Debian Lenny
Introduction
From version 5.5 onwards XenServer supports Debian GNU/Linux 5 AKA "Lenny" as a guest Virtual Machine. This includes installation of Lenny from a standard Debian network mirror as well as installation from CD/DVD image.
Note that XenServer 5.5 only supports 32 bit installations of Lenny.
Installation From DVD/CD
Unfortunately at the time of release the Official Debian installation CD and DVD ISO images did not contain a XenServer-compatible kernel and therefore cannot be used with XenServer. To remedy this Citrix has made available a custom built Unofficial DVD image containing a XenServer-compatible kernel.
Downloading A XenServer-compatible installation ISO
Citrix has made the DVD image available using the Jigdo(Jigsaw Download) utility. Jigdo allows ISO images to be downloaded quickly and efficiently by retrieving the majority of the data from a nearby mirror only obtaining a minimal template from the centralised download site.
If you have an existing Debian installation the obtaining jigdo is as simple as running
# aptitude install jigdo-file
If you do not have an existing Debian installation then jigdo can be download from its website. Jigdo is available for both Linux and Windows machines.
Once you have installed jigdo you should select a mirror from the Debian Mirror List. Choose a mirror which is geographically near to your location and which includes the i386 architecture. e.g ftp://ftp.XX.debian.org/debian/
After you have installed jigdo and selected a mirror you are ready to begin downloading the ISO from Citrix. Drop to a shell prompt or command line console. On Windows you will need to change to the directory where you unpacked jigdo.
Note: You must download the image from the URL given. The images available on Debian mirrors are not compatible with XenServer.
# jigdo-lite http://ca.downloads.xensource.com/debian/lenny/debian-503-i386-source-xen-DVD-1.jigdo
Jigdo will automatically download the template file (around 40M in size) and then will prompt you for a location to scan for existing packages. This can be useful if you have already downloaded Official Lenny images since you can reuse many of the packages on Official CDs. To do this simply mount or insert the Official CD/DVD and enter the path to it.
Next jigdo will prompt for a mirror to use, enter the mirror you selected above.
Jigdo will then begin downloading packages. If it complains about missing packages you should select another mirror and try again, this will not redownload any packages which were successfully retrieved.
When jigdo has completed it will leave debian-50-i386-source-xen-DVD-1.iso in the current directory.
Adding Additional CD/DVD Images
The custom XenServer-compatible DVD image contains a subset of the Debian software repository.
In order to access the remainder after installation you can either make use of a Debian network mirror in the normal way or you can add additional CD/DVD images using the Official images. To do this simply insert a CD/DVD into the virtual machine's CD drive and on the guest console run
# apt-cdrom add
Repeat this for as many CD/DVD images as you are interested in.
Comments (48)
Jun 18
Anonymous says:
Should be: aptitude install jigdo-fileShould be:
Jun 23
ian campbell says:
Fixed. Thank you very much.Fixed. Thank you very much.
Jun 26
Anonymous says:
A good idea would be to create a netinstall iso instead of complete Debian DVD I...A good idea would be to create a netinstall iso instead of complete Debian DVD ISO. That's a lot of brandwith wasted for a basic system install.
Jun 29
ian campbell says:
Thanks for the suggestion. Installation is already supported from a network repo...Thanks for the suggestion. Installation is already supported from a network repository (without an ISO). The purpose of the ISO image was to allow more complete installations in data centers where external network access is restricted and the ISO(s) are being downloaded elsewhere.
It might be interesting to augment that with a netinst ISO in the future though. The Debian tools do not allow you to build a combined binary+source netinst image which makes license compliance a lot more time consuming which is why I haven't simply just built one right away.
Thanks, Ian.
Jun 29
Anonymous says:
Jjigdo fails, it can't download one file (/dists/lenny/main/installer-i386/20090...Jjigdo fails, it can't download one file (/dists/lenny/main/installer-i386/20090123lenny1/images/netboot/xen/vmlinuz). The file seems to have changed it's under .../20090123lenny3/... now.
Will there be an update soon?
Jun 29
Anonymous says:
me to ,i change the file debian-50-i386-source-xen-DVD-1.jigdo,from 20090123lenn...me to ,i change the file debian-50-i386-source-xen-DVD-1.jigdo,from 20090123lenny1 to 20090123 or 20090123lenny3 , the file can be download ,but jigdo fails to build the ios image at the end.
