Re: [Xen-devel] New to the list

[Mark Williamson <mark.williamson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Is anyone working on a MacOS port of Xen?  I am looking to use the Core Duo
> VT functions to get Xen working on the Mac. If this is currently being
> done, could someone point me in the right direction.

The problem would be exactly how to boot Xen on MacOS...

MacOS would strictly want to be ported to run on Xen, which would not be 
particularly easy without the source.  It used to be the case that you could 
compile xnu (the Darwin kernel) from source and boot MacOS using it.  This 
worked on PPC, and would mean you'd just need a port of xnu to Xen.  I don't 
know if that fits with Apple's boot-time restrictions as implemented on x86 
Macs.  I don't know if they're going to want to make it easy to recompile 
your kernel anymore.  Maybe that scheme won't be possible.  In which case you 
might either:

* Boot Xen / XenLinux first, and then boot MacOS in a VT virtual machine, 
giving it privileges to access whatever it needs to verify it's running on a 
real Mac (not clear to me whether this is possible in a non-hacked way, but 
wouldn't seem to necessarily violate Apple's "Only run this on a Mac" 
license...)

* Boot MacOS first, then somehow load a hacked Xen as a .kext, which would 
then quietly steal control of the hardware from the MacOS and use it to run 
virtual machines - more similar to how VMware / coLinux implement their 
low-level functionality.

Also, I don't know if the core duo in current Macs has VT enabled.  It needs 
to be enabled in the BIOS, by the manufacturer / admin anyhow.  You should 
check whether the functionality is *really* available yet.

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!

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