[virt-tools-list] qemu: could not load kernel - with dynamic ownership disabled

[Cole Robinson]

On 08/07/2012 02:56 PM, Shantanu Pavgi wrote:
> 
> I am getting 'qemu: could not load kernel' error while trying to create a new
> VM using virt-install or virt-manager with dynamic_ownership disabled. 
> 
> {{{
> virt-install --connect qemu:///system \
> -n $guestname \
> -r 512 \
> --vcpus=1 \
> --os-type=linux \
> --os-variant=rhel6 \
> --accelerate \
> --graphics vnc,keymap=en-us \
> -v \
> -w bridge:br1 \
> --disk path=$datastore/$guestname.img,size=40 \
> -l $repo \
> -x "ks=$ksurl/$ksfile ksdevice=eth0 ip=$guestip netmask=$netmask
> nameserver=$nameserver gateway=$gw"
> }}}
> 
> {{{
> Starting install... 
> Retrieving file .treeinfo...              |  798 B     00:00 ... 
> Retrieving file vmlinuz...                | 7.5 MB     00:00 ... 
> Retrieving file initrd.img...             |  59 MB     00:01 ... 
> Allocating 'virtinst-vmlinuz.l4mEAd'      | 3.8 MB     00:00     
> Transferring virtinst-vmlinuz.l4mEAd      | 3.8 MB     00:00     
> Allocating 'virtinst-initrd.img.IvGhFr'   |  29 MB     00:00     
> Transferring virtinst-initrd.img.IvGhFr   |  29 MB     00:05     
> Creating storage file generic-server.img  |  40 GB     00:00     
> ERROR    internal error process exited while connecting to monitor: char
> device redirected to /dev/pts/1
> qemu: could not load kernel '/var/lib/libvirt/boot/virtinst-vmlinuz.l4mEAd':
> Permission denied
> 
> Domain installation does not appear to have been successful.
> 
> }}}
> 
> System Information: CentOS 6.2 x86_64, libvirt 0.9.4, qemu-kvm
> 2:0.12.1.2-2.209.el6_2.1, virt-install 0.600.0.
> 
> The error indicates permission issues while loading the kernel image. I have
> documented related logs at: https://dev.uabgrid.uab.edu/ticket/191 . Right now
> as a workaround, I am doing OS installation by defining direct kernel boot
> option and extra kernel command-line arguments in the domain XML file. 
> 
> I had posted this question on libvirt mailing list
> <https://www.redhat.com/archives/libvirt-users/2012-February/msg00122.html> 4-5 months
> back, but I didn't have chance to follow up on the issue for a long time [1].
> I was wondering if anyone could provide help in resolving this issue. Does
> disabled dynamic ownership setting require any changes with
> '/var/lib/libvirt/boot' directory or any other changes? Any help would be
> appreciated.
> 
> 

If you disable dynamic_ownership but libvirt is still running qemu as
user=qemu (the fedora default at least), then that could explain your problem.
Either have libvirt run qemu as root (an /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf option), or
give qemu read access to /var/lib/libvirt/boot.

- Cole