KVM with OEM license

KVM with OEM license

[Phil Borlin]

I have an HP Server with an OEM copy of Windows Server 2008.  When I
try to install 2008 as a guest in KVM the HP OEM check pops up and
tells me I am not using supported hardware.  It seems the OEM check is
looking for information in the BIOS of the server, but KVM is
presenting the installer with a different BIOS.

HP support told me that if I was using VMWare I would add the
parameter "SMBIOS.reflectHost = "TRUE"" and then it would work.  Is
there a similar solution under KVM?  Is there a particular version of
KVM that I need to be running to get this feature?

Thanks for your help,
Phil

Re: KVM with OEM license

[Gleb Natapov]

On Sat, Mar 06, 2010 at 04:43:10PM -0700, Phil Borlin wrote:
> I have an HP Server with an OEM copy of Windows Server 2008.  When I
> try to install 2008 as a guest in KVM the HP OEM check pops up and
> tells me I am not using supported hardware.  It seems the OEM check is
> looking for information in the BIOS of the server, but KVM is
> presenting the installer with a different BIOS.
> 
> HP support told me that if I was using VMWare I would add the
> parameter "SMBIOS.reflectHost = "TRUE"" and then it would work.  Is
> there a similar solution under KVM?  Is there a particular version of
> KVM that I need to be running to get this feature?
> 
You can dump SLIC table of your host bios and provide it to guest bios
using -acpitable parameter. But you are trying to violate MS licence
here.
 
--
			Gleb.

Re: KVM with OEM license

[Jernej Simončič]

On Sunday, March 7, 2010, 7:31:42, Gleb Natapov wrote:

> You can dump SLIC table of your host bios and provide it to guest bios
> using -acpitable parameter. But you are trying to violate MS licence
> here.

Windows 2008 actually allows one physical and one virtual installation
(for the Standard server - Advanced allows 4 virtuals) even with
OEM/DSP installs (but they have to be on the same machine), however HP
limits their install DVDs to HP hardware, which causes problems with
VMs. One workaround is to use a regular (non-branded) install DVD.

-- 
< Jernej Simončič ><><><><>< http://eternallybored.org/ >

Spend sufficient time confirming the need and the need will disappear.
       -- Ed's Fifth Rule of Procrastination

Re: KVM with OEM license

[Michael Tokarev]

Gleb Natapov ?????:
> On Sat, Mar 06, 2010 at 04:43:10PM -0700, Phil Borlin wrote:
>> I have an HP Server with an OEM copy of Windows Server 2008.  When I
>> try to install 2008 as a guest in KVM the HP OEM check pops up and
>> tells me I am not using supported hardware.  It seems the OEM check is
>> looking for information in the BIOS of the server, but KVM is
>> presenting the installer with a different BIOS.
>>
>> HP support told me that if I was using VMWare I would add the
>> parameter "SMBIOS.reflectHost = "TRUE"" and then it would work.  Is
>> there a similar solution under KVM?  Is there a particular version of
>> KVM that I need to be running to get this feature?
>>
> You can dump SLIC table of your host bios and provide it to guest bios
> using -acpitable parameter. But you are trying to violate MS licence
> here.

Can you please give some more details here?  I tried this very same
thing (on my laptop, trying to run windows Vista this way - on the
same machine it was installed), but wasn't successful - booting linux
with various -acpitable options and looking at dmidecode and various
acpi things did not reveal the new tables...

Thank you!

/mjt

Re: KVM with OEM license

[Gleb Natapov]

On Sun, Mar 07, 2010 at 01:27:31PM +0300, Michael Tokarev wrote:
> Gleb Natapov ?????:
> > On Sat, Mar 06, 2010 at 04:43:10PM -0700, Phil Borlin wrote:
> >> I have an HP Server with an OEM copy of Windows Server 2008.  When I
> >> try to install 2008 as a guest in KVM the HP OEM check pops up and
> >> tells me I am not using supported hardware.  It seems the OEM check is
> >> looking for information in the BIOS of the server, but KVM is
> >> presenting the installer with a different BIOS.
> >>
> >> HP support told me that if I was using VMWare I would add the
> >> parameter "SMBIOS.reflectHost = "TRUE"" and then it would work.  Is
> >> there a similar solution under KVM?  Is there a particular version of
> >> KVM that I need to be running to get this feature?
> >>
> > You can dump SLIC table of your host bios and provide it to guest bios
> > using -acpitable parameter. But you are trying to violate MS licence
> > here.
> 
> Can you please give some more details here?  I tried this very same
> thing (on my laptop, trying to run windows Vista this way - on the
> same machine it was installed), but wasn't successful - booting linux
> with various -acpitable options and looking at dmidecode and various
> acpi things did not reveal the new tables...
> 
What details beyond what qemu -h gives you do you need? I haven't
checked this feature for a long time now, may be something is broken.

Just did:
$ echo hello > /tmp/a
$ qemu ... -acpitable data=/tmp/a

and I can see new table in acpidump & dmesg

--
			Gleb.