XEN-CREATE-IMAGE(8) Perl Programmers Reference Guide XEN-CREATE-IMAGE(8)
NAME
xen-create-image - Easily create new Xen instances with networking and OpenSSH.
SYNOPSIS
Help Options:
--help Show the help information for this script.
--manual Read the manual, and examples, for this script.
--verbose Show useful debugging information.
--version Show the version number and exit.
Size / General options:
--accounts Copy all non-system accounts to the guest image
--admins Specify that some administrators should be created for
this image, using xen-shell.
--boot Boot the new instance after creating it.
--cache=bool Cache .deb files on the host when installing the new
guest with the debootstrap tool. Accepted values:
"yes" (default) and "no".
--cachedir=/path/to/cache/directory
Override the default .deb cache directory. Defaults to
/var/cache/apt/archives/ if it exists (i.e. on Debian
and Ubuntu) and /var/cache/xen-tools/archives/ else
(i.e. on Fedora and CentOS).
--config=file
Read the specified file in addition to the global
configuration file.
--copyhosts Copy entries from the dom0's /etc/hosts file to the guest
--copy-cmd NOP: Ignored.
--debootstrap-cmd=/path/to/command
Specify which debootstrap command is used. Defaults to
debootstrap if both, debootstrap and cdebootstrap are
installed. Specifying the path is optional.
--disk_device=diskname
Use specified device name for virtual devices instead of
the default value "xvda".
--extension=ext
Specify the suffix to give the Xen configuration
file. (Default value: ".cfg")
--force Force overwriting existing images. This will remove
existing images or LVM volumes which match those which
are liable to be used by the new invocation.
--fs=fs Specify the filesystem type to use for the new guest.
Valid choices are 'ext2', 'ext3', 'ext4', 'reiserfs',
'xfs' or 'btrfs'. (Note: pygrub *DOES NOT* support xfs)
--genpass=1 Generate a random root password (default, set to 0 to turn off)
--genpass_len=N
Override the default password length of 8 and generate a
random password of length N. Note: this only works in
conjunction with --genpass
--hash_method=algorithm
Override the default hashing method of sha256 and use the
provided algorithm. Can be : md5, sha256 or sha512
--hooks=1 Specify whether to run hooks after the image is created.
--ide Use IDE names for virtual devices (i.e. hda not xvda)
--image=str Specify whether to create "sparse" or "full" disk images.
Full images are mandatory when using LVM, so this setting
is ignored in that case.
--image-dev=/path/to/device
Specify a physical/logical volume for the disk image.
--initrd=/path/to/initrd
Specify the initial ramdisk. If an image is specified it
must exist.
--install=1 Specify whether to install the guest system or not.
--keep Don't delete our images if installation fails.
--kernel=/path/to/kernel
Set the path to the kernel to use for domU. If a
kernel is specified it must exist.
--memory=size
Setup the amount of memory allocated to the new instance.
--modules=/path/to/modules
Set the path to the kernel modules to use for domU.
If modules are specified they must exist.
--nohosts Don't touch /etc/hosts on the dom0.
--noswap Do not create a swap partition. When this option is
used the system will not have a swap entry added to
its /etc/fstab file either.
--output=dir Specify the output directory to create the xen configuration
file within.
--partitions=file
Use a specific partition layout configuration file.
See /etc/xen-tools/partitions.d/sample-server for an
example partitioning configuration. Not supported
with the image-dev and swap-dev options. Parameters
fs, size, swap and noswap are ignored when using this
option.
--password=passphrase
Set the root password for the new guest.
--passwd Ask for a root password interactively during setup.
NOTE: This overrides --genpass --password
--pygrub DomU should be booted using pygrub.
--role=role Run the specified role script(s) post-install.
Role scripts are discussed later in this manpage.
Can be an absolute path. Otherwise it's relative to the
value of --roledir.
--role-args="--arg1 --arg2"
Pass the named string literally to any role script.
This is useful for site-specific roles.
