Feature added by: David Herman (mesamoo115) Feature #309304, revision 1 Title: support Citrix Xen PV installation openSUSE-11.3: Unconfirmed Priority Requester: Important Requested by: David Herman (mesamoo115) Partner organization: openSUSE.org Description: Currently it is possible to install Suse Linux Enterprise 11 as a fully virtualized (pv) guest in citrix xenserver but not openSUSE. As a matter of fact there are NO desktop/workstation Linux distros that can be easily installed as fully virtualized VM's, they can only be installed in HVM mode, this means that Disk I/O and Networking are seriously slowed down. It may be as simple as having a xen kernel available on the install media, or convincing the Citrix SLE11 template that an SLE installation is available on the 11.3 disk. An alternative (and a better solution) is that an opensuse 11.3 xen template (*.xva) could be included on the distribution media or as a download, this can be imported into the xenserver to allow a pv install to run. The only other addition would be to include the FreeNX server as a default for these installs to provide fast remote desktop access. Being able to install openSUSE 11.3 as a fully virtualized guest without having to spend hours hand modifying HVM installs would be a serious feather in openSUSE's cap. It would aid those providing linux as virtual machines as well as the openSUSE-LTSP and L-I-F-E projects and other potential spins. I realize openSUSE can act as a Xen server but this is not an option for those that run OEM (Dell, HP or other) versions of Xen. Use Case: I provide Xen virtualization support for college level computing courses. When installing M$ products the templates allow the addition of tools which improve its performance. Students access these machines via Remote desktop and experience near native performance. Currently when openSUSE is installed these enhancements are expected to be provided by the kernel. Since the installation media is not a close match to one of Citrix' templates the optimizations are not available. Students experience bad performance and get a poor perception of openSUSE's capabilities. Being able to install openSUSE as a PV guest will allow students to experience near native performance with these virtual machines as well. Business case (Partner benefit): openSUSE.org: openSUSE11.3 will be the only desktop/workstation oriented linux that is easy to install and use on Citrix deployments of Xen. This will allow users of virtualized linux operating systems to use their favorite distribution (and bringing new users into the fold). It will also help to promote openSUSE yo students, leading to increased usage in post educational environments. -- openSUSE Feature: https://features.opensuse.org/309304