Jun 30
ian campbell says:
Jigdo is pretty picky about the checksums of the files it downloads so simply ch...Jigdo is pretty picky about the checksums of the files it downloads so simply changing the URL would not have been sufficient. I have updated the jigdo file now so it should work for you.
Jul 01
Anonymous says:
Ii just download the file http://ca.downloads.xensource.com/debian/lenny/debian-...Ii just download the file http://ca.downloads.xensource.com/debian/lenny/debian-50-i386-source-xen-DVD-1.jigdo ,it did not change ,why ?
Jul 01
ian campbell says:
Sorry, I put the new files up and then forgot to update the symlink to point to ...Sorry, I put the new files up and then forgot to update the symlink to point to them, I have done it now.
Jul 01
Anonymous says:
it's OK. I successful installed lenny on xenserver 5.5 with the ios image ...it's OK. I successful installed lenny on xenserver 5.5 with the ios image your have made ,I found that
1 this image cann't be install by the means "install from ISO image";
2 this image can be install by the means "install from Physical DVD Drive";
but the smiplest way to install lenny on xenserver5.5 is "install from URL:http://mirrors.cn99.com/debian/".
and "install from Physical DVD Drive" is faster than "install from URL".
thanks.
Jul 02
ian campbell says:
Thankyou for the feedback. 1 this image cann't be install by the ...Thankyou for the feedback.
That's very strange, this is the option I use basically all the time and it works fine for me. If this really doesn't work for you it would be worth starting a separate thread on the forums about it (or talking to support if you have that option)
Jul 02
Anonymous says:
I use xencenter ,install from ISO image ,when the VM start, i got internal ...I use xencenter ,install from ISO image ,when the VM start, i got internal error :all loop devices are busy
Jul 03
ian campbell says:
Strange. http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?threadID=152245&tstart=0 sugg...Strange.
http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?threadID=152245&tstart=0 suggests you might need to make the export of your isosr rw not ro (i.e. in /etc/exports on the NFS server).
If that doesn't help it would be very useful if you were to either start a new forum thread or open a support case, including a server status report.
Jul 05
Anonymous says:
thank you I use windows xp cifo share like this \\192.168.8.58\iso ,i use ...thank you
I use windows xp cifo share like this \\192.168.8.58\iso ,i use cnetos5.3.iso for vm,the vm can start,i use debian-50-i386-source-xen-DVD-1.iso for vm ,the vm got internal error :all loop devices are busy. i change the user right for RW, the symptom didn't disappear.
i have test this on IBM x3650 with 2 CPU sockets , 9.1GB mem , local storage and IBM x3850M2 with 4 cpu sockets ,64GB mem , FC storage . this error all happen.
by the way ,the hosts's xen server 5.5.0 are upgrade from xenserver 5.0.0 p3,one have free license and one have essentials license.
Jul 07
Anonymous says:
sorry I change the iso share from one windows xp machine to another windows xp ...sorry
I change the iso share from one windows xp machine to another windows xp machine,it can boot .every thing is OK.
Jun 30
ian campbell says:
This was due to the recent Debian update to Lenny which included an update to th...This was due to the recent Debian update to Lenny which included an update to the installer, hence this file was removed from the Debian mirrors.
I have rebuilt the jigdo so that it does not require this file (it is now included in the .template). The link remains the same and now points to the new version.
Sep 08
Anonymous says:
Looks like it might need another update, I've got 64 files that won't download f...Looks like it might need another update, I've got 64 files that won't download from the site.
Most are harmeless, except that the dhcp3 client udeb has been updated, which is a somewhat useful to have for most networks.
Sep 10
ian campbell says:
Thanks, I was just preparing an update and have uploaded it now.Thanks, I was just preparing an update and have uploaded it now.
Jul 01
Anonymous says:
when do you expect to support 64bit installations of Lenny?when do you expect to support 64bit installations of Lenny?
Jul 02
ian campbell says:
Support for 64 bit installations of Lenny is conditional on upstream providing t...Support for 64 bit installations of Lenny is conditional on upstream providing that support in their installer. I'd expect that to land at least in the squeeze installer possibly to be part of the "Lenny-plus-half".
Jul 01
Anonymous says:
Must be some major changes - the current jigdo file download over 4gb but fails ...Must be some major changes - the current jigdo file download over 4gb but fails to build the iso file - says 241 files missing and i can't find them on any mirror - including the xensource one.
