Annotation of wikisrc/ports/xen/howto.mdwn, revision 1.192
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:
1.191 gdt 110: NetBSD up to and including NetBSD 9 as a dom0 does not run SMP,
111: because some drivers are not yet safe for this. NetBSD-current
112: supports SMP in dom0.
1.185 gdt 113:
114: NetBSD, when run as a domU, can and does typically run SMP.
115:
1.191 gdt 116: Note that while Xen 4.13 is current, the kernel support is still
117: called XEN3, because the hypercall interface has not changed
118: significantly.
1.185 gdt 119:
1.187 gdt 120: # Creating a NetBSD dom0
1.15 gdt 121:
1.191 gdt 122: In order to install a NetBSD as a dom0, one first installs a normal
123: NetBSD system, and then pivot the install to a dom0 install by
124: changing the kernel and boot configuration.
1.15 gdt 125:
1.142 gdt 126: In 2018-05, trouble booting a dom0 was reported with 256M of RAM: with
127: 512M it worked reliably. This does not make sense, but if you see
128: "not ELF" after Xen boots, try increasing dom0 RAM.
129:
1.181 gdt 130: ## Installation of NetBSD
1.13 gdt 131:
1.191 gdt 132: [Install NetBSD/amd64](/guide/inst/) just as you would if you were not
133: using Xen. Therefore, use the most recent release, or a build from
134: the most recent stable branch. Alternatively, use -current, being
135: mindful of all the usual caveats of lower stability of current, and
136: likely a bit more so.
1.1 mspo 137:
1.181 gdt 138: ## Installation of Xen
1.1 mspo 139:
1.191 gdt 140: ### Building Xen
141:
1.187 gdt 142: Use the most recent version of Xen in pkgsrc, unless the DESCR says that it is not suitable.
1.186 gdt 143: Therefore, choose 4.13.
144: In the dom0, install xenkernel413 and xentools413 from pkgsrc.
1.155 maxv 145:
1.186 gdt 146: Once this is done, copy the Xen kernel from where pkgsrc puts it to
147: where the boot process will be able to find it:
1.155 maxv 148:
149: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
1.186 gdt 150: # cp -p /usr/pkg/xen413-kernel/xen.gz /
1.155 maxv 151: """]]
152:
1.191 gdt 153: Then, place a NetBSD XEN3_DOM0 kernel in the `/` directory. Such
154: kernel can either be taken from a local release build.sh run, compiled
155: manually, or downloaded from the NetBSD FTP, for example at:
1.159 maxv 156:
157: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
1.186 gdt 158: ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-9.1/amd64/binary/kernel/netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz
1.159 maxv 159: """]]
1.20 gdt 160:
1.191 gdt 161: ### Configuring booting
162:
163: Read boot.cfg(8) carefully. Add lines to /boot.cfg to boot Xen:
1.20 gdt 164:
1.157 maxv 165: [[!template id=filecontent name="/boot.cfg" text="""
1.152 maxv 166: menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz console=pc;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=512M
1.191 gdt 167: menu=Xen single user:load /netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz console=pc -s;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=512M
1.152 maxv 168: """]]
1.20 gdt 169:
1.191 gdt 170: \todo Explain why console=pc is given. Perhaps there is some notion
171: of a separate console instead of xencons.
172:
173: \todo Check the single user line.
174:
1.159 maxv 175: This specifies that the dom0 should have 512MB of ram, leaving the rest
1.187 gdt 176: to be allocated for domUs.
177:
1.191 gdt 178: NB: This says add, not replace, so that you will be able to more
179: easily boot a NetBSD kernel without Xen. Once Xen boots ok, you may
180: want to set it as default. It is highly likely that you will have
181: trouble at some point, and keeping an up-to-date GENERIC for use in
182: fixing problems is the standard prudent approach.
183:
184: ### Console selection
185:
186: See boot_console(8). Understand that you should start from a place of
187: having console setup correct for booting GENERIC before trying to
188: configure Xen.
189:
190: By default, the hypervisor (Xen itself) will use \todo as the console
1.187 gdt 191:
1.191 gdt 192: By default, the NetBSD dom0 kernel will use xencons(4) (the man page
193: does not exist) as console.
