On Mon, 10 May 2010, Stefan Berger wrote:
kashyapv@linux.vnet.ibm.com wrote on 05/10/2010 03:30:10 AM:
<cut...>
VSI Manager ID 1 octet VSI Type ID 3 octets VSI Type ID Version 1 octet VSI Instance ID 16 octets <-- taken care of via dimdecode
The 'VSI Instance ID' is associated with a virtual interface. Therefore, a guest might have multiple VSI-instance IDs - each associated with a
separate
virtual NIC.
Alright, then this becomes the 3rd UUID (besides guest and host UUID that Scott seems to want) to initiate the setup protocol with the switch. So the list of parameters above is necessary to be provided from the 'outside'.
Yes.
I am wondering what the first three parameters are related to. Do they reflect specifics of a particular attached switch ? Should this information migrate
Yes, these are keys to the database that the switch consults to impose the profiles (filter rules, qos etc.). The 'VSI Mgr Id' is the specific database, and VSI_type_ID is the specific profile to be applied. It is expected that the fabric management entity may create different versions of the profiles. Therefore, the version may be used in retrieving the exact profile to be applied. The KVM host is really telling the switch the parameters to the actual profile to be retrieved and associated to a particular virtual network interface (mac/vlan) instance.
with a VM to another switch and possibly cause the setup protocol to fail because that switch requires a different manager, type or type version ID for example?
The switch will, using other link level protocols, access the database and download the profile. The switch is not tied to the database but is only told which database to download the profiles from. Vivek
Not that this would then make things easier at all (to code), but at least it would provide a correct long term solution if this information actually did not go into VM metadata but was a host's local switch configuration data that could be different for every attached Ethernet interface. This information would have to then go into some local configuration file that libvirt can read when needed.
Stefan