Public bug reported: kvm/qemu doesn't enable ballooning by default anymore (the man page still claims that ballooning is enabled by default) . There is no easy way to enable it with libvirt.
libvirt should add "-balloon virtio" to the qemu command line by default or provide a way to modify the setting. virsh dominfo domain should show the original qemu error message "The balloon device has not been activated by the guest", but it hides it. I found out the reason for the ballooning problem by starting kvm from the command line and switching to the monitor console and by entering "info balloon" testing kvm/qemu behaviour: kvm -cdrom ubuntu-10.04-server-amd64.iso (CTRL-ALT 2 , enter: "info balloon"-> shows error message: The balloon device has not been activated by the guest ) "info balloon" shows successfull balloon info after adding "-balloon virtio" to the command line. kvm -cdrom ubuntu-10.04-server-amd64.iso -balloon virtio Workaround: - add a file called /usr/local/bin/kvm-balloon : #!/bin/sh /usr/bin/kvm -balloon virtio $@ - modify /etc/libvirt/qemu/domain.xml (virsh edit domain) , replace /usr/bin/kvm with /usr/local/bin/kvm-balloon - poweroff and restart the VM (reboot isn't enough) In the VM, the virtio_balloon module has to be loaded: modprobe virtio_balloon (to persistent after reboot: echo virtio_balloon >> /etc/modules) ** Affects: libvirt (Ubuntu) Importance: Undecided Status: New ** Tags: balloon freemem kvm mem setmem virsh virtio -- kvm memory ballooning is unusable in Lucid https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/579723 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Server Team, which is subscribed to libvirt in ubuntu. -- Ubuntu-server-bugs mailing list Ubuntu-server-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-server-bugs