Does anyone here use Xen in full virtualisation mode much and if so how stable is it? I have a system that requires Redhat 7.3 to work (upgrading it would be particularly difficult). However because it's so old it won't install on modern boxes. I have a Dell 2950 server with dual, dual core Xeons and SAS drives. I've tried Fedora 6 and Ubuntu & Suse 10.1 as well as Suse 10.2 beta 2 (all X86_64 versions). On a separate note they all fail on running the network card; under the normal kernel it works fine yet with the Xen kernel it says it's there but doesn't work, to get around it you have to reload the module after it's booted. If I create a VM under Fedora or Ubuntu the whole machine crashes (instant reset) as soon as the VM starts. It works with Suse 10.1 but is very unstable, often causing the server to lock up requiring a hard reset to fix. Suse 10.2 is obviously still to much of a beta it suffers all kinds of additional problems as well. It doesn't matter what the VM is running as it locks up regardless? I was hoping to use Xen as a tool to expand the life expectancy of the old image but it doesn't look like it's ready. Matthew -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
Am Freitag, 24. November 2006 16:22 schrieb Matthew Stringer:
Does anyone here use Xen in full virtualisation mode much and if so how stable is it?
Half a year ago, I did a student project about Xen on a cluster (allowing live migration). I always compiled Xen from the source which is quite easy. You can follow this howto: http://www.howtoforge.com/perfect_setup_xen3_debian Xen was working very stable, never had problems with it. But we did not run much more than a web server on the virtual machines. But anyway, the main problem will be getting Redhat 7.3 to work as the Kernel of the virtual machine has to support Xen. In the howto mentioned above, the Kernel for the virtual machine will also be compiled. I guess, you probably want to get a CPU with Pacifica or Vanderpool extension. This would allow you to install an unmodified OS. I do not know how much work it would be to compile a new Kernel for Redhat 7.3. This would be the other way. Maybe you want to have a look at other solutions such as Parallels or VMware. I guess, they might fit your need better than Xen. Dani -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Friday 24 November 2006 17:10, Daniel Bertolo wrote:
Am Freitag, 24. November 2006 16:22 schrieb Matthew Stringer:
Does anyone here use Xen in full virtualisation mode much and if so how stable is it?
But anyway, the main problem will be getting Redhat 7.3 to work as the Kernel of the virtual machine has to support Xen.
Dani
I'm using full virtualisation, shouldn't need to modify the software. Anyways it's just as unstable trying to run Suse 10.1 under VM. I didn't really want to use paravirtualisation software like VMWare. cheers Matthew -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Friday 24 November 2006 11:22 am, Matthew Stringer wrote:
Does anyone here use Xen in full virtualisation mode much and if so how stable is it?
I have. It works, but it's slower and you lose some features, so paravirtualization is much better.
I have a system that requires Redhat 7.3 to work (upgrading it would be particularly difficult). However because it's so old it won't install on modern boxes.
It's way easier to just boot paravirtualized using your SUSE Xen kernel. In fact I *am* running Red Hat 7.3 this way. I used an IDE-to-USB cable to dd the drive to an image on my Xen box and booted it under Xen. Here's my config file: name = 'tesla' memory = 256 vcpus = 1 disk = [ 'file:/var/lib/xen/images/tesla/hda,hda,w'] builder = 'linux' kernel = '/boot/vmlinuz-xen' ramdisk = '/boot/initrd-xen' vif = [ 'mac=xxxxxx, bridge=xendot4' ] localtime = 0 extra = 'root=/dev/hda1' In order to get the Xen kernel to recognise the ext3 partitions, edit /etc/sysconfig/kernel, add 'ext3' to DOMU_INITRD_MODULES, and run mkinitrd. If you want to be able to load kernel modules after boot, copy the /lib/modules from your dom0 into the domU. -- James Oakley jfunk@funktronics.ca -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
-----Original Message----- From: Matthew Stringer [mailto:qube@firstnet.co.uk] Sent: Friday, November 24, 2006 8:23 AM To: opensuse list Subject: [opensuse] Xen unstable
Does anyone here use Xen in full virtualisation mode much and if so how stable is it?
I am running 7 Windows Server 2003 virtualized servers across two SLES10 servers right now. MS Windows only works in fully virtualized as it's not Xen aware. I have not had any problems yet. They are non-critical servers at this point as this is the proof of concept, just management and test servers. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (4)
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Alain Black -
Daniel Bertolo -
James Oakley -
Matthew Stringer