1.2. KVM Hypervisor Requirements

Procedure 1.1. Verifying virtualization extensions

1. Verify the CPU virtualization extensions are available

   enter the following command to verify the CPU virtualization extensions are available:

   $ grep -E 'svm|vmx' /proc/cpuinfo

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2. Analyze the output

   • The following example output contains a vmx entry, indicating an Intel processor with the Intel VT-x extension:

     flags   : fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 vmx apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36 clflush
     dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm syscall lm constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl
     vmx est tm2 cx16 xtpr lahf_lm
     

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   • The following example output contains an svm entry, indicating an AMD processor with the AMD-V extensions:

     flags   :  fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36 clflush
     mmx fxsr sse sse2 ht syscall nx mmxext svm fxsr_opt lm 3dnowext 3dnow pni cx16
     lahf_lm cmp_legacy svm cr8legacy ts fid vid ttp tm stc
     

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   If the grep -E 'svm|vmx' /proc/cpuinfo command returns any output, the processor contains the hardware virtualization extensions. In some circumstances, manufacturers disable the virtualization extensions in the BIOS. If the extensions do not appear, or full virtualization does not work, see Procedure A.3, “Enabling virtualization extensions in BIOS” for instructions on enabling the extensions in your BIOS configuration utility.

3. Ensure the KVM kernel modules are loaded

   As an additional check, verify that the kvm modules are loaded in the kernel with the following command:

   # lsmod | grep kvm

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   If the output includes kvm_intel or kvm_amd, the kvm hardware virtualization modules are loaded.