[Fedora-xen] Re: easy way to configure domU

[Bill Jenkins]

  We are probably talking about the same thing.  We have lots of multiprocessor machines that we like to set up identically.  In the case of the latest machines, that means I take one virtual machine, set it up like I like it with LDAP, directory mounts, perl scripts, etc, and then clone that one seven times with dd.  As I copy, I boot them into single-user mode and change the hostname and ip, and once over with, I've got eight identical machines, other than hostname and ip.  Some of the perl stuff is pretty tedious, so it saves a lot of time.

I've found that if I do an "xm create virtualmachinename -c" from the command line, I'll get the normal startup sequence, and then I can enter single user mode and change the ip and such.  Sometimes it seems like the command-line console doesn't work, so instead I run virt-manager and get a console window that way.  But unless something messed up with dd, I always get a console somewhere.  I will mention that I usually stop domains before dd-ing them; I have made good copies of domains while they were running, but sometimes it messes them up...is what I've described what you'd like to accomplish?  I've used the procedure to clone probably 50 or so domains.  The developers sometimes want a different OS to run apps on, so I just go and re-copy a fresh OS when they do.  Oh by the way, I've experimented with dd-ing domains through gzip into a file, and restoring from a file, which works sometimes.

  Bill Jenkins
  CAIT,Western Illinois University

| 
| Hi Bill,
| 
| I've been grappling with just this issue (at least, I *think* we're 
| talking about the same thing) - trying to take an existing 'image' of
| a 
| virtual box and tweak it to use as a base for creating other virtual 
| boxes.
| 
| One thing, though - if you're using full virtualization (as we are,
| under 
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5), can you still use the console? I've been
| 
| trying to start the base domU using 'xm create domainname -c', but it
| just 
| bounces me to a '?' prompt that doesn't allow any input, and the only
| way 
| I can get out of it is to use another connection to shutdown the
| domain. 
| I've also tried using 'xm console domainname' to connect to the domain
| 
| when it is already running, but I get the same response.
| 
| Many thanks,
| 
|  	Hope Dundas
| 
| ~~~
| Hope Dundas, hope.dundas at umich.edu
| Database/Systems Administrator
| Housing Information Technology Office
| University of Michigan