Several questions from a freshman to Xen

Several questions from a freshman to Xen

[Zhengwang Ruan (Royo)]

Hi Guys,

I am new man with some confusions to this amazing technology, hope you 
guys give answers to help me better understand Xen. :)

1, You guys have been working on developing many releases, do you guys 
have agreements on developing every source code based on a fixed linux 
kernel version before starting a new release? If so, how could I know 
the corresponding kernel version to a given xen release? I tried to find 
answer for myself on the following wiki page, but it is not latest enough.

http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/DistributionSupport

2, I found some interesting source files in xen-4.1.1 release, I listed 
them below:

$ ll
drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-10-12 00:20 arch/
drwx------ 5 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 common/
-rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo 19185 2011-06-15 00:03 COPYING
drwx------ 2 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 crypto/
drwx------ 8 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 drivers/
drwx------ 9 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 include/
-rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  5529 2011-06-15 00:03 Makefile
-rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  3498 2011-06-15 00:03 Rules.mk
drwx------ 3 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 tools/
drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 xsm/

Are these files going to replace or be added to linux kernel source 
while making dm0? I am amazed that this release can be installed to many 
linux distributions with different kernel, how could you guys achieve this?

Thanks,
Royo

Re: Several questions from a freshman to Xen

[Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk]

On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 11:51:01PM +0800, Zhengwang Ruan (Royo) wrote:
> Hi Guys,
> 
> I am new man with some confusions to this amazing technology, hope
> you guys give answers to help me better understand Xen. :)
> 
> 1, You guys have been working on developing many releases, do you
> guys have agreements on developing every source code based on a
> fixed linux kernel version before starting a new release? If so, how

No.
> could I know the corresponding kernel version to a given xen
> release? I tried to find answer for myself on the following wiki
> page, but it is not latest enough.

Anything past 3.0 kernel should work. Every Linux kernel release
we fix bugs and add new features.

Look in Paravirt Wiki for the roadmap of what we want to
have in 3.2 and 3.3 Linux kernel.
> 
> http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/DistributionSupport
> 
> 2, I found some interesting source files in xen-4.1.1 release, I
> listed them below:
> 
> $ ll
> drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-10-12 00:20 arch/
> drwx------ 5 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 common/
> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo 19185 2011-06-15 00:03 COPYING
> drwx------ 2 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 crypto/
> drwx------ 8 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 drivers/
> drwx------ 9 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 include/
> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  5529 2011-06-15 00:03 Makefile
> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  3498 2011-06-15 00:03 Rules.mk
> drwx------ 3 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 tools/
> drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 xsm/
> 
> Are these files going to replace or be added to linux kernel source
> while making dm0? I am amazed that this release can be installed to

Why would they?

Re: Several questions from a freshman to Xen

[Pasi Kärkkäinen]

On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 11:51:01PM +0800, Zhengwang Ruan (Royo) wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>

Hello,

> I am new man with some confusions to this amazing technology, hope you  
> guys give answers to help me better understand Xen. :)
>

Maybe this wiki page gives some general info about Xen:
http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/XenOverview


And these PDFs:
http://xen.org/files/Marketing/WhatisXen.pdf
http://xen.org/files/Marketing/WhyXen.pdf


> 1, You guys have been working on developing many releases, do you guys  
> have agreements on developing every source code based on a fixed linux  
> kernel version before starting a new release? If so, how could I know  
> the corresponding kernel version to a given xen release? I tried to find  
> answer for myself on the following wiki page, but it is not latest 
> enough.
>

Are you talking about dom0 kernel? or domU kernel?

Xen hypervisor (xen.gz) is the compatibility layer,
so dom0 and domUs (VMs) can all have different Linux kernel versions.

> http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/DistributionSupport
>
> 2, I found some interesting source files in xen-4.1.1 release, I listed  
> them below:
>
> $ ll
> drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-10-12 00:20 arch/
> drwx------ 5 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 common/
> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo 19185 2011-06-15 00:03 COPYING
> drwx------ 2 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 crypto/
> drwx------ 8 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 drivers/
> drwx------ 9 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 include/
> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  5529 2011-06-15 00:03 Makefile
> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  3498 2011-06-15 00:03 Rules.mk
> drwx------ 3 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 tools/
> drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 xsm/
>
> Are these files going to replace or be added to linux kernel source  
> while making dm0? I am amazed that this release can be installed to many  
> linux distributions with different kernel, how could you guys achieve 
> this?
>

Xen hypervisor (xen.gz) is a totally separate binary, it's not "mixed" to/with Linux kernel.

