Annotation of wikisrc/ports/xen/howto.mdwn, revision 1.189
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:
1.182 gdt 11: This HOWTO presumes a basic familiarity with the Xen system
12: architecture, with installing NetBSD on amd64 hardware, and with
13: installing software from pkgsrc. See also the [Xen
14: website](http://www.xenproject.org/).
15:
16: [[!toc]]
17:
1.183 gdt 18: # Overview
1.182 gdt 19:
20: The basic concept of Xen is that the hypervisor (xenkernel) runs on
21: the hardware, and runs a privileged domain ("dom0") that can access
22: disks/networking/etc. One then runs additonal unprivileged domains
23: (each a "domU"), presumably to do something useful.
24:
25: This HOWTO addresses how to run a NetBSD dom0 (and hence also build
26: xen itself). It also addresses how to run domUs in that environment,
27: and how to deal with having a domU in a Xen environment run by someone
28: else and/or not running NetBSD.
29:
1.186 gdt 30: There are many choices one can make; the HOWTO recommends the standard
31: approach and limits discussion of alternatives in many cases.
32:
1.182 gdt 33: ## Guest Styles
34:
35: Xen supports different styles of guests.
1.149 maxv 36:
37: [[!table data="""
38: Style of guest |Supported by NetBSD
1.150 maxv 39: PV |Yes (dom0, domU)
40: HVM |Yes (domU)
1.171 gdt 41: PVHVM |current-only (domU)
1.180 gdt 42: PVH |current-only (domU, dom0 not yet)
1.149 maxv 43: """]]
44:
45: In Para-Virtualized (PV) mode, the guest OS does not attempt to access
46: hardware directly, but instead makes hypercalls to the hypervisor; PV
1.170 gdt 47: guests must be specifically coded for Xen.
1.182 gdt 48: See [PV](https://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Paravirtualization_(PV\)).
1.170 gdt 49:
50: In HVM mode, no guest modification is required; however, hardware
51: support is required, such as VT-x on Intel CPUs and SVM on AMD CPUs.
1.177 gdt 52: The dom0 runs qemu to emulate hardware.
1.170 gdt 53:
1.176 gdt 54: In PVHVM mode, the guest runs as HVM, but additionally can use PV
55: drivers for efficiency.
1.182 gdt 56: See [PV on HVM](https://wiki.xen.org/wiki/PV_on_HVM).
1.170 gdt 57:
1.180 gdt 58: There have been two PVH modes: original PVH and PVHv2. Original PVH
59: was based on PV mode and is no longer relevant at all. PVHv2 is
60: basically lightweight HVM with PV drivers. A critical feature of it
61: is that qemu is not needed; the hypervisor can do the emulation that
62: is required. Thus, a dom0 can be PVHv2.
1.182 gdt 63: The source code uses PVH and config files use pvh; this refers to PVHv2.
64: See [PVH(v2)](https://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/PVH_(v2\)_Domu).
1.180 gdt 65:
1.182 gdt 66: At system boot, the dom0 kernel is loaded as a module with Xen as the kernel.
1.12 gdt 67: The dom0 can start one or more domUs. (Booting is explained in detail
68: in the dom0 section.)
69:
1.182 gdt 70: ## CPU Architecture
71:
72: Xen runs on x86_64 hardware (the NetBSD amd64 port).
73:
74: There is a concept of Xen running on ARM, but there are no reports of this working with NetBSD.
75:
76: The dom0 system should be amd64. (Instructions for i386PAE dom0 have been removed from the HOWTO.)
1.1 mspo 77:
1.182 gdt 78: The domU can be i386PAE or amd64.
79: i386PAE at one point was considered as [faster](https://lists.xen.org/archives/html/xen-devel/2012-07/msg00085.html) than amd64.
1.150 maxv 80:
1.182 gdt 81: ## Xen Versions
1.15 gdt 82:
1.111 wiz 83: In NetBSD, Xen is provided in pkgsrc, via matching pairs of packages
1.15 gdt 84: xenkernel and xentools. We will refer only to the kernel versions,
85: but note that both packages must be installed together and must have
86: matching versions.
87:
1.145 maxv 88: Versions available in pkgsrc:
1.85 gdt 89:
1.145 maxv 90: [[!table data="""
1.184 gdt 91: Xen Version |Package Name |Xen CPU Support |EOL'ed By Upstream
92: 4.11 |xenkernel411 |x86_64 |No
93: 4.13 |xenkernel413 |x86_64 |No
1.145 maxv 94: """]]
1.113 gdt 95:
1.96 gdt 96: See also the [Xen Security Advisory page](http://xenbits.xen.org/xsa/).
97:
1.166 gdt 98: Older Xen had a python-based management tool called xm, now replaced
1.176 gdt 99: by xl.
1.166 gdt 100:
1.183 gdt 101: ## NetBSD versions
102:
103: Xen has been supported in NetBSD for a long time, at least since 2005.
