[SMS]

[baboo]

Ever since 2.6.38 kernel KVM guests are seen as /dev/vda. I am having a problem with install of 1.6.1. I go through install and select generic-smp kernel. After install I chroot /mnt. Then I edit lilo.conf file.

my partitions are:
/dev/vda1 /boot
/dev/vda2 /
/dev/vda3 swap

I then run lilo. Now, I make an initrd.gz image with the following command:

mkinitrd -c -k 2.6.39.3-smp -m ext4 -f ext4 -r /dev/vda2

I then run lilo again, exit and reboot. Upon rebooting it hangs at booting hd. Obviously, it can not find the boot partition.

What am I doing wrong? Your help as always is greatly appreciated

[gerasimos_h]

I'm not using KVM, since my processors are not all VT capable , but I'll try to install it, later today.

I assume you load the kvm, kvm-intel or kvm-amd module.

gerasimos_h

[baboo]

the guest os does not have to load those modules. The problem I am having arises from the kernel being aware that its installed on a kvm guest. It then changes /dev/sda to /dev/vda.

I am guessing here, as googleing didn't turn up anything for me, but lilo needs to be modified to reflect /dev/vda partitions. Also, I think a new initrd.gz image needs to be made. I've been trying but when I boot it stops at 'booting hard drive' and hangs.

Sigh


thanks for the response. I wouldn't try installing. I'll figure it out eventually

[gerasimos_h]

Have you try with a huge kernel?

I'll try it and will find out

gerasimos_h

[gerasimos_h]

OK! What kvm you are using?
I try qemu and I had no problems plus partitions was in /dev/sd* format...

What is the command you are using to boot the guest OS?

gerasimos_h

[baboo]

I use Debian as host KVM. This is due to a great admin app that manages my virtual servers. This is the first release of SMS that I cannot install correctly. As stated SMS sees partitions as /dev/vda. I have not updated the Debian host in 6 months. So, I am making an assumption that I have to do something with SMS. I did find a post on the net that talks about Slackware running as a guest Identifies the partitions as /dev/vda. The post unfortunately says to modify lilo.conf and to create a new initrd.gz image. I've tried those things to no avail. I believe my problem might be how I am creating the initrd.gz image.

thanks

[gerasimos_h]

debian?

Have you try to add in lilo.conf

[baboo]

thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, Slackware is behind when it comes to virtualization .. I use proxmox for my host because of the admin tools. I run SMS as guest os. Up until this release it was a perfect combo. I will look at lilo.conf again to make sure the changes are correct.

thanks again

[gerasimos_h]

I don't think that slackware is behind in virtualization , it's all a matter of configuration and a good GUI.
I think your problem lies on proxmox. Try to upgrade it, to latest version,
When a guest OS can't be installed in a KVM, that's a problem of the KVM and not of the guest OS.

One of the problems of debian is that it uses a lot of, way too old packages, and that was OK! in few years back, where development was slower, but now days, that could be a problem.

You can try to use SMS-1.6.0 kernels and see if it is booting.

gerasimos_h

[baboo]

I thought I would update this post. I apologize for not being clearer in what I was trying to accomplish. So, here is a little background.

For about 8 months I have been talking with Alien Bob about virtualization and slackware. He is the one that told me as recent as March of this year that slackware was behind in how virtualization was configured in slackware. I've come to appreciate his view as I've been using virtualization for a year now.

Proxmox, while a debian based host uses the latest drivers for KVM, QEMU, and virtio. It has an incredible admin frontend. So, your comments about debian not having the latest drivers may be true with vanilla debian but not with Proxmox.

Enough background. Here is the issue. While Slackware has virtio support in its release its not configured for automatic recognition by kernel. So, if you configure your guest to use virtio driver on KVM host and try to install slackware, slackware sees it as /dev/vda. After going through the install but before rebooting you must make the kernel aware that virtio support is being used. Just modifying lilo.conf is not enough. You need to create an initrd.gz that has support for virtio. I have not been successful in figuring out how that should look. I come close but not quite.

So, I put it off for another day and installed sms with ide support as guest. It works just fine. But I know from experience that I will need better performance for hard drive and network interface. That is why I am trying to support virtio.

I've posted to linuxquestions.org that I have slackware installed and want to configure virtio support and hopefully someone will reply.

If any of you are using virtualization, I would be very interested in hearing how you do your configs.

thanks

[baboo]

Alien Bob answered my post on how to config support for virtio drivers. Here is his response:

"The Slackware kernels (both huge and generic types) have all the virtio drivers built as modules.
That means, you have to create an initrd which loads these modules. Once you have done so, your drive will magically appear as /dev/vda

Run the following command inside the virtualized Slackware - it should show you exactly what parameters mkinitrd needs for virtio support:
Code:

/usr/share/mkinitrd/mkinitrd_command_generator.sh -r

Of course, transitioning from sda to vda will pose some problems for you in /etc/lilo.conf and /etc/fstab ...
The file "/etc/lilo.conf" can be updated after you have rebooted with active virtio drivers (don't forget to run "lilo" afterwards), and what you should do right away is change the device entry for your root partition in "/etc/fstab" from /dev/sdX to UUID="xxxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" (the UUID value for your root partition - all those x-es - is what you find in the output of the command "blkid")."


I hope this helps someone else who is trying to use virtualization.

regards