Annotation of wikisrc/ports/xen/howto.mdwn, revision 1.159
1.144 maxv 1: [[!meta title="Xen HowTo"]]
2:
1.157 maxv 3: Xen is a Type 1 hypervisor which supports running multiple guest operating
4: systems on a single physical machine. One uses the Xen kernel to control the
5: CPU, memory and console, a dom0 operating system which mediates access to
6: other hardware (e.g., disks, network, USB), and one or more domU operating
7: systems which operate in an unprivileged virtualized environment. IO requests
8: from the domU systems are forwarded by the Xen hypervisor to the dom0 to be
9: fulfilled.
1.12 gdt 10:
1.149 maxv 11: Xen supports different styles of guest:
12:
13: [[!table data="""
14: Style of guest |Supported by NetBSD
1.150 maxv 15: PV |Yes (dom0, domU)
16: HVM |Yes (domU)
1.149 maxv 17: PVHVM |No
18: PVH |No
19: """]]
20:
21: In Para-Virtualized (PV) mode, the guest OS does not attempt to access
22: hardware directly, but instead makes hypercalls to the hypervisor; PV
23: guests must be specifically coded for Xen. In HVM mode, no guest
24: modification is required; however, hardware support is required, such
25: as VT-x on Intel CPUs and SVM on AMD CPUs.
26:
1.27 jnemeth 27: At boot, the dom0 kernel is loaded as a module with Xen as the kernel.
1.12 gdt 28: The dom0 can start one or more domUs. (Booting is explained in detail
29: in the dom0 section.)
30:
31: This HOWTO presumes a basic familiarity with the Xen system
1.123 gdt 32: architecture, with installing NetBSD on i386/amd64 hardware, and with
33: installing software from pkgsrc. See also the [Xen
34: website](http://www.xenproject.org/).
1.1 mspo 35:
1.150 maxv 36: This HOWTO attempts to address both the case of running a NetBSD dom0
37: on hardware and running domUs under it (NetBSD and other), and also
38: running NetBSD as a domU in a VPS.
39:
1.157 maxv 40: Versions and Support
41: ====================
1.15 gdt 42:
1.111 wiz 43: In NetBSD, Xen is provided in pkgsrc, via matching pairs of packages
1.15 gdt 44: xenkernel and xentools. We will refer only to the kernel versions,
45: but note that both packages must be installed together and must have
46: matching versions.
47:
1.145 maxv 48: Versions available in pkgsrc:
1.85 gdt 49:
1.145 maxv 50: [[!table data="""
51: Xen Version |Package Name |Xen CPU Support |EOL'ed By Upstream
52: 4.2 |xenkernel42 |32bit, 64bit |Yes
53: 4.5 |xenkernel45 |64bit |Yes
54: 4.6 |xenkernel46 |64bit |Partially
55: 4.8 |xenkernel48 |64bit |No
56: 4.11 |xenkernel411 |64bit |No
57: """]]
1.113 gdt 58:
1.96 gdt 59: See also the [Xen Security Advisory page](http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/).
60:
1.157 maxv 61: Multiprocessor (SMP) support in NetBSD differs depending on the domain:
1.145 maxv 62:
1.157 maxv 63: [[!table data="""
64: Domain |Supports SMP
65: dom0 |No
66: domU |Yes
67: """]]
1.15 gdt 68:
1.147 maxv 69: Note: NetBSD support is called XEN3. However, it does support Xen 4,
70: because the hypercall interface has remained identical.
71:
1.18 gdt 72: Architecture
73: ------------
74:
1.157 maxv 75: Xen itself runs on x86_64 hardware.
1.155 maxv 76:
77: The dom0 system, plus each domU, can be either i386PAE or amd64.
78: i386 without PAE is not supported.
79:
1.157 maxv 80: The standard approach is to use NetBSD/amd64 for the dom0.
81:
82: To use an i386PAE dom0, one must build or obtain a 64bit Xen kernel and
83: install it on the system.
84:
85: For domUs, i386PAE is considered as
86: [faster](https://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2012-07/msg00085.html)
87: than amd64.
1.29 gdt 88:
1.15 gdt 89: NetBSD as a dom0
90: ================
91:
1.158 maxv 92: In order to install a NetBSD as a dom0, one must first install a normal
93: NetBSD system, and then pivot the install to a dom0 install by changing
94: the kernel and boot configuration.