104: Initially Xen was PV only.
105:
106: NetBSD 8 and up support PV and HVM modes.
107:
108: Support for PVHVM and PVH is available only in NetBSD-current.
109:
1.185 gdt 110: NetBSD as a dom0 does not run SMP, because some drivers are not yet
111: safe for this. \todo Link to more information about what needs work.
112:
113: NetBSD, when run as a domU, can and does typically run SMP.
114:
115: Note: NetBSD support is called XEN3. However, it does support Xen 4,
116: because the hypercall interface has remained identical.
117:
1.187 gdt 118: # Creating a NetBSD dom0
1.15 gdt 119:
1.158 maxv 120: In order to install a NetBSD as a dom0, one must first install a normal
121: NetBSD system, and then pivot the install to a dom0 install by changing
122: the kernel and boot configuration.
1.15 gdt 123:
1.142 gdt 124: In 2018-05, trouble booting a dom0 was reported with 256M of RAM: with
125: 512M it worked reliably. This does not make sense, but if you see
126: "not ELF" after Xen boots, try increasing dom0 RAM.
127:
1.181 gdt 128: ## Installation of NetBSD
1.13 gdt 129:
1.157 maxv 130: [Install NetBSD/amd64](/guide/inst/)
1.19 gdt 131: just as you would if you were not using Xen.
1.186 gdt 132: Therefore, use the most recent release, or a build from the most recent stable branch.
1.1 mspo 133:
1.181 gdt 134: ## Installation of Xen
1.1 mspo 135:
1.187 gdt 136: Use the most recent version of Xen in pkgsrc, unless the DESCR says that it is not suitable.
1.186 gdt 137: Therefore, choose 4.13.
138: In the dom0, install xenkernel413 and xentools413 from pkgsrc.
1.155 maxv 139:
1.186 gdt 140: Once this is done, copy the Xen kernel from where pkgsrc puts it to
141: where the boot process will be able to find it:
1.155 maxv 142:
143: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
1.186 gdt 144: # cp -p /usr/pkg/xen413-kernel/xen.gz /
1.155 maxv 145: """]]
146:
1.159 maxv 147: Then, place a NetBSD XEN3_DOM0 kernel in the `/` directory. Such kernel
148: can either be compiled manually, or downloaded from the NetBSD FTP, for
149: example at:
150:
151: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
1.186 gdt 152: ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-9.1/amd64/binary/kernel/netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz
1.159 maxv 153: """]]
1.20 gdt 154:
1.155 maxv 155: Add a line to /boot.cfg to boot Xen:
1.20 gdt 156:
1.157 maxv 157: [[!template id=filecontent name="/boot.cfg" text="""
1.152 maxv 158: menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=512M
159: """]]
1.20 gdt 160:
1.159 maxv 161: This specifies that the dom0 should have 512MB of ram, leaving the rest
1.187 gdt 162: to be allocated for domUs.
163:
164: NB: This says add, not replace, so that you will be able to boot a
165: NetBSD kernel without Xen. Once Xen boots ok, you may want to set it
166: as default.
167:
168: To use a serial console, add settings as follows:
1.77 gdt 169:
1.157 maxv 170: [[!template id=filecontent name="/boot.cfg" text="""
1.152 maxv 171: menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=512M console=com1 com1=9600,8n1
172: """]]
1.77 gdt 173:
174: which will use the first serial port for Xen (which counts starting
1.139 gson 175: from 1, unlike NetBSD which counts starting from 0), forcing
176: speed/parity. Because the NetBSD command line lacks a
177: "console=pc" argument, it will use the default "xencons" console device,
178: which directs the console I/O through Xen to the same console device Xen
179: itself uses (in this case, the serial port).
180:
1.157 maxv 181: In an attempt to add performance, one can also add `dom0_max_vcpus=1 dom0_vcpus_pin`,
1.37 gdt 182: to force only one vcpu to be provided (since NetBSD dom0 can't use
1.158 maxv 183: more) and to pin that vcpu to a physical CPU. Xen has
1.178 gdt 184: [many boot options](http://xenbits.xenproject.org/docs/4.13-testing/misc/xen-command-line.html),
1.111 wiz 185: and other than dom0 memory and max_vcpus, they are generally not
1.93 gdt 186: necessary.
187:
1.186 gdt 188: Ensure that the boot scripts installed in
189: `/usr/pkg/share/examples/rc.d` are in `/etc/rc.d`, either because you
190: have `PKG_RCD_SCRIPTS=yes`, or manually. (This is not special to Xen,
191: but a normal part of pkgsrc usage.)
1.159 maxv 192:
1.186 gdt 193: Set `xencommons=YES` in rc.conf:
1.31 gdt 194:
1.157 maxv 195: [[!template id=filecontent name="/etc/rc.conf" text="""
1.152 maxv 196: xencommons=YES
197: """]]
1.31 gdt 198:
1.187 gdt 199: \todo Recommend for/against xen-watchdog.
