[opensuse-packaging] Xen 3.2 packages, guest installation, etc.
We're working on having Xen 3.2 released soon. We at Xensource have been in the habit of providing binary packages for various distributions and at the moment OpenSUSE 10.3 probably looks like one we would like to support in that way. It seemed to me that the best approach would be, where possible, to use a distro's own packaging setup. That would be more likely to generate packages which integrate well with the distro and behave more like the distro's own Xen packaging arrangements. I haven't looked at the OpenSUSE Xen srpms in detail but would that be a reasonable starting point for generating our 3.2 binary rpms ? Also, while I'm here: I've been having quite some difficulty getting a working OpenSUSE Xen guest install. Is there a recommended procedure for this when the host is not OpenSUSE ? (In my case the host is Debian etch.) For many other distributions there are ways of running what amounts to a port of the installer directed at a filesystem tree, but just as a normal program on the host; so for example with Fedora and Centos one uses rinse, and for Debian derivatives debootstrap does the job (and all of these tools seem to be readily portable). Is there an analogous tool for OpenSUSE ? In the absence of such a utility I've been trying to install OpenSUSE as an HVM (fully virtualised rather than paravirtualised) guest but have been having serious trouble: so far a couple of annoying bugs in the Xen emulations (which I've got past) and now I have a bug where the installer's kernel gets very upset with the emulated IDE controller. Is installing OpenSUSE as a Xen HVM guest (or indeed as a PV guest) expected to work ? Can it be sensibly done without the use of difficult-to-port hostside management tools from OpenSUSE ? Regards, Ian. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-packaging+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-packaging+help@opensuse.org
Ian Jackson wrote: [...]
Also, while I'm here: I've been having quite some difficulty getting a working OpenSUSE Xen guest install. Is there a recommended procedure for this when the host is not OpenSUSE ? (In my case the host is Debian etch.)
The paravirtualized Xen kernel and initrd with installation system are located in /boot/<arch> directory on the medium (files vmlinuz-xen and initrd-xen). The initrd contains linuxrc, the installation loader which loads root filesystem image (from /boot/<arch>/root) which contains the installer (Yast). Use 'install=<URL>' kernel parameter or manually select the installation repository using the linuxrc text menu.
For many other distributions there are ways of running what amounts to a port of the installer directed at a filesystem tree, but just as a normal program on the host; so for example with Fedora and Centos one uses rinse, and for Debian derivatives debootstrap does the job (and all of these tools seem to be readily portable). Is there an analogous tool for OpenSUSE ?
There is a yast module for installing system into a directory ('yast2 dirinstall').
In the absence of such a utility I've been trying to install OpenSUSE as an HVM (fully virtualised rather than paravirtualised) guest but have been having serious trouble: so far a couple of annoying bugs in the Xen emulations (which I've got past) and now I have a bug where the installer's kernel gets very upset with the emulated IDE controller.
Is installing OpenSUSE as a Xen HVM guest (or indeed as a PV guest) expected to work ? Can it be sensibly done without the use of difficult-to-port hostside management tools from OpenSUSE ?
I successfully used virt-manager (included in openSUSE 10.3) for installing paravirtualized openSUSE 10.3. I just selected "openSUSE" OS type and source ISO image. It extracts the required files from the ISO image and starts the installation in a VM automatically. Yast supports paravirtualized installation well (e.g. it installs kernel-xen instead of kernel-default and so on...). I prefer using virt-manager to the dirinstall module because dirinstall just installs packages, the installer also configures the network, user accounts,... And you don't have to create and configure the VM manually, it has a nice GUI. Ladislav -- Best Regards Ladislav Slezák Yast Developer ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SUSE LINUX, s.r.o. e-mail: lslezak@suse.cz Lihovarská 1060/12 tel: +420 284 028 960 190 00 Prague 9 fax: +420 284 028 951 Czech Republic http://www.suse.cz/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-packaging+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-packaging+help@opensuse.org
Ladislav Slezak wrote:
Ian Jackson wrote:
For many other distributions there are ways of running what amounts to a port of the installer directed at a filesystem tree, but just as a normal program on the host; so for example with Fedora and Centos one uses rinse, and for Debian derivatives debootstrap does the job (and all of these tools seem to be readily portable). Is there an analogous tool for OpenSUSE ?
There is a yast module for installing system into a directory ('yast2 dirinstall').
Another possibility is to use kiwi imaging system, it can create preinstalled disk images for Xen. -- Best Regards Ladislav Slezák Yast Developer ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SUSE LINUX, s.r.o. e-mail: lslezak@suse.cz Lihovarská 1060/12 tel: +420 284 028 960 190 00 Prague 9 fax: +420 284 028 951 Czech Republic http://www.suse.cz/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-packaging+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-packaging+help@opensuse.org
participants (2)
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Ian Jackson -
Ladislav Slezak