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Re: [Xen-users] Can Dom0 be replaced after installation?

To: Ken <kr.xen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [Xen-users] Can Dom0 be replaced after installation?
From: Blah Blah <cpnmagnet1@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 19:08:54 -0500
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1.  Yes, what you would be essentially doing is migrating the VMs to a new dom0, and as long as the xen version is the same; otherwise, you may have to do some tweaking.

2. I think you're referring to pvops kernel, which is the default in many distributions for kernels after 2.6.31.  To be honest, I would recommend against pvops due to some instability in networking, but I have an edge case for my xen networking (if you are considering using a DHCP/DNS/firewall in a domU, do not use pvops as networking attempts will fail).

3.  See 4

4.  After attempting Xen on debian, I moved to OpenSUSE and had a much easier time.  Debian currently is in a weird state where stable has very outdated versions of xen.  I went to OpenSUSE as they are the only distro that uses non-pvops kernels after 2.6.31, which I needed, plus they have good support for xen4.0.  I was a fan of debian because of the minimal install, and although OpenSUSE's "minimal install" is much more bloated than debian, it doesn't add too much.

5.  I was under the impression that the hypervisor automatically did this unless specified otherwise.

On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 12:30 AM, Ken <kr.xen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi,

Agonizing about a strategy for installing, when I know nothing about it.
I suspect that in spite of the flexibility in choices for a dom0
operating system, I think it's probably really important to get it all
right.

I guess there are some burning questions here that might clear
everything up if I could answer:

1. Assuming I install Xen, a handful of VMs and have it all set up, is
there a way to replace dom0 with some other dom0?  If I knew I could
change my mind later it would be much easier to set this up.
 
2. There seems to be a way to have a kernel which works either on the
bare metal or as a guest, but it doesn't seem to have been tested much.
Do I ignore this for now, and if I do can I start using it later?  If I
change it on Dom0 do I need to recompile kernels on the other guests?

3. I keep expecting to need to install the hypervisor somewhere.  I
don't see the hypervisor anywhere in Gentoo, but there's xen-sources
which I suspect contains it.  Or do I need the tarball from
www.xen.org/products/xen_source.html?

4. In my understanding the dom0 needs to be extremely stable and have
good driver support.  What distro works best for that?  I'm currently
using Gentoo, but I would think Debian would be most stable.  If so, is
the current difficulty with Debian an unhappy coincidence or is it
consistent?  How about Ubuntu Server, or is that still the same problem
since it's also a Debian?  What do people use if they just want a small,
stable dom0 with good driver support?

5. Is there a way to "loan" processors to a guest if nobody else is
using them?

Thanks.



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