Hi all,
Time for an update!
Changelog
linux-xen0:
* linux-xen is renamed to linux-xen0. This way someone can create a
linux-xenU package if he/she wants
* 64 bit build
* Kernel configurations based on stock Arch Linux kernel as far as is
allowed
Get the packages at:
http://archserver.be/packages-devel/linux-xen0-2.6.18_xen_3.2.0-2-i686.pkg.tar.gz
http://archserver.be/packages-devel/linux-xen0-2.6.18_xen_3.2.0-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz
xen:
* 64 bit build
* Updated initscripts: the scripts are now in rc.d.
-> xend: archified
-> xendomains: "Don't touch what you don't know". Script looks pretty
complex so other than a changed path I did not modify the script
Get the packages at:
http://archserver.be/packages-devel/xen-3.2.1-2-i686.pkg.tar.gz
http://archserver.be/packages-devel/xen-3.2.1-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.gz
You can find the updated PKGBUILDs at:
http://archserver.be/packages-devel/linux-xen0.tar
http://archserver.be/packages-devel/xen.tar
Glenn
RedShift wrote:
Hi all,
I've been keeping busy today with Xen for Arch Linux. I've created the
following packages:
-> This package contains the userland tools to administer a Xen dom0
host.
xen-3.2.1-1-i686.pkg
http://archserver.be/packages-devel/xen-3.2.1-1-i686.pkg.tar.gz
-> This package contains the Xen hypervisor/dom0 kernel.
linux-xen-2.6.18_xen_3.2.0-1-i686.pkg
http://archserver.be/packages-devel/linux-xen-2.6.18_xen_3.2.0-1-i686.pkg.tar.gz
As Xen uses a heavily modified linux kernel, it cannot easily be
ported to more current kernel versions. So:
1) You're stuck with whatever hardware 2.6.18 supports
2) We have to use GCC 3.4 to compile this
3) It needs a patch because of using GCC 3.4 (xentime-gcc34.patch) :-(
The kernel configuration is currently the default one that comes with
Xen. Most drivers are compiled in statically. I plan to update the
configuration to match Arch Linux's stock kernel.
The kernel package does NOT provide support for running AS A
paravirtualized* GUEST. The goal of these packages is make the system
run guest OS'es without any modifications. This means you need
hardware virtualization support. You can check for hardware VT if you
have either vmx or svm (respectively Intel's and AMD's virtualization
technology) in /proc/cpuinfo. I do not intend to support
paravirtualization (see TODO).
I've only tested i686. I can natively run m$ windoze (with networking)
on these packages, so the basics work.
The xen package should compile and work on x86_64. The linux-xen
package has not even been compiled on x86_64 and will not work ATM.
I've started a wiki article for Xen too,
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xen
You can grab the PKGBUILDs here:
* linux-xen: http://archserver.be/packages-devel/linux-xen.tar
* xen: http://archserver.be/packages-devel/xen.tar
Still TODO:
* x86_64 support
* update kernel config to match Arch Linux's stock kernel
* finish the wiki article, create an example scenario
* fix initscripts for xen package (they are currently in etc/init.d)
* paravirtualization: from what I've read, the kernel can be
configured to function both as hypervisor and guest. The traditional
way is to have two kernels in the distro: one for dom0 and one for
domU. It would be great to combine these two - but I'd like some
advice on this one. Does it have performance implications?
-> If having both dom0 and domU support in the same kernel has no
negative side-effects I will support paravirtualization. If it does
have side-effects that are unacceptable I will not support
paravirtualization.
(Paravirtualization is virtualization without hardware support from
the CPU. This means the guest OS has to be made compatible with Xen in
order to run. This is why you see for example xenU or domU kernels:
these are meant to be used inside a Xen domain if the Xen host doesn't
have hardware VT)
Any feedback is appreciated.
Glenn
