During the process of creating a new virtual machine, initial start-up
settings are written to a file created at
/etc/xen/vm/
. During the creation process, the
virtual machine starts according to settings in this file, but the
settings are then transferred and stored in xend for ongoing operations.
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Modifying the initial start-up file to create or make changes to a virtual machine is not recommended. The preferred method for changing a virtual machine’s settings is to use Virtual Machine Manager as described in Section 5.3, “Configuring a Virtual Machine by Modifying its Xend Settings”. |
When a virtual machine’s settings are stored in xend, it is referred to
as a xen-managed domain
or xen-managed virtual
machine
. Whenever the xen-managed virtual machine starts, it
takes its settings from information stored in the xend database, not from
settings in the initial start-up file.
Although it is not recommended, you might need to start an existing
virtual machine based on settings in the initial start-up file. If you do
this, any xend settings stored for the virtual machine are overwritten by
the start-up file settings. Initial start-up files are saved to
/etc/xen/vm/
.
Values must be enclosed in single quotes, such as localtime =
'0'.
vm_name
Table A.1. Initial start-Up File Entries and Descriptions
Entry |
Description |
---|---|
disk = |
Virtual disks for the virtual machine. For example: disk = [ 'file:/var/lib/xen/images/VM1_SLES10/hda,xvda,w' ] This entry specifies a virtual disk based on a file ( file:) named hda and located at /var/lib/xen/images/VM1_SLES10/. It presents itself as the first drive (xvda) and has read/write access (w). Disks can also be based on a block device. |
memory = |
Virtual memory in Mb. |
vcpus = |
Number of virtual CPUs. |
builder = |
Specifies paravirtual mode (Linux) or full virtualization mode (hvm). |
name = |
Name of the virtual machine. |
vif = |
Randomly-assigned MAC addresses and bridges assigned to use the virtual machine’s network addresses. |
localtime = |
Specifies a localtime (0) or UTC (1) time setting. |
on_poweroff = |
Specifies the action that the virtual machine performs when the operating system is powered off. |
on_reboot = |
Specifies the action that the virtual machine performs when the operating system reboots. |
on_crash = |
Specifies the action that the virtual machine performs when the operating system crashes. |
extra = |
Parameters passed to the kernel. |
bootloader = |
Location and filename of the domU boot loader. |
bootentry = |
Location of the kernel and initial ramdisk. |
ostype = |
Type of operating system. |
uuid = |
Identification number for a virtual drive. |