Re: [Xen-devel] pv_ops with xen-3.3

[jonr@xxxxxxxxxx]

Thanks for the run down Mark. During the 'make menuconfig' I saw an  
option for dom0 support for the kernel, so i was under the impression  
that support was there. I was just wanting to play around with it and  
see what happens. :)
OK, this may sound stupid but I gotta ask. :)

If support for dom0 does make it into mainline kernel will there be a  
need to download xen versions any longer? Will Xen still need to be  
built against a kernel that already has support for it inside the  
kernel? If not, how would I tell what version of Xen I am using.
Like I said, that may sound stupid but had to ask.

Jon

Quoting Mark Williamson <mark.williamson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> Hi there Jon,
>
> The Xen build process builds a XenLinux using patches in the Xen repository,
> which are based on 2.6.18.  This includes full support of all features under
> both dom0 and domU.
>
> The mainline Linux kernel has included - for some time - support for running
> as a Xen domU through its pv_ops infrastructure.  This support has been
> getting full-featured and AFAIK most or all domU functions are now available
> using appropriately-built kernel.org kernels.
>
> Support for running as dom0 requires a kernel to support additional features
> on top of the standard domU featureset.  Mainline Linux has not had these in
> any releases - and as far as I can tell the full dom0 functionality hasn't
> been merged into 2.6.29.  I could be wrong about this though, the Xen wiki
> states 2.6.29 as a merge goal; if it's not in that release I'd   
> imagine it'd be
> in the next one.
>
> So, in summary:
>
> If you want to run a kernel.org kernel as a domU then any recent release will
> do.
>
> If you want to run a kernel.org kernel as a dom0 using pv_ops dom0 support
> then you may need to seek out and apply additional patches.
>
> If you want to get a kernel.org kernel to run on dom0 out-of-the-box then you
> may need to wait for the next release.
>
> You need to get a dom0 kernel from somewhere, so if you're not bothered about
> using the latest-and-greatest from kernel.org you can use the one built with
> Xen.
>
> Does that make sense?
>
> The upstream merge of Xen functionality into kernel.org has taken   
> years longer
> than originally anticipated, however the good news is that Jeremy   
> Fitzhardinge
> has been doing a tremendous job of leading the effort and getting   
> progressively
> more stuff in a state that is acceptable to the upstream community.   
>  Hopefully
> in the future kernel.org Linux will have full out-of-the-box support for Xen
> and the 2.6.18-based fork will no longer be needed at all.
>
> Cheers,
> Mark
>
> On Tuesday 10 February 2009 16:55:48 jonr@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> > I would like to try and test out the 2.6.29-rc4 kernel and see if I
> > can't get Xen-3.3-1 booting. I have patched the 2.6.28 kernel and have
> > a 2.6.29-rc4 kernel. I have configured the kernel to use xen by
> > following http://wiki.xensource.com/xenwiki/XenParavirtOps.
> >
> > Now I have the kernel configured and built but am not quite sure how
> > to use this kernel with xen-3.3. When I downloaded the latest xen and
> > ran 'make world' it downloaded the 2.6.18 kernel and is building xen
> > against that. How do I make xen build against my kernel or do I even
> > need to?
> >
> > Once xen-3.3 is done building do I just substitute my 2.6.29-rc4
> > kernel in the grub menu.conf or am I missing something?
> >
> > Thanks for any help,
> >
> > Jon
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Xen-devel mailing list
> > Xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Xen-devel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://lists.xensource.com/xen-devel




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