200:
1.158 maxv 201: Now, reboot so that you are running a DOM0 kernel under Xen, rather
202: than GENERIC without Xen.
1.157 maxv 203:
1.158 maxv 204: Once the reboot is done, use `xl` to inspect Xen's boot messages,
1.157 maxv 205: available resources, and running domains. For example:
1.34 gdt 206:
1.153 maxv 207: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
208: # xl dmesg
209: ... xen's boot info ...
210: # xl info
211: ... available memory, etc ...
212: # xl list
213: Name Id Mem(MB) CPU State Time(s) Console
214: Domain-0 0 64 0 r---- 58.1
215: """]]
216:
217: Xen logs will be in /var/log/xen.
1.33 gdt 218:
1.88 gdt 219: ### Issues with xencommons
220:
1.157 maxv 221: `xencommons` starts `xenstored`, which stores data on behalf of dom0 and
1.88 gdt 222: domUs. It does not currently work to stop and start xenstored.
223: Certainly all domUs should be shutdown first, following the sort order
224: of the rc.d scripts. However, the dom0 sets up state with xenstored,
225: and is not notified when xenstored exits, leading to not recreating
226: the state when the new xenstored starts. Until there's a mechanism to
227: make this work, one should not expect to be able to restart xenstored
228: (and thus xencommons). There is currently no reason to expect that
229: this will get fixed any time soon.
1.187 gdt 230: \todo Confirm if this is still true in 2020.
1.82 gdt 231:
1.181 gdt 232: ## Xen-specific NetBSD issues
1.40 gdt 233:
234: There are (at least) two additional things different about NetBSD as a
235: dom0 kernel compared to hardware.
236:
1.111 wiz 237: One is that the module ABI is different because some of the #defines
1.109 gdt 238: change, so one must build modules for Xen. As of netbsd-7, the build
1.157 maxv 239: system does this automatically.
1.40 gdt 240:
241: The other difference is that XEN3_DOM0 does not have exactly the same
242: options as GENERIC. While it is debatable whether or not this is a
243: bug, users should be aware of this and can simply add missing config
244: items if desired.
245:
1.187 gdt 246: Finally, there have been occasional reports of trouble with X11
247: servers in NetBSD as a dom0.
248:
249: ## Updating Xen in a dom0
250:
251: Basically, update the xenkernel and xentools packages and copy the new
252: Xen kernel into place, and reboot. This procedure should be usable to
253: update to a new Xen release, but the reader is reminded that having a
254: non-Xen boot methods was recommended earlier.
255:
1.181 gdt 256: ## Updating NetBSD in a dom0
1.15 gdt 257:
258: This is just like updating NetBSD on bare hardware, assuming the new
259: version supports the version of Xen you are running. Generally, one
260: replaces the kernel and reboots, and then overlays userland binaries
1.157 maxv 261: and adjusts `/etc`.
1.15 gdt 262:
263: Note that one must update both the non-Xen kernel typically used for
264: rescue purposes and the DOM0 kernel used with Xen.
265:
1.187 gdt 266: ## anita (for testing NetBSD)
267:
268: With a NetBSD dom0, even without any domUs, one should be able to run
269: anita (see pkgsrc/misc/py-anita) to test NetBSD releases, by doing (as
270: root, because anita must create a domU):
271:
272: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
273: anita --vmm=xl test file:///usr/obj/i386/
274: """]]
275:
276: ## Converting from grub to /boot (historical note)
277:
278: These instructions are provided only to help people using grub, which
279: used to be the normal approach.
1.55 gdt 280:
1.157 maxv 281: These instructions were used to convert a system from
1.55 gdt 282: grub to /boot. The system was originally installed in February of
283: 2006 with a RAID1 setup and grub to boot Xen 2, and has been updated
284: over time. Before these commands, it was running NetBSD 6 i386, Xen
285: 4.1 and grub, much like the message linked earlier in the grub
286: section.
287:
1.157 maxv 288: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
289: # Install MBR bootblocks on both disks.
290: fdisk -i /dev/rwd0d
291: fdisk -i /dev/rwd1d
292: # Install NetBSD primary boot loader (/ is FFSv1) into RAID1 components.
293: installboot -v /dev/rwd0d /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1
294: installboot -v /dev/rwd1d /usr/mdec/bootxx_ffsv1
295: # Install secondary boot loader
296: cp -p /usr/mdec/boot /
297: # Create boot.cfg following earlier guidance:
298: menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOM0.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=512M
299: menu=Xen.ok:load /netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOM0.ok.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.ok.gz dom0_mem=512M
300: menu=GENERIC:boot
301: menu=GENERIC single-user:boot -s
302: menu=GENERIC.ok:boot netbsd.ok
303: menu=GENERIC.ok single-user:boot netbsd.ok -s
304: menu=Drop to boot prompt:prompt
305: default=1
306: timeout=30
307: """]]
1.22 gdt 308:
1.187 gdt 309: # Unprivileged domains (domU)
1.28 gdt 310:
311: This section describes general concepts about domUs. It does not
1.33 gdt 312: address specific domU operating systems or how to install them. The
1.157 maxv 313: config files for domUs are typically in `/usr/pkg/etc/xen`, and are
1.60 wiki 314: typically named so that the file name, domU name and the domU's host
1.33 gdt 315: name match.
