libvirt users - Sep 2011 - virsh edit problems

I've got a problem where I can't access my console (well, I can',
but I can't type in a password), which I don't think is a libvirt
issue but any help or commentary is certainly welcome
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.emulators.kvm.devel/79561 , and
I'm trying to debug it by trying out different console/serial
options in my .xml file, and I can't change them.

What I have now:

    <serial type='pty'>
      <target port='0'/>
    </serial>
    <console type='pty'>
      <target type='serial' port='0'/>
    </console>

No matter what I change, whether I use "virsh edit" or edit the
files directly, even with libvirt off, as soon as libvirt notices
(i.e. when I turn it back on) my changes get blown away and it ends
up looking just like the above.  Even as simple a thing as changing
the port number, or removing the console, or adding a second
serial... all gone.

Oh, wait, that's not quite true; adding a second serial *does* work.
But nothing else I've tried does.

What I'm actually trying to do is copy the docs
http://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsConsole more closely
and specify my own source paths; I'm worried that the serial and the
console are somehow ending up in the same place and maybe that's
causing my problem?

What I've been trying to do is something like:

    <serial type='pty'>
      <source path='/dev/pts/3'/>
      <target port='0'/>
    </serial>
    <console type='pty'>
      <source path='/dev/pts/4'/>
      <target port='0'/>
    </console>

And it just won't stick.  Maybe that's not even my problem, but it's
not showing any errors, and it's annoying me and I'd like to
understand why.

-Robin

On 09/26/2011 02:30 PM, Robin Lee Powell wrote:
> What I have now:
>
>      <serial type='pty'>
>        <target port='0'/>
>      </serial>
>      <console type='pty'>
>        <target type='serial' port='0'/>
>      </console>
That's correct for the persistent config.
>
> No matter what I change, whether I use "virsh edit"
Good.
> or edit the
> files directly,
Don't do that.  It won't work, and you risk corrupting things by going 
behind libvirt's back.

 > even with libvirt off, as soon as libvirt notices
> (i.e. when I turn it back on) my changes get blown away and it ends
> up looking just like the above.  Even as simple a thing as changing
> the port number, or removing the console, or adding a second
> serial... all gone.
That's an indication that the things you are adding are not essential to 
the persistent config.  'virsh edit' prunes your input back into the xml
essential to what libvirt needed, so if your edits didn't stick, then 
they weren't making a difference.
>
> Oh, wait, that's not quite true; adding a second serial *does* work.
> But nothing else I've tried does.
>
> What I'm actually trying to do is copy the docs
> http://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsConsole more closely
> and specify my own source paths; I'm worried that the serial and the
> console are somehow ending up in the same place and maybe that's
> causing my problem?
>
> What I've been trying to do is something like:
>
>      <serial type='pty'>
>        <source path='/dev/pts/3'/>
>        <target port='0'/>
>      </serial>
Ah - maybe I can explain that issue.  For pty devices, <source 
path=.../> is computed at runtime, once libvirt has actually allocated a 
pty from the host (which pty gets allocated depends on what else has 
been going on in your host prior to starting your guest).  Since the pty 
allocated is dependent on various runtime factors, there is no way to 
pre-allocate a fixed pty value - so this <source> element is something 
that 'virsh dumpxml' outputs to show you which pty libvirt allocated, 
but where you have no control (and no need to control) which pty to 
attempt to allocate.  And libvirt is merely stripping the unused 
<source> from your persistent config because it doesn't make sense in
a
persistent context.
>      <console type='pty'>
>        <source path='/dev/pts/4'/>
>        <target port='0'/>
>      </console>
>
> And it just won't stick.  Maybe that's not even my problem, but
it's
> not showing any errors, and it's annoying me and I'd like to
> understand why.
Hopefully my explanation helps, but feel free to ask more questions as 
needed.  Perhaps this is a case of me answering your stated question 
rather than your implied question (that is, I answered why <source> is 
disappearing, but not how to get a console to your guest working in the 
first place).

-- 
Eric Blake   eblake at redhat.com    +1-801-349-2682
Libvirt virtualization library http://libvirt.org