194:
195: To use a serial console for the Xen hypervisor, add settings as follows:
1.77 gdt 196:
1.157 maxv 197: [[!template id=filecontent name="/boot.cfg" text="""
1.152 maxv 198: menu=Xen:load /netbsd-XEN3_DOM0.gz;multiboot /xen.gz dom0_mem=512M console=com1 com1=9600,8n1
199: """]]
1.77 gdt 200:
201: which will use the first serial port for Xen (which counts starting
1.139 gson 202: from 1, unlike NetBSD which counts starting from 0), forcing
203: speed/parity. Because the NetBSD command line lacks a
204: "console=pc" argument, it will use the default "xencons" console device,
205: which directs the console I/O through Xen to the same console device Xen
206: itself uses (in this case, the serial port).
207:
1.191 gdt 208: \todo Explain why boot.cfg shows forcing the dom0 console also,
209: separately from the hypervisor console.
210:
211: ### Tuning
212:
1.157 maxv 213: In an attempt to add performance, one can also add `dom0_max_vcpus=1 dom0_vcpus_pin`,
1.37 gdt 214: to force only one vcpu to be provided (since NetBSD dom0 can't use
1.158 maxv 215: more) and to pin that vcpu to a physical CPU. Xen has
1.178 gdt 216: [many boot options](http://xenbits.xenproject.org/docs/4.13-testing/misc/xen-command-line.html),
1.111 wiz 217: and other than dom0 memory and max_vcpus, they are generally not
1.93 gdt 218: necessary.
1.191 gdt 219: \todo Revisit this advice with current.
220: \todo Explain if anyone has ever actually measured that this helps.
221:
222: ### rc.conf
1.93 gdt 223:
1.186 gdt 224: Ensure that the boot scripts installed in
225: `/usr/pkg/share/examples/rc.d` are in `/etc/rc.d`, either because you
226: have `PKG_RCD_SCRIPTS=yes`, or manually. (This is not special to Xen,
227: but a normal part of pkgsrc usage.)
1.159 maxv 228:
1.186 gdt 229: Set `xencommons=YES` in rc.conf:
1.31 gdt 230:
1.157 maxv 231: [[!template id=filecontent name="/etc/rc.conf" text="""
1.152 maxv 232: xencommons=YES
233: """]]
1.31 gdt 234:
1.187 gdt 235: \todo Recommend for/against xen-watchdog.
236:
1.191 gdt 237: ### Testing
238:
1.158 maxv 239: Now, reboot so that you are running a DOM0 kernel under Xen, rather
240: than GENERIC without Xen.
1.157 maxv 241:
1.158 maxv 242: Once the reboot is done, use `xl` to inspect Xen's boot messages,
1.157 maxv 243: available resources, and running domains. For example:
1.34 gdt 244:
1.153 maxv 245: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
246: # xl dmesg
247: ... xen's boot info ...
248: # xl info
249: ... available memory, etc ...
250: # xl list
251: Name Id Mem(MB) CPU State Time(s) Console
252: Domain-0 0 64 0 r---- 58.1
253: """]]
254:
255: Xen logs will be in /var/log/xen.
1.33 gdt 256:
1.88 gdt 257: ### Issues with xencommons
258:
1.157 maxv 259: `xencommons` starts `xenstored`, which stores data on behalf of dom0 and
1.88 gdt 260: domUs. It does not currently work to stop and start xenstored.
261: Certainly all domUs should be shutdown first, following the sort order
262: of the rc.d scripts. However, the dom0 sets up state with xenstored,
263: and is not notified when xenstored exits, leading to not recreating
264: the state when the new xenstored starts. Until there's a mechanism to
265: make this work, one should not expect to be able to restart xenstored
266: (and thus xencommons). There is currently no reason to expect that
267: this will get fixed any time soon.
1.187 gdt 268: \todo Confirm if this is still true in 2020.
1.82 gdt 269:
1.181 gdt 270: ## Xen-specific NetBSD issues
1.40 gdt 271:
272: There are (at least) two additional things different about NetBSD as a
273: dom0 kernel compared to hardware.
274:
1.191 gdt 275: One is that through NetBSD 9 the module ABI is different because some
276: of the #defines change, so there are separate sets of modules in
277: /stand. In NetBSD-current, there is only one set of modules.
1.40 gdt 278:
279: The other difference is that XEN3_DOM0 does not have exactly the same
280: options as GENERIC. While it is debatable whether or not this is a
281: bug, users should be aware of this and can simply add missing config
282: items if desired.
