[Fedora-xen] problem creating my 1st VM

[Dustin Henning]

	There is no problem using the same kernel.  Some people compile a
dom0 kernel and a domU kernel when they custom build or manually install
xen, but it isn't necessary, it just makes for a smaller kernel.  It is fine
to use the same for both, as it is loaded read-only anyway.  I was just
pointing out that you were using an existing xen kernel in your physical
/boot and not a kernel in your vm's /boot.  I don't remember all of the
setup of paravirtualized vms since it has been a while, but you might try
Mike's suggestion:
disk = [ 'file:/xenroot/linux/linux.xdi,hda,w' ]
in spite of the fact that xmexample1 had hda1 in the second section of the
argument.  Whether to use hda or hda1 may depend on the image you are using.
	Also, since Fedora uses an initial ramdisk, you might need to add
this line under your kernel line in your config file:
ramdisk = "/boot/initrd-2.6.20-2936.fc7xen"
	Another thing is, notice I am using ' where you used ".  I am not
sure if it matters, but I think all of my configs have ' instead of " when
inside of []s.
	Finally, you might need to set up a swap partition.  If that was
necessary, it would probably mean that you need something more like this:
disk = [ 'file:/xenroot/linux/linux.xdi,hda1,w' ,
'file:/xenroot/linux/linuxswap.xdi,hda2,w' ]
In this example, the linuxswap.xdi would have to be loop-mounted and
formatted as swap.
	Keep in mind that it has been a long time since I have dealt with a
paravirtualized guest, and also I am not even familiar with the xdi
extension / type of file you are using / where it came from and what
documentation it came with.  It may be that something on your linux.xdi
image isn't xen compatible (perhaps the image was made for hvm), though, and
that is why I mentioned downloadable xen-ready images (I was running
paravirtualized CentOS on an Ubuntu host with xen manually installed [xen
xen kernel vs fedora xen kernel or ubuntu xen kernel]).  I doubt I come up
with any other ideas on your current situation, but if any of these ideas
change anything for you, new information might get you some help from
someone else.
	Dustin

-----Original Message-----
From: Guillaume [mailto:guillaume.chardin at gmail.com] 
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 11:20
To: Dustin.Henning at prd-inc.com
Subject: Re: [Fedora-xen] problem creating my 1st VM

2007/10/26, Dustin Henning <Dustin.Henning at prd-inc.com>:
> It has been a while since I have used a paravirtualized vm, so my
responses
> will be vague, but perhaps helpful.
> Regarding your original install, both previous responses made good points.
> However, I thought some additional explanation might be helpful:
> a)
> -The kernel line you put in your config makes your vm boot that kernel
(the
> one on your local disk), so you are already using a xen kernel to boot
that
> vm.
Is there a problem by using the kernel use to boot up the system (Dom0) ?
If I understand, you mean that I have to use a kernel dedicated to
boot all DomU ! Why, is there some limitation by using this kernel
(Dom0) for running VM ?


> -There are ready made xen compatible installs of OSes on disk images
> available for download at various places, you should be able to find
> instructions on how to get thee images into your vm's virtual drive as
well.
Ok, but I want first, understand how Xen works, and then, i'll get
theses files. I prefer to learn by getting rid of theses problem
before, its a godd formation i think. And i tought too, it's more
quick to use ready-to-use Xen images files.


Thanks for your time :)
-- 
Guillaume