Jul 02
Anonymous says:
It doesen`t work anymore. I think this comes with the update to debian 5.0.2!...It doesen`t work anymore. I think this comes with the update to debian 5.0.2!?
Over 400 files cant be found.
Is there any way to download the needed files for an 5.0.2 installation??
(I`ve tryed it with the windows version - doesnt know if the linux version works)
thanks
f
Jul 02
ian campbell says:
Yes, it does appear that the 5.0.2 release has completely broken the jigdo. We w...Yes, it does appear that the 5.0.2 release has completely broken the jigdo. We were hoping that even with updates the original packages would remain on the Debian servers but apparently that is not the case.
I'll have to rebuild the jigdo from scratch against an updated mirror. This is likely to take me a little while.
Jul 02
Anonymous says:
OK - please inform us when you have finished! can you tell us when you prob...OK - please inform us when you have finished!
can you tell us when you probably will be done with that??
thanks a lot!!
f
Jul 02
ian campbell says:
It is done now and I have update the URL in the text.It is done now and I have update the URL in the text.
Jul 02
Dirk Heiss says:
Hi, same problem here - but if you provide http://snapshot.debian.net/archive/2...Hi,
same problem here - but if you provide http://snapshot.debian.net/archive/2009/01/30/debian/ you will find most of the files. Then try again and identify an outdated mirror which hosts the few files still missing, e.g. http://altruistic.lbl.gov/mirrors/debian worked for me... just as a quick fix for now.
D
Jul 03
Anonymous says:
OK - It seems to have worked this time (iso was build)... will install tomorrow....OK - It seems to have worked this time (iso was build)... will install tomorrow.
thank you a lott and good night!!
f
Jul 05
Anonymous says:
Hi is this procedure still needed or does the howto descriped on http://www.howt...Hi is this procedure still needed or does the howto descriped on http://www.howtoforge.com/virtualization-with-xenserver-5.5.0 (espacially page 4) lead to the same result?
Jul 07
ian campbell says:
That page describes doing a network install while this page is about doing insta...That page describes doing a network install while this page is about doing install from CD media. They are complementary and you can choose the one which suits you best.
The entire Debian archive is available via a network installation while the DVD image is limited to jsut the most "Popular" subset (unless you download many additional DVD images) on the flip side doing many network installations may use more bandwidth than downloading the ISO unless you have a local APT proxy of some sort.
Jul 07
Anonymous says:
...and the needed Kernel is installable via the Network install so you can insta......and the needed Kernel is installable via the Network install so you can install the xen tools and with this the PV drivers etc. ??
f
Jul 07
ian campbell says:
I'm not sure precisely what you are asking here but the -686-bigmem kernel v...I'm not sure precisely what you are asking here but the -686-bigmem kernel variant is available via both the network install and the custom ISO presented here. This kernel is needed to install a system which is bootable under Xen.
In both cases you would then go on to upgrade to the kernel present on the xs-tools.iso (which is embedded in XenServer) which is the Citrix supported kernel for Lenny.
Jul 29
Anonymous says:
Hello your method worked well for me, however when I try to run iptables I get...Hello
your method worked well for me, however when I try to run iptables I get errors.
Looks to me the kernel doesn't have iptables compiled into it
iptables -L
FATAL: Module ip_tables not found.
iptables v1.4.2: can't initialize iptables table `filter': iptables who? (do you need to insmod?)
Perhaps iptables or your kernel needs to be upgraded.
modprobe iptables
FATAL: Module iptables not found
Im I going to have to manually recompile the kernel ? I havent done that for years
Jul 30
ian campbell says:
Please see this forum thread for more info:http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?...Please see this forum thread for more info:http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1388926#1388926
Aug 03
Anonymous says:
When I tried using the jigdo file I got this error: Found 0 of the 4608 files r...When I tried using the jigdo file I got this error:
Found 0 of the 4608 files required by the template
IS there something I'm doing wrong?
Aug 03
Anonymous says:
The instruction worked fine for me some minutes ago ... i used http://ftp2.de.de...The instruction worked fine for me some minutes ago ... i used http://ftp2.de.debian.org as the mirror.
I used to upgrade the build-in etch-template to lenny by hand - it seems to result in high iowaits on various machines at the momentary patchlevel (machines act as lamp-webserver whit local storage). Anybody else having trouble with this ?
Sep 08
Anonymous says:
I install Etch, update to Lenny and can`t localize to russian in console... Only...I install Etch, update to Lenny and can`t localize to russian in console... Only ????? symbols...