1.15 gdt 95:
1.142 gdt 96: In 2018-05, trouble booting a dom0 was reported with 256M of RAM: with
97: 512M it worked reliably. This does not make sense, but if you see
98: "not ELF" after Xen boots, try increasing dom0 RAM.
99:
1.19 gdt 100: Installation of NetBSD
101: ----------------------
1.13 gdt 102:
1.157 maxv 103: [Install NetBSD/amd64](/guide/inst/)
1.19 gdt 104: just as you would if you were not using Xen.
1.1 mspo 105:
1.19 gdt 106: Installation of Xen
107: -------------------
1.1 mspo 108:
1.155 maxv 109: We will consider that you chose to use Xen 4.8, with NetBSD/amd64 as
110: dom0. In the dom0, install xenkernel48 and xentools48 from pkgsrc.
111:
112: Once this is done, install the Xen kernel itself:
113:
114: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
115: # cp /usr/pkg/xen48-kernel/xen.gz /
116: """]]
117:
1.159 ! maxv 118: Then, place a NetBSD XEN3_DOM0 kernel in the `/` directory. Such kernel
! 119: can either be compiled manually, or downloaded from the NetBSD FTP, for
! 120: example at:
! 121:
! 122: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
! 123: ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-8.0/amd64/binary/kernel/netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz
! 124: """]]
1.20 gdt 125:
1.155 maxv 126: Add a line to /boot.cfg to boot Xen:
1.20 gdt 127:
1.157 maxv 128: [[!template id=filecontent name="/boot.cfg" text="""
1.152 maxv 129: menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=512M
130: """]]
1.20 gdt 131:
1.159 ! maxv 132: This specifies that the dom0 should have 512MB of ram, leaving the rest
! 133: to be allocated for domUs. To use a serial console, use:
1.77 gdt 134:
1.157 maxv 135: [[!template id=filecontent name="/boot.cfg" text="""
1.152 maxv 136: menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=512M console=com1 com1=9600,8n1
137: """]]
1.77 gdt 138:
139: which will use the first serial port for Xen (which counts starting
1.139 gson 140: from 1, unlike NetBSD which counts starting from 0), forcing
141: speed/parity. Because the NetBSD command line lacks a
142: "console=pc" argument, it will use the default "xencons" console device,
143: which directs the console I/O through Xen to the same console device Xen
144: itself uses (in this case, the serial port).
145:
1.157 maxv 146: In an attempt to add performance, one can also add `dom0_max_vcpus=1 dom0_vcpus_pin`,
1.37 gdt 147: to force only one vcpu to be provided (since NetBSD dom0 can't use
1.158 maxv 148: more) and to pin that vcpu to a physical CPU. Xen has
149: [many boot options](http://xenbits.xenproject.org/docs/4.8-testing/misc/xen-command-line.html),
1.111 wiz 150: and other than dom0 memory and max_vcpus, they are generally not
1.93 gdt 151: necessary.
152:
1.159 ! maxv 153: Copy the boot scripts into `/etc/rc.d`:
! 154:
! 155: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
! 156: # cp /usr/pkg/share/examples/rc.d/xen* /etc/rc.d/
! 157: """]]
! 158:
1.158 maxv 159: Enable `xencommons`:
1.31 gdt 160:
1.157 maxv 161: [[!template id=filecontent name="/etc/rc.conf" text="""
1.152 maxv 162: xencommons=YES
163: """]]
1.31 gdt 164:
1.158 maxv 165: Now, reboot so that you are running a DOM0 kernel under Xen, rather
166: than GENERIC without Xen.
1.157 maxv 167:
1.31 gdt 168: TODO: Recommend for/against xen-watchdog.
1.27 jnemeth 169:
1.158 maxv 170: Once the reboot is done, use `xl` to inspect Xen's boot messages,
1.157 maxv 171: available resources, and running domains. For example:
1.34 gdt 172:
1.153 maxv 173: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
174: # xl dmesg
175: ... xen's boot info ...
176: # xl info
177: ... available memory, etc ...
178: # xl list
179: Name Id Mem(MB) CPU State Time(s) Console
180: Domain-0 0 64 0 r---- 58.1
181: """]]
182:
183: Xen logs will be in /var/log/xen.
