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FAQ
Hello CentOS Xen experts,

I am attempting my first Xen installation. I have a Centos 5.2 server
(dom0) and am attempting to install a Centos 5.2 guest (domU). The
install goes fine with one exception. At the end it complains "error
mounting /boot". My efforts googling around the net to dig up a
solution have come up empty, although I've seen similar issues reported.
Details below. Any suggests would be much appreciated.

I've read this: http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/Xen/InstallingCentOSDomU
but have not yet tried it. However, I would expect the same result,
since it describes a simple variation of a normal Anaconda install.

Details:

* Centos 5.2 installation command, installing Centos 5.2 as the guest OS
using nfs mounted Centos 5.2 iso dvd image:
virt-install --paravirt -name vm-1 --ram 512 --file /vm/1/vm-1.img
--file-size -4 --nographcs --location:nfs:192.168.1.101:/mnt/iso
I select a minimal server config during the install that I know fits
in 4 GB. Not much more than the base packages.

* Last install (Anaconda) screen:
"Error mounting device xvda1 as /boot: Read-only file system"
"This most likely means this partition has not been formated."

* Error on reboot after install:
virDomainCreate() failed POST operation failed: (xend.err "Error
creating doamain: Boot loader didn't return any data!")

The /etc/xen/vm-1 and /vm/1/vm-1.img files exist as expected after the
install but will not boot.

Thanks,
Jim Trainor

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  • Kai Schaetzl at Jan 15, 2009 at 5:31 pm ⇧

    Jim Trainor wrote on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:22:38 -0500:

    virt-install --paravirt -name vm-1 --ram 512 --file /vm/1/vm-1.img
    --file-size -4 --nographcs --location:nfs:192.168.1.101:/mnt/iso
    did you type this or did you copy this from the shell?
    There are several errors/typos in it.

    virt-install -p --location=ftp://...... --noautoconsole --nographics --
    file=/home2/vm/d-minimal.img --file-size=1 --name=d-mini --ram%6

    does work.

    Even if it's possible to omit the equals signs I would think that "-4"
    *means* "minus 4" .... And ":" for the "=" are surely not allowed I guess.

    Kai

    --
    Kai Sch?tzl, Berlin, Germany
    Get your web at Conactive Internet Services: http://www.conactive.com
  • Jim Trainor at Jan 15, 2009 at 6:19 pm ⇧
    You're correct there were some typos there. Sorry about that.

    Here it is the corrected (cut/pasted!) virt-install command. I just ran
    this with the same result reported in my first message:

    virt-install --paravirt --name=vm-1 --ramQ2 --file=/vm/1/vm-1.img
    --file-size=4 --nographics --location=nfs:192.168.1.101:/mnt/iso

    That starts the virtual machine to initiate the install, Anaconda
    connects to a local nfs server to access the Centos5.2 distribution, and
    the install proceeds as expected. The "Error mounting device xvda1 as
    /boot." failure happens after Anaconda finishes formatting /boot.

    I have selinux turned off, so that shouldn't be getting the way. It's
    Centos 5.2 32bit if that matters.

    It does appear the disk image was created and was written (to some
    extent) correctly:

    [root at pipit ~]# ls -lh /vm/1/vm-1.img
    -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4.1G Jan 14 05:03 /vm/1/vm-1.img

    [root at pipit ~]# file /vm/1/vm-1.img
    /vm/1/vm-1.img: x86 boot sector; partition 1: ID=0x83, active, starthead
    1, startsector 63, 208782 sectors; partition 2: ID=0x8e, starthead 0,
    startsector 208845, 8177085 sectors

    However, attempting to start vm-1 yields the following:

    [root at pipit ~]# virsh start vm-1
    libvir: Xen Daemon error : POST operation failed: (xend.err "Error
    creating domain: Boot loader didn't return any data!")
    error: Failed to start domain vm-1

    Thanks,
    Jim Trainor

    Kai Schaetzl wrote:
    Jim Trainor wrote on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:22:38 -0500:

    virt-install --paravirt -name vm-1 --ram 512 --file /vm/1/vm-1.img
    --file-size -4 --nographcs --location:nfs:192.168.1.101:/mnt/iso
    did you type this or did you copy this from the shell?
    There are several errors/typos in it.

    virt-install -p --location=ftp://...... --noautoconsole --nographics --
    file=/home2/vm/d-minimal.img --file-size=1 --name=d-mini --ram%6

    does work.

