[Xen-users] Xen Over SuSE 10.3 - Dog Catches Car - Thank you Jim and Jonathon

[Pyrrhic <pyrrhicv@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear List-Colleagues:

                Thank you to all who have taken the time to look at my post and especially thanks to Jim and Jonathon and their suggestions and questions!  I shall attempt to answer the questions and also indicate what I have attempted as a result:

1) Jim Burns: lists latest modules - I saw those on Yast but was too afraid to alter what came with my original rpm's from xen.org downloads while the system was not working.  I can certainly yast for these!
2) Jonathan: you are right, it is dom0!  All the scarce documentation and posts on the internet suggest that, indeed, it should 'just work.'  This is why I am perplexed.
3) Jonathon:  To the best of my - limited - knowledge that kernel is installed, after all Xen actually starts!
4) Jonathon:  No I did not originally have an ".img" file there, but some instructions from Xen show it that way
 and in my desperation, I tried that too, just haven't changed it back, yet.
5) Jonathon: "vnlinuz" - yes, it was a typo - my menu.lst has the correct, 'vmlinuz.'
6) I downloaded the OpenSuSE 10 download from Xen.org - it seemed to be the only choice to match SuSE 10.3 (remember I am totally innocent!) - wasn't that correct, btw?  I note that Yast, at one point, wanted to update it but failed on some obscure error, while trying to do so.  As noted previously, I was not going to accept a different kernel version, provided by Yast, until I knew the kernel actually provided by Xen was working.  It did not seem wise to confuse the issue by switching in mid-stream (especially not with a technology, Yast, that I did not understand very well and with consequences that to my ignorance were obscure).

Summary:

I installed the rpm's from Xen downloads the note next to the rpms stated:

"Current community release of Xen and Dom0 kernel packages
 for installation on OpenSUSE 10."

This is what I installed as I had just installed SuSE 10.3

I managed to get all the things downloaded and installed that Xen needs as dependencies and I got Xen to start.  I had a fair bit of rather ugly trouble along the way and would not be at all surprised that my original install of the Xen rpm's (despite their seeming to go without a hitch) were not good.  Be that as it may, here I am with a Xen install that won't finish loading and with - from the look of the questions and suggestions I have received plus what I have read on the 'net - missing files and/or modules.

Resolution:

Jim gave me the courage and the reason to YaST2 for the 2.6.22.13 kernel.  I got it and it installed without complaint, installed its own GRUB entry and that matched what Jim furnished.  Of course it would not run.  This time it was because there was no xen-pae.gz file existing on my machine!  More
 research, more trying this and that and tracking down documentation.  Apparently, YaST2 has a 'virtualization' option right in the main menu.  No such option - anywhere.  More research, persuaded YaST2 to install the option.  No updates of any sort would run as all failed on dependency issues.  Finally, having installed the virtualization option I attempted to ONLY get a kernel update from YaST2 - a long download later that was all installed and the missing .gz appeared in the right place!  I ran other updates - no problem now.

I rebooted and nearly died.  After more than a person-week of effort I had Xen running!  Now, of course, I feel like the old joke about the dog who chased cars every day - till the day he caught one!  Dog got bumper, Newbie gets to learn Xen.

Again, I would like to thank both Jim (who, ultimately got me on the right track) and Jonathan, a very great deal, as I was in Hell.

Question:
 Why does the xen.org downloads repository still have the 2.16.18 kernel?  Shouldn't it be updated for Suse 10 to the later kernel?  IF this is a case of a mismatch between the rpms and the type of SuSE I am running couldn't this be clarified for other newbies?  Shouldn't instructions be added for people going to this download site suggesting to them it might be wiser to install Xen at SuSE install time or to use YaST?  This all cost me a staggering amount of time...

Again, thanks to the list!

Best,

Pyrrhic

...all that is Gold does not glitter,
not all those who wander are lost...

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