Re: [CentOS-virt] CentOS 6 VM image for paravirtualizaton on CentOS Xen server
On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 07:52:42PM -0700, Sarah Newman wrote: > > > > I'd really prefer to work from 'virsh' than from hand-writing xl > > configuration files.When I last did this sort of thing, I worked from > > a PXE environment that I controlled and could reserve DHCP settings > > based on MAC addresses, and tune PXE to boot from disk by default but > > allow users to select a clean re-install of the operating system they > > wanted. > > virt-install with --location maybe? Never tried it but it looks like what you > want. > > http://linux.die.net/man/1/virt-install > Yeah you can use virt-install on CentOS 5 Xen host to install CentOS 6 PV domUs, I do that often, an example for GUI installation: virt-install -d -n vmname -r 1024 --vcpus=2 -f /dev/vg01/vmname_disk0 -b virbr0 --vnc -p -l "http://ftp.funet.fi/pub/mirrors/centos.org/6.5/os/x86_64"; (you need to have virt-viewer installed, that'll be used to display the VNC GUI console). -- Pasi ___ CentOS-virt mailing list CentOS-virt@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt
Re: [CentOS-virt] CentOS 6 VM image for paravirtualizaton on CentOS Xen server
On 03/15/2015 07:39 PM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote: > On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 8:26 PM, Sarah Newman wrote: >> On 03/15/2015 03:25 PM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote: >>> So I'm right back to my effectively unanswered original questions. So >>> please: I asked a very specific pair of questions, and they remain >>> unanswered. CentOS 5 Xen server (hypervisor, or Dom0, whatever we want >>> to call it this week): Does CentOS 6 work, paravirtualized, on such a >>> server? And given my deployment issues, does anyone have a base OS >>> image I can get a copy of? >> >> I'm not sure why you need tftp to do a net install assuming you control the >> guest configuration. >> >> How about >> >> kernel = file from >> https://mirrors.kernel.org/centos/6/os/i386/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz >> ramdisk = file from >> https://mirrors.kernel.org/centos/6/os/i386/images/pxeboot/initrd.img >> extra = "console=hvc0" >> memory = 512 or larger >> >> --Sarah > > I'll be happy to try this. Thank you for the pointer. Are you > confident that 'console=hvc0' is the right installation time message > for this? And will I be able to access a CD or DVD image for actual OS > installation with these options? It is net install IE you download packages over the network. No CD/DVD. console=hvc0 is the xen part, otherwise look at the standard installation instructions for centos 6. > > I'd really prefer to work from 'virsh' than from hand-writing xl > configuration files.When I last did this sort of thing, I worked from > a PXE environment that I controlled and could reserve DHCP settings > based on MAC addresses, and tune PXE to boot from disk by default but > allow users to select a clean re-install of the operating system they > wanted. virt-install with --location maybe? Never tried it but it looks like what you want. http://linux.die.net/man/1/virt-install ___ CentOS-virt mailing list CentOS-virt@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt
Re: [CentOS-virt] CentOS 6 VM image for paravirtualizaton on CentOS Xen server
On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 8:11 PM, Peter wrote: > On 03/16/2015 11:25 AM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote: >> I've got CentOS VM's running fine, and have done them before. But >> previously, I deployed the same base OS on the VM as on the Xen >> server, so paravirtualization posed few risks. And I had control of >> the DHCP setup. so I could trivially set up a tftp server to do a >> non-CD installation, because Xen, at last look, doesn't support >> installing a paravirtualized host from a CD image. > > It does as long as (1) the kernel has Xen PV support (CentOS 6 standard > kernel does) and (2) it has the necessary drivers in the initrd (I think > this is where the CD image is lacking), then you should, in theory, be > able to pv-grub boot to the CD. Alternatively you can boot to the CD on Not according to the Xen guidelines I was finding. If they're incorrect, *for a CentOS 5 Xen hypervisor*, I'd love to be able to use that. Unfortunately, one of the banes of my technology existence is when people say "that works great!" and "just look on Google,!", and the answer they vaguely remember does not actually include the situation I desdcribed. > another box first, copy the kernel off to a USB stick, and generate a > new initrd with the xen drivers included, then put those on the Xen host > and boot to the VM CD image using those in the kernel= and initrd= lines > in the domain.cfg file. Ouch. I've hand-modified CD and