Linux Server Details

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====== Install_and_Config_Base_OS ======

= Initial Setup =
Reboot into Hetzner's Rescue System. I was going to use Debian's AMD64 (which is not related to AMD processors!) Anyways - 32bit Etch.
Configure for raid1, /boot for ext2 and / for dom0-root.
 PART 1 /boot  ext2     256M
 PART 2 lvm    vg0       all
 LV vg0   root   /        ext3          30G

Note: grub is required for Xen. Lilo will not work for Xen.

= Reboot into new Install =
We need to add in a swap space using a neat lv (as opposed to a physical partition via the hetzner installer)

 lvcreate -n dom0-swap --size 256M vg0
 mkswap /dev/vg0/dom0-swap
 vi /etc/fstab
 	#Add in the following:
 	/dev/vg0/dom0-swap none swap sw 0 0
 
 swapon /dev/vg0/dom0-swap

= Install Xen =
====== Check and Update Debian Package Sources ======
Check apt's source.list:
 vi /etc/apt/sources.list
 deb http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/            stable  main
 deb-src http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/        stable  main
 
 deb http://security.debian.org/ stable/updates main
 #The above is a minimal config for a server located in Germany.
 
====== Main Install of Xen ======
===== Debian Etch AMD64  =====
Note: AMD64 has nothing to do with AMD processors!! Its the name for the 64bit OS.

 apt-get install linux-image-2.6.18-6-xen-amd64 xen-hypervisor-3.0.3-1-amd64 xen-tools bridge-utils sysfsutils
 #note libc6-xen is not required for AMD64. Note: Etch AMD64 is not just for AMD Processors! It is the name for the 64bit OS and works for Intel as well.

===== Debian 32bit Etch =====
 apt-get install linux-image-2.6-xen-686 xen-hypervisor-3.0.3-1-i386-pae xen-tools bridge-utils libc6-xen sysfsutils

Check the grub boot:
 vi /boot/grub/menu.lst
 #the xen kernel should have been inserted first.

===== dom0_mem Boot Setting =====
This step is optional. If you only want to assign dom0 only 128MB of memory as opposed to allowing it to balloon out and use all memory (until a domU is created which would take the memory from dom0), you can do the following:
 vi /boot/grub/menu.lst
 #check the xen grub entry and add in the dom0_mem on the end of the kernel line:
 title           Xen 3.0.3-1-i386-pae / Debian GNU/Linux, kernel 2.6.18-6-xen-686
 root            (hd0,0)
 kernel          /xen-3.0.3-1-i386-pae.gz dom0_mem=128000
 module          /vmlinuz-2.6.18-6-xen-686 root=/dev/mapper/vg0-dom0--root ro console=tty0
 module          /initrd.img-2.6.18-6-xen-686
 savedefault

==== dom0_mem Automatic setting ====
The previous step works ok. However after an apt-get upgrade for a new kernel etc. it will disappear. To have the dom0_mem always added to the grub config:
 vi /boot/grub/menu.lst
 #look for the following line:
 # xenhopt=
 change it to:
 # xenhopt=dom0_mem=128000
 (Leave the # there.)

 update-grub
 #update-grub scans for installed kernels and creates a new menu.lst
Thanks to: http://cmrg.fifthhorseman.net/wiki/xen

==== Why dom0_mem ====
dom0_mem=128000 is needed to dedicate memory to dom0. Otherwise the following errors may be seen in /var/log/kern.log. This is with Debian Etch. It has also been seen that this squeeze error can appear after a few weeks of dom0 uptime. I highly recommend using this kernel option.

 Nov 25 17:21:39 flexo kernel: printk: 4 messages suppressed.
 Nov 25 17:21:39 flexo kernel: xen_net: Memory squeeze in netback driver.
 Nov 25 17:21:44 flexo kernel: printk: 4 messages suppressed.
 Nov 25 17:21:44 flexo kernel: xen_net: Memory squeeze in netback driver.



