diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/virtual/lguest/lguest.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/virtual/lguest/lguest.txt | 128 |
1 files changed, 128 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/virtual/lguest/lguest.txt b/Documentation/virtual/lguest/lguest.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dad9997 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/virtual/lguest/lguest.txt @@ -0,0 +1,128 @@ + __ + (___()'`; Rusty's Remarkably Unreliable Guide to Lguest + /, /` - or, A Young Coder's Illustrated Hypervisor + \\"--\\ http://lguest.ozlabs.org + +Lguest is designed to be a minimal 32-bit x86 hypervisor for the Linux kernel, +for Linux developers and users to experiment with virtualization with the +minimum of complexity. Nonetheless, it should have sufficient features to +make it useful for specific tasks, and, of course, you are encouraged to fork +and enhance it (see drivers/lguest/README). + +Features: + +- Kernel module which runs in a normal kernel. +- Simple I/O model for communication. +- Simple program to create new guests. +- Logo contains cute puppies: http://lguest.ozlabs.org + +Developer features: + +- Fun to hack on. +- No ABI: being tied to a specific kernel anyway, you can change anything. +- Many opportunities for improvement or feature implementation. + +Running Lguest: + +- The easiest way to run lguest is to use same kernel as guest and host. + You can configure them differently, but usually it's easiest not to. + + You will need to configure your kernel with the following options: + + "General setup": + "Prompt for development and/or incomplete code/drivers" = Y + (CONFIG_EXPERIMENTAL=y) + + "Processor type and features": + "Paravirtualized guest support" = Y + "Lguest guest support" = Y + "High Memory Support" = off/4GB + "Alignment value to which kernel should be aligned" = 0x100000 + (CONFIG_PARAVIRT=y, CONFIG_LGUEST_GUEST=y, CONFIG_HIGHMEM64G=n and + CONFIG_PHYSICAL_ALIGN=0x100000) + + "Device Drivers": + "Block devices" + "Virtio block driver (EXPERIMENTAL)" = M/Y + "Network device support" + "Universal TUN/TAP device driver support" = M/Y + "Virtio network driver (EXPERIMENTAL)" = M/Y + (CONFIG_VIRTIO_BLK=m, CONFIG_VIRTIO_NET=m and CONFIG_TUN=m) + + "Virtualization" + "Linux hypervisor example code" = M/Y + (CONFIG_LGUEST=m) + +- A tool called "lguest" is available in this directory: type "make" + to build it. If you didn't build your kernel in-tree, use "make + O=<builddir>". + +- Create or find a root disk image. There are several useful ones + around, such as the xm-test tiny root image at + http://xm-test.xensource.com/ramdisks/initrd-1.1-i386.img + + For more serious work, I usually use a distribution ISO image and + install it under qemu, then make multiple copies: + + dd if=/dev/zero of=rootfile bs=1M count=2048 + qemu -cdrom image.iso -hda rootfile -net user -net nic -boot d + + Make sure that you install a getty on /dev/hvc0 if you want to log in on the + console! + +- "modprobe lg" if you built it as a module. + +- Run an lguest as root: + + Documentation/lguest/lguest 64 vmlinux --tunnet=192.168.19.1 --block=rootfile root=/dev/vda + + Explanation: + 64: the amount of memory to use, in MB. + + vmlinux: the kernel image found in the top of your build directory. You + can also use a standard bzImage. + + --tunnet=192.168.19.1: configures a "tap" device for networking with this + IP address. + + --block=rootfile: a file or block device which becomes /dev/vda + inside the guest. + + root=/dev/vda: this (and anything else on the command line) are + kernel boot parameters. + +- Configuring networking. I usually have the host masquerade, using + "iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE" and "echo 1 > + /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward". In this example, I would configure + eth0 inside the guest at 192.168.19.2. + + Another method is to bridge the tap device to an external interface + using --tunnet=bridge:<bridgename>, and perhaps run dhcp on the guest + to obtain an IP address. The bridge needs to be configured first: + this option simply adds the tap interface to it. + + A simple example on my system: + + ifconfig eth0 0.0.0.0 + brctl addbr lg0 + ifconfig lg0 up + brctl addif lg0 eth0 + dhclient lg0 + + Then use --tunnet=bridge:lg0 when launching the guest. + + See: + + http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/networking/bridge + + for general information on how to get bridging to work. + +- Random number generation. Using the --rng option will provide a + /dev/hwrng in the guest that will read from the host's /dev/random. + Use this option in conjunction with rng-tools (see ../hw_random.txt) + to provide entropy to the guest kernel's /dev/random. + +There is a helpful mailing list at http://ozlabs.org/mailman/listinfo/lguest + +Good luck! +Rusty Russell rusty@rustcorp.com.au. |