DVD images in the past, it's a pain the neck, It's been compunded by the insistece that the compressed "vmlinuz" file is, itself, named "vmlinuz" instead of "vmlinuz.gz", which always struck me as fairly nutty. > The other way is to boot to the CD as an HVM domain and install, then > convert it to a PV domain afterwards, which is not all that difficult to do. This would probably be safest for me right now, since I have a testable HVM instance of CentOS 6 to copy and work with. I'm not finding any good guidelines for migrating from HVM to paravirtualizaton for old Xen environments. Have you seen any, or done this process? The notes I find often include extraneous and hopefully unnecessary steps, such as http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX121875 saying. It's legible, but leaves out the kind of incompatibility issues that I;ve been concerned about hopping from a Xen server on CentOS 5.x to a CentOS 6.x guest. > There is a third way which involves using yum to install the @core group > plus kernel to an image, then tweak and boot to that as a PV domain. > This is how I have done it in the past. I'm sorry, but what? Are you building a chroot cage yourself, such as using 'mock', or are you starting with someone else's working para-virtualized image? (See my notes above). >> So I'm right back to my effectively unanswered original questions. So >> please: I asked a very specific pair of questions, and they remain >> unanswered. CentOS 5 Xen server (hypervisor, or Dom0, whatever we want >> to call it this week): Does CentOS 6 work, paravirtualized, on such a >> server? > > Yes, I have done that until I upgraded the CentOS 5 host to CentOS 6 a > couple years ago. Thanks! THAT is one of the questions I really wanted an answer for. >> And given my deployment issues, does anyone have a base OS >> image I can get a copy of? > > Sorry my image templates that I use are highly customized for my own > work, but I have told you three different ways to accomplish it above. Well, dang! ___ CentOS-virt mailing list CentOS-virt@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt
Re: [CentOS-virt] CentOS 6 VM image for paravirtualizaton on CentOS Xen server
On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 8:26 PM, Sarah Newman wrote: > On 03/15/2015 03:25 PM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote: >> So I'm right back to my effectively unanswered original questions. So >> please: I asked a very specific pair of questions, and they remain >> unanswered. CentOS 5 Xen server (hypervisor, or Dom0, whatever we want >> to call it this week): Does CentOS 6 work, paravirtualized, on such a >> server? And given my deployment issues, does anyone have a base OS >> image I can get a copy of? > > I'm not sure why you need tftp to do a net install assuming you control the > guest configuration. > > How about > > kernel = file from > https://mirrors.kernel.org/centos/6/os/i386/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz > ramdisk = file from > https://mirrors.kernel.org/centos/6/os/i386/images/pxeboot/initrd.img > extra = "console=hvc0" > memory = 512 or larger > > --Sarah I'll be happy to try this. Thank you for the pointer. Are you confident that 'console=hvc0' is the right installation time message for this? And will I be able to access a CD or DVD image for actual OS installation with these options? I'd really prefer to work from 'virsh' than from hand-writing xl configuration files.When I last did this sort of thing, I worked from a PXE environment that I controlled and could reserve DHCP settings based on MAC addresses, and tune PXE to boot from disk by default but allow users to select a clean re-install of the operating system they wanted. ___ CentOS-virt mailing list CentOS-virt@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt
Re: [CentOS-virt] CentOS 6 VM image for paravirtualizaton on CentOS Xen server
On 03/15/2015 03:25 PM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote: > So I'm right back to my effectively unanswered original questions. So > please: I asked a very specific pair of questions, and they remain > unanswered. CentOS 5 Xen server (hypervisor, or Dom0, whatever we want > to call it this week): Does CentOS 6 work, paravirtualized, on such a > server? And given my deployment issues, does anyone have a base OS > image I can get a copy of? I'm not sure why you need tftp to do a net install assuming you control the guest configuration. How about kernel = file from https://mirrors.kernel.org/centos/6/os/i386/images/pxeboot/vmlinuz ramdisk = file from https://mirrors.kernel.org/centos/6/os/i386/images/pxeboot/initrd.img extra = "console=hvc0" memory = 512 or larger --Sarah ___ CentOS-virt mailing list CentOS-virt@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt
Re: [CentOS-virt] CentOS 6 VM image for paravirtualizaton on CentOS Xen server
