Please refer to new thread:

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=30719.0

 

unRAID has made it clear to me and others that it does not support this effort. Therefore, I will no longer be investing my time with documentation, maintaining unRAID-Xen kernels or supporting it.

very interesting thread...thanks!...I'll follow it for sure.

 

[glow=red,2,300]Xex or ESX Passthrough Heaven:[/glow] With the above motherboard, you can passthrough sata ports 1 - 4 and leave port 5 for a datastore drive.

 

This is working with XEN or ESXi or both?

I am not aware of a case for getting passthrough with on-board ports, which are integrated in the chipset, to work with ESXi.

 

Or is this a feature of the AMD line of products?

Are you aware of a similar board from ASUS (I am going to build one in the future but want ECC Support, which ASRock support confirmed that all their boards will not support)

 

BTW: KVM has passthrough/vt-d working as well...I'll check out ProxmoxVE next.

 

With the motherboard I got, you can passthrough the on-board sata in both Xen / XenServer and ESXi. It allows you to passthrough 4 of the 5 ports if you want and leave the 5th for a local drive too. Onboard NIC also works in Xen / XenServer and ESXi as well.

 

...cool 

Haven't seen this before...thanks for confirming.

Meanwhile, I found this, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_900_chipset_series?vesection=7#Southbridge_issues_.28SB9x0.29

Southbridge issues (SB9x0)

 

Linux platform:

[...]

Enabling multiple MSI vectors for the SATA controller when 3 or more SATA ports are used results in loss of interrupts and system hang.

How stable is your setup with on-board ports spilt between VMs?

 

Yes it does and it is a great Hypervisor as well. I wouldn't recommend it to the novice user though.

 

Don't worry...I can make my way.

 

I am specifically into the AMD platform...have build in the past, using ESXi, XEN and Proxmox.

I am currently running several Intel based ESXi boxes, because I need ECC RAM, ZFS with Full disk encryption and vt-d support.

Onyl recently, after ZFS-on-Linux has been announced stable, I found AMD to be a chaeper solution, offering ECC Support (and AES Instructions) with their AM3+ line.

All ASUS Desktop AM3+ mobos support ECC.

 

I found reference that the ASUS M5A97 R2.0 will support IOMMU....as well as for the Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 (also with reference for ECC support)....will look into these for future builds.

Here are the results of a quick test I did using the EXACT same hardware / setup for XenServer 6.2 and ESXi 5.1. (Both were only configured with 1 CPU and 1GB of memory.)

[...]

NOTE: I didn't bother mapping the drives via RDM in Xen or ESXi so if any of you want to try that out and post your results... Knock yourself out.

[...]

 

I believe RDM would not work for XEN as the disks will be named /dev/xda[nn] instead of /dev/sda[nn], which is not supported within emhttp. ?

Noon question. For intel do you need a CPU that supports vt-d to run Xenserver?

 

Reason I ask is that I have mb that supports vt-d but CPU doesn't, so can get a CPU if necessary to get it running but if it isn't then would prefer to save the money.

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

You can map a physical drive (Raw file images, LVMs, iSCSI, vdmk, etc.) in Xen and assign it whatever you want and easily make unRAID see / use it.

 

Example:

 

disk = [

      'phy:/dev/cleopatra/menas,sda,w',

      'phy:/dev/cleopatra/menas_swap,sdb,w'

      'disk = ['tap:aio:/xen/XenGuest1.img,sda1,w', 'tap:aio:/xen/XenGuest1.swap,sda2,w']

]

 

Good info again, thanks.

All XEN distros I've been in touch with mapped all disks into domU as /dev/xvd[a..z] or /dev/xd[a..z].

..same as for KVM and virtio, where disks are mapped as /dev/vd[a..n]...only until a scsi-passthrough driver has been introduced recently, as with RDM for ESXi.

Noon question. For intel do you need a CPU that supports vt-d to run Xenserver?