    Even if it's possible to omit the equals signs I would think that "-4"
    *means* "minus 4" .... And ":" for the "=" are surely not allowed I guess.

    Kai
  • Jim Trainor at Jan 15, 2009 at 10:23 pm ⇧
    Problem solved:

    I added the "--nonsparse" option to my virt-install command and
    discovered that the disk was running out of space (doh!).

    Over and out.

    Thanks,
    Jim Trainor


    Jim Trainor wrote:
    You're correct there were some typos there. Sorry about that.

    Here it is the corrected (cut/pasted!) virt-install command. I just ran
    this with the same result reported in my first message:

    virt-install --paravirt --name=vm-1 --ramQ2 --file=/vm/1/vm-1.img
    --file-size=4 --nographics --location=nfs:192.168.1.101:/mnt/iso

    That starts the virtual machine to initiate the install, Anaconda
    connects to a local nfs server to access the Centos5.2 distribution, and
    the install proceeds as expected. The "Error mounting device xvda1 as
    /boot." failure happens after Anaconda finishes formatting /boot.

    I have selinux turned off, so that shouldn't be getting the way. It's
    Centos 5.2 32bit if that matters.

    It does appear the disk image was created and was written (to some
    extent) correctly:

    [root at pipit ~]# ls -lh /vm/1/vm-1.img
    -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4.1G Jan 14 05:03 /vm/1/vm-1.img

    [root at pipit ~]# file /vm/1/vm-1.img
    /vm/1/vm-1.img: x86 boot sector; partition 1: ID=0x83, active, starthead
    1, startsector 63, 208782 sectors; partition 2: ID=0x8e, starthead 0,
    startsector 208845, 8177085 sectors

    However, attempting to start vm-1 yields the following:

    [root at pipit ~]# virsh start vm-1
    libvir: Xen Daemon error : POST operation failed: (xend.err "Error
    creating domain: Boot loader didn't return any data!")
    error: Failed to start domain vm-1

    Thanks,
    Jim Trainor

    Kai Schaetzl wrote:
    Jim Trainor wrote on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:22:38 -0500:


    virt-install --paravirt -name vm-1 --ram 512 --file /vm/1/vm-1.img
    --file-size -4 --nographcs --location:nfs:192.168.1.101:/mnt/iso
    did you type this or did you copy this from the shell?
    There are several errors/typos in it.

    virt-install -p --location=ftp://...... --noautoconsole --nographics --
    file=/home2/vm/d-minimal.img --file-size=1 --name=d-mini --ram%6

    does work.

    Even if it's possible to omit the equals signs I would think that "-4"
    *means* "minus 4" .... And ":" for the "=" are surely not allowed I guess.

    Kai

    _______________________________________________
    CentOS-virt mailing list
    CentOS-virt at centos.org
    http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos-virt
  • Kai Schaetzl at Jan 16, 2009 at 1:13 pm ⇧

    Jim Trainor wrote on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:23:42 -0500:

    I added the "--nonsparse" option to my virt-install command and
    discovered that the disk was running out of space (doh!).
    So, without it it apparently creates sparse files then ;-)
    Nevertheless, I find the nature of the problem somewhat suprising. The
    formatting of /boot should be the first thing done after creating the
    partitions. The "running out of space" should only happen when it has
    formatted / and tries to install software that needs more than those 3,9
    GB on it.

    Kai

    --
    Kai Sch?tzl, Berlin, Germany
    Get your web at Conactive Internet Services: http://www.conactive.com

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