316:
1.111 wiz 317: The domU is provided with CPU and memory by Xen, configured by the
1.33 gdt 318: dom0. The domU is provided with disk and network by the dom0,
319: mediated by Xen, and configured in the dom0.
320:
321: Entropy in domUs can be an issue; physical disks and network are on
322: the dom0. NetBSD's /dev/random system works, but is often challenged.
323:
1.181 gdt 324: ## Config files
1.48 gdt 325:
1.165 gson 326: See /usr/pkg/share/examples/xen/xlexample*
1.164 gson 327: for a small number of well-commented examples, mostly for running
1.48 gdt 328: GNU/Linux.
329:
1.157 maxv 330: The following is an example minimal domain configuration file. The domU
331: serves as a network file server.
332:
333: [[!template id=filecontent name="/usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo" text="""
334: name = "domU-id"
335: kernel = "/netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOMU-i386-foo.gz"
336: memory = 1024
337: vif = [ 'mac=aa:00:00:d1:00:09,bridge=bridge0' ]
338: disk = [ 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd0,0x0,w',
339: 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd1,0x1,w' ]
340: """]]
1.48 gdt 341:
1.157 maxv 342: The domain will have name given in the `name` setting. The kernel has the
1.48 gdt 343: host/domU name in it, so that on the dom0 one can update the various
1.157 maxv 344: domUs independently. The `vif` line causes an interface to be provided,
1.48 gdt 345: with a specific mac address (do not reuse MAC addresses!), in bridge
346: mode. Two disks are provided, and they are both writable; the bits
347: are stored in files and Xen attaches them to a vnd(4) device in the
1.111 wiz 348: dom0 on domain creation. The system treats xbd0 as the boot device
1.48 gdt 349: without needing explicit configuration.
350:
1.187 gdt 351: There is not type line; that implicitly defines a pv domU.
352:
1.163 gson 353: By convention, domain config files are kept in `/usr/pkg/etc/xen`. Note
1.157 maxv 354: that "xl create" takes the name of a config file, while other commands
355: take the name of a domain.
356:
357: Examples of commands:
1.48 gdt 358:
1.157 maxv 359: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
1.163 gson 360: xl create /usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo
361: xl console domU-id
362: xl create -c /usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo
363: xl shutdown domU-id
1.157 maxv 364: xl list
365: """]]
366:
367: Typing `^]` will exit the console session. Shutting down a domain is
1.48 gdt 368: equivalent to pushing the power button; a NetBSD domU will receive a
369: power-press event and do a clean shutdown. Shutting down the dom0
370: will trigger controlled shutdowns of all configured domUs.
371:
1.181 gdt 372: ## CPU and memory
1.33 gdt 373:
1.169 plunky 374: A domain is provided with some number of vcpus, up to the number
1.157 maxv 375: of CPUs seen by the hypervisor. For a domU, it is controlled
1.48 gdt 376: from the config file by the "vcpus = N" directive.
377:
378: A domain is provided with memory; this is controlled in the config
379: file by "memory = N" (in megabytes). In the straightforward case, the
380: sum of the the memory allocated to the dom0 and all domUs must be less
1.33 gdt 381: than the available memory.
382:
383: Xen also provides a "balloon" driver, which can be used to let domains
1.157 maxv 384: use more memory temporarily.
1.28 gdt 385:
1.181 gdt 386: ## Virtual disks
1.28 gdt 387:
1.158 maxv 388: In domU config files, the disks are defined as a sequence of 3-tuples:
389:
390: * The first element is "method:/path/to/disk". Common methods are
1.162 gutterid 391: "file:" for a file-backed vnd, and "phy:" for something that is already
392: a device, such as an LVM logical volume.
1.158 maxv 393:
394: * The second element is an artifact of how virtual disks are passed to
395: Linux, and a source of confusion with NetBSD Xen usage. Linux domUs
396: are given a device name to associate with the disk, and values like
397: "hda1" or "sda1" are common. In a NetBSD domU, the first disk appears
398: as xbd0, the second as xbd1, and so on. However, xl demands a
399: second argument. The name given is converted to a major/minor by
400: calling stat(2) on the name in /dev and this is passed to the domU.
401: In the general case, the dom0 and domU can be different operating
402: systems, and it is an unwarranted assumption that they have consistent
403: numbering in /dev, or even that the dom0 OS has a /dev. With NetBSD
404: as both dom0 and domU, using values of 0x0 for the first disk and 0x1
405: for the second works fine and avoids this issue. For a GNU/Linux
406: guest, one can create /dev/hda1 in /dev, or to pass 0x301 for
407: /dev/hda1.