283:
1.187 gdt 284: Finally, there have been occasional reports of trouble with X11
285: servers in NetBSD as a dom0.
286:
287: ## Updating Xen in a dom0
288:
289: Basically, update the xenkernel and xentools packages and copy the new
290: Xen kernel into place, and reboot. This procedure should be usable to
291: update to a new Xen release, but the reader is reminded that having a
292: non-Xen boot methods was recommended earlier.
293:
1.181 gdt 294: ## Updating NetBSD in a dom0
1.15 gdt 295:
296: This is just like updating NetBSD on bare hardware, assuming the new
297: version supports the version of Xen you are running. Generally, one
298: replaces the kernel and reboots, and then overlays userland binaries
1.157 maxv 299: and adjusts `/etc`.
1.15 gdt 300:
1.191 gdt 301: Note that one should update both the non-Xen kernel typically used for
302: rescue purposes, as well as the DOM0 kernel used with Xen.
1.15 gdt 303:
1.187 gdt 304: ## anita (for testing NetBSD)
305:
306: With a NetBSD dom0, even without any domUs, one should be able to run
307: anita (see pkgsrc/misc/py-anita) to test NetBSD releases, by doing (as
308: root, because anita must create a domU):
309:
310: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
311: anita --vmm=xl test file:///usr/obj/i386/
312: """]]
313:
314: # Unprivileged domains (domU)
1.28 gdt 315:
316: This section describes general concepts about domUs. It does not
1.33 gdt 317: address specific domU operating systems or how to install them. The
1.157 maxv 318: config files for domUs are typically in `/usr/pkg/etc/xen`, and are
1.60 wiki 319: typically named so that the file name, domU name and the domU's host
1.33 gdt 320: name match.
321:
1.111 wiz 322: The domU is provided with CPU and memory by Xen, configured by the
1.33 gdt 323: dom0. The domU is provided with disk and network by the dom0,
324: mediated by Xen, and configured in the dom0.
325:
326: Entropy in domUs can be an issue; physical disks and network are on
327: the dom0. NetBSD's /dev/random system works, but is often challenged.
328:
1.181 gdt 329: ## Config files
1.48 gdt 330:
1.165 gson 331: See /usr/pkg/share/examples/xen/xlexample*
1.164 gson 332: for a small number of well-commented examples, mostly for running
1.48 gdt 333: GNU/Linux.
334:
1.157 maxv 335: The following is an example minimal domain configuration file. The domU
336: serves as a network file server.
337:
338: [[!template id=filecontent name="/usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo" text="""
339: name = "domU-id"
340: kernel = "/netbsd-XEN3PAE_DOMU-i386-foo.gz"
341: memory = 1024
342: vif = [ 'mac=aa:00:00:d1:00:09,bridge=bridge0' ]
343: disk = [ 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd0,0x0,w',
344: 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd1,0x1,w' ]
345: """]]
1.48 gdt 346:
1.157 maxv 347: The domain will have name given in the `name` setting. The kernel has the
1.48 gdt 348: host/domU name in it, so that on the dom0 one can update the various
1.157 maxv 349: domUs independently. The `vif` line causes an interface to be provided,
1.48 gdt 350: with a specific mac address (do not reuse MAC addresses!), in bridge
351: mode. Two disks are provided, and they are both writable; the bits
352: are stored in files and Xen attaches them to a vnd(4) device in the
1.111 wiz 353: dom0 on domain creation. The system treats xbd0 as the boot device
1.48 gdt 354: without needing explicit configuration.
355:
1.187 gdt 356: There is not type line; that implicitly defines a pv domU.
357:
1.163 gson 358: By convention, domain config files are kept in `/usr/pkg/etc/xen`. Note
1.157 maxv 359: that "xl create" takes the name of a config file, while other commands
360: take the name of a domain.
361:
362: Examples of commands:
1.48 gdt 363:
1.157 maxv 364: [[!template id=programlisting text="""
1.163 gson 365: xl create /usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo
366: xl console domU-id
367: xl create -c /usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo
368: xl shutdown domU-id
1.157 maxv 369: xl list
370: """]]
371:
372: Typing `^]` will exit the console session. Shutting down a domain is
1.48 gdt 373: equivalent to pushing the power button; a NetBSD domU will receive a
374: power-press event and do a clean shutdown. Shutting down the dom0
375: will trigger controlled shutdowns of all configured domUs.