1.33 gdt 184:
1.88 gdt 185: ### Issues with xencommons
186:
1.157 maxv 187: `xencommons` starts `xenstored`, which stores data on behalf of dom0 and
1.88 gdt 188: domUs. It does not currently work to stop and start xenstored.
189: Certainly all domUs should be shutdown first, following the sort order
190: of the rc.d scripts. However, the dom0 sets up state with xenstored,
191: and is not notified when xenstored exits, leading to not recreating
192: the state when the new xenstored starts. Until there's a mechanism to
193: make this work, one should not expect to be able to restart xenstored
194: (and thus xencommons). There is currently no reason to expect that
195: this will get fixed any time soon.
196:
1.41 gdt 197: anita (for testing NetBSD)
198: --------------------------
199:
1.157 maxv 200: With the setup so far (assuming 4.8/xl), one should be able to run
1.82 gdt 201: anita (see pkgsrc/misc/py-anita) to test NetBSD releases, by doing (as
202: root, because anita must create a domU):
203:
1.153 maxv 204: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
205: anita --vmm=xl test file:///usr/obj/i386/
206: """]]
1.82 gdt 207:
1.40 gdt 208: Xen-specific NetBSD issues
209: --------------------------
210:
211: There are (at least) two additional things different about NetBSD as a
212: dom0 kernel compared to hardware.
213:
1.111 wiz 214: One is that the module ABI is different because some of the #defines
1.109 gdt 215: change, so one must build modules for Xen. As of netbsd-7, the build
1.157 maxv 216: system does this automatically.
1.40 gdt 217:
218: The other difference is that XEN3_DOM0 does not have exactly the same
219: options as GENERIC. While it is debatable whether or not this is a
220: bug, users should be aware of this and can simply add missing config
221: items if desired.
222:
1.15 gdt 223: Updating NetBSD in a dom0
224: -------------------------
225:
226: This is just like updating NetBSD on bare hardware, assuming the new
227: version supports the version of Xen you are running. Generally, one
228: replaces the kernel and reboots, and then overlays userland binaries
1.157 maxv 229: and adjusts `/etc`.
1.15 gdt 230:
231: Note that one must update both the non-Xen kernel typically used for
232: rescue purposes and the DOM0 kernel used with Xen.
233:
1.55 gdt 234: Converting from grub to /boot
235: -----------------------------
236:
1.157 maxv 237: These instructions were used to convert a system from
1.55 gdt 238: grub to /boot. The system was originally installed in February of
239: 2006 with a RAID1 setup and grub to boot Xen 2, and has been updated
240: over time. Before these commands, it was running NetBSD 6 i386, Xen
241: 4.1 and grub, much like the message linked earlier in the grub
242: section.
243:
1.157 maxv 244: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
245: # Install MBR bootblocks on both disks.
246: fdisk -i /dev/rwd0d
247: fdisk -i /dev/rwd1d
248: # Install NetBSD primary boot loader (/ is FFSv1) into RAID1 components.
249: installboot -v /dev/rwd0d /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1
250: installboot -v /dev/rwd1d /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1
251: # Install secondary boot loader
252: cp -p /usr/mdec/boot /
253: # Create boot.cfg following earlier guidance:
254: menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOM0.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=512M
255: menu=Xen.ok:load /netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOM0.ok.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.ok.gz dom0_mem=512M
256: menu=GENERIC:boot
257: menu=GENERIC single-user:boot -s
258: menu=GENERIC.ok:boot netbsd.ok
259: menu=GENERIC.ok single-user:boot netbsd.ok -s
260: menu=Drop to boot prompt:prompt
261: default=1
262: timeout=30
263: """]]
1.22 gdt 264:
1.102 gdt 265: Upgrading Xen versions
1.15 gdt 266: ---------------------
267:
1.110 gdt 268: Minor version upgrades are trivial. Just rebuild/replace the
1.157 maxv 269: xenkernel version and copy the new xen.gz to `/` (where `/boot.cfg`
1.110 gdt 270: references it), and reboot.
271:
1.28 gdt 272: Unprivileged domains (domU)
273: ===========================
274:
275: This section describes general concepts about domUs. It does not
1.33 gdt 276: address specific domU operating systems or how to install them. The
1.157 maxv 277: config files for domUs are typically in `/usr/pkg/etc/xen`, and are
1.60 wiki 278: typically named so that the file name, domU name and the domU's host
1.33 gdt 279: name match.
