xen-tools
---------
Homepage:
http://www.xen-tools.org/software/xen-tools
Git Repository:
http://gitorious.org/xen-tools
Mailing Lists:
http://www.xen-tools.org/software/xen-tools/lists.html
About:
Xen-tools contains a collection of Perl scripts for working with Xen
guest images under Linux.
Using this software, you can easily create new Xen guests configured
to be accessible over the network via OpenSSH.
xen-tools currently has scripts to install most releases of Debian
(starting with 3.1 "Sarge") and Ubuntu (starting with 6.06 LTS
"Dapper") and some RPM-based distributions. On the Dom0 side all
current Xen supporting distributions should work.
However, currently only Debian and Ubuntu releases are tested and
known to work, i.e.:
Debian:
* Sarge 3.1 (i386 and DomU only)
* Etch 4.0 (Dom0 no more tested)
* Lenny 5.0
* Squeeze 6.0
* Wheezy 7.0 (preliminary support as it's not yet available)
* Sid (works at least at the moment of writing :-)
Ubuntu (only DomUs tested):
* Dapper Drake 6.06
* Edgy Eft 6.10
* Feisty Fawn 7.04
* Gutsy Gibbon 7.10
* Hardy Heron 8.04 (see [1])
* Interpid Ibex 8.10
* Jaunty Jackaplope 9.04
* Karmic Koala 9.10
* Lucid Lynx 10.04
* Maverick Meerkat 10.10 (works at least at the moment of writing :-)
* Natty Narwhal 11.04 (preliminary support as it's not yet available)
[1] There is an issue with debootstrap on hardy not installing ksyslogd
This can be fixed by chrooting into the newly installed system
and removing the startup scripts. See:
http://www.linux-vserver.org/Installing_Ubuntu_8.04_Hardy_as_guest
Xen-Tools are available prepackaged in Debian and as source tar-ball
for local installation. Installing from source should work flawlessly
on most Linux systems that meet the installation requirements.
Requirements
------------
To use these tools you'll need the following software:
* debootstrap
* Perl
* The Perl module "Text::Template"
* The Perl module "Config::IniFiles"
- Both of these modules are available as Debian packages,
or direct from http://www.cpan.org/ for non-Debian distributions.
* Make, if you are not installing through a package manager
You can try to install RPM-based distributions such as CentOS, or
Fedora Core, but you will need a correctly installed and configured
"rinse" package. This is currently not supported.
If you wish to create new Xen instances which may be controlled by
users via a login shell you can have a look at the (currently
unmaintained) xen-shell package which is available from:
http://xen-tools.org/software/xen-shell/
Installation
------------
As root or with sudo, execute "make install".
See debian/README.source how to build the Debian package from a
checked out copy of the git repository (i.e. without a source tar
ball).
The Scripts
-----------
Here is a brief description of each included script, for more
thorough documentation please consult the appropriate man page.
xen-create-image
----------------
This script is designed to create new images which may be used
with the Xen hypervisor.
This script performs the initial setup, then delegates the real
work to a collection of helper scripts:
* xt-install-image
Installs a distribution into a directory.
* xt-customize-image
Run a collection of hook scripts to configure the freshly
installed system.
* xt-create-xen-config
Create a configuration file in /etc/xen such that Xen can
boot the newly created machine.
* xt-guess-suite-and-mirror
In case of a Debian or Ubuntu Dom0, this script tries to guess
the most suitable suite and mirror for DomUs based on the Dom0's
/etc/apt/sources.list.
xen-create-nfs
--------------
This script is similar in spirit to xen-create-image, but much
less complex. It allows the creation of Xen guests which are
diskless, mounting their root filesystem over a remote NFS-share.
There are not many options to tweak, but still a useful addition
to the suite.
xen-delete-image
----------------
This script will allow you to completely remove Xen instances
which have previously been created by xen-create-image, this
includes removing the storage block devices from the system,
and deleting the Xen configuration file.
xen-list-images
---------------
List all the created images beneath a given root directory along
with a brief overview of their setup details.
xen-update-image
----------------
This script runs "apt-get update; apt-get upgrade" for a given
Xen image.
NOTES:
* The image should not be running or corruption will occur!
* The script should only be used for Xen instances of Debian or
a Debian-derived distribution.
--
The Xen-Tools Developer Team