376:
1.181 gdt 377: ## CPU and memory
1.33 gdt 378:
1.169 plunky 379: A domain is provided with some number of vcpus, up to the number
1.157 maxv 380: of CPUs seen by the hypervisor. For a domU, it is controlled
1.48 gdt 381: from the config file by the "vcpus = N" directive.
382:
383: A domain is provided with memory; this is controlled in the config
384: file by "memory = N" (in megabytes). In the straightforward case, the
385: sum of the the memory allocated to the dom0 and all domUs must be less
1.33 gdt 386: than the available memory.
387:
388: Xen also provides a "balloon" driver, which can be used to let domains
1.157 maxv 389: use more memory temporarily.
1.28 gdt 390:
1.181 gdt 391: ## Virtual disks
1.28 gdt 392:
1.158 maxv 393: In domU config files, the disks are defined as a sequence of 3-tuples:
394:
395: * The first element is "method:/path/to/disk". Common methods are
1.162 gutterid 396: "file:" for a file-backed vnd, and "phy:" for something that is already
397: a device, such as an LVM logical volume.
1.158 maxv 398:
399: * The second element is an artifact of how virtual disks are passed to
400: Linux, and a source of confusion with NetBSD Xen usage. Linux domUs
401: are given a device name to associate with the disk, and values like
402: "hda1" or "sda1" are common. In a NetBSD domU, the first disk appears
403: as xbd0, the second as xbd1, and so on. However, xl demands a
404: second argument. The name given is converted to a major/minor by
405: calling stat(2) on the name in /dev and this is passed to the domU.
406: In the general case, the dom0 and domU can be different operating
407: systems, and it is an unwarranted assumption that they have consistent
408: numbering in /dev, or even that the dom0 OS has a /dev. With NetBSD
409: as both dom0 and domU, using values of 0x0 for the first disk and 0x1
410: for the second works fine and avoids this issue. For a GNU/Linux
411: guest, one can create /dev/hda1 in /dev, or to pass 0x301 for
412: /dev/hda1.
1.48 gdt 413:
1.158 maxv 414: * The third element is "w" for writable disks, and "r" for read-only
415: disks.
416:
417: Example:
418: [[!template id=filecontent name="/usr/pkg/etc/xen/foo" text="""
419: disk = [ 'file:/n0/xen/foo-wd0,0x0,w' ]
420: """]]
1.28 gdt 421:
1.127 gdt 422: Note that NetBSD by default creates only vnd[0123]. If you need more
423: than 4 total virtual disks at a time, run e.g. "./MAKEDEV vnd4" in the
424: dom0.
425:
1.187 gdt 426: ## Virtual Networking
1.28 gdt 427:
1.111 wiz 428: Xen provides virtual Ethernets, each of which connects the dom0 and a
1.46 gdt 429: domU. For each virtual network, there is an interface "xvifN.M" in
1.158 maxv 430: the dom0, and a matching interface xennetM (NetBSD name) in domU index N.
431: The interfaces behave as if there is an Ethernet with two
1.111 wiz 432: adapters connected. From this primitive, one can construct various
1.46 gdt 433: configurations. We focus on two common and useful cases for which
434: there are existing scripts: bridging and NAT.
1.28 gdt 435:
1.48 gdt 436: With bridging (in the example above), the domU perceives itself to be
437: on the same network as the dom0. For server virtualization, this is
438: usually best. Bridging is accomplished by creating a bridge(4) device
439: and adding the dom0's physical interface and the various xvifN.0
440: interfaces to the bridge. One specifies "bridge=bridge0" in the domU
441: config file. The bridge must be set up already in the dom0; an
442: example /etc/ifconfig.bridge0 is:
1.46 gdt 443:
1.157 maxv 444: [[!template id=filecontent name="/etc/ifconfig.bridge0" text="""
445: create
446: up
447: !brconfig bridge0 add wm0
448: """]]
1.28 gdt 449:
450: With NAT, the domU perceives itself to be behind a NAT running on the
451: dom0. This is often appropriate when running Xen on a workstation.
1.48 gdt 452: TODO: NAT appears to be configured by "vif = [ '' ]".
1.28 gdt 453:
1.49 gdt 454: The MAC address specified is the one used for the interface in the new
1.53 gdt 455: domain. The interface in dom0 will use this address XOR'd with
1.49 gdt 456: 00:00:00:01:00:00. Random MAC addresses are assigned if not given.
