I have read some things that lead me to believe that I can do this. Do I need to make an iso image of the cd then loopback mount it and make a config file that points to the cdrom as the active partition? Is it even possible to do this and if it is, will I need to patch the kernel or just move the /lib/modules/2.<kernel> over to the new VM? Thanks for any help, Jon _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On 9/19/06, jonr@destar.net <jonr@destar.net> wrote:> I have read some things that lead me to believe that I can do this.with hvm vm''s you can do this. lookup the docs about hvm installations, you can use the iso, or point the config to the cdrom device. For paravirtual installs you have to use the means of your distribution of choice to be installed into a directory (which you put into a lvm/partition/file-based block device and boot off it after creating it - this is described in a lot of howto''s. Theoretically it woule be possible to install paravitrual systems from a cd if the cd would contain a xen kernel to boot from, which in turn must match your xen version. That is a bit hard, I think it''s easiert to buy a box that supports hvm :) Henning _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
qemu works well, as many of the partition types that Xen supports are also supported by qemu. Of course, the CD is unlikely to contain a Xen kernel, so after the install, you will need to install the modules and stuff. here are some notes I made for a client that uses systemimager to manage their boxes; With this they can install any of their existing systemimager images to a VBD partition. (with an OVERRIDES folder that adds the modules for the xen kernel and moves /lib/tls and stuff) this way it each domU looks to have only one partition when viewed from the dom0, but from within the domU it has all the partitions systemimager made. first, your install image must support one of the network adaptors exported by qemu, like the NE2000 (or not use the network, that is fine as well.) in my client''s system, they were booting off a floppy that ran the systemimager stuff, so I use a floppy image, but QEMU has an option for adding a virtual cdrom drive as well. I made the floppy image with dd if=/dev/fd0 of=floppy.img Mount -oloop floppy.img /mnt/floppy Edit /mnt/floppy/local.cfg copy in new kernel Umount /mnt/floppy Boot the floppy with the following command on dom0: qemu -hda /dev/sda5 -no-kqemu -nographic -fda floppy.img -boot a -net nic -net tap where /dev/sda5 is the partition to install into (so in my disk section I would use phy:/dev/sda5) to make networking work with qemu, you want a /etc/qemu-ifup that looks something like this /sbin/modprobe tun /sbin/ifconfig $1 promisc 0.0.0.0 /usr/sbin/brctl addif xenbr0 $1 On Tue, 19 Sep 2006, jonr@destar.net wrote:> Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 09:22:38 -0800 > From: jonr@destar.net > To: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: [Xen-users] Install from CD > > I have read some things that lead me to believe that I can do this. Do I need to > make an iso image of the cd then loopback mount it and make a config file that > points to the cdrom as the active partition? Is it even possible to do this and > if it is, will I need to patch the kernel or just move the > /lib/modules/2.<kernel> over to the new VM? > > Thanks for any help, > > Jon_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Henning, sorry for sending directly to you, I didn''t pay attention to the To: line before I hit Send. Quoting Henning Sprang <henning_sprang@gmx.de>:> with hvm vm''s you can do this. lookup the docs about hvm > installations, you can use the iso, or point the config to the cdrom > device. > > For paravirtual installs you have to use the means of your > distribution of choice to be installed into a directory (which you put > into a lvm/partition/file-based block device and boot off it after > creating it - this is described in a lot of howto''s.Thanks for the help Henning. So the first example you gave is for processor virtualization using the new AMD and Intel chips, correct? At this time I don''t have one of these chips but maybe Christmas will be kind to me. The second example sounds like what I am running, so let me see if I understand this. I simply make and LVM and then boot the install cd for the distro and install it into the LVM. Copy the /lib/modules/2.6.<kernel> to my new installs /lib/modules. then create a config file for xen to boot. The above is how I thought it should work but was unsure, did I understand what I was reading correctly or have I completely missed the mark? Thanks again Henning, Jon _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Please don''t mail me personally, keep mails on the list! Mailing lists are about sharing knowledge. (and read the current thread about netiquette now, please). On 9/19/06, jonr@destar.net <jonr@destar.net> wrote:> [...] > The second example sounds like what I am running,Right, without hardware virtualization you run paravirtualized.> so let me see if I understand > this. I simply make and LVM and then boot the install cd for the distro and > install it into the LVM. Copy the /lib/modules/2.6.<kernel> to my new installs > /lib/modules. then create a config file for xen to boot.No. Most/all distributions have a means to build a basic system into a directory from an already installed and currently running system(as opposed to from the install system on the install cd). Please read the Xen manual, and the Howtos in the xen wiki and on the internet, and come back _after_ trying to follow them, if you have a specific problem - they are too many to list them all here and it depends which distribution you use. Henning _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Quoting Henning Sprang <henning_sprang@gmx.de>:> Please don''t mail me personally, keep mails on the list! Mailing > lists are about sharing knowledge. (and read the current thread about > netiquette now, please).Read my post to the list, where I apologized to sending directly to you, as I will not read said thread.> On 9/19/06, jonr@destar.net <jonr@destar.net> wrote: > > [...] > > The second example sounds like what I am running, > > Right, without hardware virtualization you run paravirtualized. > > > so let me see if I understand > > this. I simply make and LVM and then boot the install cd for the distro and > > install it into the LVM. Copy the /lib/modules/2.6.<kernel> to my new > installs > > /lib/modules. then create a config file for xen to boot. > > No. Most/all distributions have a means to build a basic system into a > directory from an already installed and currently running system(as > opposed to from the install system on the install cd).OK, that gives me a better understanding of what I need to do, I didn''t think it would bas as easy as above.> Please read the Xen manual, and the Howtos in the xen wiki and on the > internet, and come back _after_ trying to follow them, if you have a > specific problem - they are too many to list them all here and it > depends which distribution you use.I have read the manual, the howtos and the wiki and have been searching the Internet. I needed some clarification on what I was thinking and to help me understand what I was assuming to be the way to do an install. I always thought a mailing list was a place where one could ask questions from other users who had more knowledge. I understand now that the xen mailing list is not such a list. Thank you for the help, Jon _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users