[Xen-users] Alpine Linux Xen Dom0 LiveCD

[Roger Pau Monne <roger.pau@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

Alpine Linux has just released a Xen Dom0 LiveCD that contains a Linux 
Kernel 3.3.6 with PaX and grsec patches and Xen 4.1.2 with the CVE 
fixes. This LiveCD doesn't include any kind of X11 desktop, as it is 
intended for server use only.
The LiveCD is part of the Alpine Linux distribution, and will be updated 
every time there is an Alpine Linux release, ensuring that the users 
always get the latest versions of the software.
For those of you that don't know what Alpine Linux has to offer, here's 
a little extract from the Alpine Linux webpage:
Alpine Linux was designed with security in mind. It has proactive 
security features, such as PaX and SSP, that prevent security holes from 
being exploited.
Alpine Linux uses the uClibc C library and all of the base tools from 
BusyBox. These are normally found on embedded systems and are smaller 
than the tools found on GNU/Linux systems.
The traditional GNU/Linux base system is over 100MB in size (excluding 
the kernel), while the base system in Alpine Linux is only 4-5MB in size 
(excluding the kernel).
It's great for experimenting: Since the system configuration can be 
backed up to a single file, you will be able to test configurations 
before deploying them to production systems.
(You can find much more information on the Alpine Linux web page:
http://alpinelinux.org/about)

Also, Alpine Linux has the option to run from RAM, even when installed 
to a HDD or USB, allowing the user to save it's changes on a USB, floppy 
or other medium which then gets read at boot to leave the system as it 
was before the reboot. This is specially interesting for Xen Dom0, since 
it allows to have the whole system on RAM, which is immune to HDD 
crashes (you could have access to your Dom0 even after and HDD crash) 
and doesn't consume I/O resources.
This is still the first and experimental release of this LiveCD, so I 
would like to encourage Xen users to test it, and report back with the 
results.
The LiveCD can be found at: http://alpinelinux.org/downloads

Regards, Roger.

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