280:
1.111 wiz 281: The domU is provided with CPU and memory by Xen, configured by the
1.33 gdt 282: dom0. The domU is provided with disk and network by the dom0,
283: mediated by Xen, and configured in the dom0.
284:
285: Entropy in domUs can be an issue; physical disks and network are on
286: the dom0. NetBSD's /dev/random system works, but is often challenged.
287:
1.48 gdt 288: Config files
289: ------------
290:
1.158 maxv 291: See /usr/pkg/share/examples/xen/xlexample*,
1.48 gdt 292: for a large number of well-commented examples, mostly for running
293: GNU/Linux.
294:
1.157 maxv 295: The following is an example minimal domain configuration file. The domU
296: serves as a network file server.
297:
298: [[!template id=filecontent name="/usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo" text="""
299: name = "domU-id"
300: kernel = "/netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOMU-i386-foo.gz"
301: memory = 1024
302: vif = [ 'mac=aa:00:00:d1:00:09,bridge=bridge0' ]
303: disk = [ 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd0,0x0,w',
304: 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd1,0x1,w' ]
305: """]]
1.48 gdt 306:
1.157 maxv 307: The domain will have name given in the `name` setting. The kernel has the
1.48 gdt 308: host/domU name in it, so that on the dom0 one can update the various
1.157 maxv 309: domUs independently. The `vif` line causes an interface to be provided,
1.48 gdt 310: with a specific mac address (do not reuse MAC addresses!), in bridge
311: mode. Two disks are provided, and they are both writable; the bits
312: are stored in files and Xen attaches them to a vnd(4) device in the
1.111 wiz 313: dom0 on domain creation. The system treats xbd0 as the boot device
1.48 gdt 314: without needing explicit configuration.
315:
1.157 maxv 316: By default, `xl` looks for domain config files in `/usr/pkg/etc/xen`. Note
317: that "xl create" takes the name of a config file, while other commands
318: take the name of a domain.
319:
320: Examples of commands:
1.48 gdt 321:
1.157 maxv 322: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
323: xl create foo
324: xl console foo
325: xl create -c foo
326: xl shutdown foo
327: xl list
328: """]]
329:
330: Typing `^]` will exit the console session. Shutting down a domain is
1.48 gdt 331: equivalent to pushing the power button; a NetBSD domU will receive a
332: power-press event and do a clean shutdown. Shutting down the dom0
333: will trigger controlled shutdowns of all configured domUs.
334:
1.33 gdt 335: CPU and memory
336: --------------
337:
1.48 gdt 338: A domain is provided with some number of vcpus, less than the number
1.157 maxv 339: of CPUs seen by the hypervisor. For a domU, it is controlled
1.48 gdt 340: from the config file by the "vcpus = N" directive.
341:
342: A domain is provided with memory; this is controlled in the config
343: file by "memory = N" (in megabytes). In the straightforward case, the
344: sum of the the memory allocated to the dom0 and all domUs must be less
1.33 gdt 345: than the available memory.
346:
347: Xen also provides a "balloon" driver, which can be used to let domains
1.157 maxv 348: use more memory temporarily.
1.28 gdt 349:
350: Virtual disks
351: -------------
352:
1.158 maxv 353: In domU config files, the disks are defined as a sequence of 3-tuples:
354:
355: * The first element is "method:/path/to/disk". Common methods are
356: "file:" for file-backed vnd, and "phy:" for something that is already
357: a device.
358:
359: * The second element is an artifact of how virtual disks are passed to
360: Linux, and a source of confusion with NetBSD Xen usage. Linux domUs
361: are given a device name to associate with the disk, and values like
362: "hda1" or "sda1" are common. In a NetBSD domU, the first disk appears
363: as xbd0, the second as xbd1, and so on. However, xl demands a
364: second argument. The name given is converted to a major/minor by
365: calling stat(2) on the name in /dev and this is passed to the domU.
366: In the general case, the dom0 and domU can be different operating
367: systems, and it is an unwarranted assumption that they have consistent
368: numbering in /dev, or even that the dom0 OS has a /dev. With NetBSD
369: as both dom0 and domU, using values of 0x0 for the first disk and 0x1
370: for the second works fine and avoids this issue. For a GNU/Linux
371: guest, one can create /dev/hda1 in /dev, or to pass 0x301 for
372: /dev/hda1.
