Xen intallation in Sid

Yesterday I installed and configured xen in my PC. Here is a short description of what you need to do:

1. First intall xen kernel images, modules along with some utilities.

#apt-get update

#apt-get install linux-image-2.6.18-4-xen-686 linux-modules-2.6.18-4-xen-686 xen-hypervisor-3.0.3-1-i386 xen-linux-system-2.6.18-4-xen-686 xen-tools xen-utils-3.0.3-1 xen-ioemu-3.0.3-1 bridge-utils debootstrap libc6-xen xen-utils-common rpmstrap iproute sysfsutils

[Note: packages 'linux-image-2.6.18-4-xen-686 linux-modules-2.6.18-4-xen-686 xen-hypervisor-3.0.3-1-i386 xen-linux-system-2.6.18-4-xen-686 xen-tools xen-utils-3.0.3-1 xen-ioemu-3.0.3-1' are version specific and may have other versions depending on your system, so you need to change their version sometimes.]

2. After the packages have been installed properly boot from the new xen kernel.

3. Open /etc/xen/xend-config.sxp file. Make sure that the following lines are there:

(logfile /var/log/xen/xend.log)
(network-script network-bridge)
(vif-script vif-bridge)

And also make sure that the following line is NOT there:

(network-script network-dummy)

4. #mkdir /home/xen -p

5. Now we need to edit /etc/xen-tools/xen-tools.conf file. This is a sample configuration for running Debian sarge on a 4GB HDD with 256 mb of ram

dir = /home/xen
debootstrap = 1
size = 4Gb
memory = 256Mb
swap = 256Mb
fs = ext3
dist = sarge
gateway = 192.168.1.1
netmask = 255.255.255.0
passwd = 1
kernel = /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-4-xen-686
initrd = /boot/initrd.img-2.6.18-4-xen-686
mirror = http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/

If you want to set-up an rpm based system like centos then put 'rpmstrap = 1' instread of 'debootstrap = 1' and change 'dist = sarge' to 'dist = centos4'.

6. Now create and image for that configuration:

#xen-create-image --hostname=sarge-xen --ip=192.168.10.2 --boot

7. After the installation has finished you have enter your new password and the new system will boot

8. When you need to shutdown your system:

#xm shutdown sarge-xen

9. When you need to open that image for work:

#xm create sarge-xen.cfg -c

Now my sarge is runnning in console mode. I'll come up with more on this when I have time. Until then ... ...