457:
1.187 gdt 458: ## Starting domains automatically
1.28 gdt 459:
1.158 maxv 460: To start domains `domU-netbsd` and `domU-linux` at boot and shut them
461: down cleanly on dom0 shutdown, add the following in rc.conf:
1.28 gdt 462:
1.158 maxv 463: [[!template id=filecontent name="/etc/rc.conf" text="""
464: xendomains="domU-netbsd domU-linux"
465: """]]
1.28 gdt 466:
1.188 gdt 467: # domU setup for specific systems
1.14 gdt 468:
469: Creating domUs is almost entirely independent of operating system. We
1.188 gdt 470: have already presented the basics of config files in the previous system.
471:
472: Of course, this section presumes that you have a working dom0.
1.14 gdt 473:
1.187 gdt 474: ## Creating a NetBSD PV domU
475:
1.49 gdt 476: See the earlier config file, and adjust memory. Decide on how much
1.162 gutterid 477: storage you will provide, and prepare it (file or LVM).
1.49 gdt 478:
1.111 wiz 479: While the kernel will be obtained from the dom0 file system, the same
1.49 gdt 480: file should be present in the domU as /netbsd so that tools like
481: savecore(8) can work. (This is helpful but not necessary.)
482:
1.188 gdt 483: The kernel must be specifically built for Xen, to use PV interfacesas
484: a domU. NetBSD release builds provide the following kernels:
1.49 gdt 485:
486: i386 XEN3PAE_DOMU
1.95 gdt 487: amd64 XEN3_DOMU
1.5 mspo 488:
1.49 gdt 489: This will boot NetBSD, but this is not that useful if the disk is
1.188 gdt 490: empty. One approach is to unpack sets onto the disk outside of Xen
1.49 gdt 491: (by mounting it, just as you would prepare a physical disk for a
492: system you can't run the installer on).
493:
494: A second approach is to run an INSTALL kernel, which has a miniroot
495: and can load sets from the network. To do this, copy the INSTALL
496: kernel to / and change the kernel line in the config file to:
1.5 mspo 497:
1.49 gdt 498: kernel = "/home/bouyer/netbsd-INSTALL_XEN3_DOMU"
1.5 mspo 499:
1.163 gson 500: Then, start the domain as "xl create -c configfile".
1.1 mspo 501:
1.49 gdt 502: Alternatively, if you want to install NetBSD/Xen with a CDROM image, the following
503: line should be used in the config file.
1.1 mspo 504:
1.3 mspo 505: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x1,w', 'phy:/dev/cd0a,0x2,r' ]
1.1 mspo 506:
507: After booting the domain, the option to install via CDROM may be
1.49 gdt 508: selected. The CDROM device should be changed to `xbd1d`.
1.1 mspo 509:
1.188 gdt 510: Once done installing, "halt -p" the new domain (don't reboot or halt:
1.49 gdt 511: it would reload the INSTALL_XEN3_DOMU kernel even if you changed the
512: config file), switch the config file back to the XEN3_DOMU kernel,
513: and start the new domain again. Now it should be able to use "root on
1.188 gdt 514: xbd0a" and you should have a functional NetBSD domU.
1.1 mspo 515:
1.49 gdt 516: TODO: check if this is still accurate.
1.1 mspo 517: When the new domain is booting you'll see some warnings about *wscons*
518: and the pseudo-terminals. These can be fixed by editing the files
1.5 mspo 519: `/etc/ttys` and `/etc/wscons.conf`. You must disable all terminals in
520: `/etc/ttys`, except *console*, like this:
1.1 mspo 521:
1.3 mspo 522: console "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt100 on secure
523: ttyE0 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
524: ttyE1 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
525: ttyE2 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
526: ttyE3 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" vt220 off secure
1.1 mspo 527:
1.5 mspo 528: Finally, all screens must be commented out from `/etc/wscons.conf`.
1.1 mspo 529:
1.192 ! gdt 530: One should also run `powerd` in a domU, but this should not need
! 531: configuring. With powerd, the domain will run a controlled shutdown
! 532: if `xl shutdown -R` or `xl shutdown -H` is used on the dom0, via
! 533: receiving a synthetic `power button pressed` signal. In 9 and
! 534: current, `powerd` is run by default under Xen kernels (or if ACPI is
! 535: present), and it can be added to rc.conf if not.
