Kaitlin,
Thanks for the correction. It seems were trying to use these
Medlyn, Dayne (VSL - Ft Collins) wrote: properties correctly and there is something just not right. Using the same wbemcli command I get:
-SystemCreationClassName="Xen_ComputerSystem" -SystemName="Domain-0" -CreationClassName="Xen_Memory" -DeviceID="Domain-0/mem"
-ConsumableBlocks=1717760 -NumberOfBlocks=4294967040 -BlockSize=4096
Yes, that's definitely a bug. The values for ConsumableBlocks and NumberOfBlocks should be swapped. I'd hoped to have a bugfix out today, but it looks like it'll be tomorrow.
I think there is something else going on here. As far as I can tell the numbers are not swapped. Here is what I think is going on. The NumberOfBlock x BlockSize equates to about 16TB (not what my system has - my system only has 8GB). If you look at virsh dominfo Domain-0 on my box I get: Max memory: no limit Used memory: 6595584 kB If NumberOfBlocks is MaxInt (of some sort) than this would make some sort of sense and ConsumableBlocks contains the correct value. It is a little bit misleading since processes in Dom0 take memory away from what can be allocated to a DomU. This is evident from this /proc/meminfo snippet: MemTotal: 6595584 kB MemFree: 5940684 kB Buffers: 16112 kB Cached: 264716 kB SwapCached: 0 kB Active: 138332 kB Inactive: 216032 kB SwapTotal: 2626544 kB SwapFree: 2626544 kB Dirty: 436 kB ... VmallocTotal: 34359738367 kB VmallocUsed: 267184 kB VmallocChunk: 34359470859 kB DirectMap4k: 8066284 kB DirectMap2M: 0 kB The current WBEM values: -ConsumableBlocks=1648896 -NumberOfBlocks=4294967040 -BlockSize=4096 Currently, on this system ConsumableBlocks represent MemTotal or the current memory allocated to the guest, even though it is not completely accurately representing the free memory on Dom0 that is available to new DomUs. The issue is that between version 0.4.1 and 0.5.2 NumberOfBlocks for a Dom0 changed to be MaxInt. It used to match ConsumableBlocks. I don't think there is an issue and I can work with this now that I understand it. As you point out below, I am probably not going to be able to get the information I want out of Xen_MemoryPool. Thanks for your help and insight. Dayne
One difference I did notice is that we are trying to use these values
from Dom0 to determine the amount of available memory for guests to use. Perhaps for Dom0 these values just map differently.
My objective is to identify how much memory is available on the
hypervisor that can be allocated to new guests. Looking more closely, I wonder if we should be using Xen_MemoryPool somehow to do this instead. What is the relationship between the Capacity and Reserved properties? I have not quite been able to make sense out of what these values mean. What I have noticed is that a host with no defined guests starts with Reserved smaller than Capacity:
-PoolID="MemoryPool/0" -Primordial=FALSE -Capacity=8385536 -Reserved=8064748 -ResourceType=4 -OtherResourceType= -ResourceSubType= -AllocationUnits="KiloBytes"
As guests are create and start the Reserved count increases and grows
beyond the capacity. I am not quite sure how to make use of this information. Do you have any insights?
The Capacity value is the memory value libvirt reports for the host (you'd also get this value if you use: virsh nodeinfo).
The Reserved value is the some of all the memory that is currently allocated to the guests on the system (as reported by libvirt). This includes guests that aren't running, which is why you are seeing the value grow beyond capacity.
We don't represent the host capabilities, but in the case of Xen, you can get around that by pulling some things from Dom0.
However, using Dom0's attribute may not give you the full picture you're looking for. I would suggest taking a look at a provider set that represents the host information. Something like the sblim-base providers should this info.
Dayne
-----Original Message----- From: libvirt-cim-bounces@redhat.com [mailto:libvirt-cim- bounces@redhat.com] On Behalf Of Kaitlin Rupert Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:10 PM To: List for discussion and development of libvirt CIM Subject: Re: [Libvirt-cim] What does NumberOfBlocks and ConsumableBlocks in theXen_Memory class represent?
Medlyn, Dayne (VSL - Ft Collins) wrote:
All,
I am trying to understand the use of NumberOfBlocks and ConsumableBlocks in the Xen_Memory class, specifically for the Xen host. What I have noticed is that between libvirt-cim-0.4.1 and libvirt- cim-0.5.2 the values for NumberOfBlock is now different than ConsumableBlocks and much larger than the physical memory installed on the system. Is it the case that NumberOfBlocks represents the maximum possible blocks for the hardware, or some such number ConsumableBlocks is the memory that is actually installed in the system? On my system, however, NumberOfBlocks reports 16TB where /proc/meminfo reports 32Tb for VmallocTotal. In short, should I be using ConsumableBlocks to determine the total physical memory on the
system?
Hi Dayne,
It looks like there is a bug here. Currently, the providers use the following representation:
NumberOfBlocks: max amount of memory that can be allocated to a
guest
ConsumableBlocks: current memory allocated to the guest
However, these values should be reversed based on the attribute definitions.
Here's an example using one of the guests on my system:
# virsh dominfo rstest_domainId: - Name: rstest_domain UUID: 746de06d-cb45-4efd-bc18-bf91d10bec84 State: shut off CPU(s): 1 Max memory: 131072 kB Used memory: 130048 kB Autostart: disable
We take the max and used memory values libvirt reports and then convert them based on the block size.
# wbemcli gi
'http://localhost:5988/root/virt:Xen_Memory.CreationClassName="Xen_Memo
ry",DeviceID="rstest_domain/mem",SystemCreationClassName="Xen_ComputerS
ystem",SystemName="rstest_domain"' -nl
localhost:5988/root/virt:Xen_Memory.CreationClassName="Xen_Memory",Devi
ceID="rstest_domain/mem",SystemCreationClassName="Xen_ComputerSystem",S
ystemName="rstest_domain" <snip>
-TransitioningToState=12 -SystemCreationClassName="Xen_ComputerSystem" -SystemName="rstest_domain" -CreationClassName="Xen_Memory" -DeviceID="rstest_domain/mem"
<snip>
-BlockSize=4096 -NumberOfBlocks=32768 -ConsumableBlocks=32512
<snip> -- Kaitlin Rupert IBM Linux Technology Center kaitlin@linux.vnet.ibm.com
_______________________________________________ Libvirt-cim mailing list Libvirt-cim@redhat.com https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/libvirt-cim
_______________________________________________ Libvirt-cim mailing list Libvirt-cim@redhat.com https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/libvirt-cim
-- Kaitlin Rupert IBM Linux Technology Center kaitlin@linux.vnet.ibm.com
_______________________________________________ Libvirt-cim mailing list Libvirt-cim@redhat.com https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/libvirt-cim