We will use a
different installation method for each domain, so that by the end of this chapter you
will be familiar with the most common permutations involved in creating domains
using Xen.
We will create the following guest domains:
Ubuntu Feisty
NetBSD
CentOS
Slackware
A Plan for Creating Xen Domains
We will use the following strategy when creating the guest domains in
this chapter:
1. Choose the storage medium for the domain??”files, partitions, LVM, etc. We
have exclusively used files in this chapter for ease of use.
2. Install files for the guest operating system in the chosen storage medium.
The mechanism for installing the files can be a bootstrapping tool such as
debootstrap, an iso image file, a cd-rom, or even a simple file system directory
that contains all the files needed.
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Creating Virtual Machines
[ 28 ]
3. Create a configuration file that specifies the parameters that will be used by
Xen when creating the domain. We will examine all the various configuration
options that can be used in the next chapter.
4. Create the domain using xm. We will explore the xm tool in detail in the
next chapter.
The above is a workflow that addresses the various aspects essential for generating
a working Xen environment for the guest operating system of your choice. You can
also download ready-to-use Xen images from several sites on the Internet. You may
or may not get the exact image you are looking for, but it's worth checking these
sites out:
Jailtime: http://jailtime.
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