Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- open_solaris_xen_dom_u [2007/08/07 18:51] – mediawiki_default
+++ open_solaris_xen_dom_u [2026/09/27 03:33] (current) – removed - external edit (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-This page describes the installation of the July 2007 update of OpenSolaris on a [[xen]] domU running under a Linux dom0.  It has all been written based on my experiences with Debian GNU/Linux 4.0 as the dom0 so some details might not match your system and others might just be wrong.  If you have any corrections or additions, please email me here: rupert.hair@ntlworld.com
-====== Getting the Installation Media ======
-The installer is available as DVD image from Sun's Download Centre [[http://www.sun.com/download/products.xml?id=4691b249|here]].  It is distributed as an ISO file, which has been split into six parts and where each part has been zipped.
-I downloaded each file, verified them using the supplied md5sums, and then ran the following from bash to unzip and recombine them:
-  mkdir /usr/lib/xen-solaris/
-  for foo in `ls 66-0624-nd-iso-[a-f].zip`; do
-      unzip -p $foo;
-  done >/usr/lib/xen-solaris/66-0624-nd.iso
-====== Extracting the Kernel and Initial ramdisk ======
-To boot OpenSolaris under [[xen]] you need both a kernel and initial ramdisk available on your dom0.  The [[http://opensolaris.org/os/community/xen/docs/install-solaris-domu-iso.htm|documentation]] seems to assume that you are running an OpenSolaris dom0 and so will already have a copy of the kernel and ramdisk available.  In our case, with a Linux dom0, we will need to extract the kernel and ramdisk from the ISO image like so:
-  mkdir /mnt/tmp
-  mount -o loop,ro 66-0624-nd.iso /mnt/tmp
-  cp /mnt/tmp/boot/x86.miniroot /usr/lib/xen-solaris/x86.miniroot-66-0624-nd
-  cp /mnt/tmp/boot/platform/i86xpv/kernel/unix /usr/lib/xen-solaris/unix-66-0624-nd
-  umount /mnt/tmp
-====== Configuring Xen for the Installation ======
-Before you can boot OpenSolaris to begin the installation you will need to create a [[xen]] configuration file defining the virtual disk, virtual DVD drive, kernel, ramdisk, memory size and kernel parameters.  Here's an example:
-<code>name = 'argolin'
-memory = '1024'
-disk = [ 'file:/mnt/tmp/66-0624-nd.iso,6:cdrom,r', 'phy:/dev/xenvg/argolin.disk,0,w' ]
-vif = [ '' ]
-on_shutdown = 'destroy'
-on_reboot = 'destroy'
-on_crash = 'destroy'
-kernel = '/usr/lib/xen-solaris/unix-66-0624-nd'
-ramdisk = '/usr/lib/xen-solaris/x86.miniroot-66-0624-nd'
-extra = '/platform/i86xpv/kernel/unix - nowin -B install_media=cdrom'</code>
-This creates a domU called argolin with 1024MB of RAM, a virtual DVD drive from the image in '/mnt/tmp/66-0624-nd.iso', a virtual disk from the device '/dev/xenvg/argolin.disk', the default virtual network interface and the kernel and ramdisk extracted earlier.  This configuration file should be saved in '/etc/xen/' and given a name like 'argolin.conf' but this is up to you.
-====== SMP-related IO Hang (part 1) ======
-My first tries at booting OpenSolaris as a domU resulted in the installer hanging at some point during the main package installation process.  After much help from the kind folk of #solaris-xen on irc.oftc.net we found that this was an IO hang which is only seen on SMP systems.  A work-around for this bug exists in the kernel but has to be enabled manually using the kernel's built in debugger.   The '-kd' kernel parameter, shown below, causes the kernel to open the debugger as soon as possible after boot.
-  extra = '/platform/i86xpv/kernel/unix -kd - nowin -B install_media=cdrom'
-====== Booting the Installer ======
-Once you have the DVD image, have extracted the kernel and ramdisk, and have created the [[xen]] configuration file you can boot the installer like so:
-  xm create -c argolin.conf
-The last argument to the command is the name of the configuration file created above.
-You should then see:
-  Using config file "/etc/xen/argolin.conf".
