In this article I am documenting the process for installing the Hyper-V Integration Components (v2) within a  Oracle Enterprise Linux 5.3 VM. My environment consists of x64 VMs, I have not taken the time to test this process for x86 VMs, however it should hold true, as long as you update the package names to reflect the appropriate architecture.

In my testing I have found that the current versions (v1 and v2) do not work with linux kernels 2.6.20 or newer (with some exceptions for v2), which means in order to use the ICs you will need to have 2.6.19 or older. Oracle Enterprise Linux 5.3 included the Linux 2.6.18-128 kernel.

Now before we get started you need to deploy a new VM with Oracle Enterprise Linux installed. Please do not attempt to follow these instructions on a production machine, do it in test until you are comfortable with the process, then do it in prod.

STEP 1 – Verify Your Kernel

Login as root

Verify the kernel is older than 2.6.20

uname –a

STEP 2 – Install Pre-Requisites and Pre-Stage Files for Linux Integration Components

Login as root

Configure Oracle Enterprise Linux to use the Public Yum Server.

cd /etc/yum.repos.d

wget http://public-yum.oracle.com/public-yum-el5.repo

nano /etc/yum.repos.d/public-yum-el5.repo

Update the section labeled [el5_u3_base] to reflect enabled=1

Install Prerequisites

yum install kernel-devel gcc

Prestage Integration Components files (make sure you mounted the LIC iso as a CD drive on the VM)

mkdir /opt/linux_ic

Copy files from cd

cp -R /media/CDROM/* /opt/linux_ic/

cd /opt/linux_ic

STEP 3 – Install the Linux Integration Components

Execute installation script

cd /opt/linux_ic

./setup drivers

STEP 4 – Configure Networking to Use Synthetic Devices

Copy configuration to new interface names

cp /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-seth0

Edit the script to change the device name from eth0 to seth0

nano /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-seth0

Shutdown the VM

shutdown –h now

Configure the VM Properties to use the Synthetic Devices

That is it.  You have now completed the installation of the Linux Integration Components for Hyper-V on Oracle Enterprise Linux.  This will allow you to use the much more performant drivers of the synthetic storage and network systems provided by VMBUS.

Oracle Enterprise Linux:  http://edelivery.oracle.com/linux

Oracle Public Yum Repository Config File:  http://public-yum.oracle.com/public-yum-el5.repo

Linux Integration Components v2 RC2:  https://connect.microsoft.com/SelfNomination.aspx?ProgramID=1863&pageType=1&SiteID=495