 

You can run Xen on a non vt-d / amd-v chip but you are limited to running OSes in x86 mode. unRAID is x86 anyway and unless you are some power user with Linux or Windows or need more than 4gb of ram... You wouldn't notice the difference anyway.

 

If you have a spare drive or install XenServer (or a Linux Xen Distro) to a usb... Fire it up and test away. When done, boot off your regular hard drive or usb stick like you always did.

 

Cool. Thanks for the quick reply.

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

This is an extremely well written and informative post. Thank you.

 

I'm on holiday now for a week or two but will definitely be checking this out on my return.

 

Cheers!

Hi ddeeds, I am sad to report that even though I got the unraid VM working

 

when I run the pci passthrough  and try to boot the VM I get

"Jul 26, 2013 11:48:43 PM Error: Starting VM 'unRaid-rc16c' - Internal error: xenopsd internal error: Xenctrl.Error("38: Function not implemented")"

 

I guess my MB can will not work for this Bummer.

will have to think something else I guess.

 

thanks for help...

Hi ddeeds, funny, I was thinkig to try the xen on ubuntu my self. I am preaty sure the passthrough is correct. When I run the vm-param-set I get no error. But when I try to start the unraid vm it will not start.and I get the error in log.  As soon as I remove the pass through with vm param remove, all is fine.

I was thinkig of trying the pass through on my ubuntu serve vm for goos mesure.

 

Ps?I do not "like" ubunu. I do not have any preference to a specific distro as I do not use linux most of the time, it just seams as very popular and very recomended distro. I have tried Mint as well, I just not sure what the best distro for doing what I want this this build.

 

 

PS>> not sure if this might work since I do not know how to implemenmt it

but I found this post on how to do passthrough for non iommu supporting hardware//

 

http://ogris.de/howtos/xen-pci-passthrough.html

 

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

Also ddeeds, can I install ubuntu server wuth gui to use as dom0 for xen? Or thst would be overkill?

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

Ok here is thelis :-)

 

1. This is not priduction environment. It is a home lab. I am trying to build.

2. Time is not that critical as I would like to a thorough setup of base as in xen or what ever virt. Environment I will end up with.

3. However, I donot have lots of time to play. So I will try to figure out what the best thing to use right now even if I can not move my unraid to it.

Also I just build the machine so only vms I have is your ubraid setup and a ubuntu server 12.04 which is bare setup. Just build it to test if I can and if it works. You can se the config and progerss in my new build thread I opened . Link is in my sig. As I chug along I post the progress there

 

 

I think I will stick with xen though.  Esxi have limts on ram for host to 32gb. And it stil not support passthrough on my hardware.  Hyperv is ot good with passthrough as well and cost is prohibitive for proper setup. I am not running a busienss where I could justify the expence.

 

I started to use unraid as a backend for my htpc. Still do that. But want to have some additional things to play with, and to have some other options for home netwok.

If I could workout the passthrough thing I planed to add a cable card tunner to the server and run couple of htpc off it. Well maybe in a few years when I can replace md thar works.

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

Tashak, the xenserver is not a linux distro ;-)  and how do you get the size of the distro figure out?

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

Just to clarify my last post, I ment to say that xs is not a simple distro, and it might reserve space for its internal need. The recommend minimum size of install media is 16gb. It must have need this space for something.

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

Thanks for this guide, currently running XCP 1.6 so will surely be updating to XenServer 6.2 and trying this out.

 

I hit a bit of a confidence issue with using XCP/Xen when my host started crashing, I pinned it down eventually to my sabnzbd VM.  I am a bit paranoid now about running unRaid in a VM if another VM can cause the entire host to fail.  Need to do some trouble shooting, I am no Linux expert so my first step is to setup a remote syslog-ng server and point the various logs to that to see what happens just before it all goes down.  Any ideas or suggestions for trouble shooting would be welcome although I am wary of taking this thread off-topic.

