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Re: [Xen-users] Getting frustrated with Xen

To: art.fore@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Xen-users] Getting frustrated with Xen
From: Jonathan Dill <jonathan@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2006 12:26:12 -0400
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Art Fore wrote:
title Xen 3.0 / XenLinux 2.6
       kernel /boot/xen-3.0.gz console=vga
       module /boot/vmlinuz-2.6-xen root=/dev/sda2 ro console=tty0
       module /boot/initrd-2.6-xen.img
If "/boot" is on a separate partition from "/" you may need to take out the "/boot" from the path, at least that was a problem that I ran into at some point. I think it's because the path is relative to the top of the partition that the files are on, and if /boot is a separate partition, then the files are at the top level of that filesystem, if that's not too confusing.

Some of the automatic scripts that are out there for setting up xen, like xenify.sh, seem to assume that /boot is not on a separate partition but part of /. I also ran into problems with "/" fs other than ext3 due to assumption of scripts, I am sure there is a way to fix it, but I don't think the extra effort is really going to buy all that much extra performance.

And of course as always, KNOPPIX is your friend :) or sometimes I used Ubuntu Desktop CD, then you can boot into the CD, mount your root partition and chroot to it. Also handy you can use the "--bind" or "-o bind" option to mount to make /proc and /dev (if you are using udev or devfs) available when you chroot to the root partition, for example:

mkdir /mnt/sda1
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
mount --bind /proc /mnt/sda1/proc
mount --bind /dev /mnt/sda1/dev
chroot /mnt/sda1
mount -a
# do stuff, edit / run grub etc
umount -a
exit

So far, I have had the best results with:

1. "/" of dom0 is a "real" partition and not LVM
2. /boot is a subdir in / and not on a separate partition
3. / is formatted with ext3 filesystem (not reiserfs)
4. allow 6.5 GB for /

Luckily, I do not have to be frugal with disk space, in fact my partition layout really looks like this:

sda1 /media/sda1 32 MB Dell Utility partition FAT32
sda2 / 6.5 GB ext3
sda3 /media/sda3 6.5 GB ext3 (2nd root partition for future upgrade)
sda4 extended partition
sda5 swap 512 MB
sda6 LVM VolGroup0 remainder of space

Jonathan

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