1.48 gdt 408:
1.158 maxv 409: * The third element is "w" for writable disks, and "r" for read-only
410: disks.
411:
412: Example:
413: [[!template id=filecontent name="/usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo" text="""
414: disk = [ 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd0,0x0,w' ]
415: """]]
1.28 gdt 416:
1.127 gdt 417: Note that NetBSD by default creates only vnd[0123]. If you need more
418: than 4 total virtual disks at a time, run e.g. "./MAKEDEV vnd4" in the
419: dom0.
420:
1.187 gdt 421: ## Virtual Networking
1.28 gdt 422:
1.111 wiz 423: Xen provides virtual Ethernets, each of which connects the dom0 and a
1.46 gdt 424: domU. For each virtual network, there is an interface "xvifN.M" in
1.158 maxv 425: the dom0, and a matching interface xennetM (NetBSD name) in domU index N.
426: The interfaces behave as if there is an Ethernet with two
1.111 wiz 427: adapters connected. From this primitive, one can construct various
1.46 gdt 428: configurations. We focus on two common and useful cases for which
429: there are existing scripts: bridging and NAT.
1.28 gdt 430:
1.48 gdt 431: With bridging (in the example above), the domU perceives itself to be
432: on the same network as the dom0. For server virtualization, this is
433: usually best. Bridging is accomplished by creating a bridge(4) device
434: and adding the dom0's physical interface and the various xvifN.0
435: interfaces to the bridge. One specifies "bridge=bridge0" in the domU
436: config file. The bridge must be set up already in the dom0; an
437: example /etc/ifconfig.bridge0 is:
1.46 gdt 438:
1.157 maxv 439: [[!template id=filecontent name="/etc/ifconfig.bridge0" text="""
440: create
441: up
442: !brconfig bridge0 add wm0
443: """]]
1.28 gdt 444:
445: With NAT, the domU perceives itself to be behind a NAT running on the
446: dom0. This is often appropriate when running Xen on a workstation.
1.48 gdt 447: TODO: NAT appears to be configured by "vif = [ '' ]".
1.28 gdt 448:
1.49 gdt 449: The MAC address specified is the one used for the interface in the new
1.53 gdt 450: domain. The interface in dom0 will use this address XOR'd with
1.49 gdt 451: 00:00:00:01:00:00. Random MAC addresses are assigned if not given.
452:
1.187 gdt 453: ## Starting domains automatically
1.28 gdt 454:
1.158 maxv 455: To start domains `domU-netbsd` and `domU-linux` at boot and shut them
456: down cleanly on dom0 shutdown, add the following in rc.conf:
1.28 gdt 457:
1.158 maxv 458: [[!template id=filecontent name="/etc/rc.conf" text="""
459: xendomains="domU-netbsd domU-linux"
460: """]]
1.28 gdt 461:
1.188 gdt 462: # domU setup for specific systems
1.14 gdt 463:
464: Creating domUs is almost entirely independent of operating system. We
1.188 gdt 465: have already presented the basics of config files in the previous system.
466:
467: Of course, this section presumes that you have a working dom0.
1.14 gdt 468:
1.187 gdt 469: ## Creating a NetBSD PV domU
470:
1.49 gdt 471: See the earlier config file, and adjust memory. Decide on how much
1.162 gutterid 472: storage you will provide, and prepare it (file or LVM).
1.49 gdt 473:
1.111 wiz 474: While the kernel will be obtained from the dom0 file system, the same
1.49 gdt 475: file should be present in the domU as /netbsd so that tools like
476: savecore(8) can work. (This is helpful but not necessary.)
477:
1.188 gdt 478: The kernel must be specifically built for Xen, to use PV interfacesas
479: a domU. NetBSD release builds provide the following kernels:
1.49 gdt 480:
481: i386 XEN3PAE_DOMU
1.95 gdt 482: amd64 XEN3_DOMU
1.5 mspo 483:
1.49 gdt 484: This will boot NetBSD, but this is not that useful if the disk is
1.188 gdt 485: empty. One approach is to unpack sets onto the disk outside of Xen
1.49 gdt 486: (by mounting it, just as you would prepare a physical disk for a
487: system you can't run the installer on).
488:
489: A second approach is to run an INSTALL kernel, which has a miniroot
490: and can load sets from the network. To do this, copy the INSTALL
491: kernel to / and change the kernel line in the config file to:
1.5 mspo 492:
1.49 gdt 493: kernel = "/home/bouyer/netbsd-INSTALL_XEN3_DOMU"
1.5 mspo 494:
1.163 gson 495: Then, start the domain as "xl create -c configfile".
1.1 mspo 496:
1.49 gdt 497: Alternatively, if you want to install NetBSD/Xen with a CDROM image, the following
498: line should be used in the config file.
