RHV - Installing drivers in a Windows VM for accessing the VirtIO system disk

Resolution

The resolution will vary slightly depending on what versions you are using.

Prerequisites for All Red Hat Virtualization (3.x/4.x) versions:

1. Install the virtio-win package on the RHV-M/RHEV-M system:

   yum install virtio-win
   

2. Create an ISO domain (if you haven't already):
   a. Documentation for configuring an NFS export
   b. Documentation for attaching NFS storage in RH(E)V

Important Notes

• The latest versions of RHEL have built-in support for VirtIO, so if you're installing RHEL as guest OS this is not needed.

Red Hat Virtualization 4.X:

Be aware that the package names and tool syntax has changed a bit from RHEV3:

1. To set up these you'll want to make sure the ISOs/VFDs are in the ISO Domain as seen in the documentation.

2. To upload these you can run the following command on the manager, substituting --iso-domain=ISODomain with your actual ISO domain name:

   # engine-iso-uploader --iso-domain=ISODomain upload /usr/share/virtio-win/virtio-win.iso /usr/share/virtio-win/virtio-win_x86.vfd /usr/share/virtio-win/virtio-win_amd64.vfd /usr/share/rhv-guest-tools-iso/rhv-tools-setup.iso
   

Red Hat Virtualization 3.x:

1. Locate the virtio-win packages and upload the *.vfd and *.iso files to the ISO storage domain using the ISO uploader utility:

   rhevm-iso-uploader --iso-domain=nameOFdomain upload /usr/share/virtio-win/*.vfd
   rhevm-iso-uploader --iso-domain=nameOFdomain upload /usr/share/virtio-win/*.iso
   

Installing Windows

1. Create a new VM with a VirtIO disk interface (instead of IDE).

2. When the Windows VM is created, attach virtio-win-xxxx.vfd as a floppy, using the Run once menu (Remember to also boot from the Windows Installation ISO using "Attach CD"). (use "VirtIO Win amd64 VFD" for 64-bit architecture and "VirtIO Win x86 VFD" for 32-bit architecture.)

   

   • NOTE: For deploying a large number of VirtIO-based VMs, a better solution would be to slipstream the VirtIO_blk driver into the Windows distribution ISO file. This is possible using nLite software or the tools Microsoft provides for driver slipstreaming.

3. Proceed according to the version of Windows used:

   • Windows Server 2016:
     • When Windows prompts for the driver, click on "Load Driver", point the installer to drive A: and pick the SCSI controller driver for Windows Server 2016
   • Windows Server 2012 R2 / Windows Server 2012:
     • When Windows prompts for the driver, click on "Load Driver", point the installer to drive A: and pick the SCSI controller driver for Windows Server 2012 R2/Windows Server 2012.
   • Windows 2008 R2:
     • Choose the AMD64 drivers.
     • There is a known issue where the automatic driver scanning in Windows fails to detect the correct driver. The workaround is to select the driver manually similar to the process listed below for Windows 7.

   • Windows 2008:

     • When Windows prompts for the driver, click on "Load Driver", point the installer to drive A: and pick the driver that suits the OS (32-bit use x86 drivers, 64-bit use AMD64 drivers)

   • Windows 10:

     • When Windows prompts for the driver, click on "Load Driver", point the installer to drive A: and pick the SCSI controller driver for Windows 10.
   • Windows 8:
     • When Windows prompts for the driver, click on "Load Driver", point the installer to drive A: and pick the SCSI controller driver for Windows 8.
   • Windows 7:
     • When Windows prompts for the driver, click on "Load Driver", point the installer to drive A: and pick the SCSI controller driver for Windows 7.