Comments on Installing Xen On CentOS 5.2 (i386)
Installing Xen On CentOS 5.2 (i386) This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions on how to install Xen (version 3.0.3) on a CentOS 5.2 system (i386). Xen lets you create guest operating systems (*nix operating systems like Linux and FreeBSD), so called "virtual machines" or domUs, under a host operating system (dom0). Using Xen you can separate your applications into different virtual machines that are totally independent from each other (e.g. a virtual machine for a mail server, a virtual machine for a high-traffic web site, another virtual machine that serves your customers' web sites, a virtual machine for DNS, etc.), but still use the same hardware. This saves money, and what is even more important, it's more secure. If the virtual machine of your DNS server gets hacked, it has no effect on your other virtual machines. Plus, you can move virtual machines from one Xen server to the next one.
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Note:
To get updated the xen-kernel automatically (and booted as default) change in /etc/sysconfig/kernel the variable "defaultkernel" to "kernel-xen" instead of "kernel"....this way after a kernel update your xen kernel will be booted as default...(and not again normal kernel)
If you don't understand SELinux, don't just disable it. Google your problem and fix it.
instead of using /vm, use /xen .
Then run this command to have the correct selinux context:
restorecon -R /xen
Xen + ConVirt = Exelent.
http://xenman.sourceforge.net
Project ConVirt is an active, open source project concieved with the goal of tackling the administrative and infrastructure management challenges that adoption of virtualization platforms presents to the traditional datacenter. The eponymous tool "ConVirt" is the project's foremost offering.
ConVirt is an intuitive, graphical management console providing comprehensive life cycle management for Virtual Machines and virtualization infrastructures. ConVirt is built on the firm design philosophy that ease-of-use and sophistication can, and should, co-exist in a single management tool. With its central console paradigm, performance and configuration dashboard, soup-to-nuts Virtual Machine lifecycle management, integrated Virtual Appliance Catalogue, and many more great features, ConVirt is proving an invaluable tool for seasoned administrators as well as those new to virtualization.
With ConVirt's secure, multi-node capabilities, infrastructure administrators can safely manage their entire environment from a single, centralized console. Most common administrative tasks like starting/stopping/provisioning virtual machines (Guest OS's) typically involve just a few mouse clicks with ConVirt; as do server management operations like scanning OS configurations or acquiescing individual servers for maintainance. Finally, ConVirt's enterprise grade rapid-provisioning and template management capabilities are an invaluable asset to administrators responsible for QA and Test labs everywhere.
ConVirt is completely free. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Is this tutorial good to install on Centos 5 64bit?
I stopped reading at:
"Make sure that SELinux is disabled or permissive:"
How can an admin that always recommends disabling SELinux provide expert knowledge on other *NIX subjects?
Just because the developers of the OS think that something is a good idea, it doesn't mean that you must use it. It was possible to run secure servers before SELinux, you know.
I assume the i386 version differs from the 64 bit version I installed. Virtualisation is an installation option, and Xen is automatically installed, so you can turn to the second page of this manual. The text option in virt-install fails (description of this bug can be found on the internet), but with the --vnc option the installation works as described. Use virt-viewer to connect with vnc to the machine.