1.48 gdt 373:
1.158 maxv 374: * The third element is "w" for writable disks, and "r" for read-only
375: disks.
376:
377: Example:
378: [[!template id=filecontent name="/usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo" text="""
379: disk = [ 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd0,0x0,w' ]
380: """]]
1.28 gdt 381:
1.127 gdt 382: Note that NetBSD by default creates only vnd[0123]. If you need more
383: than 4 total virtual disks at a time, run e.g. "./MAKEDEV vnd4" in the
384: dom0.
385:
386: Note that NetBSD by default creates only xbd[0123]. If you need more
387: virtual disks in a domU, run e.g. "./MAKEDEV xbd4" in the domU.
388:
1.28 gdt 389: Virtual Networking
390: ------------------
391:
1.111 wiz 392: Xen provides virtual Ethernets, each of which connects the dom0 and a
1.46 gdt 393: domU. For each virtual network, there is an interface "xvifN.M" in
1.158 maxv 394: the dom0, and a matching interface xennetM (NetBSD name) in domU index N.
395: The interfaces behave as if there is an Ethernet with two
1.111 wiz 396: adapters connected. From this primitive, one can construct various
1.46 gdt 397: configurations. We focus on two common and useful cases for which
398: there are existing scripts: bridging and NAT.
1.28 gdt 399:
1.48 gdt 400: With bridging (in the example above), the domU perceives itself to be
401: on the same network as the dom0. For server virtualization, this is
402: usually best. Bridging is accomplished by creating a bridge(4) device
403: and adding the dom0's physical interface and the various xvifN.0
404: interfaces to the bridge. One specifies "bridge=bridge0" in the domU
405: config file. The bridge must be set up already in the dom0; an
406: example /etc/ifconfig.bridge0 is:
1.46 gdt 407:
1.157 maxv 408: [[!template id=filecontent name="/etc/ifconfig.bridge0" text="""
409: create
410: up
411: !brconfig bridge0 add wm0
412: """]]
1.28 gdt 413:
414: With NAT, the domU perceives itself to be behind a NAT running on the
415: dom0. This is often appropriate when running Xen on a workstation.
1.48 gdt 416: TODO: NAT appears to be configured by "vif = [ '' ]".
1.28 gdt 417:
1.49 gdt 418: The MAC address specified is the one used for the interface in the new
1.53 gdt 419: domain. The interface in dom0 will use this address XOR'd with
1.49 gdt 420: 00:00:00:01:00:00. Random MAC addresses are assigned if not given.
421:
1.48 gdt 422: Starting domains automatically
423: ------------------------------
1.28 gdt 424:
1.158 maxv 425: To start domains `domU-netbsd` and `domU-linux` at boot and shut them
426: down cleanly on dom0 shutdown, add the following in rc.conf:
1.28 gdt 427:
1.158 maxv 428: [[!template id=filecontent name="/etc/rc.conf" text="""
429: xendomains="domU-netbsd domU-linux"
430: """]]
1.28 gdt 431:
1.158 maxv 432: Creating a domU
433: ===============
1.14 gdt 434:
435: Creating domUs is almost entirely independent of operating system. We
1.49 gdt 436: have already presented the basics of config files. Note that you must
1.158 maxv 437: have already completed the dom0 setup so that "xl list" works.
1.14 gdt 438:
1.158 maxv 439: Creating a NetBSD domU
440: ----------------------
1.1 mspo 441:
1.49 gdt 442: See the earlier config file, and adjust memory. Decide on how much
443: storage you will provide, and prepare it (file or lvm).
444:
1.111 wiz 445: While the kernel will be obtained from the dom0 file system, the same
1.49 gdt 446: file should be present in the domU as /netbsd so that tools like
447: savecore(8) can work. (This is helpful but not necessary.)
448:
449: The kernel must be specifically for Xen and for use as a domU. The
450: i386 and amd64 provide the following kernels:
451:
452: i386 XEN3PAE_DOMU
1.95 gdt 453: amd64 XEN3_DOMU
1.5 mspo 454:
1.49 gdt 455: This will boot NetBSD, but this is not that useful if the disk is
456: empty. One approach is to unpack sets onto the disk outside of xen
457: (by mounting it, just as you would prepare a physical disk for a
458: system you can't run the installer on).
