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Re: [Xen-users] migrate existing non-xen system to a VM?

To: <xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Miles Fidelman" <mfidelman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Xen-users] migrate existing non-xen system to a VM?
From: "Nick Couchman" <Nick.Couchman@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 10:07:41 -0600
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>>> On 2010/05/17 at 09:29, Miles Fidelman <mfidelman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: 
> I know that I've seen this discussed before, but can anyone point to a 
> concise description of how to take an existing, non-xen machine (in this 
> case a system running Debian Lenny), and,
> 

0 -> before you shut it down, update kernel/initrd such that you have a kernel 
and initrd combo that will boot successfully on Xen.  In many distributions, 
all this requires is installing the kernel-xen package, or something similar, 
and you'll be good to go.

> 1. shut it down
> 2. package up the state
> 3. move it into a VM (assume there's a 2nd computer, with Dom0 up and 
> running, on the same LAN)
> 4. start the VM and end up with a virtualized version of the original 
> environment chugging away
> 
> A little context:  I'm trying to add hot-spare failover to a production 
> system (email, list services, web server, database) - by moving from a 
> standard Debian Lenny install to Debian Lenny running as a VM, backed by 
> DRBD, set for failover.  The first step is to get the production 
> environment into a VM, and then I can set up all the failover stuff.
> 
> So... the above is just a little more complicated, in that there are 4 
> partitions that have to be moved:
> 
> /boot - raided volume --> xen setup on new machine
> /swap --> drbd device on new machine, mounted in VM
> / --> drbd device on new machine, mounted in VM
> /backup (another volume) -> drbd device mounted in VM

Are these partitions in the VM (domU), or on the Xen hosts themselves?  If 
these are the domU partitions, just using an imaging tool (Ghost, FOG, 
PartImage, etc.) to copy the entire disk over to a virtual hard disk (LVM, 
file-based, etc.).

- Nick



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