Mr. Heron was so kind to make a suggestion that I should use disk images to install VMs. Upon further thought, I kinda like the idea. So I re-read the manual and google a little, and discover I still don't know what should be in these disk images.
Should I copy the contents of the CDs to a file or what? I've got a test server at the moment with Centos 5.5 and xen installed as the host OS, but have just downloaded the 5.6 CD ISOs along with the DVD ISO, so I'll use 5.6 for my VMs. I've read about how I can create an image from something that already exists.
Again, any clarity would be appreciated.
steve campbell
Greetings,
----- Original Message -----
Mr. Heron was so kind to make a suggestion that I should use disk images to install VMs. Upon further thought, I kinda like the idea. So I re-read the manual and google a little, and discover I still don't know what should be in these disk images.
Should I copy the contents of the CDs to a file or what?
I haven't been following this conversation but I think I can answer that last question. Using a disk image file rather than a physical disk or partition(s) on a physical means that you use the file as if it were a disk. You don't need to put anything on it... and you boot install media and then select the disk image file as the disk you want to use to install your OS too.
Either that, or you are talking about using .iso files on disk as install media rather than physical optical media.
TYL,
On Tue, 2011-06-28 at 09:30 -0400, Steve Campbell wrote:
Mr. Heron was so kind to make a suggestion that I should use disk images to install VMs. Upon further thought, I kinda like the idea. So I re-read the manual and google a little, and discover I still don't know what should be in these disk images.
Should I copy the contents of the CDs to a file or what? I've got a test server at the moment with Centos 5.5 and xen installed as the host OS, but have just downloaded the 5.6 CD ISOs along with the DVD ISO, so I'll use 5.6 for my VMs. I've read about how I can create an image from something that already exists.
Again, any clarity would be appreciated.
Just put the ISO's in /var/lib/xen/images and point at them. If you didn't download the discs, you can rip them using:
dd if=/dev/<optical device> of=/var/lib/xen/images/<name of disc>
For example, if ripping the first 5.6 CD...
dd if=/dev/hdc of=/var/lib/xen/images/CentOS-5.6-i386-d1.iso
I generally rip a disc multiple times and then do a file compare to make sure I've got a reasonable chance of having an undamaged copy.
Keep in mind that it isn't as easy to change discs when you are using images on a paravirtual machine.
I still recommend setting up a local repository as a much better solution because it allows you to take a snapshot so multiple installs use the exact same versions of everything.
On 6/28/2011 10:50 AM, Ed Heron wrote:
On Tue, 2011-06-28 at 09:30 -0400, Steve Campbell wrote:
Mr. Heron was so kind to make a suggestion that I should use disk images to install VMs. Upon further thought, I kinda like the idea. So I re-read the manual and google a little, and discover I still don't know what should be in these disk images.
Should I copy the contents of the CDs to a file or what? I've got a test server at the moment with Centos 5.5 and xen installed as the host OS, but have just downloaded the 5.6 CD ISOs along with the DVD ISO, so I'll use 5.6 for my VMs. I've read about how I can create an image from something that already exists.
Again, any clarity would be appreciated.
Just put the ISO's in /var/lib/xen/images and point at them. If you didn't download the discs, you can rip them using:
dd if=/dev/<optical device> of=/var/lib/xen/images/<name of disc>
For example, if ripping the first 5.6 CD...
dd if=/dev/hdc of=/var/lib/xen/images/CentOS-5.6-i386-d1.iso
I generally rip a disc multiple times and then do a file compare to make sure I've got a reasonable chance of having an undamaged copy.
Keep in mind that it isn't as easy to change discs when you are using images on a paravirtual machine.
I still recommend setting up a local repository as a much better solution because it allows you to take a snapshot so multiple installs use the exact same versions of everything.
I moved the iso images to a folder under /var/lib/xen/images and selected it during an install for a new VM. I've run into a problem I've not yet seen before. The first iso is used just fine, but the second is "Not accessible", and nothing I can discover works.
So, should the ISOs be moved directly to the images folder instead of a folder below images? Does it matter whether I just copy the iso files (actually, I used scp) or do they need to be run through dd?
Thanks for any help.
steve
On 11-07-18 8:26 AM, "Steve Campbell" campbell@cnpapers.com wrote:
On 6/28/2011 10:50 AM, Ed Heron wrote:
On Tue, 2011-06-28 at 09:30 -0400, Steve Campbell wrote:
Mr. Heron was so kind to make a suggestion that I should use disk images to install VMs. Upon further thought, I kinda like the idea. So I re-read the manual and google a little, and discover I still don't know what should be in these disk images.
