Thanks to everyone who took the time to answer in this thread.
I'm just writing this message to give this thread some closure and am not expecting any answers
On Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:29:33 -0700 (PDT) "IM" == Ian Murray murrayie@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>> > This (and other replies) lead me to two possible culprits: > >> - either the graphical console over X11 is not a good idea (but >> I > can't imagine that, it shouldn't shoot the kernel) > - I >> always installed as a paravirtualized machine, Could it be that >> > the install-kernel on the 5.3-media is not aware of this and >> somehow > manages to shot the host (because I noticed that most >> recipies on > the > net, including >> http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/Xen/ > InstallingCentOSDomU > >> never talk about paravirtualized (so I assume they use a fully >> > virtualized guest) >> > >> > I will try these later today (when people left the office and >> no one > will complain about server downtimes) >> > >> > Bernhard >> > >> > BTW: Just one fundamental question: as the upstream OS vendor >> is > switching his virtualization to KVM anyway, is it a good >> idea to > forget Xen and use KVM (in other words: is it stable >> enough for > production)?
IM> Sorry for thread mucking. I did not receive this email, but IM> took it from a response.
IM> The Xen wiki describes a paravirtual install. The config file IM> would have a line like builder="hvm" if it was fully IM> virtualised guest. AFAIK the graphical view is just a VNC IM> session, so I would be surprised if that managed to trash your IM> kernel. More likely it's something that the guest is doing IM> that is causing the issue. You could always prepare your IM> guests on a different machine and transfer them IM> later. Ofcourse, if you had a command of xm, that is.
I tried removing both suspects by
- following the Wiki-Howto to the letter (especially using the Xen-install-kernels) - instead of going over the network I worked directly at the machine (although I totally agree that a VNC-session shouldn't be ble to shoot the machine)
but the problem is still there. When I start the configured machine that points to an install-kernel with
xm create newGuest -c
I see the kernel boot up until it comes to the message
Write protecting the kernel read-only data
where it hangs for some seconds, then the screen goes blank and the machine reboots.
I'm starting to suspect that it is somehow hardware-related (it is a Fujitsu-Siemens Synergy server with a RAID-controller) and I will investigate in that direction
IM> As I said before, I would recommend the xen list for this IM> specific issue.
Will look there to, thanks
IM> As for the Xen vs whatever issue, I was disappointed when it IM> became clear that Upstream was going to push another IM> technology, having spent last year or two trying to learn Xen IM> (and I am no expert, at all). Having said that, I've heard of IM> issues with speed with KVM and I haven't had any such issues IM> with Xen. My only issue with Xen is that the official releases IM> are based on quite an old kernel, which is fine for CentOS, bc IM> it is the same as the vanilla kernel. Anecdotally, a lot of IM> issues on the xen list IMHO seem to arise from ppl using later IM> patched kernels, which perhaps isn't the best route for IM> stability.
As I'm using the latest kernel that comes with the 5.3-updates and the machine has nothing but the standard-5.3 stuff on it, I don't think this is the case
Bernhard