[fedora-virt] Schroedinger's VM

Bill Davidsen davidsen at tmr.com
Fri Apr 24 16:14:29 UTC 2009


Jerry James wrote:
> I'm still a virtualization in Fedora newbie, so forgive me if this is
> a stupid question.  Today I started a kernel compile going in a
> qemu-kvm virtual machine on one desktop, switched to another desktop,
> then left for lunch.  When I got back, I switched back to the original
> desktop to see how the compile had gone.  It was still going.  I ran
> top, which showed a short-term load of over 4 and a long-term load of
> near zero, along with 3 cc1 processes near the top of the list.  As I
> sat there puzzling over what had happened, the compile finished.
> Other compiles have finished in only a few minutes.  That near-zero
> load makes me suspect that the VM simply stopped doing anything while
> I was gone.
>
> I've done a couple of more tests now and have seen the same thing.  I
> can start a download going, switch to another desktop, wait for
> awhile, then switch back.  The download has progressed only a short
> amount past when I switched away from that desktop, and (apparently)
> abruptly resumes when I switch back to the desktop containing the VM
> window.
>
> Is this expected?  Do KVM-based VMs have to be looked at to do
> anything?  If so, is there an option somewhere along the lines of
> RunEvenWhenIAmNotLookingAtYou=true?
>   

KVM using SDL doesn't have any issues I've ever found running unwatched. 
I run a bunch of servers that way, starting in tiny windows and parked 
on an unwatched desktop. Only if I need to look at something do I go there.

-- 
bill davidsen <davidsen at tmr.com>
  CTO TMR Associates, Inc

"You are disgraced professional losers. And by the way, give us our money back."
    - Representative Earl Pomeroy,  Democrat of North Dakota
on the A.I.G. executives who were paid bonuses  after a federal bailout.





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