[Xen-users] Xen 3.2 Debian 2.6.18 on Dual Xeon with Remote Serial access - grub.conf config advice needed

["Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton" <luke.leighton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

hi there, long subject line i know but it has all the right buzzwords in it :)

i have a debian/testing system which is, rather unusually, on a dual-xeon
system where the _only_ access i have, in emergencies, is via a serial
console.  yes - the BIOS is actually over the serial console not the VGA screen.
(for those people who know blackcatnetworks, it's one of their leased servers)

i could really do with some advice on how to configure grub correctly. what i
have so far shows absolutely nothing on the serial console beyond loading
the two modules and going "boot".  then it goes silent, i can't see the startup
log messages, and i have to pray that i got everything right and sit
uncomfortably
for a couple of minutes, pinging the remote ip address.

here's what update-grub managed to generate:

title           Xen 3.2-1-i386 / Debian GNU/Linux, kernel
2.6.18-5-xen-vserver-686
root            (hd0,0)
kernel          /boot/xen-3.2-1-i386.gz
module          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-5-xen-vserver-686 root=/dev/md0
console=ttyS0,9600 ro console=tty0
module          /boot/initrd.img-2.6.18-5-xen-vserver-686
savedefault
boot

yes, i know - the two console= lines are because (if you know debian you'll
appreciate this) the #kopt= line is this:

# kopt=root=/dev/md0 console=ttyS0,9600 ro

sooo, update-grub goes "oh look, xen! let's append console=tty0 on the
end of the kernel options"!

duh.

anyway, _after_ manually editing the grub config every time at startup,
to remove one of the extra console= lines, i get a chance to bite my
fingernails until ping happily shows up - over the public internet.

i am not a happy bunny: i seriously need console access and can't make
head nor tail of the obtuse descriptions of xencons=tty etc. that i'm reading
about on various HOWTOs and FAQs.

some rather direct and simple instructions, from people who clearly know
what they're doing much better than i could achieve by randomly rebooting
a server which is going live in a couple of days _and_ hosts some existing
live web sites, would be greatly appreciated.

l.

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