Hi, It''s been more than a year since I have experimented with Xen. Back then it was with Centos 5''s xen 3.0.x. Due to other occupations xen disappeared to the background, until now. I have now installed a Centos 5.3 server, with the gitco version of xen (3.3.1). Some things seem to have changed since my last experiments. So I could use some hints to get me started again. * In xen 3.0.x I had used virt-install to create new domU''s. This in turn created a config file in /etc/xen. I''m trying to do the same with xen 3.3.1 and the accompanying virt-install. The domU''s are created an run properly, but there''s no longer a config file in /etc/xen. So how can I tweak the configuration after initial setup ? * The gitco xen seems to keep information on domU''s in some internal database. I still have some domU''s (with config) from before I installed gitco xen. They seem to work fine. However ''xm list'' will always show all the domU''s created with gitco''s virt-install (I mean whether they are started or stopped), and only the domU''s created before gitco that are actually running. So if I stop a gitco created domU, it still appears in ''xm list'' with no state, but if I stop a pre-gitco domU, it disappears completely from ''xm list''. I can start it with no problems though and it will reappear in ''xm list''. * 32bit vs 64bit. I''m still confused about this. What is possible, and what is not ? Or better even, what is recommended ? My server has got 8Gb of RAM for now. Would 64 bit xen give me better performance ? And should dom0 be 64bit then as well ? I think most of my domU''s don''t have very large memory needs so probably these can remain 32bit. But is this possible ? Can I mix 64bit and 32bit xen/dom0/domU''s for PV and HVM ? Thank you for helping me out here. Geert -- Kobalt W.I.T. Web & Information Technology Brusselsesteenweg 152 1850 Grimbergen Tel : +32 479 339 655 Email: info@kobaltwit.be _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 4:42 PM, Geert Janssens <info@kobaltwit.be> wrote:> * In xen 3.0.x I had used virt-install to create new domU''s. This in turn > created a config file in /etc/xen. I''m trying to do the same with xen 3.3.1 > and the accompanying virt-install. The domU''s are created an run properly, but > there''s no longer a config file in /etc/xen. So how can I tweak the > configuration after initial setup ?The configuration is now managed by xend (which is the same thing if you run "xm new", btw). Here are some options to change domU config : - use virt-manager to change some settings - edit the configuration on the fly (using xm and virsh). For example, there''s "xm block-attach" - stop, dump, delete, edit, load, start domU. For example, if your domU name is "test" : # xm shutdown test ( wait for it to exit) # xm list -l test > test.sxp ( edit test.sxp using your favorite editor ) # xm delete test # xm new -F test.sxp # xm start test> > * The gitco xen seems to keep information on domU''s in some internal database.I believe it''s in xenstore.> I still have some domU''s (with config) from before I installed gitco xen. They > seem to work fine. However ''xm list'' will always show all the domU''s created > with gitco''s virt-install (I mean whether they are started or stopped), and > only the domU''s created before gitco that are actually running. So if I stop a > gitco created domU, it still appears in ''xm list'' with no state, but if I stop > a pre-gitco domU, it disappears completely from ''xm list''. I can start it with > no problems though and it will reappear in ''xm list''. >with /etc/xen/* config files : xm create with xend-managed domUs : "xm new" and "xm start" (see example above) You could always dump virt-install/virt-manager altogether and create domU config files manually.> * 32bit vs 64bit. I''m still confused about this. What is possible, and what is > not ? Or better even, what is recommended ? My server has got 8Gb of RAM for > now. Would 64 bit xen give me better performance ? And should dom0 be 64bit > then as well ? I think most of my domU''s don''t have very large memory needs so > probably these can remain 32bit.The easy way, have 64bit dom0, use Centos, install Xen 3.3.1 (64bit) rpms from Gitco. For domUs, use whatever you need (32 or 64bit)> But is this possible ? Can I mix 64bit and 32bit xen/dom0/domU''s for PV and > HVM ? >Yes, if you use 64bit hypervisor. Regards, Fajar _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Tuesday 7 April 2009, Fajar A. Nugraha wrote:> On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 4:42 PM, Geert Janssens <info@kobaltwit.be> wrote: > > * In xen 3.0.x I had used virt-install to create new domU''s. This in turn > > created a config file in /etc/xen. I''m trying to do the same with xen > > 3.3.1 and the accompanying virt-install. The