--finalrole=role
Similar to role scripts. Run the specified role script(s)
after cfg file creation.
--roledir=/path/to/directory
Specify the directory which contains the role scripts.
This defaults to /etc/xen-tools/role.d/
--scsi Use SCSI names for virtual devices (i.e. sda not xvda)
--serial_device=serialname
Install a getty on the specified serial device instead
of the default device.
--size=size Set the size of the primary disk image.
--swap=size Set the size of the swap partition.
--swap-dev=/path/to/device
Specify a physical/logical volume for swap usage.
--tar-cmd NOP: Ignored.
--dontformat Do not format the devices specified for installation.
Useful if you want tighter control over the filesystem
creation. Requires the filesystems to be created
beforehand.
--vcpus=num
Set the number of vcpus that the new instance will have
instead of the default value of "1".
Installation options:
--arch=arch Pass the given architecture to debootstrap, rinse,
or rpmstrap when installing the system. This argument
is ignored for other install methods.
--dist=dist Specify the distribution you wish to install.
--install-method=method
Specify the installation method to use. Valid methods are:
* debootstrap
* cdebootstrap
* rinse
* rpmstrap (deprecated)
* tar (needs --install-source=tarball.tar)
* copy (needs --install-source=/path/to/copy/from)
(Default value for Debian and Ubuntu: debootstrap)
--install-source=/path/to/tarball
Specify the source path to use when installing via
a copy or tarball installation.
--mirror=url Setup the mirror to use when installing via
debootstrap. (Default value: mirror used in
/etc/apt/sources.list or for Debian
"http://cdn.debian.net/debian/" and for Ubuntu
"http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/")
The above mentioned Debian mirror hostname uses GeoIP
to choose a more or less close Debian mirror. See
http://wiki.debian.org/DebianGeoMirror for details.
--apt_proxy=url
Specify a proxy to be used by debootstrap, and within
the guest.
--template=tmpl
Specify which template file to use when creating the
Xen configuration file.
Networking options:
--bridge=brname
Optionally, set a specific bridge for the new instance.
This can be especially useful when running multiple
bridges on a dom0.
--broadcast=123.456.789.ABC
Setup the broadcast address for the new instance.
--dhcp The guest will be configured to fetch its networking
details via DHCP.
--gateway=gw Setup the network gateway for the new instance.
--ip=123.456.789.ABC
Setup the IP address of the machine, multiple IPs are
allowed. When specifying more than one IP the first
one is setup as the "system" IP, and the additional
ones are added as aliases.
Note that Xen 3.x supports a maximum of three vif statements
per guest. This option conflicts with --dhcp.
--mac=AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF
Specify the MAC address to use for a given interface.
This is only valid for the first IP address specified,
or for DHCP usage. (ie. you can add multiple --ip
flags, but the specific MAC address will only be used
for the first interface.)
--netmask=123.456.789.ABC
Setup the netmask for the new instance.
--nameserver="123.456.789.ABC 123.456.789.DEF"
Setup the nameserver of the machine, multiple space
separated nameservers are allowed.
If not provided, Dom0's /etc/resolv.conf will be copied
to guest.
--vifname=vifname
Optionally, set a specific vif name for the new instance.
Mandatory options:
--dir=/path/to/directory
Specify where the output images should go.
Subdirectories will be created for each guest
If you do not wish to use loopback images specify --lvm
or --evms. (These three options are mutually exclusive.)
--evms=lvm2/container
Specify the container to save images within, i.e. '--evms
lvm2/mycontainer'. If you do not wish to use EVMS specify
--dir or --lvm. (These three options are mutually exclusive.)
--hostname=host.example.org
Set the hostname of the new guest system. Ideally
this will be fully-qualified since several of the hook
scripts will expect to be able to parse a domain name
out of it for various purposes.
--lvm=vg Specify the volume group to save images within.
If you do not wish to use LVM specify --dir or --evms.
(These three options are mutually exclusive.)
