OK, well if you're installing for HVM, then...
This is just a high-level overview. I may have made the odd mistake or
omission; I know I deliberately didn't mention a few other possible options
at various stages that we could explore if necessary. I hope this gives you
an idea of where you're headed!
> > > what I've read, it seems a 32-bit OS can be installed on AMD-64, but
> > > I'm not sure the steps involved to get this working with Debian and
> > > Xen.
As I understand it, just booting a 32-bit OS install CD under HVM should do
the job. I think there is a config file option that allows you to choose
whether you enable 32-bit, 32-bit PAE or 64-bit support to the guest. I
assume this has a sensible default of letting the guest do what it wants,
though!
You might want to think about using a 32-bit vs 32-bit PAE install in the
virtual machine. A 64-bit Xen host will support either. A 32-bit PAE Xen
host will support either. A 32-bit non-PAE host will only support non-PAE
guests. So how you should set up the guest does depend on what the
capabilities of the 32-bit production machine are going to be.
That said, in most distros there is a choice of PAE and non-PAE kernels, and
switching between them is as simple as installing a package and changing your
grub config to boot the new kernel. So don't worry about it too much - you
won't be locked in ;-)
Anyhow, get an ISO image of the install CD for your 32-bit guest OS. Create a
virtual disk image to install to (e.g. qemu-img is a handy tool for this).
Then create an HVM config file for the new guest based on
the /etc/xen/xmexample.hvm file supplied with your Xen install.
You'll want to give it a virtual CD-ROM device, pointing to the ISO file. And
add a disk entry for the hard drive image you just created. Set a sensible
name, amount of memory, and give it a virtual network interface if desired.
You'll need to set up a display for the guest's framebuffer; using the SDL
display is most straightforward.
Set the boot drive to "d" so that the domain will boot from the CD-ROM to
start with.
Use xm create to start the domain; the sdl window should pop up showing the
guest's "screen". It'll boot off your install CD. Run through the normal
install. When the install is complete and you need to boot off the hard
drive, you'll have to xm destroy the domain (after letting it shut down
cleanly, of course!) then modify the config file to have "c" as the boot
drive. Then xm create it again, and it should boot off the hard drive.
You'll find there's also some information in the mailing list archives and on
the Xen wiki (in both cases, not guaranteed complete / accurate, but should
still give you a decent idea of what's going on!). And if you have more
questions / problems then folks on this list ought to be able to help you out
some.
Cheers,
Mark
--
Dave: Just a question. What use is a unicyle with no seat? And no pedals!
Mark: To answer a question with a question: What use is a skateboard?
Dave: Skateboards have wheels.
Mark: My wheel has a wheel!
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