[virt-tools-list] Win2003 VMs not shuting down

[Malte Starostik]

Am Donnerstag, 30. Juni 2011, 18:37:13 schrieb Phil Meyer:
> On 06/27/2011 07:13 AM, Bruno Lamps wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I have 2 VMs with windows 2003 in production. Twice a week, I backup
> > these machines, using simple crontab commands. I do something like this:
> > 
> > 01 00 *** root virsh shutdown vm1
> > 05 00 *** root virsh destroy vm1
> > 08 00 *** root rsync vm1 path/
> > 18 00 *** root virsh start vm1
> 
> If you walk up to a physical 2k3 system when no-one is logged in to the
> console, and short press the power button, what happens?
> 
> Nothing.
> 
> If someone is logged in to the console, the short power press will be
> received and an orderly shutdown begins.
> 
> The same is true of Linux based systems with no power management
> installed.  A short power press does nothing.
> 
> That is the crux of the problem.  There is no way to 'guarantee' that
> the operating system of any given VM will respond properly to apic or
> acpi signals.  They are  'software' dependent.

Right, but if the VM is configured properly, this is not so much of a problem.  
For 2k3 and presumably also 2k8 there's a trivial fix: enable the group policy 
option "Shutdown: Allow system to be shut down without having to log on" under 
"Computer Configuration" -> "Windows Settings" -> "Security Settings" -> "Local 
Policies" -> "Security Options" and the system will react to ACPI 
shutdown/reboot requests no matter if there is someone logged on or not.

Kind regards,
Malte