1.1 mspo 536:
1.92 gdt 537: It is not strictly necessary to have a kernel (as /netbsd) in the domU
1.111 wiz 538: file system. However, various programs (e.g. netstat) will use that
1.92 gdt 539: kernel to look up symbols to read from kernel virtual memory. If
540: /netbsd is not the running kernel, those lookups will fail. (This is
541: not really a Xen-specific issue, but because the domU kernel is
542: obtained from the dom0, it is far more likely to be out of sync or
543: missing with Xen.)
544:
1.187 gdt 545: Note that NetBSD by default creates only xbd[0123]. If you need more
546: virtual disks in a domU, run e.g. "./MAKEDEV xbd4" in the domU.
547:
548: ## Creating a Linux domU
1.1 mspo 549:
550: Creating unprivileged Linux domains isn't much different from
551: unprivileged NetBSD domains, but there are some details to know.
552:
553: First, the second parameter passed to the disk declaration (the '0x1' in
554: the example below)
555:
1.3 mspo 556: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x1,w' ]
1.1 mspo 557:
558: does matter to Linux. It wants a Linux device number here (e.g. 0x300
1.49 gdt 559: for hda). Linux builds device numbers as: (major \<\< 8 + minor).
560: So, hda1 which has major 3 and minor 1 on a Linux system will have
561: device number 0x301. Alternatively, devices names can be used (hda,
562: hdb, ...) as xentools has a table to map these names to devices
563: numbers. To export a partition to a Linux guest we can use:
1.1 mspo 564:
1.49 gdt 565: disk = [ 'phy:/dev/wd0e,0x300,w' ]
566: root = "/dev/hda1 ro"
1.1 mspo 567:
568: and it will appear as /dev/hda on the Linux system, and be used as root
569: partition.
570:
1.49 gdt 571: To install the Linux system on the partition to be exported to the
572: guest domain, the following method can be used: install
573: sysutils/e2fsprogs from pkgsrc. Use mke2fs to format the partition
574: that will be the root partition of your Linux domain, and mount it.
575: Then copy the files from a working Linux system, make adjustments in
576: `/etc` (fstab, network config). It should also be possible to extract
577: binary packages such as .rpm or .deb directly to the mounted partition
578: using the appropriate tool, possibly running under NetBSD's Linux
1.111 wiz 579: emulation. Once the file system has been populated, umount it. If
580: desirable, the file system can be converted to ext3 using tune2fs -j.
1.49 gdt 581: It should now be possible to boot the Linux guest domain, using one of
582: the vmlinuz-\*-xenU kernels available in the Xen binary distribution.
1.1 mspo 583:
1.111 wiz 584: To get the Linux console right, you need to add:
1.1 mspo 585:
1.3 mspo 586: extra = "xencons=tty1"
1.1 mspo 587:
1.111 wiz 588: to your configuration since not all Linux distributions auto-attach a
1.1 mspo 589: tty to the xen console.
590:
1.180 gdt 591: ## Creating a NetBSD HVM domU
592:
593: Use type='hmv', probably. Use a GENERIC kernel within the disk image.
594:
595: ## Creating a NetBSD PVH domU
596:
597: Use type='pvh'.
598:
599: \todo Explain where the kernel comes from.
600:
1.187 gdt 601: ## Creating a Solaris domU
1.1 mspo 602:
1.50 gdt 603: See possibly outdated
604: [Solaris domU instructions](/ports/xen/howto-solaris/).
1.5 mspo 605:
1.187 gdt 606: ## PCI passthrough: Using PCI devices in guest domains
1.1 mspo 607:
1.180 gdt 608: NB: PCI passthrough only works on some Xen versions and as of 2020 it
609: is not clear that it works on any version in pkgsrc. Reports
610: confirming or denying this notion should be sent to port-xen@.
611:
1.53 gdt 612: The dom0 can give other domains access to selected PCI
1.52 gdt 613: devices. This can allow, for example, a non-privileged domain to have
614: access to a physical network interface or disk controller. However,
615: keep in mind that giving a domain access to a PCI device most likely
616: will give the domain read/write access to the whole physical memory,
617: as PCs don't have an IOMMU to restrict memory access to DMA-capable
1.53 gdt 618: device. Also, it's not possible to export ISA devices to non-dom0
1.52 gdt 619: domains, which means that the primary VGA adapter can't be exported.