1.1 mspo 499:
1.3 mspo 500: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x1,w', 'phy:/dev/cd0a,0x2,r' ]
1.1 mspo 501:
502: After booting the domain, the option to install via CDROM may be
1.49 gdt 503: selected. The CDROM device should be changed to `xbd1d`.
1.1 mspo 504:
1.188 gdt 505: Once done installing, "halt -p" the new domain (don't reboot or halt:
1.49 gdt 506: it would reload the INSTALL_XEN3_DOMU kernel even if you changed the
507: config file), switch the config file back to the XEN3_DOMU kernel,
508: and start the new domain again. Now it should be able to use "root on
1.188 gdt 509: xbd0a" and you should have a functional NetBSD domU.
1.1 mspo 510:
1.49 gdt 511: TODO: check if this is still accurate.
1.1 mspo 512: When the new domain is booting you'll see some warnings about *wscons*
513: and the pseudo-terminals. These can be fixed by editing the files
1.5 mspo 514: `/etc/ttys` and `/etc/wscons.conf`. You must disable all terminals in
515: `/etc/ttys`, except *console*, like this:
1.1 mspo 516:
1.3 mspo 517: console "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt100 on secure
518: ttyE0 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
519: ttyE1 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
520: ttyE2 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
521: ttyE3 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
1.1 mspo 522:
1.5 mspo 523: Finally, all screens must be commented out from `/etc/wscons.conf`.
1.1 mspo 524:
525: It is also desirable to add
526:
1.49 gdt 527: powerd=YES
1.1 mspo 528:
1.5 mspo 529: in rc.conf. This way, the domain will be properly shut down if
1.184 gdt 530: `xl shutdown -R` or `xl shutdown -H` is used on the dom0.
531: \todo Check the translation to xl.
1.1 mspo 532:
1.92 gdt 533: It is not strictly necessary to have a kernel (as /netbsd) in the domU
1.111 wiz 534: file system. However, various programs (e.g. netstat) will use that
1.92 gdt 535: kernel to look up symbols to read from kernel virtual memory. If
536: /netbsd is not the running kernel, those lookups will fail. (This is
537: not really a Xen-specific issue, but because the domU kernel is
538: obtained from the dom0, it is far more likely to be out of sync or
539: missing with Xen.)
540:
1.187 gdt 541: Note that NetBSD by default creates only xbd[0123]. If you need more
542: virtual disks in a domU, run e.g. "./MAKEDEV xbd4" in the domU.
543:
544: ## Creating a Linux domU
1.1 mspo 545:
546: Creating unprivileged Linux domains isn't much different from
547: unprivileged NetBSD domains, but there are some details to know.
548:
549: First, the second parameter passed to the disk declaration (the '0x1' in
550: the example below)
551:
1.3 mspo 552: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x1,w' ]
1.1 mspo 553:
554: does matter to Linux. It wants a Linux device number here (e.g. 0x300
1.49 gdt 555: for hda). Linux builds device numbers as: (major \<\< 8 + minor).
556: So, hda1 which has major 3 and minor 1 on a Linux system will have
557: device number 0x301. Alternatively, devices names can be used (hda,
558: hdb, ...) as xentools has a table to map these names to devices
559: numbers. To export a partition to a Linux guest we can use:
1.1 mspo 560:
1.49 gdt 561: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x300,w' ]
562: root = "/dev/hda1 ro"
1.1 mspo 563:
564: and it will appear as /dev/hda on the Linux system, and be used as root
565: partition.
566:
1.49 gdt 567: To install the Linux system on the partition to be exported to the
568: guest domain, the following method can be used: install
569: sysutils/e2fsprogs from pkgsrc. Use mke2fs to format the partition
570: that will be the root partition of your Linux domain, and mount it.
571: Then copy the files from a working Linux system, make adjustments in
572: `/etc` (fstab, network config). It should also be possible to extract
573: binary packages such as .rpm or .deb directly to the mounted partition
574: using the appropriate tool, possibly running under NetBSD's Linux
1.111 wiz 575: emulation. Once the file system has been populated, umount it. If
576: desirable, the file system can be converted to ext3 using tune2fs -j.
1.49 gdt 577: It should now be possible to boot the Linux guest domain, using one of
578: the vmlinuz-\*-xenU kernels available in the Xen binary distribution.
1.1 mspo 579:
1.111 wiz 580: To get the Linux console right, you need to add:
1.1 mspo 581:
1.3 mspo 582: extra = "xencons=tty1"
1.1 mspo 583:
1.111 wiz 584: to your configuration since not all Linux distributions auto-attach a
1.1 mspo 585: tty to the xen console.
586:
1.180 gdt 587: ## Creating a NetBSD HVM domU
588:
589: Use type='hmv', probably. Use a GENERIC kernel within the disk image.
590:
591: ## Creating a NetBSD PVH domU
592:
593: Use type='pvh'.
594:
595: \todo Explain where the kernel comes from.