===== Xen Network Settings =====
The network setup will be outlined and described later. Until then this section may be confusing to some.
 vi /etc/xen/xend-config.sxp
 #comment out the network-dummy etc. and have the following:
 (network-script myscript)
 (vif-script     vif-route)
 
 vi /etc/xen/scripts/myscript
 #!/bin/sh
 dir=$(dirname "$0")
 "$dir/network-nat2" start
 "$dir/network-route" start
 chmod 755 /etc/xen/scripts/myscript
 
 cp /etc/xen/scripts/network-nat /etc/xen/scripts/network-nat2
 vi /etc/xen/scripts/network-nat2
 #op_start() {
 #       echo 1 >/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
 #       iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o ${netdev} -j MASQUERADE
 #       [[|"$dhcp" != 'no' ]] && dhcp_start
 #}
 op_start() {
        echo 1 >/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
        iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o ${netdev} -s 10.0.0.0/24 -j MASQUERADE
        iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o ${netdev} -s 192.168.1.0/24 -j MASQUERADE
        [[|"$dhcp" != 'no' ]] && dhcp_start
 }
 #I realise that I technically should do the same above for the op_stop function.
 
 chmod 755 /etc/xen/scripts/network-nat2
 
 vi /etc/network/interfaces
 #add the following for the public ip address range
 auto dummy0
  iface dummy0 inet static
    address 78.1.1.20
    netmask 255.255.255.248
    broadcast 78.1.1.27
 #This gives the first routable Public IP to dom0 so it can act as a gateway for the domU's.
 #Note the above is the quick and simple way to get networking on Xen. There is a pointopoint method allowing the use of all the public ips.

===== Reboot and Test =====
 uname -a
 Linux root2 2.6.18-6-xen-amd64 #1 SMP Fri Jun 6 06:38:05 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux
 
 xm list
 xm top
 free
 ifconfig
 iptables -t nat -L
 ping 78.1.1.20

= Setup and Config of Xen-Tools =
 vi /etc/xen-tools/xen-tools.conf
 #below are the lines only which are uncommented:
 lvm = vg0
 debootstrap = 1
 size   = 4Gb      # Disk image size.
 memory = 128Mb    # Memory size
 swap   = 128Mb    # Swap size
 fs     = ext3     # use the EXT3 filesystem for the disk image.
 dist   = etch    # Default distribution to install.
 image  = sparse   # Specify sparse vs. full disk images.
 #The network will be done manually later via xm console
 kernel = /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.18-6-xen-amd64
 initrd = /boot/initrd.img-2.6.18-6-xen-amd64
 mirror = http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/

= Automatically create a domU using Xen-Tools =
 xen-create-image --hostname vm01-burkesys --ip 78.1.1.21
 lvscan  # to see if a disk and swap lvm were created
 vi /etc/xen/vm01-burkesys.cfg   #Make sure all is in order
 xm create vm01-burkesys.cfg -c
 #log in as root with no password
 passwd  #change the root password
 vi /etc/network/interfaces
 gateway 78.1.1.20
 netmask 255.255.255.0
 ifup eth0
 ping www.debian.org
 apt-get update
 apt-get upgrade

====== Automatically create a domU on a Private Subnet ======
All that changes, is that the --ip is given a 10.0.0.0 range. The config for this is done previously in the Xen Network Settings.
 xen-create-image --hostname vm02-priv-burke --ip 10.0.0.1
 xm create vm02-priv-burke -c
 #login as root with no password
 passwd 
 vi /etc/network/interfaces
 gateway 10.0.0.1
 netmask 255.255.255.0
 ifup eth0
 ping www.debian.org
 #Enjoy NAT'ed traffic out.

