VM Image and Spec Compatibility in CM-Beetle (Best Efforts)

[yunkon-kim]

This discussion shares the current status of Image-Spec compatibility support in CM-Beetle's VM recommendation system and requests honest reporting of compatibility issues when they occur.

본 Discussion은 CM-Beetle에서 VM 추천시 Image와 Spec간 호환성 지원을 위한 현황을 공유드립니다. 사전에 파악된 호환성 검증이 필요한 항목 또는 향후 발생할 VM spec과 image간 호환성 문제 등에 대해서는 편하게 Issue를 오픈해 주시기 바랍니다. 🙏

Overview

• CB-Tumblebug's Role: CB-Tumblebug naturally provides flat recommendations of available Images and Specs - this is perfectly reasonable
• CM-Beetle's Responsibility: Must recommend optimal target computing environments based on diverse source computing environment information
• Compatibility Need: CM-Beetle must support minimum compatibility requirements for successful deployments
• Implementation Direction: Need common or CSP-specific compatibility support methods

Our Best-Effort Compatibility Checks

CM-Beetle tries to ensure compatibility by checking the following items.

All CSPs Common ✅

• CPU Architecture: Match the CPU architecture (x86_64, ARM64) between the Image and the Spec.
• GPU Support (TBD): Match GPU images with GPU Specs.

AWS ✅

• Hypervisor Compatibility: Ensure hypervisor compatibility between Image (Xen, Nitro) and Spec, including Xen-on-Nitro support for legacy AMIs.
• Virtualization Type: Match the virtualization type (HVM, PV) between the Image and the Spec.
• ENA Support: For Nitro instances requiring ENA networking, ensure Specs support it.
• NVMe Support: Optionally check NVMe driver compatibility for instances that support NVMe storage.
• Boot Mode: Match boot mode compatibility (legacy-bios, uefi, uefi-preferred) between Image and Spec.
• It's too strict and hard to update. Legacy Instance Family Support: Validate Xen-on-Nitro backward compatibility layer for specific legacy instance families (M1, M2, M3, M4, C1, C3, C4, R3, R4, I2, T1, T2) when using older Xen-based AMIs.

Azure ✅

• VM Generation: Match VM Generation (Gen1, Gen2) compatibility between Image and Spec based on Azure's hypervisor generation requirements.
• Hypervisor Generation: Ensure proper pairing of Generation 1 (V1) images with Gen1-capable VMs and Generation 2 (V2) images with Gen2-capable VMs.
• VM Family Support: Validate against Azure's VM generation matrix - Gen1-only families (legacy A/G-series), Gen2-only families (HX/FX/DCv3+), and dual-generation families (B/D/E/F/L/M/NC/ND/NV/HB/HC series).

GCP - TBD (No issues have been reported yet)

• Machine Type: Match the Spec to the Image's required machine type.
• Boot Disk Type: Match the Image with a Spec that supports its required boot disk type ('SCSI', 'NVMe').

NCP ✅

• Hypervisor Type: Only recommend Specs that use the KVM hypervisor.
• Image Compatibility: Match VM Specs with compatible images using CorrespondingImageIds mapping.
• OS Compatibility: Ensures OS-level compatibility between the supported OS types listed in the Spec and the Image OS distribution.

Alibaba Cloud ✅

• NVMe Support: Prevent "No AvailableSystemDisk" errors by matching NVMe capabilities between Spec (unsupported/supported/required) and Image NVMe drivers.
• Boot Mode: Match boot mode compatibility (BIOS, UEFI, UEFI-Preferred) between Image and Spec.
• Instance Category: Validate Shared/Enhanced/EnterpriseLevel instance compatibility with I/O optimized Images.

Request for Issue Reports

Your detailed feedback is essential for improving our system. Please report any compatibility issues you encounter.

When creating GitHub issues, please include:
• CSP: Cloud service provider (AWS, Azure, GCP, NCP, Alibaba Cloud)
• Region: Specific region where the issue occurred
• SpecId: VM specification ID that failed
• ImageId: VM image ID that failed
• Log: Error messages or logs from the deployment failure

Create GitHub issues with [Compatibility] prefix.

Your honest feedback helps us improve the VM recommendation system for everyone.