17.7. Identifying guest type and implementation

The script below can identify if the environment an application or script is running in is a para-virtualized, a fully virtualized guest or on the hypervisor.

#!/bin/bash
declare -i IS_HVM=0
declare -i IS_PARA=0
check_hvm()
{
	IS_X86HVM="$(strings /proc/acpi/dsdt | grep int-xen)"
	  if [ x"${IS_X86HVM}" != x ]; then
	   echo "Guest type is full-virt x86hvm"
	   IS_HVM=1
	fi
}
check_para()
{
	if $(grep -q control_d /proc/xen/capabilities); then
	  echo "Host is dom0"
	  IS_PARA=1
	else
	  echo "Guest is para-virt domU"
	  IS_PARA=1
	fi
}
if [ -f /proc/acpi/dsdt ]; then 
	check_hvm
fi

if [ ${IS_HVM} -eq 0 ]; then
	if [ -f /proc/xen/capabilities ] ; then
		check_para
	fi
     fi
if [ ${IS_HVM} -eq 0 -a ${IS_PARA} -eq 0 ]; then
	echo "Baremetal platform"
fi

Examining hosts

For examining hosts, use the virsh capabilites command.