= Migrate a domU from one Server to another =
====== Migrate from LVM based to LVM based Partition ======
===== On the New Xen Server (dom0) =====
 lvcreate -n vm03-twister-disk --size 3g vg0
 lvcreate -n vm03-twister-swap --size 256m vg0
 mkfs.ext3 /dev/vg0/vm03-twister-disk
 mkswap /dev/vg0/vm03-twister-swap
 nc -l -p 7000 | gzip -dfc | dd of=/dev/vg0/vm03-twister-disk
 #if you want it faster and dont mind about bandwidth:
 #nc -l -p 7000 | dd of=/dev/vg0/vm03-twister-disk

===== On the Old Xen Server (dom0) =====
 dd if=/dev/main-vol2/twister | gzip -cf | nc newserver.ip.address 7000 -q 10
 #if you want it faster and dont mind about bandwidth:
 #dd if=/dev/main-vol2/twister | nc newserver.ip.address 7000 -q 10
 scp /etc/xen/twister root@newserver:/etc/xen/

Thats it. Simply do a xm create on the new Xen server for the VM. Note: if the new Xen Server has a different kernel, then there may be issues. If the kernel of the VM is different on the new Server, then the /lib/modules/2.6.kernel will have to be copied onto the VM. Note: Make sure that the twister VM xen config is correct.

====== Migrate from File Based to LVM based Partition ======
In this particular case, a 2GB File based image is been copied (using dd) to a 3GB LVM Partition on a New Server. If it was only a 2GB LVM Partition, there would be nothing extra required. If the LVM partition was too small, the "dd" command would fail once the LVM filled up.

===== On the New Xen Server (dom0) =====
 lvcreate -n vm04-volcano-disk --size 3g vg0
 lvcreate -n vm04-volcano-swap --size 256m vg0
 mkfs.ext3 /dev/vg0/vm04-volcano-disk
 mkswap /dev/vg0/vm04-volcano-swap
 nc -l -p 7000 | gzip -dfc | dd of=/dev/vg0/vm04-volcano-disk
===== On the Old Xen Server (dom0) =====
 dd if=/xens/volcano/centos.5-0.img | gzip -cf | nc newserver.ip.address 7000 -q 10
 #Extra steps required because the 3GB LVM is larger than the 2GB file:
 e2fsck -f /dev/vg0/vm04-volcano-disk
 resize2fs /dev/vg0/vm04-volcano-disk

====== Migrate a Live LVM System to a LVM based Partition ======
With LVM, it is possible to take snapshots of a LV (Logical Volume) which is Live, i.e. currently in use. This is extremely useful for taking backups of a live system without having any downtime. It can also be used for a barebones recovery as we are going to copy/dd all of the LV.

===== On the New Xen Server (dom0) =====
 lvcreate -n vm05-zachome-disk --size 90g vg0
 lvcreate -n vm05-zachome-swap --size 1g vg0
 mkfs.ext3 /dev/vg0/vm05-zachome-disk
 mkswap /dev/vg0/vm05-zachome-swap
 nc -l -p 7000 | gzip -dfc | dd of=/dev/vg0/vm05-zachome-disk

===== On the Old Xen Server (dom0) =====
 lvcreate -L 1G -s -n zachomebackup /dev/main-vol2/zachome
 lvscan
 dd if=/dev/main-vol2/zachomebackup | gzip -cf | nc root2.burkesys.com 7000 -q 10

Note: I hope to write a full article on LVM, how it can be used for creating snapshots etc. etc.

= Remove VMs from dom0 =
====== Automatically with Xen-Tools ======
Typically when xen-create-image is used to create a Xen VM, it creates the LVM partitions etc. and also a key config file:
 /etc/xen/nameofvm.cfg
Its by the file extension .cfg that it will use to produce a list when xen-list-images is called. 
 #xen-list-images
 #^ by default lists vms which were created with xen-tools
 xen-delete-image nameofvm
 
 #if however you created the lvm and xen config manaully, you can do the following to add a .cfg extension so xen-tools will recoginise it.
 mv /etc/xen/nameofvm02 /etc/xen/nameofvm02.cfg
 xen-list-images
 xen-delete-image nameofvm02.cfg
So xen-list-images parses all .cfg files in /etc/xen/. Whats nice is that when xen-delete-image is called, it also parses .cfg files in /etc/xen/ picks up the name of the lvm's they are using and removes them cleanly. It just saves from having to do a manual lvmremove for vms created manually.