KVM Boot Disk selection doesn't seem to work

As long as a CD image is attached to the system, it boots from the CD, regardless of the setting of the boot device selection. Detaching the CD image from the system allows it to boot normally.

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Did you change the boot order at System State -> Change Boot Method? You'd need to select "Hard disk" mode to prevent booting from CD ..

Joe's picture
Submitted by Joe on Sat, 06/18/2011 - 14:45 Pro Licensee

That's what I'm talking about. It's set to hard disk...and still boots from CD. That option seems to be completely ignored.

Worse, I just noticed that when rebooting the server, it always has the -boot d parameter and the CD configured, even if the CD has been removed from the configuration. So, it seems that the start on system boot configuration is coming from the settings during image creation rather than what is actually in the UI.

I'll send you auth details for the server, so you can poke at it.

Joe's picture
Submitted by Joe on Sat, 06/18/2011 - 14:51 Pro Licensee

Oh, here's the ps output of what's currently running:

root 2052 0.0 0.0 127848 3652 ? S Jun17 0:00 /usr/bin/perl /usr/bin/pty.pl --sleep 2 /usr/libexec/qemu-kvm -name sl6.cloud.virtualmin.com -m 8192 -drive file=/kvm/sl6.cloud.virtualmin.com.img,media=disk,index=0,if=virtio,boot=on -drive file=/root/iso/SL-60-x86_64-2011-03-03-boot.iso,media=cdrom,index=1,if=ide -boot d -net tap,vlan=0,script=/kvm/sl6.cloud.virtualmin.com-eth0.sh -net nic,vlan=0,macaddr=02:54:00:5D:25:3C -vnc :2,password -monitor stdio root 2054 0.0 0.0 127848 3656 ? S Jun17 0:00 /usr/bin/perl /usr/bin/pty.pl --sleep 2 /usr/libexec/qemu-kvm -name ns.cloud.virtualmin.com -m 1024 -drive file=/kvm/ns.cloud.virtualmin.com.img,media=disk,index=0,if=virtio,boot=on -drive file=/root/iso/SL-60-x86_64-2011-03-03-boot.iso,media=cdrom,index=1,if=ide -boot d -net tap,vlan=0,script=/kvm/ns.cloud.virtualmin.com-eth0.sh -net nic,vlan=0,macaddr=02:54:00:7E:89:AC -vnc :4,password -monitor stdio

Note that both sl6 and ns have the -boot d parameter, and an ISO specified...even though the UI says no CD is configured and the boot priority is set to hard disk. (Rebooting them in the UI will, I think cause the boot to work correctly...but the boot order selection doesn't work, and only disabling the CD ISO mounting in the Resources page allows it to boot.)

I just shut down and then re-started that VM, and the boot flag was updated OK and the CD removed. Unfortunately with KVM you need a reboot to apply these kinds of changes ... the UI should tell you that after you change the boot device though.