Installation on Linux 2.6 - Revision history

Glenn: +cat

2011-10-21T19:11:03Z

+cat

KornAndras: /* Getting the Sources */ removed uv-testing URL from text

2010-09-20T08:25:25Z

‎Getting the Sources: removed uv-testing URL from text

KornAndras: /* Getting the Sources */ fix broken link

2010-09-20T07:33:50Z

‎Getting the Sources: fix broken link

KornAndras: /* Getting the Sources */ move and fix broken link to experimental patch versions

2010-09-20T07:33:05Z

‎Getting the Sources: move and fix broken link to experimental patch versions

KornAndras: Many added comments and explanations; fix grammar in some places; reference http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/

2010-09-20T07:31:25Z

Many added comments and explanations; fix grammar in some places; reference http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/

72.78.217.192: /* Manual Kernel Compilation */

2010-06-02T23:11:38Z

‎Manual Kernel Compilation

122.249.238.158: Add another git note re fetching kernel source.

2010-02-28T05:39:59Z

Add another git note re fetching kernel source.

122.249.238.158: Add note about using a VCS (e.g., Git) instead of copying files about.

2010-02-28T05:36:14Z

Add note about using a VCS (e.g., Git) instead of copying files about.

82.238.35.175: /* Enabling VServers on startup */ new subsection

2009-01-09T17:13:04Z

‎Enabling VServers on startup: new subsection

220.133.59.174: /* Configuring the Kernel */

2008-09-13T22:06:52Z

‎Configuring the Kernel

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:11, 21 October 2011
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	Now that your setup is complete and working as expected, it is time to create your first guest system. Read on at [[Building Guest Systems]].		Now that your setup is complete and working as expected, it is time to create your first guest system. Read on at [[Building Guest Systems]].
		+
		+	[[Category:Installation]]

@@ Line 213: / Line 213: @@
 === Getting the Sources ===
-You will have to download the latest util-vserver source tarball from our [[Downloads]] section. In this guide we will use util-vserver-0.30.215, but note that for recent kernels and especially development versions of the vserver kernel patch, you'll need a much more recent development version from [http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/ http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/].
+You will have to download the latest util-vserver source tarball from our [[Downloads]] section. In this guide we will use util-vserver-0.30.215, but note that for recent kernels and especially development versions of the vserver kernel patch, you'll need a much more recent [http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/ development version].
 As a first step, of course, we need to get the sources.

@@ Line 213: / Line 213: @@
 === Getting the Sources ===
-You will have to download the latest util-vserver source tarball from our [[Downloads]] section. In this guide we will use util-vserver-0.30.215, but note that for recent kernels and especially development versions of the vserver kernel patch, you'll need a much more recent development version from [http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/|http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/].
+You will have to download the latest util-vserver source tarball from our [[Downloads]] section. In this guide we will use util-vserver-0.30.215, but note that for recent kernels and especially development versions of the vserver kernel patch, you'll need a much more recent development version from [http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/ http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/].
 As a first step, of course, we need to get the sources.

@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 === Getting the Sources ===
-You'll need the vanilla kernel sources (i.e. those from [http://www.kernel.org kernel.org]) and (of course) a Linux-VServer patch for the kernel version you intend to use. You can find links to both files in our [[Downloads]] section.
+You'll need the vanilla kernel sources (i.e. those from [http://www.kernel.org kernel.org]) and (of course) a Linux-VServer patch for the kernel version you intend to use. You can find links to both files in our [[Downloads]] section. (Note that for recent kernels, only development versions of the vserver patch exist. You can obtain these from [http://vserver.13thfloor.at/Experimental http://vserver.13thfloor.at/Experimental].)
 In this document we will use Linux 2.6.22.19 with Linux-VServer 2.2.0.7.
@@ Line 59: / Line 60: @@
 cat ../patch-2.6.22.19-vs2.2.0.7.diff | patch -p1
 </pre>
 Now you have two sources, the vanilla sources for 2.6.22.19 and the Linux-VServer sources for 2.6.22.19-vs2.2.0.7. You might ask "Why do I need two source trees at all? I only want one kernel!" and that's a good question.