NOTES
This script is a wrapper around three distinct external tools which
complete various aspects of the new system installation.
xt-install-image Install a new distribution.
xt-customize-image Run a collection of hook scripts to customise the freshly installed system.
xt-create-xen-config Create a Xen configuration file in so that xm can start the new domain.
The result of invoking these three scripts, and some minor glue between
them, is a simple means of creating new Xen guest domains.
DESCRIPTION
xen-create-image is a simple script which allows you to create new
Xen instances easily. The new image will be given two volumes. These
volumes will be stored upon the host as either loopback files, or
LVM logical volumes:
1. An image for the systems root disk.
2. An image for the systems swap device.
The new virtual installations will be configured with networking,
have OpenSSH installed upon it, and have most of its basic files
setup correctly.
If you wish you can configure arbitrary partitioning schemes, rather
than being restricted to just the two standard volumes. For more
details on this please see the later section in this manual "PARTITIONING".
If you wish to install additional packages or do any additional
configuration of your new guests, please read the section on "ROLES".
CONFIGURATION
To reduce the length of the command line each of the supported options
may be specified inside a configuration file.
The global configuration file read for options is:
/etc/xen-tools/xen-tools.conf
The configuration file may contain comments which begin with the
hash '#' character. Otherwise the format is 'key = value'.
A sample configuration file would look like this:
#
# Output directory. Images are stored beneath this directory, one
# subdirectory per hostname.
#
dir = /home/xen
#
# LVM users should disable the 'dir' setting above, and instead
# specify the name of the volume group to use.
#
# lvm = myvolume
#
# EVMS users should disable the dir setting above and instead specify
# a container. For example, if you have an lvm2 container named box,
# put lvm2/box. This is how it is named in the evms interface.
#
# Warning... this has not been tested with anything but lvm2 but should
# be generalizable.
#
# evms= lvm2/myvolume
#
# Disk and Sizing options.
#
size = 2Gb # Disk image size.
image = full # Allocate the full disk size immediately.
memory = 128Mb # Memory size
swap = 128Mb # Swap size
fs = ext3 # use EXT3 filesystems
dist = stable # Default distribution to install.
#
# Kernel options.
#
kernel = /boot/vmlinuz-`uname -r`
initrd = /boot/initrd.img-`uname -r`
#
# Networking options.
#
gateway = 192.168.1.1
broadcast = 192.168.1.255
netmask = 255.255.255.0
#
# Installation method:
# One of "copy", "debootstrap", "cdebootstrap", "rinse", "rpmstrap", or "tar".
#
install-method = debootstrap
Using this configuration file a new image may be created with the
following command:
xen-create-image --hostname=vm03.my.flat --ip=192.168.1.201
This makes use of loopback images stored beneath /home/xen and
will be installed via the debootstrap command.
NETWORKING AUTO-SETUP
We've already seen how the "gateway" and "netmask" options can
be used to specify the networking options of the freshly created
Xen guests.
One other useful shortcut is the use of an automatic IP address.
You can specify '--ip=auto' and the system will choose and use
an IP address from those listed in /etc/xen-tools/ips.txt.
For example if you wished to have Xen guests automatically
take an address from the range 192.168.1.100-192.168.1.200 you
would first prepare the system by running this:
rm /etc/xen-tools/ips.txt
for i in $(seq 100 200) ; do echo 192.168.1.$i >> /etc/xen-tools/ips.txt ; done
Now you can create a guest with the command:
xen-create-image --ip=auto --hostname=blah [--dist=...]
The first time this ran the machine would receive an IP address
from the pool which we've created. This IP would be marked as used,
and would no longer be available. If all the IP addresses are taken
then the system will fail.
PARTITIONING
By default all new guests are created with two "volumes", one
for the root filesystem and one for the new system's swap.
If you wish you may specify an alternative partitioning scheme.
Simply create a file inside the directory /etc/xen-tools/partitions.d/
specifying your partition layout. (Use the existing file "sample-server"
as a template).
