There are now over 70 people on the xen-ia64-devel mailing
list, but very few actively participate. THIS IS YOUR
CHANCE TO PARTICIPATE! Please reply-to-all to the following
with one of: A, B, C+A, C+B
BALLOT:
A) label=xen
image=xen
initrd=xenlinux
module=xenlinux-initrd.img
B) label=xen
image=xen
module=xenlinux
initrd=xenlinux-initrd.img
C) label=xen
image=xen
domain0=xenlinux
initrd=xenlinux-initrd.img
(NOTE: If voting for C, please also vote for a second
choice (e.g. C+A or C+B) as C may not be acceptable to
the elilo developers.)
DETAILED EXPLANATION:
Xen/ia64 (like Linux/ia64) is started from elilo.efi
according to instructions in elilo.conf. A recent
change to elilo.efi (not yet in the official release)
allows additional files to be loaded by using the
"module=" paramter in elilo.conf.
Elilo.conf, when booting Linux, has a syntax like:
label=linux2613
image=linux-2.6.13
#no initrd necessary here
label=rhel4
image=rhel-linux.gz
initrd=rhel-initrd.img
where label is what you specify at the elilo prompt
to select which elilo.conf entry to use. Some
linux distributions (notably RHEL 4) require an
initrd (initial ram disk) file to successfully boot,
while others (e.g. RHEL 3) do not.
With the current version of elilo.efi (no modules), Xen
is booted using an elilo.conf as follows:
label=xen
image=xen
initrd=xenlinux # booted as domain0
and there is NO WAY to specify an initial ram disk
for xenlinux. That means current Xen CANNOT boot RHEL4
with the currently released version of elilo.efi.
As you have probably seen on the list, some developers
are working on modifications to elilo.efi and Xen/ia64
to allow Xen to boot RHEL4. To do so, a new
parameter to elilo.conf is required. "module=" has
meaning to other bootloaders so the elilo developers have
agreed to add that parameter. However, everyone wanting
to boot RHEL4 (or any distribution that requires an
initrd) as a domain0 on Xen/ia64 will need to update to
a new elilo.efi.
This change is also an opportunity to revisit how the
various images are specified in elilo.conf.
Choice A is backwards compatible with current Xen/ia64
but initrd= specifies a linux image when booting Xen,
whereas initrd= specifies an initrd image when booting
Linux. Some may consider this confusing.
A) label=xen
image=xen
initrd=xenlinux
module=xenlinux-initrd.img
Choice B is not backwards compatible; all existing
Xen elilo.conf files will have to change. However,
initrd= means the same thing whether booting Xen
or Linux.
B) label=xen
image=xen
module=xenlinux
initrd=xenlinux-initrd.img
Choice C utilizes a new parameter name "domain0=".
This is probably the clearest to Xen/ia64 users,
but there's no guarantee that the elilo.efi
developers will allow this change, which is very
Xen-specific. Even if they do, it may be some time
before it appears in a released elilo.
C) label=xen
image=xen
domain0=xenlinux
initrd=xenlinux-initrd.img
If you prefer C, please vote also for a second choice,
as in C+A or C+B.
Now please hit reply-to-all and vote!
Thanks,
Dan
_______________________________________________
Xen-ia64-devel mailing list
Xen-ia64-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.xensource.com/xen-ia64-devel
|
Home