domU''s are created an run > > properly, but there''s no longer a config file in /etc/xen. So how can I > > tweak the configuration after initial setup ? > > The configuration is now managed by xend (which is the same thing if > you run "xm new", btw). > Here are some options to change domU config : > - use virt-manager to change some settings > - edit the configuration on the fly (using xm and virsh). For example, > there''s "xm block-attach" > - stop, dump, delete, edit, load, start domU. For example, if your > domU name is "test" : > # xm shutdown test > ( wait for it to exit) > # xm list -l test > test.sxp > ( edit test.sxp using your favorite editor ) > # xm delete test > # xm new -F test.sxp > # xm start test >Thank you for this information. The sxp format is apparently quite different from the python syntax I used so far. Where can I find more information about this format ?> > I still have some domU''s (with config) from before I installed gitco xen. > > They seem to work fine. However ''xm list'' will always show all the domU''s > > created with gitco''s virt-install (I mean whether they are started or > > stopped), and only the domU''s created before gitco that are actually > > running. So if I stop a gitco created domU, it still appears in ''xm list'' > > with no state, but if I stop a pre-gitco domU, it disappears completely > > from ''xm list''. I can start it with no problems though and it will > > reappear in ''xm list''. > > with /etc/xen/* config files : xm create > with xend-managed domUs : "xm new" and "xm start" (see example above) >Would it be possible to convert the /etc/xen/* config files to xend-managed domUs ?> You could always dump virt-install/virt-manager altogether and create > domU config files manually. >To better understand how xen works, I would definitely want to experiment with manually created domU config files. I am a bit puzzled on how to bootstrap a new domU creation this way. My dom0 is CentOS 5.2. With virt-install I managed to setup several other CentOS 5.2 domU''s, but it fails with for example Fedora 10. Is there some good documentation on how to do a manual domU setup, including installation of the guest OS ? Or maybe some examples of how this was done ? Thank you, Geert -- Kobalt W.I.T. Web & Information Technology Brusselsesteenweg 152 1850 Grimbergen Tel : +32 479 339 655 Email: info@kobaltwit.be _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 7:09 PM, Geert Janssens <info@kobaltwit.be> wrote:> Thank you for this information. The sxp format is apparently quite different > from the python syntax I used so far. Where can I find more information about > this format ?Courtesy of Google, try the book "Running Xen" : http://books.google.co.id/books?id=XS-Jj7s2nhYC&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=xen+sxp+format&source=bl&ots=UUJNlS68AW&sig=EvczNKtSqrUcKVv5lZo4EcyuR3M&hl=en&ei=uETbSdb4G5CHkAXgyKSsCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#PPA180,M1> Would it be possible to convert the /etc/xen/* config files to xend-managed > domUs ?"xm new" is enough. If you''re asking "how to convert old config files to sxp", try "xm create -n"> To better understand how xen works, I would definitely want to experiment with > manually created domU config files. > > I am a bit puzzled on how to bootstrap a new domU creation this way. > > My dom0 is CentOS 5.2. With virt-install I managed to setup several other > CentOS 5.2 domU''s, but it fails with for example Fedora 10. Is there some good > documentation on how to do a manual domU setup, including installation of the > guest OS ? Or maybe some examples of how this was done ?Start with http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/Xen/InstallingCentOSDomU Regards, Fajar _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Tuesday 7 April 2009, Fajar A. Nugraha wrote:> On Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 7:09 PM, Geert Janssens <info@kobaltwit.be> wrote: > > Thank you for this information. The sxp format is apparently quite > > different from the python syntax I used so far. Where can I find more > > information about this format ? > > Courtesy of Google, try the book "Running Xen" : > http://books.google.co.id/books?id=XS-Jj7s2nhYC&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=xen+s >xp+format&source=bl&ots=UUJNlS68AW&sig=EvczNKtSqrUcKVv5lZo4EcyuR3M&hl=en&ei>uETbSdb4G5CHkAXgyKSsCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#PPA180,M1 >Thank you for the link. Looking at the contents of the book, I decided to buy it.> ...Thanks for all the info. Back to studying and experimenting now... Geert -- Kobalt W.I.T. Web & Information Technology Brusselsesteenweg 152 1850 Grimbergen Tel : +32 479 339 655 Email: info@kobaltwit.be _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users