-  Started domain argolin
-  SunOS Release 5.11 Version xen-nv66-2007-06-24 32-bit
-  Copyright 1983-2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
-  Use is subject to license terms.
-  WARNING: Found xen v3.0.3-1 but need xen v3.0.4-1-sun
-  WARNING: The kernel may not function correctly
-  Configuring /dev
-  Solaris Interactive Text (Console session)
-  Using install cd in /dev/dsk/c0d6p0
-  ...
-  ...
-The warnings about the Xen version mismatch may be ignored as these apparently only apply to 64bit systems (thanks again #solaris-xen).
-====== SMP-related IO Hang (part 2) ======
-Following a boot with the '-kd' parameter you should see the following:
-  Using config file "/etc/xen/argolin.conf".
-  Started domain argolin
-  Loading kmdb...
-  Welcome to kmdb
-  Loaded modules: [ unix krtld genunix ]
-  [0]>
-You type:
-  workaround_6557577?W 1
-It shows:
-  workaround_6557577:             0               =       0x1
-  [0]>
-You type:
-  :c
-It shows:
-  SunOS Release 5.11 Version xen-nv66-2007-06-24 32-bit
-  Copyright 1983-2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
-  Use is subject to license terms.
-  WARNING: Found xen v3.0.3-1 but need xen v3.0.4-1-sun
-  WARNING: The kernel may not function correctly
-  Configuring /dev
-  ...
-  ...
-====== The Installation ======
-Once OpenSolaris has booted the installer will ask you for details of your location and terminal.  Make sure you are using a standard 80x25 terminal and select option 6 (PC console).  You should then see a shiny, coloured installer.  Make sure you say no to the automatic reboot as we need to transfer the kernel and ramdisk to the dom0 after the install.  I chose a full install so that I could use scp to do this but if you have an ftp server handy you should be OK with a more minimal install.  At the post-install console I did the following:
-<code>/a/usr/bin/scp -S /a/usr/bin/ssh /a/platform/i86xpv/kernel/unix /a/platform/i86pc/boot_archive \
-.0.0.1:/usr/lib/xen-solaris/</code>
-====== SMP-related IO Hang (part 3) ======
-You'll be glad to hear that this is the last section dealing with the SMP-related IO hang.  To avoid having to use kmdb to enable the workaround during each boot, I added the following line to '/etc/system':
-  set workaround_6557577 = 1
-====== TCP/UDP Checksum Problem ======
-I also had a problem with the OpenSolaris kernel not generating checksums for TCP and UDP packets.  This only seemed to be a problem after I had booted the main system.  The fix for this is another addition to '/etc/system':
-  set xnf:xnf_cksum_offload = 0
-====== Rebooting into the Installed System ======
-I didn't really know how to shut down the system so I did:
-  umount /a
-  shutdown -g0 -i0
-Once back at your dom0's prompt you need to edit the domU's configuration file to look something like this:
-  name = 'argolin'
-  memory = '1024'
-  disk = [ 'phy:/dev/xenvg/argolin.disk,0,w' ]
-  vif = [ '' ]
-  on_shutdown = 'destroy'
-  on_reboot = 'destroy'
-  on_crash = 'destroy'
-  kernel = '/usr/lib/xen-solaris/unix'
-  ramdisk = '/usr/lib/xen-solaris/boot_archive'
-  extra = '/platform/i86xpv/kernel/unix'
-  root = '/dev/dsk/c0d0s0'
-Then fire up the domU again and you're away:
-  xm create -c argolin.conf
-<code>Using config file "/etc/xen/argolin.conf".
-Started domain argolin
-SunOS Release 5.11 Version xen-nv66-2007-06-24 32-bit
-Copyright 1983-2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
-Use is subject to license terms.
-WARNING: Found xen v3.0.3-1 but need xen v3.0.4-1-sun
-WARNING: The kernel may not function correctly
-ip: joining multicasts failed (4) on xnf0 - will use link layer broadcasts for multicast
-Hostname: argolin.xen.tardis.ed.ac.uk
-argolin.xen.tardis.ed.ac.uk console login:</code>
-One final note: I was unable to login to the system as root via ssh by default.  I only mention this because most Linux distributions now allow ssh root login by default.