This article describes how to install and use the XEN Hypervisor on Fedora Linux 8. I use Fedora Linux as host operating system (Domain 0) and I use Fedora as operating system for the paravirtualized XEN guest (DomU) as well.

Requirements:

• minimum 256MB free memory
• 4GB disk space
• Fedora 8 installed and ready to use
• Fedora 8 ISO Image
• 30 minutes of your time (depending on your internet connection )

If you dont have a Fedora 8 ISO, you can download it from this site: http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/publiclist/Fedora/8/i386/

1. Install XEN software

First you have to install XEN. the XEN kernel and the virt-manager (You have to run this command with root privileges):

[root@localhost ~]# yum install kernel-xen xen virt-manager python-twisted
 

If you use the "standard" Fedora 8 repositories, yum will resolve all dependencies for you

2. Change grub.conf

Now you have to change the default boot option in grub.conf, to make your new kernel the default:

open /boot/grub/grub.conf with vi:

[root@localhost ~]# vi /boot/grub/grub.conf
 

Change the line "default=" to match your XEN kernel. The first entry in the boot list is 0, the second entry 1 and so on. In my case it looks now like this:

default=0
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,1)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu

title Fedora (2.6.21-2950.fc8xen)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /xen.gz-2.6.21-2950.fc8
module /vmlinuz-2.6.21-2950.fc8xen ro root=/dev/rootvg/root_lv rhgb quiet
module /initrd-2.6.21-2950.fc8xen.img

(...)

(save and close the file with :wq)

Now you have to reboot to use the new kernel.

3. Prepare your installation source

Unfortunately you cannot install a paravirtualized guest from a CD or DVD. Actually, there are only 3 options:

• installation from NFS server
• Installation from a web server (http)
• installation from ftp server

It seems like the best solution is to use nfs. The next step is to create a new directory and copy the Fedora 8 iso image to this new folder:

 
[root@localhost]# mkdir /iso
[root@localhost]# cp Fedora-8-i386-DVD.iso /iso/
 

(Depending on how you have organized your storage, it might be better to create a new filesystem first.)

Now you have to create a new mountpoint to access the content of the ISO image and then mount the ISO to this new mountpoint;

[root@localhost]# mkdir /iso/Fedora-8-i386-DVD
[root@localhost]# mount -o loop /iso/Fedora-8-i386-DVD.iso /iso/Fedora-8-i386-DVD
 

Now we have to setup the nfs share. First edit /etc/exports with vi:

[root@localhost]# vi /etc/exports
 

And add your new mountpoint with read-only access:

/iso/Fedora-8-i386-DVD    *(ro) 
 

(save and close the file with :wq)

now we have to start the nfs daemon and check if everything is exported as expected:

 
[root@localhost]# service nfs start
Starting NFS services:                                     [  OK  ]
Starting NFS quotas:                                       [  OK  ]
Starting NFS daemon:                                       [  OK  ]
Starting NFS mountd:                                       [  OK  ]
[root@localhost]# exportfs
/iso/Fedora-8-i386-DVD  <world>
 

4. Install a Virtual XEN machine

There is also a GUI to install a new XEN machine (DomU), but I prefer the command line tool virt-install which comes with the package python-virtinst (it is already installed because its a requirement for virt-manager).

There are many options for virt-install. For a standard installation you need only a few of them:

I call my new virtual machine "myguest" and I will start with 256MB RAM and a 4GB virtual disk. My host system has the IP address 192.168.1.101. The command I have to enter to install my machine is:

 
[root@localhost ~]# virt-install -p --name=myguest --ram=256 --file=/dvgrab/myguest.img --file-size=4
 --nonsparse --nographics --location=nfs:192.168.1.101:/iso/Fedora-8-i386-DVD

Note: myguest is NOT the hostname, it is just the name of the virtual machine. However, I think it makes sense to use the same name for both.

After you type enter You will go through the normal Fedora 8 installation:

Welcome to Fedora for i386

                   +---------+ Choose a Language +---------+
                   |                                       |
                   | What language would you like to use   |
                   | during the installation process?      |
                   |                                       |
                   |       Catalan                ^        |
                   |       Chinese(Simplified)    :        |
                   |       Chinese(Traditional)   #        |
                   |       Croatian               :        |
                   |       Czech                  :        |
                   |       Danish                 :        |
                   |       Dutch                  :        |
                   |       English                v        |
                   |                                       |
                   |                +----+                 |
                   |                | OK |                 |
                   |                +----+                 |
                   |                                       |
                   |                                       |
                   +---------------------------------------+

  <Tab>/<Alt-Tab> between elements  | <Space> selects | <F12> next screen

(...)

 


          ┌──────────────────────┤ Complete ├───────────────────────┐
          │                                                         │
          │ Congratulations, your Fedora installation is complete.  │
          │                                                         │
          │ Press <Enter> to end the installation process.          │
          │                                                         │
          │                                                         │
          │                       ┌────────┐                        │
          │                       │ Reboot │                        │
          │                       └────────┘                        │
          │                                                         │
          │                                                         │
          └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘





                                <Enter> to exit

Thats it! you have now installed a virtual Linux machine!

http://www.madmadmod.com/xen/10-xen-on-fedora-8-part-2-management-basics.html

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