Unable to install Linux VM

[rosede]

Hello. I am a TrueNAS newbie, running v13.0-U6.1 on a Dell R520 server.

I am trying to setup some linux virtual machines. I've tried Ubuntu 22.04 and Rocky 9.2.

Ubuntu install's, but once installed, I can't do anything with it. I can get to it via the console, but after entering my credentials, I can't click on anything, nor use the keyboard. The mouse pointer looks like a small x, however, I do see a mouse pointer in the lower right corner. I don't see any settings that are useful. I can't SSH to it nor can I RDP to it. It seems as if it's not fully up.

Rocky won't even install. The installation gets to "Starting Terminate Plymouth Boot Screen....." and then hangs and goes to black screen.

Are there logs somewhere that I can review? Or is there something that I'm missing when installing these machines?

Thanks

Daryl

 

[rosede]

I don't see any comments yet. Am I the only one who has problems installing virtual machines? I can't install ANY virtual machine. I've tried Ubuntu 22, Rocky Linux 9.2 as well as a Windows 10. Am I missing something? Am I missing a setting somewhere? The documentation is very minimal and doesn't really provide much direction.

Thanks

 

[beagle]

This demo is for Bluefin, but the steps should be very similar for Cobia:

TrueNAS Scale Virtualization Features and How To Get Started Building VM's

https://lawrence.video/truenasVM Bridge Forum Posthttps://www.truenas.com/community/threads/accessing-nas-from-vm-still-broken-without-bridge.106033/post-729...

www.youtube.com

 

[rosede]

This demo is for Bluefin, but the steps should be very similar for Corbia:

TrueNAS Scale Virtualization Features and How To Get Started Building VM's

https://lawrence.video/truenasVM Bridge Forum Posthttps://www.truenas.com/community/threads/accessing-nas-from-vm-still-broken-without-bridge.106033/post-729...

www.youtube.com

Thank you for this, but I don't see a lot of the options that this guy shows. The first is the display type. I don't have that option when I install a virtual machine. I don't see any of the CPU options that he show's. I only have the choice of number of CPU's, core's and threads. Nothing else. No CPU Model, or any other options. I don't have any GPU options, nor additional driver options. The only device that I have is CDROM. This guy show's a list of devices.

You said this video is for BluFin and I must be using Cobra. Is Cobra limited in option?

Thanks

 

[rosede]

I'm using Core. Should I be using Scale in order to have Virtualization?

Thanks

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I run a lot of Linux VMs on TN CORE and they all work reliably. The difference is that all of them are Ubuntu or Debian server without a graphical desktop. Administration is done via SSH and they exist to host applications like Confluence or TrueCommand.

VNC in general and the web implementation in CORE are fundamentally unsuitable for production use of a graphical user environment. What is your use case for installing a desktop distribution on CORE?

If you need a desktop Linux system in parallel to your Windows or Mac work environment (just guessing) you will have a much better experience virtualising on your desktop machine with VMware player, VirtualBox and the like.

If you want to run Linux based server applications on CORE, you don't need a graphical desktop. Pick a server distribution. Right after installation configure a serial console in the guest and delete the VNC device.

HTH,
Patrick

 

[asap2go]

Rocky won't even install. The installation gets to "Starting Terminate Plymouth Boot Screen....." and then hangs and goes to black screen.

Are there logs somewhere that I can review? Or is there something that I'm missing when installing these machines?

Thanks

Daryl

I had a similar issue once where BHyve didn't know where to find GRUB so some Linux distros wouldn't boot without telling it where to look.
Maybe @Patrick M. Hausen can help with that as he is quite familiar with bhyve and I sadly don't remember how to do that anymore.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I had a similar issue once where BHyve didn't know where to find GRUB so some Linux distros wouldn't boot without telling it where to look.
Maybe @Patrick M. Hausen can help with that as he is quite familiar with bhyve and I sadly don't remember how to do that anymore.

Bhyve does not save EFI variables across boots and the standard EFI boot mechanism relies on some BIOS to save the location of the default boot loader. EFI boot partitions are FAT32 with a directory per OS and a boot loader for that OS in this folder.

E.g. \efi\freebsd\loader.efi or \efi\debian\grubx64.efi

So the BIOS also serves as a boot manager and you can install multiple OSes and pick them in the setup menu or the boot selector that you get with hitting e.g. F11 (on Supermicro boards).

Bhyve doesn't implement that so what it does instead is boot from the fallback location \efi\boot\bootx64.efi, which by the standard is reserved for removable media. But bhyve is not alone, most EFI BIOS implementation will happily boot from that location if a boot loader is present there.

So the solution is simple:

Create the directory \efi\boot inside your EFI partition and copy the boot loader of your distribution to \efi\boot\bootx64.efi.

Alternatively install rEFInd in that location which is an EFI boot manager which will in turn chain load the boot loader of your distribution.

 

[rosede]

When it comes to the Linux installations, I don't need, nor do I normally install a GUI. I am very comfortable in CLI. This was my first time trying to install a virtual, so I just took the defaults. However, I would like to virtualize a Windows desktop. There are a few apps that I run that are not supported in Linux, so I have to run them in Windows. I attempted a Win10 install. I don't remember exactly what happened, but it did not install either.

I'll retry the ubuntu install without GUI and update the outcome.

Thanks

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 installed without a hitch here. We should compare settings.

 

[rosede]

So the solution is simple:

Create the directory \efi\boot inside your EFI partition and copy the boot loader of your distribution to \efi\boot\bootx64.efi.

chatting with a co-worker, who had similar issues when installing linux, he mentioned having to do similar, but couldn't remember details.

I've read your comments several times and I'm not sure I understand where to put the boot loader. Do I create a directory in the pool? Is there documentation that you can point me to that I can follow to set this up?

Thanks

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Do I create a directory in the pool?

No, in the EFI partition inside the guest. Boot from the install media as a virtual CD to a rescue environment or drop to a shell while the VM is still running right after installation. Or use the EFI shell.

All of this happens inside the guest. The details vary with the specific guest operating system.

 

[rosede]

No, in the EFI partition inside the guest. Boot from the install media as a virtual CD to a rescue environment or drop to a shell while the VM is still running right after installation. Or use the EFI shell.

All of this happens inside the guest. The details vary with the specific guest operating system.

I reviewed this thread

[HOWTO] How-to Boot Linux VMs using UEFI

There have been a number of threads were people have failed to boot a Linux VM after the installation phase using the webUI of FreeNAS 11 nightly, finding themselves stuck in the EFI shell and not knowing how to proceed nor how to avoid this happening each time their VM is started. It has been...

www.truenas.com

I really don't think this issue is the the truenas not remembering with the boot file is located. Ubuntu boots and reboots, which indicates that the boot files are in place and are correct. The issue that I have with Ubuntu is, after initial install and reboot, the gui comes up in the noVNC window, but the mouse and keyboard are very limited. The mouse pointer is down in the lower right hand corner, but when I move the mouse I do see a small "x". However, I can't click on anything with the "x". I can enter the password with the keyboard, but after that, nothing.

Rocky just doesn't install. Rocky starts to boot the installation media, then hangs. Again, this has nothing to do with the boot partition or truenas not being able to find the boot partition.

I'm guessing its TrueNAS. Is it that I need scale to be able to do virtualization? I should have to install Ubuntu server to be able to get this to work.

Thanks

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I was simply answering this question by @asap2go - no idea about your problems, sorry.

 

[rosede]

I was simply answering this question by @asap2go - no idea about your problems, sorry.

Oh, sorry. My misunderstanding.

Thank you for your help and suggestions.