keep console attached during reboot?

keep console attached during reboot?

[John Hannfield]

I'm using xen 3.1.0. In the older xen 2.0.4  you could reboot a
machine while attached
to it's console, and it would stay attached, allowing you to see the
full boot up. However
this changed in 3.0.x . Now on reboot the console detaches, and you
have to re-attach to the new domid. Is there a way to get back the old
behaviour?  Can someone point out where in the code
this takes place, so I can try hacking it.
Thanks,

-- 

John

Re: keep console attached during reboot?

[Mark Williamson]

> I'm using xen 3.1.0. In the older xen 2.0.4

Glad to see upgrades are still happening :-)  Had you been using 2.0.4, or had 
you just not used Xen for ages?  It seems some people have been getting > 1 
year uptimes out of Xen, which is nice to know about.

> you could reboot a 
> machine while attached
> to it's console, and it would stay attached, allowing you to see the
> full boot up. However
> this changed in 3.0.x . Now on reboot the console detaches, and you
> have to re-attach to the new domid. Is there a way to get back the old
> behaviour?

Yes, I miss it too - I'd had a feeling we used to support this but couldn't 
remember when.  Currently I don't think there's not a way to get back to the 
old behaviour.

> Can someone point out where in the code 
> this takes place, so I can try hacking it.

I suspect that modifying tools/console/client/main.c to reconnect if possible 
when a connection drops would be the easiest way to hack this in.

The strictly proper way IMO would be to modify tools/console/daemon/ to only 
close the connection if a VM has shutdown / been destroyed, otherwise 
establish a console ring with the new domain and continue using the same 
connection.  I might have a look at this if nobody else gets to it first...

Cheers,
Mark

-- 
Dave: Just a question. What use is a unicyle with no seat?  And no pedals!
Mark: To answer a question with a question: What use is a skateboard?
Dave: Skateboards have wheels.
Mark: My wheel has a wheel!

Re: keep console attached during reboot?

[Stephen Childs]

>> I'm using xen 3.1.0. In the older xen 2.0.4
> 
> Glad to see upgrades are still happening :-)  Had you been using 2.0.4, or had 
> you just not used Xen for ages?  It seems some people have been getting > 1 
> year uptimes out of Xen, which is nice to know about.

One of our Xen hosts running 2.0.7 is heading for 2 years uptime:

  09:55:26  up 655 days, 22:43,  0 users,  load average: 0.02, 0.01, 0.00

It's located ~120 miles away so uptime is important!

Stephen