620: A guest domain trying to access the VGA registers will panic.
621:
1.53 gdt 622: If the dom0 is NetBSD, it has to be running Xen 3.1, as support has
1.52 gdt 623: not been ported to later versions at this time.
624:
625: For a PCI device to be exported to a domU, is has to be attached to
626: the "pciback" driver in dom0. Devices passed to the dom0 via the
627: pciback.hide boot parameter will attach to "pciback" instead of the
628: usual driver. The list of devices is specified as "(bus:dev.func)",
1.5 mspo 629: where bus and dev are 2-digit hexadecimal numbers, and func a
630: single-digit number:
1.1 mspo 631:
1.52 gdt 632: pciback.hide=(00:0a.0)(00:06.0)
1.1 mspo 633:
1.52 gdt 634: pciback devices should show up in the dom0's boot messages, and the
1.5 mspo 635: devices should be listed in the `/kern/xen/pci` directory.
1.1 mspo 636:
1.52 gdt 637: PCI devices to be exported to a domU are listed in the "pci" array of
638: the domU's config file, with the format "0000:bus:dev.func".
1.1 mspo 639:
1.52 gdt 640: pci = [ '0000:00:06.0', '0000:00:0a.0' ]
1.1 mspo 641:
1.52 gdt 642: In the domU an "xpci" device will show up, to which one or more pci
1.111 wiz 643: buses will attach. Then the PCI drivers will attach to PCI buses as
1.52 gdt 644: usual. Note that the default NetBSD DOMU kernels do not have "xpci"
645: or any PCI drivers built in by default; you have to build your own
646: kernel to use PCI devices in a domU. Here's a kernel config example;
647: note that only the "xpci" lines are unusual.
648:
649: include "arch/i386/conf/XEN3_DOMU"
650:
1.111 wiz 651: # Add support for PCI buses to the XEN3_DOMU kernel
1.52 gdt 652: xpci* at xenbus ?
653: pci* at xpci ?
654:
655: # PCI USB controllers
656: uhci* at pci? dev ? function ? # Universal Host Controller (Intel)
657:
658: # USB bus support
659: usb* at uhci?
660:
661: # USB Hubs
662: uhub* at usb?
663: uhub* at uhub? port ? configuration ? interface ?
664:
665: # USB Mass Storage
666: umass* at uhub? port ? configuration ? interface ?
667: wd* at umass?
668: # SCSI controllers
669: ahc* at pci? dev ? function ? # Adaptec [23]94x, aic78x0 SCSI
670:
671: # SCSI bus support (for both ahc and umass)
672: scsibus* at scsi?
673:
674: # SCSI devices
675: sd* at scsibus? target ? lun ? # SCSI disk drives
676: cd* at scsibus? target ? lun ? # SCSI CD-ROM drives
1.1 mspo 677:
678:
1.189 gdt 679: # Miscellaneous Information
1.173 gdt 680:
1.189 gdt 681: ## Nesting under Linux KVM
682:
683: It is possible to run a Xen and a NetBSD dom0 under Linux KVM. One
684: can enable virtio in the dom0 for greater speed.
685:
686: ## Other nesting
687:
688: In theory, any full emulation should be able to run Xen and a NetBSD
689: dom0. The HOWTO does not currently have information about Xen XVM
690: mode, nvmm, qemu, Virtualbox, etc.
691:
692: ## NetBSD 5 as domU
1.173 gdt 693:
1.176 gdt 694: [NetBSD 5 is known to panic.](http://mail-index.netbsd.org/port-xen/2018/04/17/msg009181.html)
1.175 gdt 695: (However, NetBSD 5 systems should be updated to a supported version.)
1.173 gdt 696:
697: # NetBSD as a domU in a VPS
1.28 gdt 698:
699: The bulk of the HOWTO is about using NetBSD as a dom0 on your own
700: hardware. This section explains how to deal with Xen in a domU as a
701: virtual private server where you do not control or have access to the
1.70 gdt 702: dom0. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of VPS providers;
703: only a few are mentioned that specifically support NetBSD.
1.28 gdt 704:
1.52 gdt 705: VPS operators provide varying degrees of access and mechanisms for
706: configuration. The big issue is usually how one controls which kernel
1.111 wiz 707: is booted, because the kernel is nominally in the dom0 file system (to
708: which VPS users do not normally have access). A second issue is how
1.70 gdt 709: to install NetBSD.
