Re: [Xen-users] preferred XEN dom0 OS

[Joost Roeleveld <joost@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thursday, August 25, 2011 12:30:38 AM Pandu Poluan wrote:
> On 2011-08-24, Rudi Ahlers <Rudi@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 11:56 AM, Fajar A. Nugraha <list@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >> On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 4:42 PM, Rudi Ahlers <Rudi@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>> On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 11:39 AM, Grant McWilliams
> >>> 
> >>> <grantmasterflash@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>>> Why not just install a newer version of Xen?
> >>> 
> >>> cause I prefer stability over cutting edge, and previous experiences
> >>> with using XEN that's not native to the OS has given us all kinds of
> >>> horendous results. We use XEN in production so I can't really afford
> >>> to try new things every now and then, and then sit with problems
> >>> when
> >>> an upgrade didn't go as expected.
> >> 
> >> Actually, for that requirement you should either:
> >> - stick with Centos, or
> >> - go with XenServer
> >> 
> >> Since you "prefer stability over cutting edge", I don't think any
> >> newer dom0-kernel version (including the one already upstream in linux
> >> kernel) will be suitable. There will be missing features (e.g. vga
> >> console, blktap) and bugs. They're continually being fixed (see
> >> xen-devel list archive), but I wouldn't recommend either git version
> >> or current upstream kernel for production.
> >> 
> >> It might be a different story if all xen-related features are already
> >> accepted upstream (either in kernel, or in userspace qemu). But again,
> >> if your concern is stability, I'd recommend to just stick with Centos,
> >> or go with XenServer (even XCP might be too bleeding-edge for your
> >> needs). RHEL5 is still being supported until 2014 (or 2017 if you have
> >> extended life cycle support), so Centos should follow as well.
> >> 
> >> --
> >> Fajar
> > 
> > mmm, ok.
> > 
> > What is the current native XEN version on Debian or OpenSuse? I
> > couldn't find anything definate. Some sources suggest 4.0, others 4.1
> > - how stable is XEN 4.x at this stage?
> > 
> > And what about Slackware / Gentoo or other similar Linux distro's?
> > 
> Since someone mentioned Gentoo...
> 
> ... just a heads-up, some of us in the Gentoo community are
> experimenting with Gentoo as Dom0 (interim codename "Xentoo"). As of
> this posting, PV DomUs started okay, no idea (yet) about HVM DomUs.
> 
> That said, remember that with Gentoo you don't have an 'out of the
> box' ready-to-use system. You have to build the kernel yourself, and
> there might be some complications in managing tens of Xentoo servers.
> We're still some way away from solving this... uh, inconvenience.

If anyone is interested in configuring Xen on Gentoo with minimal settings, 
I'm willing to send the necessary files and settings to get at least PV-
domains running.

I've got it working inside a Virtual Box VM, which makes testing HVMs 
impossible, but I don't see any reason why that shouldn't work. It's just a 
matter of enabling the support.

One of the goals of the Xentoo-project is to find out the absolute minimum 
needed to get it to run.
For now, libvirt and virtmanager should be usable as a management tool (along 
with some others that are around)

If you're looking for an out-of-the-box solution, XCP or XenServer sounds like 
a good starting point to me.

--
Joost

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