459:
460: A second approach is to run an INSTALL kernel, which has a miniroot
461: and can load sets from the network. To do this, copy the INSTALL
462: kernel to / and change the kernel line in the config file to:
1.5 mspo 463:
1.49 gdt 464: kernel = "/home/bouyer/netbsd-INSTALL_XEN3_DOMU"
1.5 mspo 465:
1.49 gdt 466: Then, start the domain as "xl create -c configname".
1.1 mspo 467:
1.49 gdt 468: Alternatively, if you want to install NetBSD/Xen with a CDROM image, the following
469: line should be used in the config file.
1.1 mspo 470:
1.3 mspo 471: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x1,w', 'phy:/dev/cd0a,0x2,r' ]
1.1 mspo 472:
473: After booting the domain, the option to install via CDROM may be
1.49 gdt 474: selected. The CDROM device should be changed to `xbd1d`.
1.1 mspo 475:
1.49 gdt 476: Once done installing, "halt -p" the new domain (don't reboot or halt,
477: it would reload the INSTALL_XEN3_DOMU kernel even if you changed the
478: config file), switch the config file back to the XEN3_DOMU kernel,
479: and start the new domain again. Now it should be able to use "root on
480: xbd0a" and you should have a, functional NetBSD domU.
1.1 mspo 481:
1.49 gdt 482: TODO: check if this is still accurate.
1.1 mspo 483: When the new domain is booting you'll see some warnings about *wscons*
484: and the pseudo-terminals. These can be fixed by editing the files
1.5 mspo 485: `/etc/ttys` and `/etc/wscons.conf`. You must disable all terminals in
486: `/etc/ttys`, except *console*, like this:
1.1 mspo 487:
1.3 mspo 488: console "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt100 on secure
489: ttyE0 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
490: ttyE1 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
491: ttyE2 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
492: ttyE3 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
1.1 mspo 493:
1.5 mspo 494: Finally, all screens must be commented out from `/etc/wscons.conf`.
1.1 mspo 495:
496: It is also desirable to add
497:
1.49 gdt 498: powerd=YES
1.1 mspo 499:
1.5 mspo 500: in rc.conf. This way, the domain will be properly shut down if
1.53 gdt 501: `xm shutdown -R` or `xm shutdown -H` is used on the dom0.
1.1 mspo 502:
1.92 gdt 503: It is not strictly necessary to have a kernel (as /netbsd) in the domU
1.111 wiz 504: file system. However, various programs (e.g. netstat) will use that
1.92 gdt 505: kernel to look up symbols to read from kernel virtual memory. If
506: /netbsd is not the running kernel, those lookups will fail. (This is
507: not really a Xen-specific issue, but because the domU kernel is
508: obtained from the dom0, it is far more likely to be out of sync or
509: missing with Xen.)
510:
1.158 maxv 511: Creating a Linux domU
512: ---------------------
1.1 mspo 513:
514: Creating unprivileged Linux domains isn't much different from
515: unprivileged NetBSD domains, but there are some details to know.
516:
517: First, the second parameter passed to the disk declaration (the '0x1' in
518: the example below)
519:
1.3 mspo 520: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x1,w' ]
1.1 mspo 521:
522: does matter to Linux. It wants a Linux device number here (e.g. 0x300
1.49 gdt 523: for hda). Linux builds device numbers as: (major \<\< 8 + minor).
524: So, hda1 which has major 3 and minor 1 on a Linux system will have
525: device number 0x301. Alternatively, devices names can be used (hda,
526: hdb, ...) as xentools has a table to map these names to devices
527: numbers. To export a partition to a Linux guest we can use:
1.1 mspo 528:
1.49 gdt 529: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x300,w' ]
530: root = "/dev/hda1 ro"
1.1 mspo 531:
532: and it will appear as /dev/hda on the Linux system, and be used as root
533: partition.
534:
1.49 gdt 535: To install the Linux system on the partition to be exported to the
536: guest domain, the following method can be used: install
537: sysutils/e2fsprogs from pkgsrc. Use mke2fs to format the partition
538: that will be the root partition of your Linux domain, and mount it.
539: Then copy the files from a working Linux system, make adjustments in
540: `/etc` (fstab, network config). It should also be possible to extract
541: binary packages such as .rpm or .deb directly to the mounted partition
542: using the appropriate tool, possibly running under NetBSD's Linux
1.111 wiz 543: emulation. Once the file system has been populated, umount it. If
544: desirable, the file system can be converted to ext3 using tune2fs -j.
