Namran Hussin Linux,Virtualization,Windows Installing windows XP on XEN virtualization in CentOS 5

Installing windows XP on XEN virtualization in CentOS 5

9 March , 2009 10:389 March , 2009 10:38| Namran HussinNamran Hussin| 8 Comments | 10:38
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In this post I will explain on how to Install windows XP on Xen virtualization engine in CentOS 5.
In comparison to VMware based virtualization .. this one might be a bit behind in term of functionality and user-friendliness.

Prior to the installation process.. make sure you had the Windows XP Installation CD handy or

copy it into the system itself in iso format..with these command.

Read through the feature list before starting..

assume you CD-Drive is /dev/hda and the destination as /data/iso/

dd if=/dev/hda of=/data/iso/XP3_3282_V2_EN.iso

then only start ..

First of all have to make sure ,you’ve got the xen kernel already installed.

if not having yet. better off start with

yum groupinstall "Virtualization"

then all the virtualization package will be installed..

to verify

yum install qemu

it shall install the emulator that need to run windows O/S

after all packages has been install.. you can start the virtual machine manager

using commad

virt-manager

or using shortcut at Application -> System Tools -> Virtual Machine Manager

something like this will appear.

localhost


highlight the localhost qemu and press File-> Open Connection.

the status will change to Active

and now you can click the New button.

new-virtual-system

Press Forward.. it will asked for the new system name.

naming-virtual-system

Put any name that make sense to you.. and press Forward.

and it will asked for virtualization method..

in this case it will be fully virtualized with some choice of architecture to be selected.

choose-method-2

and press Forward button.. and it will asked for Locating installation media.

locationg-installation-media

here you can specify where to get the installation media.. as per defined on the first paragraph in this article.
Press Browse button and point it to the iso image that had been copied earlier.

be it at 

/data/iso/XP3_3282_V2_EN.iso

or anywhere you have put it.

and also specify the OS Type .

os-type

and OS Variant..

windows-variant

Select windows and -> Microsoft Windows XP.

then it will asked to assign the storage…

assigning-storage-space

Here you can select either pointing to real physical device or just to a single file..

allocatee

Press Forward and it will asked for Network interface to connect to host network.

connect-to-host-network

then time to Allocate Memory & CPU..

allocate-memory-cpu

and press Forward.. ready to begin screen will pop up..

ready-to-begin

whenever you hit the Finish button.. it will automatically start with.. creating storage system..

creating-storage

Creating domain.. and then starting to install windows..

startingcpu-load

hmm.. it will go on.. like the normal windows xp..

enter-continue1

but don’t be surprised if CPU load shoot up.. .. my previous attempt the CPU load will go as high as 26.7..
[ad#postad]
freaking-load-average

.. just as normal process ..

wind-xp-setup

wait.. and.. wait.. till it done..

25-minutes

here can notice the CPU load will go up..

dones

seting-displah

personalized_setting

hmm.. here I did play a bit with the display..

virtual-display

so that when i use ssh with port forwarding.. to the box from my other machine (nbnamran)

ssh root@machine-ip -L5900:127.0.0.1:5900

i can view the xp machine with just

vncviewer localhost

..

qemuqemu-runnig

and.. that’s about it..

p/s : this one project failed me because.. I am unable to use my USB Network Card(dongle) with the windows XP XEN virtualization guest.

there are simply no option to attach USB dongle from the Virtual Hardware . some were pointing to manual hack at the config.. but to no avail..

some got it worked to attach USB thumbdrive.. but not that simple as the “VMware Player ” interface .. (which can just unplug-plug. ).. lol.

hardware

and my personal comment of CPU load.. it is very irriating.. as same machine to use VMware virtualization would’nt suffer that much CPU load.. though.

may be some time later to write about VMware virtulization instead.. *sigh*

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8 thoughts on “Installing windows XP on XEN virtualization in CentOS 5”

  1. HawkEye,
    I have followed your directions, but I get an error at the end start of the build: “ValueError: Could not find an installable distribution at ‘/data/iso/WinXP_SP2_EN.iso'”
    I have tried various ways to create a WinXP iso, your directions were the last I used. All other attempts also failed…Not sure what to try next. When I check the file, it seems to be OK…

    file /data/iso/WinXP_SP2_EN.iso
    /data/iso/WinXP_SP2_EN.iso: ISO 9660 CD-ROM filesystem data ‘VRMPOEM_EN ‘ (bootable)

    Any Ideas?