Should I copy the contents of the CDs to a file or what? I've got a test server at the moment with Centos 5.5 and xen installed as the host OS, but have just downloaded the 5.6 CD ISOs along with the DVD ISO, so I'll use 5.6 for my VMs. I've read about how I can create an image from something that already exists.
Again, any clarity would be appreciated.
Just put the ISO's in /var/lib/xen/images and point at them. If you didn't download the discs, you can rip them using:
dd if=/dev/<optical device> of=/var/lib/xen/images/<name of disc>
For example, if ripping the first 5.6 CD...
dd if=/dev/hdc of=/var/lib/xen/images/CentOS-5.6-i386-d1.iso
I generally rip a disc multiple times and then do a file compare to make sure I've got a reasonable chance of having an undamaged copy.
Keep in mind that it isn't as easy to change discs when you are using images on a paravirtual machine.
I still recommend setting up a local repository as a much better solution because it allows you to take a snapshot so multiple installs use the exact same versions of everything.
I moved the iso images to a folder under /var/lib/xen/images and selected it during an install for a new VM. I've run into a problem I've not yet seen before. The first iso is used just fine, but the second is "Not accessible", and nothing I can discover works.
So, should the ISOs be moved directly to the images folder instead of a folder below images? Does it matter whether I just copy the iso files (actually, I used scp) or do they need to be run through dd?
If you have SELinux enabled then it could be denying access to images in a 'non-standard' folder. Try putting them directly in the images folder, or alternatively, if you don't care about SELinux, setting SELinux to Permissive or Disabled.
Cheers, Kelvin
On 7/18/2011 10:17 AM, Kelvin Edmison wrote:
On 11-07-18 8:26 AM, "Steve Campbell"campbell@cnpapers.com wrote:
On 6/28/2011 10:50 AM, Ed Heron wrote:
On Tue, 2011-06-28 at 09:30 -0400, Steve Campbell wrote:
Mr. Heron was so kind to make a suggestion that I should use disk images to install VMs. Upon further thought, I kinda like the idea. So I re-read the manual and google a little, and discover I still don't know what should be in these disk images.
Should I copy the contents of the CDs to a file or what? I've got a test server at the moment with Centos 5.5 and xen installed as the host OS, but have just downloaded the 5.6 CD ISOs along with the DVD ISO, so I'll use 5.6 for my VMs. I've read about how I can create an image from something that already exists.
Again, any clarity would be appreciated.
Just put the ISO's in /var/lib/xen/images and point at them. If youdidn't download the discs, you can rip them using:
dd if=/dev/<optical device> of=/var/lib/xen/images/<name of disc>
For example, if ripping the first 5.6 CD...dd if=/dev/hdc of=/var/lib/xen/images/CentOS-5.6-i386-d1.iso
I generally rip a disc multiple times and then do a file compare to make sure I've got a reasonable chance of having an undamaged copy.
Keep in mind that it isn't as easy to change discs when you are usingimages on a paravirtual machine.
I still recommend setting up a local repository as a much bettersolution because it allows you to take a snapshot so multiple installs use the exact same versions of everything.
I moved the iso images to a folder under /var/lib/xen/images and selected it during an install for a new VM. I've run into a problem I've not yet seen before. The first iso is used just fine, but the second is "Not accessible", and nothing I can discover works.
So, should the ISOs be moved directly to the images folder instead of a folder below images? Does it matter whether I just copy the iso files (actually, I used scp) or do they need to be run through dd?
If you have SELinux enabled then it could be denying access to images in a 'non-standard' folder. Try putting them directly in the images folder, or alternatively, if you don't care about SELinux, setting SELinux to Permissive or Disabled.
Cheers, Kelvin
Still no luck.
I have all the iso images (8 of them named just as they are named on the mirrors) copied to /var/lib/xen/images.
When creating a new VM, I'm asked where my ISO images are. It only lets me select a file, not a folder, so when it's time to go to the next iso image, it asks me to insert the second disk, and then complains that it can't access the CD.
What am I missing? I upgraded everything to the latest, so it's all current.
Thanks for all the help so far.
steve
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Ed Heron -
Kelvin Edmison -
Scott Dowdle -
Steve Campbell