1.49 gdt 545: It should now be possible to boot the Linux guest domain, using one of
546: the vmlinuz-\*-xenU kernels available in the Xen binary distribution.
1.1 mspo 547:
1.111 wiz 548: To get the Linux console right, you need to add:
1.1 mspo 549:
1.3 mspo 550: extra = "xencons=tty1"
1.1 mspo 551:
1.111 wiz 552: to your configuration since not all Linux distributions auto-attach a
1.1 mspo 553: tty to the xen console.
554:
1.158 maxv 555: Creating a Solaris domU
556: -----------------------
1.1 mspo 557:
1.50 gdt 558: See possibly outdated
559: [Solaris domU instructions](/ports/xen/howto-solaris/).
1.5 mspo 560:
1.1 mspo 561:
1.52 gdt 562: PCI passthrough: Using PCI devices in guest domains
563: ---------------------------------------------------
1.1 mspo 564:
1.53 gdt 565: The dom0 can give other domains access to selected PCI
1.52 gdt 566: devices. This can allow, for example, a non-privileged domain to have
567: access to a physical network interface or disk controller. However,
568: keep in mind that giving a domain access to a PCI device most likely
569: will give the domain read/write access to the whole physical memory,
570: as PCs don't have an IOMMU to restrict memory access to DMA-capable
1.53 gdt 571: device. Also, it's not possible to export ISA devices to non-dom0
1.52 gdt 572: domains, which means that the primary VGA adapter can't be exported.
573: A guest domain trying to access the VGA registers will panic.
574:
1.53 gdt 575: If the dom0 is NetBSD, it has to be running Xen 3.1, as support has
1.52 gdt 576: not been ported to later versions at this time.
577:
578: For a PCI device to be exported to a domU, is has to be attached to
579: the "pciback" driver in dom0. Devices passed to the dom0 via the
580: pciback.hide boot parameter will attach to "pciback" instead of the
581: usual driver. The list of devices is specified as "(bus:dev.func)",
1.5 mspo 582: where bus and dev are 2-digit hexadecimal numbers, and func a
583: single-digit number:
1.1 mspo 584:
1.52 gdt 585: pciback.hide=(00:0a.0)(00:06.0)
1.1 mspo 586:
1.52 gdt 587: pciback devices should show up in the dom0's boot messages, and the
1.5 mspo 588: devices should be listed in the `/kern/xen/pci` directory.
1.1 mspo 589:
1.52 gdt 590: PCI devices to be exported to a domU are listed in the "pci" array of
591: the domU's config file, with the format "0000:bus:dev.func".
1.1 mspo 592:
1.52 gdt 593: pci = [ '0000:00:06.0', '0000:00:0a.0' ]
1.1 mspo 594:
1.52 gdt 595: In the domU an "xpci" device will show up, to which one or more pci
1.111 wiz 596: buses will attach. Then the PCI drivers will attach to PCI buses as
1.52 gdt 597: usual. Note that the default NetBSD DOMU kernels do not have "xpci"
598: or any PCI drivers built in by default; you have to build your own
599: kernel to use PCI devices in a domU. Here's a kernel config example;
600: note that only the "xpci" lines are unusual.
601:
602: include "arch/i386/conf/XEN3_DOMU"
603:
1.111 wiz 604: # Add support for PCI buses to the XEN3_DOMU kernel
1.52 gdt 605: xpci* at xenbus ?
606: pci* at xpci ?
607:
608: # PCI USB controllers
609: uhci* at pci? dev ? function ? # Universal Host Controller (Intel)
610:
611: # USB bus support
612: usb* at uhci?
613:
614: # USB Hubs
615: uhub* at usb?
616: uhub* at uhub? port ? configuration ? interface ?
617:
618: # USB Mass Storage
619: umass* at uhub? port ? configuration ? interface ?
620: wd* at umass?
621: # SCSI controllers
622: ahc* at pci? dev ? function ? # Adaptec [23]94x, aic78x0 SCSI
623:
624: # SCSI bus support (for both ahc and umass)
625: scsibus* at scsi?
