Lab46 Wiki

This project will have you setting up virtual machines that can be used for experimentation and other projects.

To do this project, you will need to have successfully completed:

• Linux VM Server Install

You will need:

• available VMserver that can host your virtual machine
• an allocated VM that nobody else has claimed

Following your setup of a VM server, the next logical step is to do something with it; creating and running virtual machines allows you to have network-accessible machines that you can set up various services, just as if they were a real machine.

Host names: vm##.student.lab  (01-32)
MAC address: 00:16:3e:2e:c0:##

For vm01, ## would be "01"
For vm10, ## would be "0a" (they're in hex).
For vm32, ## would be "20" (0x20 = 32).

• Log into the VM server (as root)
• Check number of running virtual machines: xm list (if there are already 8 VMs running, use a different VM server)
• Reference notes:hpc0 and claim an open VM (edit the table and put in your information)

• Create the VM (on the vmserver)

vmserver:~# xen-create-image --hostname=vm## --mac=00:16:3e:2e:c0:## --role=udev

If you have no errors in your /etc/xen/xend-config.sxp and /etc/xen-tools/xen-tools.conf files, it should appear to proceed (watch for warnings).

If your VM was created successfully (watch for errors), you can now “boot” it.

The config file for your VM is located in /xen/conf/vm##.cfg, cat it and see how it is structured.

When ready to boot your VM, do the following:

vmserver:~# xm create -c /xen/conf/vm##.cfg

This will boot the VM and automatically attach you to the console of the VM. If you just want it to boot without viewing it, leave off the “-c”.

When the machine is booted, you can detach from the virtual machine and return to the VMserver's prompt. To do this, hit: CTRL-] (control, close-square-bracket).

Once the VM is running (assuming it was properly configured), it should have received an IP address, and should be reachable at the following address:

Go ahead and try connecting to your VM via ssh (you can do this from lab46):

On the VM server, you can use the xm tool to manage your running VMs. Run “xm help” to get a list of actions you can take.

In general, once you get your VMs up and running, you won't need to directly interact with the VM server.

Enjoy!