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guide: add instructions for running linux direct#2875

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mattkur wants to merge 4 commits intomicrosoft:mainfrom
mattkur:guide-run-direct
Open

guide: add instructions for running linux direct#2875
mattkur wants to merge 4 commits intomicrosoft:mainfrom
mattkur:guide-run-direct

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@mattkur
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@mattkur mattkur commented Mar 3, 2026

Like #2874, but for linux direct.

It took me a few minutes to figure out something that should be in the guide. So, add it.

@mattkur mattkur requested a review from a team as a code owner March 3, 2026 06:30
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 3, 2026 06:30
@github-actions github-actions bot added the Guide label Mar 3, 2026
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Pull request overview

This PR adds documentation to the OpenVMM guide showing how to run OpenHCL in Linux direct boot mode from a locally built test IGVM, similar to PR #2874 which added instructions for specifying a UEFI firmware file.

Changes:

  • Adds a new "OpenHCL, via Linux Direct Boot" section in Guide/src/user_guide/openvmm/run.md with a build command, a PowerShell run command, and an admonish warning about the necessity of serial terminals when using rdinit=/bin/sh.

mattkur and others added 2 commits March 3, 2026 11:32
Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
```

```admonish warning
Serial terminals **must** be configured when using Linux direct boot with
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is this true? i don't do this locally IIRC. if you remove the -c line for specifying the command line do you still need this?

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Perhaps I made an incorrect jump. It is true that, on my machine, specifying terminals is enough to go from reboot loop -> no reboot loop.

This command also shows VTL0 in a reboot loop:

PS Q:\win-vmm-tests> .\openvmm.exe `
>>     --hv `
>>     --vtl2 `
>>     --igvm openhcl-x64-test-linux-direct.bin `
>>     --com3 "term,name=VTL2 OpenHCL" `
>>     -m 2GB `
>>     --vtl2-vsock-path $env:temp\ohcldiag-dev

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i suspect you need at minimum a terminal for VTL0, so --com1 or some kind of terminal configured is enough?

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github-actions bot commented Mar 3, 2026

inside VTL2. This is the same configuration used by the `openhcl_linux_direct_x64`
integration tests.

First, build the test artifacts from Linux or WSL using `vmm-tests --build-only`.
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You don't need everything to be built, you can get the igvm bin directly with just xflowey build-igvm

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Sure, but this example is about running on Windows. You need to build openvmm.exe somewhere. This is simpler than coordingating mulitple build steps in one or more git clones. I'll make a note here.

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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 1 out of 1 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

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4 participants