[Xen-devel] RE: [Xen-admin] Root File systems

["Ian Pratt" <m+Ian.Pratt@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I have a guestion regarding the creation of different root 
> filesystems for use with Xen. I understand how to copy the 
> existing HOST filesystem but how would I create a new root 
> guest filesystem from scratch (ie: I'm running a redhat 9 
> host. How would I create a Fedora Core 2 guest OS filesystem 
> from scratch?).

The easiest way is just to boot the physcial machine with
the FC2 install CDs and then install onto another partition.
When you're booted back into Xen you'll be able to start a
virtual machine using the new partition as root.

An alternative approach is to setup a virtual machine that
has access to the virtual disk you want to install on to,
and also access to the CD. Get the VM to boot using one of
the standard Xen kernels, but with the root= line set up so
that you boot using the /sbin/init on the CD.  (You might
need to take a look at the CD's /linuxrc script too to check
there's nothing you need). You should then run through the
normal text-based install procedure to install the OS onto
the virtual disk. I haven't actually tried this with FC2,
but I think it should work. The only potential problem I
foresee is whether we currently handle the CD changes.
I'd be very interested to hear how you get on.

If you're using debian, the debbootstrap tool is probably
the easiest way of doing this (see the Xen user manual).



Ian




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