Pre-installation Checklist

Check that your CPU supports hardware virtualization

To run Arclight, you need a processor that supports hardware virtualization. Intel and AMD both have developed extensions for their processors, deemed respectively Intel VT-x (code name Vanderpool) and AMD-V (code name Pacifica). To see if your processor supports one of these, you can review the output from this command: 

egrep -c '(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo

    If 0 it means that your CPU doesn't support hardware virtualization.

    If 1 or more it does - but you still need to make sure that virtualization is enabled in the BIOS.

Alternatively, you may execute:

kvm-ok

which may provide an output like this:

INFO: /dev/kvm exists KVM acceleration can be used

Use a 64 bit kernel (if possible)

Running a 64 bit kernel on the host operating system is recommended but not required.

    1. To serve more than 2GB of RAM for your VMs, you must use a 64-bit kernel. On a 32-bit kernel install, you'll be limited to 2GB RAM at maximum for a given VM.

    2. Also, a 64-bit system can host both 32-bit and 64-bit guests. A 32-bit system can only host 32-bit guests.

To see if your processor is 64-bit, you can run this command:

egrep -c ' lm ' /proc/cpuinfo

    If 0 is printed, it means that your CPU is not 64-bit.

    If 1 or higher, it is. Note: lm stands for Long Mode which equates to a 64-bit CPU.

Now see if your running kernel is 64-bit, just issue the following command: 

uname -m

x86_64 indicates a running 64-bit kernel. If you use see i386, i486, i586 or i686, you're running a 32-bit kernel. Note: x86_64 is synonymous with amd64.