    Reply

    1. Perhaps would verify the WinXP CD is actually not corrupted.. and if the CD-Drive is working fine..

      then .. check if the iso files actually accessible by the xen lib..

      else should check the xen lib is properly installed and also verify the current running kernel is xen enabled..

      then might be a reinstall the virtualization group would be the next thing to try ..

      btw: what host are u using ? .. my experience was based on CentOS 5.2 host.. so far it went smooth as above..

      Reply

  2. I have built the iso several times, once from Windows CD burner app and twice with “dd” command like you showed…no reported issues…only assuming it is OK.

    How would I verify it is accessible by “xen lib”?
    How would I check to see if xen lib is properly installed?

    I am installing on IBM x345 dual Xeon 2.4GHz cpu with 4GB ram (single cores). I did the install of “Virtualization” group per some earlier notes I saw on the subject…I cannot do the “Fully Virtualized” install because the hardware I have doesn’t support it…so I did the Paravirtualized option.

    Any suggestions I could try tonight would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

    1. check the xen kernel by running this at terminal

      uname -a

      shall be ended with -xen at the end..

      mine is something like this..

      [root@fedora ~]# uname -a
      Linux fedora.namran.net 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5xen #1 SMP Tue Dec 16 13:08:49 EST 2008 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

      and the file


      [root@fedora ~]# ll /data/iso/XP3_3282_V2_EN.iso
      -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 670576640 Feb 21 00:07 /data/iso/XP3_3282_V2_EN.iso

      mine also a para-virtualization as unable to become utilize full-virtualization

      [root@fedora ~]# cat /proc/cpuinfo
      processor : 0
      vendor_id : GenuineIntel
      cpu family : 15
      model : 2
      model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
      stepping : 9
      cpu MHz : 2992.718
      cache size : 512 KB
      fdiv_bug : no
      hlt_bug : no
      f00f_bug : no
      coma_bug : no
      fpu : yes
      fpu_exception : yes
      cpuid level : 2
      wp : yes
      flags : fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe up cid xtpr
      bogomips : 7487.18

      if all fail, shall consider to seek help from bugs.centos.org or forum http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/viewforum.php?forum=37

      Reply

  3. # uname -ra
    Linux homer 2.6.18-92.1.22.el5xen #1 SMP Tue Dec 16 13:08:49 EST 2008 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

    # ls -l /data/iso/WinXP_SP2_EN.iso
    -rw-r–r– 1 root root 607559680 Mar 22 11:30 /data/iso/WinXP_SP2_EN.iso

    # cat /proc/cpuinfo
    processor : 0
    vendor_id : GenuineIntel
    cpu family : 15
    model : 2
    model name : Intel(R) XEON(TM) CPU 2.40GHz
    stepping : 4
    cpu MHz : 2672.992
    cache size : 512 KB
    fdiv_bug : no
    hlt_bug : no
    f00f_bug : no
    coma_bug : no
    fpu : yes
    fpu_exception : yes
    cpuid level : 2
    wp : yes
    flags : fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm
    bogomips : 6689.88

    processor : 1
    vendor_id : GenuineIntel
    cpu family : 15
    model : 2
    model name : Intel(R) XEON(TM) CPU 2.40GHz
    stepping : 4
    cpu MHz : 2672.992
    cache size : 512 KB
    fdiv_bug : no
    hlt_bug : no
    f00f_bug : no
    coma_bug : no
    fpu : yes
    fpu_exception : yes
    cpuid level : 2
    wp : yes
    flags : fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm up
    bogomips : 6689.88

    processor : 2
    vendor_id : GenuineIntel
    cpu family : 15
    model : 2
    model name : Intel(R) XEON(TM) CPU 2.40GHz
    stepping : 4
    cpu MHz : 2672.992
    cache size : 512 KB
    fdiv_bug : no
    hlt_bug : no
    f00f_bug : no
    coma_bug : no
    fpu : yes
    fpu_exception : yes
    cpuid level : 2
    wp : yes
    flags : fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm up
    bogomips : 6689.88

    processor : 3
    vendor_id : GenuineIntel
    cpu family : 15
    model : 2
    model name : Intel(R) XEON(TM) CPU 2.40GHz
    stepping : 4
    cpu MHz : 2672.992
    cache size : 512 KB
    fdiv_bug : no
    hlt_bug : no
    f00f_bug : no
    coma_bug : no
    fpu : yes
    fpu_exception : yes
    cpuid level : 2
    wp : yes
    flags : fpu tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm up
    bogomips : 6689.88

    Reply

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