[Xen-users] howto create xen (3.4.3) domUs using an AoE network block device during PXE boot under CentOS 5.5 and cobbler

["Joe Linoff" <jlinoff@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Folks:

I apologize in advance if this is the incorrect forum but I wasn't sure
where to turn. I am having a problem and need some guidance. 

How do I create domU's that use an AoE network block device for xvda in
PXE boot environment?

I am using CentOS 5.5 with xen 3.4.3. 

The network block device is an AoE exported device that is defined from
a logical volumes on a file server. The file server has 3 logical
volumes: lvm01, lvm02 and lvm03 in volgroup VolGroup01. Each is 100GB. I
added them as follows (using vblade-20):

  fs # vlbaded 1 1 eth0 /dev/VolGroup01/lvm01
  fs # vlbaded 1 2 eth0 /dev/VolGroup01/lvm02
  fs # vlbaded 1 3 eth0 /dev/VolGroup01/lvm03

I then went to one of my domUs (CentOS 5.5, xen-3.4.3) and started aoe
(modprobe aoe). At that point I was able to see the devices in
/dev/etherd:

  domU # modprobe aoe
  domU # ls -1 /dev/etherd/
  e1.1
  e1.2
  e1.3

I was able to mount the device and use it:

  domU # mkdir -p /mnt/e1.1
  domU # mount /dev/etherd/e1.1 /mnt/e1.1
  domU # ls -1 /mnt/e1.1
  lost+found
  domU # touch /mnt/e1.1/foo
  domU # ls -1 /mnt/e1.1
  foo  lost+found
  domU # rm -f /mnt/e1.1/foo


But now I want to tell xen to *create* the domU using that device when I
PXE boot.

I suspect that for an interactive installation I could go to the dom0,
install the aoe kernel module, mount the devices that I am interested in
(ex. /mnt/e1.1) and add a statement like this to a xen conf file:

  disk = ['phy:/mnt/e1.1,xvda1,w']

But since I am doing network based installations using PXE, cobbler and
CentOS, I need to setup the kickstart and/or some sort of custom
installation script.

If possible, I would like to leave the dom0 alone and do all of the work
in the kickstart.

Can anyone offer any suggestions about how to proceed?

Thank you,

Joe



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