- For Xen dom0 you need to use a Linux kernel that has Xen dom0 support enabled.
- For Xen PV domUs (VMs) you need to use a Linux kernel that has Xen PV domU support enabled.
- For Xen HVM VMs you don't need a special kernel, but having Xen PVHVM drivers in the kernel will boost disk/net performance.

Xen related features in different Linux kernel versions:
http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/XenParavirtOps


-- Pasi

Re: Several questions from a freshman to Xen

[Zhengwang Ruan (Royo)]

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On 2011?10?14? 03:07, Pasi Kärkkäinen wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 11:51:01PM +0800, Zhengwang Ruan (Royo) wrote:
>> Hi Guys,
>>
> Hello,
>
>> I am new man with some confusions to this amazing technology, hope you
>> guys give answers to help me better understand Xen. :)
>>
> Maybe this wiki page gives some general info about Xen:
> http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/XenOverview
>
>
> And these PDFs:
> http://xen.org/files/Marketing/WhatisXen.pdf
> http://xen.org/files/Marketing/WhyXen.pdf
>
>
>> 1, You guys have been working on developing many releases, do you guys
>> have agreements on developing every source code based on a fixed linux
>> kernel version before starting a new release? If so, how could I know
>> the corresponding kernel version to a given xen release? I tried to find
>> answer for myself on the following wiki page, but it is not latest
>> enough.
>>
> Are you talking about dom0 kernel? or domU kernel?
>
> Xen hypervisor (xen.gz) is the compatibility layer,
> so dom0 and domUs (VMs) can all have different Linux kernel versions.

Hi Pasi,


I refer to dom0 here. I got many details on wiki 
http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/XenParavirtOps , it helps me understand some.

 From this page, I know you guys developed xen-3.x based on 
linux-2.6.18, and and xen-4.x on 2.6.32, am I right? So these two 
versions of kernel should be supported mostly, right?

For domU, each kernel from kernel.org should be working as a guest?


<http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/XenParavirtOps>
>> http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/DistributionSupport
>>
>> 2, I found some interesting source files in xen-4.1.1 release, I listed
>> them below:
>>
>> $ ll
>> drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-10-12 00:20 arch/
>> drwx------ 5 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 common/
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo 19185 2011-06-15 00:03 COPYING
>> drwx------ 2 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 crypto/
>> drwx------ 8 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 drivers/
>> drwx------ 9 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 include/
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  5529 2011-06-15 00:03 Makefile
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  3498 2011-06-15 00:03 Rules.mk
>> drwx------ 3 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 tools/
>> drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 xsm/
>>
>> Are these files going to replace or be added to linux kernel source
>> while making dm0? I am amazed that this release can be installed to many
>> linux distributions with different kernel, how could you guys achieve
>> this?
>>
> Xen hypervisor (xen.gz) is a totally separate binary, it's not "mixed" to/with Linux kernel.

And, xen-4.1.1 is compiled to generate xen.gz which is started by dom0 
and running on/inside dom0 as Hypervisor?

> - For Xen dom0 you need to use a Linux kernel that has Xen dom0 support enabled.
> - For Xen PV domUs (VMs) you need to use a Linux kernel that has Xen PV domU support enabled.
> - For Xen HVM VMs you don't need a special kernel, but having Xen PVHVM drivers in the kernel will boost disk/net

PVHVM drivers are implemented using xenbus? The drivers in xenbus/ 
directory are you called PVHVM drivers?

Thanks,
Royo

> performance.
>
> Xen related features in different Linux kernel versions:
> http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/XenParavirtOps
>
>
> -- Pasi
>

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Re: Several questions from a freshman to Xen

[Zhengwang Ruan (Royo)]

On 2011年10月14日 02:42, Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 11:51:01PM +0800, Zhengwang Ruan (Royo) wrote:
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>> I am new man with some confusions to this amazing technology, hope
>> you guys give answers to help me better understand Xen. :)
>>
>> 1, You guys have been working on developing many releases, do you
>> guys have agreements on developing every source code based on a
>> fixed linux kernel version before starting a new release? If so, how
> No.
>> could I know the corresponding kernel version to a given xen
>> release? I tried to find answer for myself on the following wiki
>> page, but it is not latest enough.
> Anything past 3.0 kernel should work. Every Linux kernel release
> we fix bugs and add new features.