Sep 10
ian campbell says:
You should post you issue to the support forums rather than appending it here.You should post you issue to the support forums rather than appending it here.
Oct 13
Anonymous says:
Hello, Thanks for this article i try to follow in practise. First attempts give...Hello,
Thanks for this article i try to follow in practise. First attempts gives me that one file were missing, trying with another ftp...
When you say "Unfortunately at the time of release the Official Debian installation CD and DVD ISO images did not contain a XenServer-compatible kernel and therefore cannot be used with XenServer." Is it also true with the centos releases as Citrix claims to support them into xenserver 5.5 ?
Where is the official Xenserver template repository for supported guests ?
Regards
Alex
Oct 13
ian campbell says:
CentOS supports installation as a Xen guest directly in the upstream media. The ...CentOS supports installation as a Xen guest directly in the upstream media. The issues described on this page are only to do with Debian.
I'm not sure what you mean by "official Xenserver template repository", all the supported guests have templates included in the XenServer installation by default.
Oct 13
Anonymous says:
If template update repository does not exist, it's normal you don't understand m...If template update repository does not exist, it's normal you don't understand my question
. I imagined that xenserver templates proposed into xenserver by default were not numerous when time goes and that we have to wait until the next xenserver release to have more of them. So, i were asking myself if an update repository were existing to add more "capabilities" to xenserver in terms of supported os.
Apparently, if i consider your answer, such a repository does not exist and we have to rely only on what is proposed by xenserver by default.
Oct 13
Anonymous says:
Now i still try to find the good ftp without success, i always have 0 files foun...Now i still try to find the good ftp without success, i always have 0 files found.
Do you have a recommanded one at this moment ?
Oct 14
ian campbell says:
http://www.debian.org/mirror/list contains the list of Debian mirrors. All of th...http://www.debian.org/mirror/list contains the list of Debian mirrors. All of them should work. If you are getting 0 files found then I suspect you are entering something expected. What exacly are you entering?
Oct 19
Nick Gorbikoff says:
Hello. I downloaded and created an ISO. When trying to create a VM I keep getti...Hello.
I downloaded and created an ISO. When trying to create a VM I keep getting this error
The bootloader for this VM returned an error. Did the Vm installation succeed?
Does anyone have any idea? ( I can still thou create and etch VM and then upgrade to lenny if I want, but I wanted to do this the "proper way" )
Oct 29
Anonymous says:
Nick: Did you manage to fix the bootloader problem? I ran into the same problem ...Nick: Did you manage to fix the bootloader problem? I ran into the same problem myself trying to install using the ISO, both from DVD and a network share. Have tried some suggestions found on the Internet, but no success. This is the full error message:
Error: Starting VM 'Herbert 2.0' - The bootloader for this VM returned an error -- did the VM installation succeed? Error from bootloader: Return code: 1; Log = Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/pygrub", line 719, in ?
raise RuntimeError, "Unable to find partition containing kernel"
RuntimeError: Unable to find partition containing kernel
Nov 04
ian campbell says:
What partitioning scheme did you use for the installation? pygrub cannot boot fr...What partitioning scheme did you use for the installation? pygrub cannot boot from LVM volumes for example so you may need to create a separate /boot partition.
Nov 04
ian campbell says:
If you dig through /var/log/messages and/or /var/log/xensoure.log you will hopef...If you dig through /var/log/messages and/or /var/log/xensoure.log you will hopefully find a more detailed error message which will give a hint to what actually went wrong.
Nov 03
Anonymous says:
Hello, I have got an error message: -2009-11-03 13:51:25- (V...Hello,
I have got an error message:
-
2009-11-03 13:51:25- (Versuch:20) http://ca.downloads.xensource.com/debian/lenny/debian-503-i386-source-xen-DVD-1.templateVerbindungsaufbau zu ca.downloads.xensource.com|70.42.241.100|:80... verbunden.
HTTP Anforderung gesendet, warte auf Antwort... Lesefehler (Die Wartezeit für die Verbindung ist abgelaufen) beim Vorspann (header).
Aufgegeben.
File `debian-503-i386-source-xen-DVD-1.template' does not exist!
Any suggestions?
Nov 04
ian campbell says:
I have just tried this and it is there now. Might have been a temporary outage o...I have just tried this and it is there now. Might have been a temporary outage or perhaps you have a proxy or something which is interfering.
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