 

Also off-topic I would love an idea as to what it takes to get nvidia cards passed through.  Currently using an AMD 7750 via windows with XBMC, longer term would like one VM just running OpenElec and Nvidia (for HD audio) and a separate one running games (Steam/Hyperspin).

 

Thanks again for what I am sure will be a useful guide for me!

Quick background question really. Is this used in many large business environments? I've come across a lot of ESX setups through work, but not one of these. Maybe it's just the sector I work in? Thought it was worth an ask though.

 

Additionally I do have an M1015, which I couldn't pass through using ESX. Will give this a test drive and let you know how I get on! ;-)

 

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using Tapatalk 4

 

 

Guys this back and forth is starting to clog a really good thread.

 

I think both of you recognize what each has said and are just getting into a loop of explaining what you have said and why and both getting frustrated. Could we just leave it where it is and move on? Don't want to see this good work get binned, because things get out of hand.

 

Ddeeds I think everyone is happy if you just recompile when you have time and not in a rush, as it sounds like you have a lot on at the moment and it sounds like tashak is more comfortable QA'ing then compiling it himself and it can't hurt to have a sort of two step process so long as people aren't rushed into doing quick fixes.

 

I think if you guys work together on this working to your strengths we'll have a great alternative to ESX.

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

You guys make feel guilty for starting this mess :-)

But as usual I will live with my guilt.

 

And let me reiterated on behalf of all people here that we are very grateful to have you here and thank you for your time and efforts in this matter. 

 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

Thanks for this guide, currently running XCP 1.6 so will surely be updating to XenServer 6.2 and trying this out.

 

I hit a bit of a confidence issue with using XCP/Xen when my host started crashing, I pinned it down eventually to my sabnzbd VM.  I am a bit paranoid now about running unRaid in a VM if another VM can cause the entire host to fail.  Need to do some trouble shooting, I am no Linux expert so my first step is to setup a remote syslog-ng server and point the various logs to that to see what happens just before it all goes down.  Any ideas or suggestions for trouble shooting would be welcome although I am wary of taking this thread off-topic.

 

I have never had a VM since I've run Xen for the last year or so take down the whole server.

 

As far as your sabnzbd crashing? Try reloading the linux VM and reloading sabznd. It's a very simple / easy package to install. You are talking about downloading, checking / testing files, unraring files, repairing them, renaming them, copying them to various places, etc.

 

Are you sure you gave it enough horsepower (CPUS, Memory, hard drive space, etc.) and set the settings in sabNZBd correctly?

 

I know it is easy, just that I would like to know what causes it prior to scrapping it and starting again.  If a client can take down the host it kind of defeats the purpose of virtualisation and consolidation.  I had it running (different VM, the Xen one was fresh) under ESXi for a long time without issue.  It had 2 vcpus, out of 4 available and 4GB RAM.  Only 8GB storage with all usenet stuff on a separate non-VM unRaid server.

 

Also off-topic I would love an idea as to what it takes to get nvidia cards passed through.  Currently using an AMD 7750 via windows with XBMC, longer term would like one VM just running OpenElec and Nvidia (for HD audio) and a separate one running games (Steam/Hyperspin).

 

Windows, OpenElec, etc. works like a champ with AMD / ATI. nVidia is a little more complicated. It can be done but it's not easy / mainstream yet. The Xen team is putting everything they have into nVidia, Intel video and their newly rolled out ARM support for either a Hypervisor or Guest.

 

By the time you get around to doing you OpenElec / nVidia solution... I'm sure it will be ready to go and I will have a guide posted by then if needed.

 

If there was a suggested model and a guide which makes it even 1/10th as easy as getting AMD to work in XCP I would order one immediately 

unRAID-rc16c-xen-LATEST <---- Download Link

Crashed.  Exactly the same way.  No new screenshot needed.

 

No files are missing from this bzroot though.  Which proves that you used different commands for unpacking/repacking this time.

 

It also proves that my crash has nothing to do with unpacking/repacking.  It's rather a problem with the kernel modules.

