Xen and the Gutsy Gibbon
We have recently started experimenting with Xen - the free software virtual machine monitor from Cambridge University. It has not been a pain free experience, and judging by the forums, I am not alone in this, especially when trying to install an Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon guest.
After a couple of days I have managed to distil the forums wisdom and my own experience down into a few simple steps. Read on for my procedure for installing Gutsy as both dom0 and domU.
Setting up the server
Install Ubuntu 7.10 Server.
Install the xen packages.
aptitude install ubuntu-xen-server xen-tools libc6-xenEdit /etc/xen/xend-config.sxp to add a network bridge and remove the dummy network.
(network-script network-bridge) # (network-script network-dummy)Edit /etc/xen-tools/xen-tools.conf to add or edit the following. Make sure you specify the correct network settings for your environment. You may also change the default disk and sizing options.
dir = /var/xen gateway = 192.168.0.1 netmask = 255.255.255.0 broadcast = 192.168.0.255 dhcp = 1 accounts = 1 # mirror = http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ mirror_gutsy=http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu serial_device = xvc0 disk_device = xvdaReboot and make sure that grub boots the new Xen Kernel.
Creating the Guest
Create a guest image - this will take a short while.
xen-create-image --hostname=node0 --dist=gutsyAdd two or amend /etc/xen/node0.cfg. Replace ?? with valid values - see the Xen manual for information on what valid MAC addresses you can use.
vif = [ 'mac=00:16:3e:??:??:??' ] extra = 'console=xvc0'Remove the hwclock stuff that xen-tools missed, and allow root to log in to the virtual console.
mount -o loop /var/xen/domains/node0/disk.img /mnt rm -f `find /mnt/etc -name "*hwclock*"` chmod -x /mnt/lib/udev/set_hwclock echo "xvc0" >> /mnt/etc/securetty sed "s/tty1/xvc0/g" /mnt/etc/event.d/tty1 > /mnt/etc/event.d/xvc0 umount /mnt
Starting the new VM
Start the guest.
xm create -c /etc/xen/node0.cfg
Log in with one of your users from the server.