maintain a Linux NSS. |
If your Linux distribution supports the "VM shared kernel support" configuration option, the Linux kernel can be generated as a shareable NSS (named saved system). Once generated with this option, the system must be IPLed, stopped at location x'10000' and saved (from a class E user) with something like the following example from a 64M machine:
DEFSYS LXSHR 0-FF EW 100-2FF SR 300-4FF EW MINSIZE=64M
SAVESYS LXSHR
Once this is done, any VM user can IPL LXSHR and about 1.5M of the kernel is shared among all users. Obviously, the more Linux virtual machines running, the greater the benefit of using the shared system.
Note:
Every virtual machine that IPLs your shared
system must have the same disk configuration as the system that was
saved. That is, the disks must be at the same addresses and be the
same sizes as the virtual machine that issued the SAVESYS command.
An example of how to use VM Shared Kernel Support
Below is a sample EXEC that can be used to help you create a shared Linux NSS. Once you have generated a kernel with the "VM shared kernel support" config option and have that kernel ready to IPL from a device, the EXEC can be used as follows:
Userid Class
The VM userid that will run the EXEC should be a class E VM userid.
Storage size The userid virtual machine storage should be defined to whatever size you want as the minimum size of the virtual machine to IPL your shared system. At least 64M is recommended.
Invoking the SAVELX EXEC
SAVELX system_name device_number
- system_name
- is the name you want to give to your shared system (e.g. lxshr)
- device_number
- is the device number that you usually IPL to start your Linux system.
I system_name
Sample SAVELX EXEC
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/* SAVELX EXEC */
/* get the system name and device to ipl */
/* figure out the line end character */
/* figure out the storage size */
/* construct the defsys command */
doipl = 'i' devnum
/* all set, issue the ipl */
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