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SME 7.0 VM and Time

Offline Neririn

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SME 7.0 VM and Time
« on: May 22, 2006, 06:46:58 PM »
I made reference to this issue in an earlier post,
Quote
http:// http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=32138.msg135574#msg135574
but decided that it might do well to have it's own post.

Does anyone know how to best configure SME to keep time as a VM?  I have tried running a ntpdate command via cron every 5 min, but when ntpd is running it conflicts, and even if I stop ntpd it starts again eventually and my time deteriorates.  Is there a 'best practices' to resolve this?  As one can see from the other post, I have tried to install vmware-tools to sync with the host.  (issues abound).  I have tried Cron, i've tried geting ntpd to sync more frequently.  None seem to have been effective for long.

Any help will be GREATLY Appreciated.

Neru
......

Offline sonoracomm

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SME 7.0 VM and Time
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2006, 07:53:13 PM »
Be advised that I'm still evaluating VMware Server for production environments.  However, this is what seems to fix the time issue.  If there is a better way, please let me know.

Scenario: Centos 4.3 Server with VMware Serer Beta 3 installed - SME 7.0rc1 (testing rc2 now) as guest.

Configure host OS for NTP timekeeping

Configure guest OS for NO NTP timekeeping

Install VMware Tools RPM:

At VMware Console, click VM->Install VMware Tools

At SME host console, enter:

mount /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom
rpm -Uvh /media/cdrom/VMwareTools-*.i386.rpm

If you have a problem with the next step, rem out the pcnet32 module from the /etc/modprobe.conf file and reboot the VM first.
vmware-config-tools.pl

Follow the instructions to implement the vmxnet driver as displayed.

Start VMware Tools at the SME console:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/vmware-tools start

Make tools start on boot
ln -s /etc/rc.d/init.d/vmware-tools /etc/rc7.d/S19vmware-tools

Edit /boot/grub/grub.conf
add 'clock=pit' to appropriate kernel line

Shut down the SME 7 VM

Edit /var/lib/vmware/<vm name>/<vm name>.vmx
change tools.syncTime = "TRUE"

Restart VM

Offline mmccarn

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SME 7.0 VM and Time
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2006, 03:32:33 AM »
I have (tentatively) solved this problem without installing the VMWare Tools as follows:

1. Modify /boot/grub/grub.conf according to these instructions from vmware.

I chose to add the following to the end of all of the "kernel" lines in grub.conf:

  clock=pmtmr nosmp noapic nolapic

2. Create a template fragment to prevent any reference to the misbehaving virtual hardware clock provided by VMWare:

# mkdir -p /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/ntp.conf
# echo \# Disable the local hardware clock > /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/etc/ntp.conf/10localhost


3. Setup ntpd to use the north american "pool" servers:
# config setprop ntpd NTPServer north-america.pool.ntp.org

(note: I actually used "config setprop ntpd NTPServer "north-america.pool.ntp.org minpoll 4 maxpoll 8", but only to see how expand-template would handle the "minpoll...." part...)

4. Expand the template and reboot to allow the kernel clock options to kick in:
# expand-template /etc/ntp.conf
# signal-event reboot


I'll be back in a few days to report how this worked.

Offline mmccarn

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SME 7.0 VM and Time
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2006, 12:51:06 PM »
So far so good - 12 hours after making the changes above my clock is still doing well.

Code: [Select]
# ntpq -pn
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
+192.52.107.241  139.165.26.0     4 u  140  256  377  104.728   14.736  14.256
+205.166.121.66  132.239.1.6      2 u   87  256  377   77.234   17.011  37.068
*198.144.194.12  131.243.64.11    2 u  210  256  377   75.613   10.522  22.949


I'm still synchronized with a time server, and my "jitter" is less than 50 milliseconds...

Offline mmccarn

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SME 7.0 VM and Time
« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2006, 01:44:43 PM »
Still looks good.
Code: [Select]
# ntpq -pn
     remote           refid      st t when poll reach   delay   offset  jitter
==============================================================================
+192.52.107.241  11.224.206.11    3 u  116  256  377  103.783  -23.869  30.908
*199.103.21.227  192.43.244.18    2 u  230  256  377   15.659   22.545  22.193
+201.137.20.1    200.23.51.205    2 u    6  256  377  112.853   10.149  33.306

Offline mmccarn

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SME 7.0 VM and Time
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2006, 11:11:28 PM »
My first system, configured with
# config setprop ntpd NTPServer "north-america.pool.ntp.org minpoll 4 maxpoll 8"
is still working fine.

I setup another system using only
# config setprop ntpd NTPServer "north-america.pool.ntp.org"
but it keeps losing track of the time servers.  

However, the first server is running on VMWare on Windows 2003 Standard, and the second is running on VMWare on Windows XP...

I've reconfigured the WinXP hosted system with "minpoll 4 maxpool 8" to see if it works any better.

Offline BartManInNZ

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SME 7.0 VM and Time
« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2006, 11:04:49 PM »
Some more information can be found here oddly enough:
KB Article describing the use of clock=pit.

Offline sonoracomm

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SME 7.0 VM and Time
« Reply #7 on: August 11, 2006, 06:30:35 AM »
Just two comments...

Using clock=pit on a SME 7rc2 VM (under a Centos 4.3 VMware Server host) caused IMAPS to fail.  And it was real fun to troubleshoot.

Supposedly (I haven't tested), the vmxnet network driver that is part of VMware-Tools has much better performance than the stock pcnet32 driver.  This may not be important in many applications, but it was for me.

G

cityexplorer

SME 7.0 VM and Time
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2006, 09:38:49 PM »
I'm running v7 release on VMWare and have the same issue..

Tried the clock=pit method but POP3S fail for connection.. Other then installing VMtools.. any solutions?

Thanks.

Quote from: "sonoracomm"
Just two comments...

Using clock=pit on a SME 7rc2 VM (under a Centos 4.3 VMware Server host) caused IMAPS to fail.  And it was real fun to troubleshoot.

Supposedly (I haven't tested), the vmxnet network driver that is part of VMware-Tools has much better performance than the stock pcnet32 driver.  This may not be important in many applications, but it was for me.

G

Offline sonoracomm

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SME 7.0 VM and Time
« Reply #9 on: October 30, 2006, 02:47:15 AM »
I wrote this howto mostly for my own benefit:

http://www.sonoracomm.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=54&Itemid=32

Also, a quick search of the forums ''vmware clock' turns up this:

http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=32113.0

G