--- wikisrc/ports/xen/howto.mdwn 2016/12/20 03:50:04 1.104 +++ wikisrc/ports/xen/howto.mdwn 2016/12/20 03:57:26 1.105 @@ -133,31 +133,33 @@ choose one or the other, because it affe NetBSD ------ -The netbsd-5, netbsd-6, netbsd-7, and -current branches are all -reasonable choices, with more or less the same considerations for -non-Xen use. Therefore, netbsd-6 is recommended as the stable version -of the most recent release for production use. For those wanting to -learn Xen or without production stability concerns, netbsd-7 is likely -most appropriate. +The netbsd-6, netbsd-7, and -current branches are all reasonable +choices, with more or less the same considerations for non-Xen use. +Therefore, netbsd-7 is recommended as the stable version of the most +recent release for production use. For those wanting to learn Xen or +without production stability concerns, netbsd-7 is still likely most +appropriate. Xen runs fine on netbsd-5, but the xentools packages are +likely difficult to build. As of NetBSD 6, a NetBSD domU will support multiple vcpus. There is no SMP support for NetBSD as dom0. (The dom0 itself doesn't really -need SMP; the lack of support is really a problem when using a dom0 as -a normal computer.) +need SMP for dom0 functions; the lack of support is really a problem +when using a dom0 as a normal computer.) Architecture ------------ -Xen itself can run on i386 or amd64 machines. (Practically, almost -any computer where one would want to run Xen today supports amd64.) +Xen itself can run on i386 (some versions) or amd64 machines (all +versions). (Practically, almost any computer where one would want to +run Xen today supports amd64.) Xen, the dom0 kernel, and each domU kernel can be either i386 or amd64. When building a xenkernel package, one obtains i386 on an i386 host, and amd64 on an amd64 host. If the xen kernel is i386, then the dom0 kernel and all domU kernels must be i386. With an amd64 xen -kernel, an amd64 dom0 kernel is known to work, and an i386 dom0 kernel -should in theory work. An amd64 xen/dom0 is known to support both -i386 and amd64 domUs. +kernel, an amd64 dom0 kernel is known to work, and an i386PAE dom0 +kernel should in theory work. An amd64 xen/dom0 is known to support +both i386PAE and amd64 domUs. i386 dom0 and domU kernels must be PAE (except for Xen 3.1); these are built by default. (Note that emacs (at least) fails if run on i386 @@ -182,14 +184,16 @@ However, there are some open PRs indicat - [PR 47720](http://gnats.netbsd.org/47720) Note also that there are issues with sparse vnd(4) instances, but -these are not about Xen. +these are not about Xen -- they just are noticed with sparse vnd(4) +instances in support of virtual disks in a dom0. Recommendation -------------- -Therefore, this HOWTO recommends running xenkernel42 (and xentools42), -xl, the NetBSD 6 stable branch, and to use an amd64 kernel as the -dom0. Either the i386 or amd64 of NetBSD may be used as domUs. +Therefore, this HOWTO recommends running xenkernel45 or xenkernel46, +xl, the NetBSD 7 stable branch, and to use an amd64 kernel as the +dom0. Either the i386PAE or amd64 version of NetBSD may be used as +domUs. Build problems --------------