596:
597:
1.187 gdt 598: ## Creating a Solaris domU
1.1 mspo 599:
1.50 gdt 600: See possibly outdated
601: [Solaris domU instructions](/ports/xen/howto-solaris/).
1.5 mspo 602:
1.1 mspo 603:
1.187 gdt 604: ## PCI passthrough: Using PCI devices in guest domains
1.1 mspo 605:
1.180 gdt 606: NB: PCI passthrough only works on some Xen versions and as of 2020 it
607: is not clear that it works on any version in pkgsrc. Reports
608: confirming or denying this notion should be sent to port-xen@.
609:
1.53 gdt 610: The dom0 can give other domains access to selected PCI
1.52 gdt 611: devices. This can allow, for example, a non-privileged domain to have
612: access to a physical network interface or disk controller. However,
613: keep in mind that giving a domain access to a PCI device most likely
614: will give the domain read/write access to the whole physical memory,
615: as PCs don't have an IOMMU to restrict memory access to DMA-capable
1.53 gdt 616: device. Also, it's not possible to export ISA devices to non-dom0
1.52 gdt 617: domains, which means that the primary VGA adapter can't be exported.
618: A guest domain trying to access the VGA registers will panic.
619:
1.53 gdt 620: If the dom0 is NetBSD, it has to be running Xen 3.1, as support has
1.52 gdt 621: not been ported to later versions at this time.
622:
623: For a PCI device to be exported to a domU, is has to be attached to
624: the "pciback" driver in dom0. Devices passed to the dom0 via the
625: pciback.hide boot parameter will attach to "pciback" instead of the
626: usual driver. The list of devices is specified as "(bus:dev.func)",
1.5 mspo 627: where bus and dev are 2-digit hexadecimal numbers, and func a
628: single-digit number:
1.1 mspo 629:
1.52 gdt 630: pciback.hide=(00:0a.0)(00:06.0)
1.1 mspo 631:
1.52 gdt 632: pciback devices should show up in the dom0's boot messages, and the
1.5 mspo 633: devices should be listed in the `/kern/xen/pci` directory.
1.1 mspo 634:
1.52 gdt 635: PCI devices to be exported to a domU are listed in the "pci" array of
636: the domU's config file, with the format "0000:bus:dev.func".
1.1 mspo 637:
1.52 gdt 638: pci = [ '0000:00:06.0', '0000:00:0a.0' ]
1.1 mspo 639:
1.52 gdt 640: In the domU an "xpci" device will show up, to which one or more pci
1.111 wiz 641: buses will attach. Then the PCI drivers will attach to PCI buses as
1.52 gdt 642: usual. Note that the default NetBSD DOMU kernels do not have "xpci"
643: or any PCI drivers built in by default; you have to build your own
644: kernel to use PCI devices in a domU. Here's a kernel config example;
645: note that only the "xpci" lines are unusual.
646:
647: include "arch/i386/conf/XEN3_DOMU"
648:
1.111 wiz 649: # Add support for PCI buses to the XEN3_DOMU kernel
1.52 gdt 650: xpci* at xenbus ?
651: pci* at xpci ?
652:
653: # PCI USB controllers
654: uhci* at pci? dev ? function ? # Universal Host Controller (Intel)
655:
656: # USB bus support
657: usb* at uhci?
658:
659: # USB Hubs
660: uhub* at usb?
661: uhub* at uhub? port ? configuration ? interface ?
662:
663: # USB Mass Storage
664: umass* at uhub? port ? configuration ? interface ?
665: wd* at umass?
666: # SCSI controllers
667: ahc* at pci? dev ? function ? # Adaptec [23]94x, aic78x0 SCSI
668:
669: # SCSI bus support (for both ahc and umass)
670: scsibus* at scsi?
671:
672: # SCSI devices
673: sd* at scsibus? target ? lun ? # SCSI disk drives
674: cd* at scsibus? target ? lun ? # SCSI CD-ROM drives
1.1 mspo 675:
676:
1.189 ! gdt 677: # Miscellaneous Information
1.173 gdt 678:
1.189 ! gdt 679: ## Nesting under Linux KVM
! 680:
! 681: It is possible to run a Xen and a NetBSD dom0 under Linux KVM. One
! 682: can enable virtio in the dom0 for greater speed.
! 683:
! 684: ## Other nesting
! 685:
! 686: In theory, any full emulation should be able to run Xen and a NetBSD
! 687: dom0. The HOWTO does not currently have information about Xen XVM
! 688: mode, nvmm, qemu, Virtualbox, etc.
! 689:
! 690: ## NetBSD 5 as domU
1.173 gdt 691:
1.176 gdt 692: [NetBSD 5 is known to panic.](http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-xen/2018/04/17/msg009181.html)
1.175 gdt 693: (However, NetBSD 5 systems should be updated to a supported version.)