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 You might ask yourself, why should I build a custom kernel? Manually configuring a kernel is often seen as the most difficult procedure a Linux user ever has to perform. Nothing is less true -- after configuring a couple of kernels you don't even remember that it was difficult ;)
-However, one thing is true: you must know your system when you start configuring a kernel manually. Nevertheless there are good reasons to build your kernel manually:
+However, one thing is true: you must know your system when you start configuring a kernel manually.
 * Your distribution does not have a prebuilt Linux-VServer kernel
 * Your distribution does not have the latest and greatest
 * You don't want to install bloated prebuilt kernels
@@ Line 13: / Line 16: @@
 * You can tell everyone that you built your kernels manually ;)
-If you still intend to build your own kernel, read on. Otherwise have a look at our [[Documentation]] section for how to install a prebuilt Linux-VServer kernel for your distribution.
+If you still don't want to build your own kernel, have a look at our [[Documentation]] section for how to install a prebuilt Linux-VServer kernel for your distribution. Otherwise, read on.
 === Getting the Sources ===
@@ Line 56: / Line 59: @@
 cat ../patch-2.6.22.19-vs2.2.0.7.diff | patch -p1
 </pre>
 Now you have two sources, the vanilla sources for 2.6.22.19 and the Linux-VServer sources for 2.6.22.19-vs2.2.0.7. You might ask "Why do I need two source trees at all? I only want one kernel!" and that's a good question.
@@ Line 67: / Line 72: @@
 === Configuring the Kernel ===
-Under Ubuntu (on 8.04 Hardy x86_64 tested) the configuration files of the existing kernel can be found in the /boot directory with a name similar to: config-'uname -r'-general. This file can be used if copied to the source dir of the kernel as a starting point to configure the rest of the kernel. The filename must be .config
+Under Ubuntu (on 8.04 Hardy x86_64 tested) the configuration files of the existing kernel can be found in the /boot directory with a name similar to: config-'uname -r'-general. This file can be used if copied to the source dir of the kernel as a starting point to configure the rest of the kernel. The filename must be <tt>.config</tt>.
 Now go to your kernel source directory and execute make menuconfig. This will fire up an ncurses-based configuration menu. (Of course you can use whatever configuration method you like, there is a text based one (make config), a GTK based one (make gconfig), and even a QT based one (make xconfig))
 <pre>
@@ Line 75: / Line 81: @@
 </pre>
-It is out of the scope of this guide to explain all the available configuration options. If you feel unsure about certain options either leave it with the default value, or consult your distribution manuals for help.
+It is out of the scope of this guide to explain all the available configuration options. If you feel unsure about certain options, either use the default value, or consult your distribution manuals and the documentation shipped with the kernel for help.
 Nevertheless, we will explain the Linux-VServer configuration options, of course. Depending on your version your configuration options may look similar to the following:
@@ Line 111: / Line 117: @@
 ; Enable Legacy Kernel API
-: This enables the legacy API used in vs1.xx, maintaining compatibility with older vserver tools, and guest images that are configured using the legacy method.
+: This enables the legacy API used in vs1.xx, maintaining compatibility with older vserver tools, and guest images that are configured using the legacy method. You shouldn't enable it for new linux-vserver installations.
 ; Show a Legacy Version ID
@@ Line 120: / Line 126: @@
 ; Enable/Disable Legacy Networking Kernel API
-: This enables/disables the legacy networking API which is required by the chbind tool in util-vserver <= 0.30.209. Do not disable it unless you exactly know what you are doing.
+: This enables/disables the legacy networking API which is required by the chbind tool in util-vserver <= 0.30.209. That is a fairly old version of util-vserver, so unless you know you'll be using something that ancient, feel free to disable this option.
 ; Automatically Assign Loopback IP
-: Enable this to get a unique 127.x.y.1(x.y matches the context id) address for each network context automatically, and enable the NXF_LBACK_REMAP and NXF_HIDE_LBACK flags. This creates a per-guest, isolated 127.0.0.1 address.
+: Enable this to get a unique 127.x.y.1(x.y matches the context id) address for each network context automatically, and enable the NXF_LBACK_REMAP and NXF_HIDE_LBACK flags. This creates a per-guest, isolated 127.0.0.1 address. This has the side effect that services bound to 127.0.0.1 on the host will be inaccessible from guests by default; be sure this is what you want before enabling this option.
 ; Automatic Single IP Special Casing
-: Enabling this option will make the kernel automatically set NXF_SINGLE_IP for contexts which have only one IP address (note: an lback address does not count).
+: Enabling this option will make the kernel automatically set NXF_SINGLE_IP for contexts which have only one IP address (note: a loopback address does not count). (TODO: add a link here to a page that explains what NXF_SINGLE_IP does, or briefly explain it here.)
 ; Remap Source IP Address
@@ Line 132: / Line 138: @@
 ; Enable COW Immutable Link Breaking
-: This enables the COW (Copy-On-Write) link break code. It allows you to treat [[Unification|unified files]] like normal files when writing to them (which will implicitly break the link and create a copy of the unified file)
+: This enables the COW (Copy-On-Write) link break code. It allows you to treat [[Unification|unified files]] like normal files when writing to them (which will implicitly break the link and create a copy of the unified file). Note that this currently doesn't work on xfs; on xfs, the new copy of the unified file will contain only binary zeroes.
 ; Enable Virtualized Guest Time
@@ Line 138: / Line 144: @@
 ; Enable Guest Device Mapping
-: This enables a generic remapping/access control interface for device nodes used inside the guest.
+: This enables a generic remapping/access control interface for device nodes used inside the guest. For example, you could rewrite a guest's attempts to use /dev/hda to /dev/sda. This is normally not needed; guests don't normally use device nodes associated with physical hardware at all. (Of course, remapping can also be applied to device nodes that don't correspond to physical hardware.)
 ; Enable Proc Security
@@ Line 168: / Line 174: @@
 ; VServer Warnings
-: Enables warnings. There's not really a good reason to disable it.
+: Enables warnings (sent to the kernel log during runtime). There's really no good reason to disable this.
 ; VServer Debugging Code
@@ Line 195: / Line 201: @@
 # make && make modules_install
 </pre>
 If you don't happen to have a really fast box, it is a good time to get a new cup of coffee now ;)
@@ Line 206: / Line 214: @@
 === Getting the Sources ===
-You will have to download the latest util-vserver source tarball from our [[Downloads]] section. In this guide we will use util-vserver-0.30.215.
+You will have to download the latest util-vserver source tarball from our [[Downloads]] section. In this guide we will use util-vserver-0.30.215, but note that for recent kernels and especially development versions of the vserver kernel patch, you'll need a much more recent development version from [http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/|http://people.linux-vserver.org/~dhozac/t/uv-testing/].
 As a first step, of course, we need to get the sources.

