Re: RE: [Xen-devel] debs for 2.0.7 and unstable

[Marcus Brown <marcusbrutus@internode.on.net>]

Hi all,

I've noted that mails in xen users list suggest compiling lvm
et al into the kernel for Debian, rather than using the Debian
method of compiling (almost) everything as a module.
This plays havoc with various Debian mechanisms like mkinitrd,
and IMHO makes life harder than it should be.

FYI modules DO work ... eg. with Xen Debian on LVM + RAID, which
should allow normal Debian mkinitrd operation.
My setup works perfectly with Debian Sarge as dom0 with
/boot/grub/menu.lst including something like
	title           Xen 2.0.7 Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.11.12-xen0
	root            (hd0,0)
	kernel          /xen-2.0.7.gz root=/dev/ram0 ro dom0_mem=131072
	module          /vmlinuz-2.6.11.12-xen0 root=/dev/vg0/root ro console=tty0
	module          /initrd.img-2.6.11.12-xen0
	savedefault
	boot
I've made my initrd manually using standard methods:
	mkinitrd -o /boot/initrd.img-2.6.11.12-xen0 2.6.11.12-xen0
For sanity, I've also made sure these changes are applied first:
	Edit lvm.conf for filter:
		filter = [ "a|/dev/md*|", "r/.*/" ]
	#this needs to be cleaned up to avoid md/xxx errors in dmesg
  and then run
	vgscan
	# vgscan must be executed before mkinitrd

If your install scripts are already calculating grub's menu correctly
it should be a simple matter to modularise in the Debian way, and
use mkinitrd as intended.

Regards,

Marcus.


James Harper wrote:
> I've done an install (but not yet booted) and have noted the
> following...
> 
> I don't get an initrd and it looks like almost everything is compiled
> in. Any chance of doing an almost-identical-to-debian build for dom0? My
> mkinitrd complains that there is no LVM, and when I look at the .config,
> LVM is compiled into the kernel.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> James
> 
> 
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: xen-devel-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-devel-
>>bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of ed despard
>>Sent: Thursday, 25 August 2005 17:37
>>To: xen-devel@lists.xensource.com
>>Cc: xen-users@lists.xensource.com
>>Subject: [Xen-devel] debs for 2.0.7 and unstable
>>
>>	For part of my Google Summer of Code work I've put togeather
> 
> debs
> 
>>for
>>xen of 2.0.7 and of unstable.  The unstable debs are built off of
>>yesterdays hg tree, but I try to update them fairly regularly when new
>>developments occur.  Currently I only have compiled debs for debian,
>>but the source debs will work on ubuntu also, and I plan on posting
>>compiled files for ubuntu tomorrow.
>>	The apt repository is available at
>>http://mirror.clarkson.edu/pub/dists/xenophilia/xendebs/debian
>>available distributions are xen-stable, and xen-unstable.  To install
> 
> a
> 
>>fully working xen system, you only need to install the xen package
>>which depends on all the other needed debs.
>>	Please note that these are different from previous available
> 
> debs,
> 
>>but
>>share many of the same naming schemes etc.  Therefore if you are
>>upgrading from a system that used debs from another source, it is
>>recommended that you remove all old packages, and use the --purge
>>option to apt-get in order to clear out any debconf templates.
>>
>>	Differences in these packages from those previously available
> 
> are
> 
>>primarily apparent in the distribution of kernels.  These packages do
>>not distribute a kernel patch (yet) but instead distribute pre-build
>>kernel packages that include debconf scripts to configure the needed
>>grub entries.  More information on this system can be found in the man
>>pages for update-grub-xen that are included, and the file
>>/etc/xenkernels.conf.
>>	The init scripts are not run by default, but are just installed
> 
> in
> 
>>/etc/init.d  In order to use xm etc, you must start xend manually, or
>>use the update-rc.d script.
>>
>>	If there is interest, these packages could be easy build for
> 
> x86_64,
> 
>>as long as someone was willing to do the testing, as i do not have a
>>system available.
>>
>>
>>Enjoy,
>>	Edward Despard