[Libvir] what is virt-install doing differently?

[Daniel P. Berrange]

On Tue, Jan 23, 2007 at 10:23:55AM -0500, Aron Griffis wrote:
> I'm looking at a problem where HVM xen/ia64 domains hang on boot using
> virt-install, specifically at this point:
> 
>    ACPI: Core revision 20060707
>    Boot processor id 0x0/0x0
> 
> Given VT-I capable hardware, this can be demonstrated with:
> 
>    virt-install -n rhel5hvm1 -v -r 1024 --vcpus=2 -c \
>    /root/RHEL5-Server-20070112.3-ia64-DVD.iso -f \
>    /var/lib/xen/images/rhel5hvm1 -s 20 --vnc
> 
> The really strange thing is that the boot works fine, using the same
> configuration, if virt-install is not involved.  Actually,
> I modify the configuration slightly to include the CD-ROM, but
> otherwise it is the same:
> 
>     # cat /etc/xen/rhel5rc1s7hvm2
>     # Automatically generated xen config file
>     name = "rhel5rc1s7hvm2"
>     builder = "hvm"
>     memory = "1024"
>     disk = [ 'phy:/dev/cciss/c0d1p1,hda,w', 'file:/root/RHEL5-Server-20070112.3-ia64-DVD.iso,hdc:cdrom,r' ]
>     vif = [ 'type=ioemu, mac=00:16:3e:50:4c:95, bridge=xenbr1', ]
>     uuid = "c228739b-9e6c-bb11-47d8-281ca2edf750"
>     device_model = "/usr/lib/xen/bin/qemu-dm"
>     kernel = "/usr/lib/xen/boot/hvmloader"
>     vnc=1
>     vncunused=1
>     apic=1
>     acpi=1
> 
>     vcpus=2
>     serial = "pty" # enable serial console
>     on_reboot   = 'restart'
>     on_crash    = 'restart'
> 
> I don't understand what would be different about the virt-install boot
> vs. booting straight from the generated configuration.  Can somebody
> shed some light on this?

For HVM installs, the different should only be the addition of the
CDROM device. If you take a look in /var/log/xen/xend.log it should
show you the final SEXPR that XenD is getting when creating the
guest. Comparing the SEXPR seen when booting the config file, vs
that generated by virt-intsall may shed some more light on the
problem.

Also, virt-install has a --debug flag which will make it show the libvirt
XML description it used to boot.

Dan.
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