1.173 gdt 694:
695: # NetBSD as a domU in a VPS
1.28 gdt 696:
697: The bulk of the HOWTO is about using NetBSD as a dom0 on your own
698: hardware. This section explains how to deal with Xen in a domU as a
699: virtual private server where you do not control or have access to the
1.70 gdt 700: dom0. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of VPS providers;
701: only a few are mentioned that specifically support NetBSD.
1.28 gdt 702:
1.52 gdt 703: VPS operators provide varying degrees of access and mechanisms for
704: configuration. The big issue is usually how one controls which kernel
1.111 wiz 705: is booted, because the kernel is nominally in the dom0 file system (to
706: which VPS users do not normally have access). A second issue is how
1.70 gdt 707: to install NetBSD.
1.52 gdt 708: A VPS user may want to compile a kernel for security updates, to run
709: npf, run IPsec, or any other reason why someone would want to change
710: their kernel.
711:
1.111 wiz 712: One approach is to have an administrative interface to upload a kernel,
1.68 gdt 713: or to select from a prepopulated list. Other approaches are pygrub
1.59 gdt 714: (deprecated) and pvgrub, which are ways to have a bootloader obtain a
1.111 wiz 715: kernel from the domU file system. This is closer to a regular physical
1.59 gdt 716: computer, where someone who controls a machine can replace the kernel.
1.52 gdt 717:
1.74 gdt 718: A second issue is multiple CPUs. With NetBSD 6, domUs support
719: multiple vcpus, and it is typical for VPS providers to enable multiple
720: CPUs for NetBSD domUs.
721:
1.180 gdt 722: ## Complexities due to Xen changes
723:
724: Xen has many security advisories and people running Xen systems make
725: different choices.
726:
727: ### stub domains
728:
729: Some (Linux only?) dom0 systems use something called "stub domains" to
730: isolate qemu from the dom0 system, as a security and reliabilty
731: mechanism when running HVM domUs. Somehow, NetBSD's GENERIC kernel
732: ends up using PIO for disks rather than DMA. Of course, all of this
733: is emulated, but emulated PIO is unusably slow. This problem is not
734: currently understood.
735:
736: ### Grant tables
737:
738: There are multiple versions of using grant tables, and some security
739: advisories have suggested disabling some versions. Some versions of
740: NetBSD apparently only use specific versions and this can lead to
741: "NetBSD current doesn't run on hosting provider X" situations.
742:
743: \todo Explain better.
744:
1.181 gdt 745: ## Boot methods
746:
747: ### pvgrub
1.59 gdt 748:
749: pvgrub is a version of grub that uses PV operations instead of BIOS
750: calls. It is booted from the dom0 as the domU kernel, and then reads
1.111 wiz 751: /grub/menu.lst and loads a kernel from the domU file system.
1.59 gdt 752:
1.70 gdt 753: [Panix](http://www.panix.com/) lets users use pvgrub. Panix reports
1.71 gdt 754: that pvgrub works with FFsv2 with 16K/2K and 32K/4K block/frag sizes
755: (and hence with defaults from "newfs -O 2"). See [Panix's pvgrub
1.70 gdt 756: page](http://www.panix.com/v-colo/grub.html), which describes only
1.74 gdt 757: Linux but should be updated to cover NetBSD :-).
1.70 gdt 758:
759: [prgmr.com](http://prgmr.com/) also lets users with pvgrub to boot
760: their own kernel. See then [prgmr.com NetBSD
1.74 gdt 761: HOWTO](http://wiki.prgmr.com/mediawiki/index.php/NetBSD_as_a_DomU)
762: (which is in need of updating).
1.59 gdt 763:
1.70 gdt 764: It appears that [grub's FFS
765: code](http://xenbits.xensource.com/hg/xen-unstable.hg/file/bca284f67702/tools/libfsimage/ufs/fsys_ufs.c)
766: does not support all aspects of modern FFS, but there are also reports
1.72 gdt 767: that FFSv2 works fine. At prgmr, typically one has an ext2 or FAT
1.70 gdt 768: partition for the kernel with the intent that grub can understand it,
769: which leads to /netbsd not being the actual kernel. One must remember
1.111 wiz 770: to update the special boot partition.
1.59 gdt 771:
1.181 gdt 772: ### pygrub
1.168 wiki 773:
774: pygrub runs in the dom0 and looks into the domU file system. This
775: implies that the domU must have a kernel in a file system in a format
776: known to pygrub.
777:
778: pygrub doesn't seem to work to load Linux images under NetBSD dom0,
779: and is inherently less secure than pvgrub due to running inside dom0. For both these
780: reasons, pygrub should not be used, and is only still present so that
781: historical DomU images using it still work.
782:
783: As of 2014, pygrub seems to be of mostly historical
784: interest. New DomUs should use pvgrub.
785:
1.181 gdt 786: ## Specific Providers
787:
788: ### Amazon
1.59 gdt 789:
1.143 wiki 790: See the [Amazon EC2 page](/amazon_ec2/).
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