Now when you create a new image specify the name of this file with as
an argument to the --partition option.
XEN CONFIGURATION FILE
Once a new image has been created an appropriate configuration file
for Xen will be saved in the directory /etc/xen by default. However
you may change the output directory with the --output flag.
The configuration file is built up using the template file
/etc/xen-tools/xm.tmpl - which is a file processed via
the Text::Template perl module.
If you wish to modify the files which are generated please make your
changes to that input file.
Alternatively you can create multiple configuration files and
specify the one to use with the --template option.
LOOPBACK EXAMPLES
The following will create a 2Gb disk image, along with a 128Mb
swap file with Debian Stable setup and running via DHCP.
xen-create-image --size=2Gb --swap=128Mb --dhcp --dist=stable
--dir=/home/xen --hostname=vm01.my.flat
This next example sets up a host which has the name 'vm02.my.flat' and
IP address 192.168.1.200, with the gateway address of 192.168.1.1
xen-create-image --size=2Gb --swap=128Mb
--ip=192.168.1.200
--netmask=255.255.255.0
--gateway=192.168.1.1
--nameserver=192.168.1.1
--dir=/home/xen --hostname=vm02.my.flat
The directory specified for the output will be used to store the volumes
which are produced. To avoid clutter each host will have its images
stored beneath the specified directory, named after the hostname.
For example the images created above will be stored as:
$dir/domains/vm01.my.flat/
$dir/domains/vm01.my.flat/disk.img
$dir/domains/vm01.my.flat/swap.img
$dir/domains/vm02.my.flat/
$dir/domains/vm02.my.flat/disk.img
$dir/domains/vm02.my.flat/swap.img
The '/domains/' subdirectory will be created if necessary.
LVM EXAMPLE
If you wish to use an LVM volume group instead of a pair of loopback
images as shown above you can instead use the --lvm argument to
specify one.
xen-create-image --size=2Gb --swap=128Mb --dhcp
--lvm=myvolumegroup --hostname=vm01.my.flat
The given volume group will have two new logical volumes created within it:
${hostname}-swap
${hostname}-disk
The disk image may be mounted, as you would expect, with the following
command:
mkdir -p /mnt/foo
mount /dev/myvolumegroup/vm01.my.flat-disk /mnt/foo
EVMS EXAMPLE
If you wish to use an EVMS storage container instead of a pair of loopback
images as shown above you can instead use the --evms argument to
specify one. The below example assumes an lvm2 container.
xen-create-image --size=2Gb --swap=128Mb --dhcp
--evms=lvm2/myvolumegroup --hostname=vm01.my.flat
The given storage container will have two new EVMS volumes created within it:
${hostname}-swap
${hostname}-disk
The disk image may be mounted, as you would expect, with the following
command:
mkdir -p /mnt/foo
mount /dev/evms/vm01.my.flat-disk /mnt/foo
INSTALLATION METHODS
The new guest images may be installed in several different ways:
1. Using the [c]debootstrap command, which must be installed and present.
2. Using the rpmstrap command, which must be installed and present.
3. using the rinse command, which must be installed and present.
4. By copying an existing installation.
5. By untarring a file containing a previous installation.
These different methods can be selected by either the command line
arguments, or settings in the configuration file. Only one installation
method may be specified at a time; they are mutually-exclusive.
INSTALLATION SPEEDUPS
After performing your first installation you can customize it, or
use it untouched, as a new installation source. By doing this you'll
achieve a significant speedup, even above using the debootstrap caching
support.
There are two different ways you can use the initial image as source
for a new image:
1. By tarring it up and using the tar-file as an installation source.
2. By mounting the disk image of the first system and doing a literal copy.
Tarring up a pristine, or customised, image will allow you to install
with a command such as:
xen-create-image --size=2Gb --swap=128Mb --dhcp
--lvm=myvolumegroup --hostname=vm01.my.flat
--install-method=tar --install-source=/path/to/tar.file.tar
The advantage of the tarfile approach is that you'll not need to
keep a disk image mounted if you were to use the --copy argument
to create a new image using the old one as source:
xen-create-image --size=2Gb --swap=128Mb --dhcp
--lvm=myvolumegroup --hostname=vm01.my.flat
--install-method=copy --install-source=/path/to/copy/from
DEBOOTSTRAP CACHING
When installing new systems with the debootstrap tool there is
a fair amount of network overhead.
