Chapter 3. Configuration Options

The simplest configuration requiring virt-who consists of one hypervisor or virtualization manager, one organization and one hypervisor technology, with the virt-who instance reporting directly to the Subscription Management Server. Since most organizations are more complex than this, the installation and configuration of virt-who can be adapted to accommodate the following variables:

  • Multiple hypervisors
  • Multiple hypervisor technologies
  • HTTP proxy

3.1. Multiple Hypervisors

A single virt-who instance can connect to multiple hypervisors and report the virtual machines hosted by each. Individual configuration files are recommended for each hypervisor or virtualization manager as it makes troubleshooting easier. For example, if you suspect a hypervisor is causing a problem, you can move that hypervisor’s configuration file to another directory, stopping virt-who from querying it and so eliminating it from the problem’s scope.

If you have multiple hypervisors, virt-who queries each in parallel. This reduces the chance of virt-who’s queries being stopped or delayed because of an unresponsive hypervisor.

3.2. Multiple Hypervisor Technologies

A single virt-who instance can connect to virtualization platforms of multiple supported technologies. Individual configuration files are recommended for each platform.

3.3. HTTP Proxy

There are several scenarios in which the presence of an HTTP proxy requires additional configuration. If your configuration matches one or more of these scenarios, you must apply the necessary configuration changes for each.

  • If there is an HTTP proxy between virt-who and the hypervisors, virt-who must be configured to take that into account.
  • If the Subscription Management Server connects to the Customer Portal via an HTTP proxy, virt-who will also attempt to use the proxy and very likely fail. For further details and a recommended resolution, see Troubleshooting.
  • If the Subscription Management Server is on the same local network as the hypervisors, the HTTP proxy must be configured to allow local network traffic to bypass it. For further details see Troubleshooting.