626:
627: # SCSI devices
628: sd* at scsibus? target ? lun ? # SCSI disk drives
629: cd* at scsibus? target ? lun ? # SCSI CD-ROM drives
1.1 mspo 630:
631:
1.28 gdt 632: NetBSD as a domU in a VPS
633: =========================
634:
635: The bulk of the HOWTO is about using NetBSD as a dom0 on your own
636: hardware. This section explains how to deal with Xen in a domU as a
637: virtual private server where you do not control or have access to the
1.70 gdt 638: dom0. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of VPS providers;
639: only a few are mentioned that specifically support NetBSD.
1.28 gdt 640:
1.52 gdt 641: VPS operators provide varying degrees of access and mechanisms for
642: configuration. The big issue is usually how one controls which kernel
1.111 wiz 643: is booted, because the kernel is nominally in the dom0 file system (to
644: which VPS users do not normally have access). A second issue is how
1.70 gdt 645: to install NetBSD.
1.52 gdt 646: A VPS user may want to compile a kernel for security updates, to run
647: npf, run IPsec, or any other reason why someone would want to change
648: their kernel.
649:
1.111 wiz 650: One approach is to have an administrative interface to upload a kernel,
1.68 gdt 651: or to select from a prepopulated list. Other approaches are pygrub
1.59 gdt 652: (deprecated) and pvgrub, which are ways to have a bootloader obtain a
1.111 wiz 653: kernel from the domU file system. This is closer to a regular physical
1.59 gdt 654: computer, where someone who controls a machine can replace the kernel.
1.52 gdt 655:
1.74 gdt 656: A second issue is multiple CPUs. With NetBSD 6, domUs support
657: multiple vcpus, and it is typical for VPS providers to enable multiple
658: CPUs for NetBSD domUs.
659:
1.68 gdt 660: pygrub
1.59 gdt 661: -------
1.52 gdt 662:
1.111 wiz 663: pygrub runs in the dom0 and looks into the domU file system. This
664: implies that the domU must have a kernel in a file system in a format
1.68 gdt 665: known to pygrub. As of 2014, pygrub seems to be of mostly historical
666: interest.
1.52 gdt 667:
1.59 gdt 668: pvgrub
669: ------
670:
671: pvgrub is a version of grub that uses PV operations instead of BIOS
672: calls. It is booted from the dom0 as the domU kernel, and then reads
1.111 wiz 673: /grub/menu.lst and loads a kernel from the domU file system.
1.59 gdt 674:
1.70 gdt 675: [Panix](http://www.panix.com/) lets users use pvgrub. Panix reports
1.71 gdt 676: that pvgrub works with FFsv2 with 16K/2K and 32K/4K block/frag sizes
677: (and hence with defaults from "newfs -O 2"). See [Panix's pvgrub
1.70 gdt 678: page](http://www.panix.com/v-colo/grub.html), which describes only
1.74 gdt 679: Linux but should be updated to cover NetBSD :-).
1.70 gdt 680:
681: [prgmr.com](http://prgmr.com/) also lets users with pvgrub to boot
682: their own kernel. See then [prgmr.com NetBSD
1.74 gdt 683: HOWTO](http://wiki.prgmr.com/mediawiki/index.php/NetBSD_as_a_DomU)
684: (which is in need of updating).
1.59 gdt 685:
1.70 gdt 686: It appears that [grub's FFS
687: code](http://xenbits.xensource.com/hg/xen-unstable.hg/file/bca284f67702/tools/libfsimage/ufs/fsys_ufs.c)
688: does not support all aspects of modern FFS, but there are also reports
1.72 gdt 689: that FFSv2 works fine. At prgmr, typically one has an ext2 or FAT
1.70 gdt 690: partition for the kernel with the intent that grub can understand it,
691: which leads to /netbsd not being the actual kernel. One must remember
1.111 wiz 692: to update the special boot partition.
1.59 gdt 693:
694: Amazon
695: ------
696:
1.143 wiki 697: See the [Amazon EC2 page](/amazon_ec2/).
1.44 gdt 698:
1.93 gdt 699: Random pointers
700: ===============
701:
1.117 gdt 702: This section contains links from elsewhere not yet integrated into the
703: HOWTO, and other guides.
1.93 gdt 704:
705: * http://www.lumbercartel.ca/library/xen/
706: * http://pbraun.nethence.com/doc/sysutils/xen_netbsd_dom0.html
1.117 gdt 707: * https://gmplib.org/~tege/xen.html
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