They are the kernel releases in the git repository

http://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/konrad/xen.git

?


> Look in Paravirt Wiki for the roadmap of what we want to
> have in 3.2 and 3.3 Linux kernel.

See, really good roadmap!


>> http://wiki.xen.org/xenwiki/DistributionSupport
>>
>> 2, I found some interesting source files in xen-4.1.1 release, I
>> listed them below:
>>
>> $ ll
>> drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-10-12 00:20 arch/
>> drwx------ 5 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 common/
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo 19185 2011-06-15 00:03 COPYING
>> drwx------ 2 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 crypto/
>> drwx------ 8 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 drivers/
>> drwx------ 9 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 include/
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  5529 2011-06-15 00:03 Makefile
>> -rw-r--r-- 1 royo royo  3498 2011-06-15 00:03 Rules.mk
>> drwx------ 3 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 tools/
>> drwx------ 4 royo royo 16384 2011-06-15 00:03 xsm/
>>
>> Are these files going to replace or be added to linux kernel source
>> while making dm0? I am amazed that this release can be installed to
> Why would they?

Sorry, I misunderstood xen-4.1.1 as part of dom0, and would be merged 
into kernel to produce a dom0, but I know I was wrong. :)

Thanks,
Royo

Re: Several questions from a freshman to Xen

[Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk]

On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 09:04:04PM +0800, Zhengwang Ruan (Royo) wrote:
> 
> 
> On 2011年10月14日 02:42, Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk wrote:
> >On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 11:51:01PM +0800, Zhengwang Ruan (Royo) wrote:
> >>Hi Guys,
> >>
> >>I am new man with some confusions to this amazing technology, hope
> >>you guys give answers to help me better understand Xen. :)
> >>
> >>1, You guys have been working on developing many releases, do you
> >>guys have agreements on developing every source code based on a
> >>fixed linux kernel version before starting a new release? If so, how
> >No.
> >>could I know the corresponding kernel version to a given xen
> >>release? I tried to find answer for myself on the following wiki
> >>page, but it is not latest enough.
> >Anything past 3.0 kernel should work. Every Linux kernel release
> >we fix bugs and add new features.
> 
> They are the kernel releases in the git repository
> 
> http://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/konrad/xen.git

Well, not yet since the git.kernel.org had an issue. Instead use
the upstream kernel which has all of those features.

Re: Several questions from a freshman to Xen

[Zhengwang Ruan (Royo)]

On 2011年10月14日 21:58, Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 09:04:04PM +0800, Zhengwang Ruan (Royo) wrote:
>>
>> On 2011年10月14日 02:42, Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk wrote:
>>> On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 11:51:01PM +0800, Zhengwang Ruan (Royo) wrote:
>>>> Hi Guys,
>>>>
>>>> I am new man with some confusions to this amazing technology, hope
>>>> you guys give answers to help me better understand Xen. :)
>>>>
>>>> 1, You guys have been working on developing many releases, do you
>>>> guys have agreements on developing every source code based on a
>>>> fixed linux kernel version before starting a new release? If so, how
>>> No.
>>>> could I know the corresponding kernel version to a given xen
>>>> release? I tried to find answer for myself on the following wiki
>>>> page, but it is not latest enough.
>>> Anything past 3.0 kernel should work. Every Linux kernel release
>>> we fix bugs and add new features.
>> They are the kernel releases in the git repository
>>
>> http://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/konrad/xen.git
> Well, not yet since the git.kernel.org had an issue. Instead use
> the upstream kernel which has all of those features.

Ok, thank you very much!

Re: Several questions from a freshman to Xen

[Ian Jackson]

Konrad Rzeszutek Wilk writes ("Re: [Xen-devel] Several questions from a freshman to Xen"):
> On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 11:51:01PM +0800, Zhengwang Ruan (Royo) wrote:
> > I am new man with some confusions to this amazing technology, hope
> > you guys give answers to help me better understand Xen. :)
> > 
> > 1, You guys have been working on developing many releases, do you
> > guys have agreements on developing every source code based on a
> > fixed linux kernel version before starting a new release? If so, how
...
> > could I know the corresponding kernel version to a given xen
> > release? I tried to find answer for myself on the following wiki
> > page, but it is not latest enough.
> 
> Anything past 3.0 kernel should work. Every Linux kernel release
> we fix bugs and add new features.

I think this enquirer would be better directed to xen-users.

Ian.