On 03/16/2015 11:25 AM, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote: > I've got CentOS VM's running fine, and have done them before. But > previously, I deployed the same base OS on the VM as on the Xen > server, so paravirtualization posed few risks. And I had control of > the DHCP setup. so I could trivially set up a tftp server to do a > non-CD installation, because Xen, at last look, doesn't support > installing a paravirtualized host from a CD image. It does as long as (1) the kernel has Xen PV support (CentOS 6 standard kernel does) and (2) it has the necessary drivers in the initrd (I think this is where the CD image is lacking), then you should, in theory, be able to pv-grub boot to the CD. Alternatively you can boot to the CD on another box first, copy the kernel off to a USB stick, and generate a new initrd with the xen drivers included, then put those on the Xen host and boot to the VM CD image using those in the kernel= and initrd= lines in the domain.cfg file. The other way is to boot to the CD as an HVM domain and install, then convert it to a PV domain afterwards, which is not all that difficult to do. There is a third way which involves using yum to install the @core group plus kernel to an image, then tweak and boot to that as a PV domain. This is how I have done it in the past. > So I'm right back to my effectively unanswered original questions. So > please: I asked a very specific pair of questions, and they remain > unanswered. CentOS 5 Xen server (hypervisor, or Dom0, whatever we want > to call it this week): Does CentOS 6 work, paravirtualized, on such a > server? Yes, I have done that until I upgraded the CentOS 5 host to CentOS 6 a couple years ago. > And given my deployment issues, does anyone have a base OS > image I can get a copy of? Sorry my image templates that I use are highly customized for my own work, but I have told you three different ways to accomplish it above. Peter ___ CentOS-virt mailing list CentOS-virt@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt
Re: [CentOS-virt] CentOS 6 VM image for paravirtualizaton on CentOS Xen server
On Sun, Mar 15, 2015 at 3:17 PM, Pasi Kärkkäinen wrote: > On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 10:34:39PM -0400, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote: >> I'm looking at a CentOS 5 Xen server that I'd really like to put some >> more recent VM's. There are reasons not to touch it at the moment, so >> I can't upgrade it in place today. >> >> Has anyone successfully installed a CentOS 6 VM, paravirtualized, on a >> CentOS 5 Xen server , without significant Xen upgrades? If so, can I >> get a copy from a reputable source, or one that I can review before >> using? I'm having a bit of difficulty arranging a PXE enironment to do >> a paraviirtualized installation with, and there are apparently >> difficulties doing a paravirtualzed system with CD or DVD installation >> with Xen. >> >> Nico Kadel-Garcia > > Yep, CentOS 6 VMs run just fine on CentOS 5 Xen host. I've got CentOS VM's running fine, and have done them before. But previously, I deployed the same base OS on the VM as on the Xen server, so paravirtualization posed few risks. And I had control of the DHCP setup. so I could trivially set up a tftp server to do a non-CD installation, because Xen, at last look, doesn't support installing a paravirtualized host from a CD image. So I'm right back to my effectively unanswered original questions. So please: I asked a very specific pair of questions, and they remain unanswered. CentOS 5 Xen server (hypervisor, or Dom0, whatever we want to call it this week): Does CentOS 6 work, paravirtualized, on such a server? And given my deployment issues, does anyone have a base OS image I can get a copy of? ___ CentOS-virt mailing list CentOS-virt@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt
Re: [CentOS-virt] CentOS 6 VM image for paravirtualizaton on CentOS Xen server
On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 10:34:39PM -0400, Nico Kadel-Garcia wrote: > I'm looking at a CentOS 5 Xen server that I'd really like to put some > more recent VM's. There are reasons not to touch it at the moment, so > I can't upgrade it in place today. > > Has anyone successfully installed a CentOS 6 VM, paravirtualized, on a > CentOS 5 Xen server , without significant Xen upgrades? If so, can I > get a copy from a reputable source, or one that I can review before > using? I'm having a bit of difficulty arranging a PXE enironment to do > a paraviirtualized installation with, and there are apparently > difficulties doing a paravirtualzed system with CD or DVD installation > with Xen. > > Nico Kadel-Garcia Yep, CentOS 6 VMs run just fine on CentOS 5 Xen host. -- Pasi ___ CentOS-virt mailing list CentOS-virt@centos.org http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt
