Re: [Xen-users] running xcp (or xenserver) from usb driver or SD card

[Alexandre Kouznetsov <alk@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello.

El 14/04/12 02:18, insrc escribió:
> Do you think it's possible to run Xenserver/XCP or xen from an usb drive
> or memory card like it's possible for vmware please ? Is it recommended
> ? Are there any performance issue  :-) ?  I would like to dedicate all
> of  the local storage to hosting VMs only.
Yes, it is quite possible. Can't say much about real performance, I have 
not went farther than a proof of concept myself, but i do not expect it 
to be an issue. It will respond slower to control commands, but the VM's 
should run ok.
> Looking at xen/xenserver/xcp doc, i was wondering why there's so few
> tutorial on installing them on usb drive.
You just install it normally, using USB as installation media.

Is the USB flash memory is smaller than 10G, you will need to patch 
installer's initrd (it has a hardcoded limit), here is a reference:
http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/1168
Note that the partition size should be less than half of the size of the 
flash drive, because by default the installer creates two identical 
partitions on it. I used "root_size = 1792" for a "4GB" drive.
I ended up with the environment to deploy XCP automatically via PXE. I 
use PXE boot a lot, between other things it avoids the re-creation a 
bootable ISO when i alter initrd. Here the references I have used:
# customize installation initrd:
http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/1168
http://blog.mybox.ro/2010/05/12/how-to-change-files-in-a-initrd-image/

# prepare answers file:
http://docs.vmd.citrix.com/XenServer/4.0.1/installation/apcs02.html
http://blog.vhowto.info/2010/10/06/installation-of-xenserver-5-6-via-pxe-part-2/
http://scnr.net/blog/index.php/archives/177

# configure pxe boot:
http://docs.vmd.citrix.com/XenServer/4.0.1/installation/apc.html
http://docs.vmd.citrix.com/XenServer/6.0.0/1.0/en_gb/installation.html#pxe_boot_install-pxe_answerfile

Greetings.

--
Alexandre Kouznetsov


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