1.52 gdt 710: A VPS user may want to compile a kernel for security updates, to run
711: npf, run IPsec, or any other reason why someone would want to change
712: their kernel.
713:
1.111 wiz 714: One approach is to have an administrative interface to upload a kernel,
1.68 gdt 715: or to select from a prepopulated list. Other approaches are pygrub
1.59 gdt 716: (deprecated) and pvgrub, which are ways to have a bootloader obtain a
1.111 wiz 717: kernel from the domU file system. This is closer to a regular physical
1.59 gdt 718: computer, where someone who controls a machine can replace the kernel.
1.52 gdt 719:
1.74 gdt 720: A second issue is multiple CPUs. With NetBSD 6, domUs support
721: multiple vcpus, and it is typical for VPS providers to enable multiple
722: CPUs for NetBSD domUs.
723:
1.180 gdt 724: ## Complexities due to Xen changes
725:
726: Xen has many security advisories and people running Xen systems make
727: different choices.
728:
729: ### stub domains
730:
731: Some (Linux only?) dom0 systems use something called "stub domains" to
732: isolate qemu from the dom0 system, as a security and reliabilty
733: mechanism when running HVM domUs. Somehow, NetBSD's GENERIC kernel
734: ends up using PIO for disks rather than DMA. Of course, all of this
735: is emulated, but emulated PIO is unusably slow. This problem is not
736: currently understood.
737:
738: ### Grant tables
739:
740: There are multiple versions of using grant tables, and some security
741: advisories have suggested disabling some versions. Some versions of
742: NetBSD apparently only use specific versions and this can lead to
743: "NetBSD current doesn't run on hosting provider X" situations.
744:
745: \todo Explain better.
746:
1.181 gdt 747: ## Boot methods
748:
749: ### pvgrub
1.59 gdt 750:
751: pvgrub is a version of grub that uses PV operations instead of BIOS
752: calls. It is booted from the dom0 as the domU kernel, and then reads
1.111 wiz 753: /grub/menu.lst and loads a kernel from the domU file system.
1.59 gdt 754:
1.70 gdt 755: [Panix](http://www.panix.com/) lets users use pvgrub. Panix reports
1.71 gdt 756: that pvgrub works with FFsv2 with 16K/2K and 32K/4K block/frag sizes
757: (and hence with defaults from "newfs -O 2"). See [Panix's pvgrub
1.70 gdt 758: page](http://www.panix.com/v-colo/grub.html), which describes only
1.74 gdt 759: Linux but should be updated to cover NetBSD :-).
1.70 gdt 760:
761: [prgmr.com](http://prgmr.com/) also lets users with pvgrub to boot
762: their own kernel. See then [prgmr.com NetBSD
1.74 gdt 763: HOWTO](http://wiki.prgmr.com/mediawiki/index.php/NetBSD_as_a_DomU)
764: (which is in need of updating).
1.59 gdt 765:
1.70 gdt 766: It appears that [grub's FFS
767: code](http://xenbits.xensource.com/hg/xen-unstable.hg/file/bca284f67702/tools/libfsimage/ufs/fsys_ufs.c)
768: does not support all aspects of modern FFS, but there are also reports
1.72 gdt 769: that FFSv2 works fine. At prgmr, typically one has an ext2 or FAT
1.70 gdt 770: partition for the kernel with the intent that grub can understand it,
771: which leads to /netbsd not being the actual kernel. One must remember
1.111 wiz 772: to update the special boot partition.
1.59 gdt 773:
1.181 gdt 774: ### pygrub
1.168 wiki 775:
776: pygrub runs in the dom0 and looks into the domU file system. This
777: implies that the domU must have a kernel in a file system in a format
778: known to pygrub.
779:
780: pygrub doesn't seem to work to load Linux images under NetBSD dom0,
781: and is inherently less secure than pvgrub due to running inside dom0. For both these
782: reasons, pygrub should not be used, and is only still present so that
783: historical DomU images using it still work.
784:
785: As of 2014, pygrub seems to be of mostly historical
786: interest. New DomUs should use pvgrub.
787:
1.181 gdt 788: ## Specific Providers
789:
790: ### Amazon
1.59 gdt 791:
1.143 wiki 792: See the [Amazon EC2 page](/amazon_ec2/).
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