 

Did you do anything funny with the modules after the `make` command, or did you just copy the new /lib/modules/ to the bzroot-open folder?

 

Below are the steps that I used:

 

Note: I rename the orginal /usr/src/linux-3.9.6p-unRAID to something else and symbolic link /usr/src/linux-3.9.6 to /usr/src/linux-3.9.6p-unRAID

 

make -j8 bzImage
make -j8 modules
make modules_install
cp arch/x86/boot/bzImage /mnt/cache/bzimage-xen
cd /mnt/cache/.unraiddev/bz-xen
xzcat ../bzroot | cpio -i -d -H newc --no-absolute-filenames
rsync -av --delete /lib/modules/3.9.6p-unRAID/ /mnt/cache/.unraiddev/bz-xen/lib/modules/3.9.6p-unRAID/
find . | cpio -o -H newc | xz --format=lzma > /mnt/cache/bzroot-xen

 

Anything you recommend I do different?

 

[glow=red,2,300]When it's all said and done and we feel good about the bzroot and bzimage:[/glow]

 

1. I am not going to post a bzroot & bzimage.

 

2. I am going to create a 100mb unRAID vhd (Xen's version of a vdmk) file that has the Xen bzroot & bzimage files and boot up files needed in it.

 

3. Users will download the unRAID.vhd and import that into XenServer or Xen Distro.

 

4. Users will create unRAID VM and set what they want for number of CPUs / Memory / Network / etc.

 

5. They will add the 100mb virtual drive to their new unRAID VM.

 

6. Fix the Boot Order of the unRAID VM so it boots off 100mb unRAID virtual hard drive.

 

7. Start the unRAID VM (booting off the unRAID virtual hard) and have it use the bzroot & bzimage in the unRAID.vhd file)

 

8. It will read any keys and use the unRAID USB Stick for all scripts, config files, plugins, etc.

 

There are several reasons why I am going to do that...

 

1. In XenServer (this doesn't apply to Xen in a Distro) the users would have to drop to command line and modify the unRAID VM configuration file (and probably the fstab in the bzroot) for the unRAID VM to read their Plus / Pro key off the unRAID USB stick.

 

I AM NOT going to support / assist users with booting directly off of the unRAID USB because it is a total headache for me and the users if they create / delete / move their unRAID VM or they move the unRAID USB stick to a different usb port. They would have to modify the unRAID VM configuration file each time that happened.

 

2. By not replacing the unRAID USB stick bzroot & bzimage file... If their XenServer (Xen in a Distro) has a problem they can just boot directly off the unRAID USB stick and have a running / working unRAID system.

 

3. I only have to support / upgrade the 100mb unRAID.vhd file(s) with unRAID-rc16c and when unRAID 5.0 is finally released.

 

4. I will not have to chase down a million problems like the one we are having now on your setup where the Xen bzroot & bzimage will not boot up "bare metal".

 

Once we have several different Linux Pros review the bzroot and how we compile the Xen drivers into the unRAID kernel... This is when I plan on posting the 100mb unRAID.vhd and removing the bzroot & bzimage files I have posted now.

 

If a user wants to compile their own kernel, they will have the information they need here to do it themselves. They would just mount the 100mb unRAID.vhd in linux and copy over their custom bzroot and bzimage file.

 

I will update page 1 with Step by Step guide and Screen Shots on how to do this once we iron out the last few issues.

 

Gets my vote!

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

Just 2 Questions

 

1: Can the XenServer be suspended to sleepmode (S3) and wake up with the WOL command?

2: Can the XenServer handle UPS? shutdown all VM and then shutdown the server

 

If this works, I',m thinking to give this a try and install it on a internal disk?

 

//Peter

 

 

 

back from my holiday today and having been paying close attention to this thread I was super keen to get XenServer up ASAP.

 

Cut a long story short, NOPE.

