Installing in Xen

INSTALL XEN

• Grab xen and install it. The 2.0.5 release is known to work.
• Start xend

	xend start

• Configure xen's networking

	antispoof=no /etc/xen/scripts/network start

• Enable forwarding

	linux$ echo 1 >/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward

CREATE A PLAN9 DOMAIN

• setup your directory with your kernels and the plan9 install cd. You can get the 9xenf and 9xeninst kernels from /n/sources/xen. The install CD is available at the Plan9 website.

	 linux$ mkdir /usr/xen9
	 linux$ cd /usr/xen9
	 linux$ mv /somepath/9xeninst .
	 linux$ mv /somepath/9xenf .
	 linux$ mv /somepath/plan9.iso .

• create a disk image. Here we make a 1GB drive, but you can use any size you like:

	 linux$ dd if=/dev/zero of=plan9.img seek=$((1024 * 1024 * 1024 - 1)) bs=1 count=1

• create a xen config file for the plan9 installer. Here we use 96MB of RAM, but you can use any amount you like:

	 linux$ cat > /etc/xen/plan9inst
	 kernel = "/usr/xen9/9xeninst"
	 builder = "plan9"
	 memory = 96
	 name = "plan9"
	 cpu = -1
	 nics = 1
	 vif = [ 'mac=aa:00:10:00:00:10, bridge=xen-br0' ]
	 disk = [ 'file:/usr/xen9/plan9.img,loop0,w',
	          'file:/usr/xen9/plan9.iso,loop1,r' ]
	 ip = "1.2.3.4/24"		# <- IP you will give to xen9
	 restart = 'never'
	 console = 999
	 
	 # This is the equivalent of plan9.ini:
	 extra="""
	 nobootprompt=local!/boot/bzroot
	 bootfile=sd01!cdboot!bootdisk.img
	 """
	 ^D

• boot the installer and run through the install process. You will be using the console which is a little clunky. (You could also quit the console (^]) and telnet or netcat to port 999 to reach the console, which works a little better). The cdrom is on sd01 and your disk is on sd00. When asked for the location of the archive simply enter "/" for the root of the cdrom. At the end of the install when it asks for a blank floppy simply reboot the machine:

	 linux$ xm create plan9inst -c
	 ...
	 % inst/textonly
	 ...
	 ^T^Tr      <- to reboot when you're done

• create a xen config file for plan9 and boot it. The new config should use the 9xenf kernel instead of the 9xeninst kernel. For the extra arguments specify either no arguments or a nobootprompt=local argument:

	 linux$ cat > /etc/xen/plan9
	 kernel = "/usr/xen9/9xenf"
	 builder = "plan9"
	 memory = 96
	 name = "plan9"
	 cpu = -1
	 nics = 1
	 vif = [ 'mac=aa:00:10:00:00:10, bridge=xen-br0' ]
	 disk = [ 'file:/usr/xen9/plan9.img,loop0,w' ]
	 ip = "1.2.3.4/24"		# <- IP you will give to xen9
	 restart = 'never'
	 console = 999
	 
	 # This is the equivalent of plan9.ini:
	 extra="""
	 nobootprompt=local
	 """
	 ^D
	 linux$ xm create plan9 -c

• you'll want to grab the xen bits from /n/sources/xen/9 and put them in /sys/src/9. To rebuild your kernel:

	 % cd /sys/src/9/xenpc && mk 'CONF=xenf'