To minimize this the .deb files which are downloaded into the
new instance are cached by default upon the host, in the directory
/var/cache/apt/archives or, if this does not exist, in
/var/cache/xen-tools/archives. This can be overridden with the
--cache-dir command-line and configuration option.
This feature can be disabled with the command line flag --cache=no,
or by the matching setting in the configuration file.
When a new image is created these packages are copied into the new
image - before the debootstrap process runs - this should help avoid
expensive network reading.
If you wish to clean the host's apt cache (/var/cache/apt/archivees)
you may do so with apt-get, namely:
apt-get clean
If you set your cache directory to anything else, simply rm the
contents of the directory.
ROLES
Currently there are some roles scripts included which work for
the Debian and Ubuntu distrubtions only. They are included
primarily as examples of the kind of things you could accomplish.
The supplied scripts are:
builder Setup the new virtual images with commonly used packages for rebuilding Debian packages from their source.
cfengine Install cfengine2 on the virtual image and copy the cfengine configuration from Dom0.
editor Allows generalised editing of files for guests.
This script works via a skeleton directory containing small sed files which will contain edits to be applied to an arbitrary tree
of files upon the new domU.
For example if we have the following sed file:
/etc/xen-tools/sed.d/etc/ssh/sshd_config.sed
this will be applied to /etc/ssh/sshd_config upon the new guest *if* it exists. If the file encoded in the name doesn't exist then
it will be ignored.
gdm Install an X11 server, using VNC and GDM
minimal Customise the generated images to remove some packages.
puppet Install puppet on the virtual image and copy the cfengine configuration from Dom0.
tmpfs Sets up /tmp, /var/run and /var/lock as tmpfs in the DomU.
udev Install udev in the DomU. Most distributions install udev by default nowadays, so this role is probably only interesting for legacy
systems which need udev anyway.
xdm Install an X11 server, using VNC and XDM
If you'd like to include your own role scripts you'll need to
create a file in /etc/xen-tools/role.d, and then specify the
name of that file with "--role=filename". Additionally you
may pass options to your role-script with the --role-args
flag.
For example the script /etc/xen-tools/role.d/gdm would be used
by executing with "--role=gdm".
Role scripts are invoked with the directory containing the
installed system as their first argument, and anything passed
as a role-arg will be passed allong as additional arguments.
NOTE: Role scripts are invoked before the config file generation.
If you need access to the config file from within your role,
use --finalrole.
NOTE: Multiple role scripts may be invoked if you separate their
names with commas.
THE SKELETON DIRECTORY
Any files present in the directory /etc/xen-tools/skel will be copied
across to each new guest image. The role of this directory is analogous
to the /etc/skel directory.
A typical use for this would be to copy a public key across to each
new system. You could do this by running:
mkdir -p /etc/xen-tools/skel/root/.ssh
chmod -R 700 /etc/xen-tools/skel/root
cp /root/.ssh/id_rsa.pub /etc/xen-tools/skel/root/.ssh/authorized_keys2
chmod 644 /etc/xen-tools/skel/root/.ssh/authorized_keys2
AUTHORS
Steve Kemp, http://www.steve.org.uk/
Axel Beckert, http://noone.org/abe/
Dmitry Nedospasov, http://nedos.net/
StA~Xphane Jourdois
LICENSE
Copyright (c) 2005-2009 by Steve Kemp, (c) 2010-2012 by The Xen-Tools Development Team. All rights reserved.
This module is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. The LICENSE file contains the
full text of the license.
4.3.1 2012-06-30 XEN-CREATE-IMAGE(8)