@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 But be aware that this needs some discipline when hacking the source. Because hard-linked files share the same data on the disk, you need to make sure that your editor does ''The Right Thing'', otherwise you might mess up all your source trees...
-An even better way of dealing with this, if using more disk space is not a big issue, is to use a version control system. [http://git-scm.com/ Git], for example, is specifically designed for dealing with a project with many different but similar versions, and is in fact used to handle the source code of the Linux kernel itself.
+An even better way of dealing with this, if using more disk space is not a big issue, is to use a version control system. [http://git-scm.com/ Git], for example, is specifically designed for dealing with a project with many different but similar versions, and is in fact used to handle the source code of the Linux kernel itself. Rather than downloading and extract a tarfile, it's possible to directly copy the kernel sources from the Git repository at [git.kernel.org] into your own local repository.
 === Configuring the Kernel ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:36, 28 February 2010
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	But be aware that this needs some discipline when hacking the source. Because hard-linked files share the same data on the disk, you need to make sure that your editor does ''The Right Thing'', otherwise you might mess up all your source trees...		But be aware that this needs some discipline when hacking the source. Because hard-linked files share the same data on the disk, you need to make sure that your editor does ''The Right Thing'', otherwise you might mess up all your source trees...
		+
		+	An even better way of dealing with this, if using more disk space is not a big issue, is to use a version control system. [http://git-scm.com/ Git], for example, is specifically designed for dealing with a project with many different but similar versions, and is in fact used to handle the source code of the Linux kernel itself.

	=== Configuring the Kernel ===		=== Configuring the Kernel ===

@@ Line 228: / Line 228: @@
 # Configure the sources (you may want to adjust settings here, the defaults work, but may not suit your needs)
-./configure --prefix=
+./configure --prefix=... --sysconfdir=... --localstatedir=...
 # Build the tools
@@ Line 239: / Line 239: @@
 /etc/init.d/vprocunhide restart (this path depends on configuration, see output of 'vserver-info')
 </pre>
 === Testing your setup ===