 

My mobo does not support PCI passthrough it would seem. Upon running the list-pci-assignable command (or whatever it was) nothing was listed. Just nothing. So I whipped an old PC from the cupboard and checked I wasn't going mad and got so far as this command for a second time, and the old PC worked great - until I tried to start unRAID (this machine didn't support IOMMU it was AMD based). This was passing through my Supermicro SAS card. I feel like this card will work once I have the correct brain behind it.

 

Not wishing to clog the thread up with hardware recommendations too much, but I'm really interested in getting this working. Cheapest quad CPU / mobo combo that matches the power / performance of the i3 2120?

 

 

*** EDIT

 

I think actually, just a CPU upgrade is required to get that all important vt-d technology. I'm looking at the CPUs on this page here and would be grateful for advice. Xeon or i5 2500?

 

http://ark.intel.com/search/advanced/?s=t&Sockets=LGA1155&VTX=true&VTX_ExtendedPageTables=true&VTD=true

I think actually, just a CPU upgrade is required to get that all important vt-d technology. I'm looking at the CPUs on this page here and would be grateful for advice. Xeon or i5 2500?

 

What motherboard, memory and CPU are in your main machine (where Xen didn't show the Device IDs)?

 

What motherboard, memory and CPU are in your old machine (where you got Xen to show the Device IDs)?

 

What is your budget?

 

Main machine is in my sig, old machine is so old I'm not entertaining the idea of it working. My preliminary research points me toward an i5 2500. H77 appears to support vt-d, as does this cpu. seems the cheapest upgrade path atm.

I think actually, just a CPU upgrade is required to get that all important vt-d technology. I'm looking at the CPUs on this page here and would be grateful for advice. Xeon or i5 2500?

 

What motherboard, memory and CPU are in your main machine (where Xen didn't show the Device IDs)?

 

What motherboard, memory and CPU are in your old machine (where you got Xen to show the Device IDs)?

 

What is your budget?

 

Main machine is in my sig, old machine is so old I'm not entertaining the idea of it working. My preliminary research points me toward an i5 2500. H77 appears to support vt-d, as does this cpu. seems the cheapest upgrade path atm.

 

The chipset may support it but the manufacturer needs to implement it so you'll need to check the manual / manufacturer website to confirm they've built in the vt-d support / enabled the bios option.

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

This is all very new to me, but I'm very fascinated with all this so please have some patience with me.

 

So, XENserver is actually a Linux based OS?

When I start up the computer it goes straight to XENserver where I choose which "computer" I want to start, or I can just create a new computer with any OS of my choice, even unRAID? What about PFSENSE?

And if my XENserver computer dies, I just need to get another XENserver set up again and all my other "computers" will start up like nothing ever happened?

 

On my current unRAID machine, can I run XENserver off a USB drive, then start up unRAID (from another USB stick) inside XEN? Would I have to reconfigure my unRAID array?

 

If my XENserver is headless, do I manage and access all my machines from a web browser, like on an iPad or do I need another computer installed with some kind of console?

 

When my XENserver starts up, will it automatically start the other "computers"?

 

Can I store the virtual machines on an unRAID share, and will XEN know to start the other virtual machines AFTER unRAID has started up?

 

I probably just need 2 or 3 machines (unRAID, slackware, windows) at the moment. I guess that I would need a reasonably powerful computer, like something with a quadcore? Does it need very specific type of hardware, like server motherboards and stuff?

As my needs grow, would I be able to easily move everything to a new XENserver?

 

I was looking around for information about virtualbox in unRAID before I came across this thread. One of the things that I thought about was that if I had to restart unRAID then all my virtual machines need to be shutdown. I'm playing around with my unRAID setup quite a bit - installing packages and plugins, trying things out and I actually need to restart unRAID quite often. So XEN gets a point here. On the other hand Virtualbox seems easier to install, and that's important for a noobie like me.

 

I would love to give this a try. I would need lots of instruction, but I think I can follow instructions well enough.

 

I guess the first thing I need to do is to determine whether XEN will run on my hardware?