[Modularit-devel] Types of VM installations

[Miguel Armas]

Hi all
we are starting to rethink the virtual machine installation method to
support non-paravirtual vm

These are the three methods we are thinking of

  * Use appliance-tools: Tools from thincrust.org that allow to create
appliance VM templates
    * Pros:
      * Already existing project, we just need to document and create
kickstart files
      * Very simple to use and share appliance
      * Its a RedHat ET project, so it integrates with other tools as
virt-image, oVirt, etc
      * They are working on support for EC2, vmware, etc
    * Cons:
      * Uses anaconda code base, only works for distros supported by
anaconda (not for debian/ubuntu)
      * Mixing versions, since we run everything in the dom0, we may
have problems creating appliance different versions. For example,
right now it's not possible to create a Fedore10 livecd from Fedora11.
We may workaround this problem running appliance-creator under mock

  * Use the --bootstrap in vmtools: it basically uses debootstrap for
debian and yum chroot for fedora/centos
    * Pros:
      * Simple, already done
    * Cons:
      * Right now it only works for paravirtual vm that uses exported
partitions (not virtual disks with partitions)
      * To support virtual disks we may need some work
      * We may have problems booting the created vm (grub, etc)
because we are mixing versions (just like appliance-tools)

  * Use virt-manager: Prepare e setup where we start a virtual machine
and use e preconfigured netboot and unattended install (kickstart and
pre-seed)
    * We will need to setup a DHCP/TFTP combined server in the dom0 to
serve the installation images
    * Since every dom0 has a private net libvirt0, we can use this
private network for vm deploy
    * During the vm install we need to use serial console, because we
may be installing remotely without access to connect to the graphic
console
    * We need to either setup a local repo or cache all downoloaded
packages in the dom0 (for all supported distros)
    * Pros:
      * We can use this method for ANY system (even windows servers)
      * We can use it to install in real hardware or in different
virtualization platforms (vmware, etc)
    * Cons:
      * May require a lot of work
      * We need serial console during the install
      * If we install in the virbr0 network we need to change config
and network setup in the VM to go into production

I'm interested in knowing which methods people would prefer and if
anyone has any more suggestions

Salu2!
-- 
Miguel Armas <kuko at canarytek.com>
CanaryTek Consultoria y Sistemas SL
ModularIT http://www.modularit.org/