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 reliably, 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
Jessie 8.0 (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
Natty Narwhal 11.04
Oneiric Ocelot 11.10
Precise Pangolin 12.04
Quantal Quetzal 12.10
Raring Ringtail 13.04 (preliminary support as it's not yet available)

CentOS

(only DomUs tested, pygrub support incomplete):

CentOS 5
CentOS 6

Packages

xen-tools are available prepackaged in Debian (and derivates) 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 (Debian Package libtext-template-perl)
- The Perl module Config::IniFiles (Debian Package libconfig-inifiles-perl)
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 fully 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 project.

Installation

As root or with sudo, execute make instal.

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