source: trunk/packages/xen-common/xen-common/docs/man/xmdomain.cfg.pod.5 @ 34

=head1 NAME

xmdomain.cfg - xm domain config file format

=head1 SYNOPSIS

 /etc/xen/myxendomain
 /etc/xen/myxendomain2
 /etc/xen/auto/myxenautostarted

=head1 DESCRIPTION

The B<xm>(1) program uses python executable config files to define
domains to create from scratch.  Each of these config files needs to
contain a number of required options, and may specify many more.

Domain configuration files live in /etc/xen by default, if you store
config files anywhere else the full path to the config file must be
specified in the I<xm create> command.

/etc/xen/auto is a special case.  Domain config files in that
directory will be started automatically at system boot if the
xendomain init script is enabled.  The contents of /etc/xen/auto
should be symlinks to files in /etc/xen to allow I<xm create> to be
used without full paths.

Options are specified by I<name = value> statements in the
xmdomain.cfg files.

=head1 OPTIONS

The following lists the most commonly used options for a domain config
file.  

=over 4

=item B<kernel>

The kernel image for the domain.  The format of the parameter is the
fully qualified path to the kernel image file,
i.e. I</boot/vmlinuz-2.6.12-xenU>.


=item B<ramdisk>

The initial ramdisk for the domain.  The format of the parameter is
the fully qualified path to the initrd, i.e. I</boot/initrd.gz>.  On
many Linux distros you will not need a ramdisk if using the default
xen kernel.

=item B<memory>

The amount of RAM, in megabytes, to allocate to the domain when it
starts.  Allocating insufficient memory for a domain may produce
extremely bizarre behavior.  If there isn't enough free memory left on
the machine to fulfill this request, the domain will fail to start.

Xen does not support overcommit of memory, so the total memory of all
guests (+ 64 MB needed for Xen) must be less than or equal to the
physical RAM in the machine.

=item B<name>

A unique name for the domain.  Attempting to create two domains with
the same name will cause an error.

=item B<root>

Specifies the root device for the domain.  This is required for Linux
domains, and possibly other OSes.

=item B<nics>

The number of network interfaces allocated to the domain on boot.  It
defaults to 1.

=item B<disk>

An array of block device stanzas, in the form:

    disk = [ "stanza1", "stanza2", ... ]

Each stanza has 3 terms, separated by commas,
"backend-dev,frontend-dev,mode".

=over 4

=item I<backend-dev>

The device in the backend domain that will be exported to the guest
(frontend) domain.  Supported formats include:

I<phy:device> - export the physical device listed.  The device can be
in symbolic form, as in sda7, or as the hex major/minor number, as in
0x301 (which is hda1).

I<file://path/to/file> - export the file listed as a loopback device.
This will take care of the loopback setup before exporting the device.

=item I<frontend-dev>

How the device should appear in the guest domain.  The device can be
in symbolic form, as in sda7, or as the hex major/minor number, as in
0x301 (which is hda1).

=item I<mode>

The access mode for the device.  There are currently 2 valid options,
I<r> (read-only), I<w> (read/write).

=back

=item B<vif>

An array of virtual interface stanzas in the form:

    vif = [ "stanza1", "stanza2", ... ]

Each stanza specifies a set of I<name = value> options separated by
commas, in the form: "name1=value1, name2=value2, ..."

B<OPTIONS>

=over 4

=item I<bridge>

The network bridge to be used for this device.  This is especially
needed if multiple bridges exist on the machine.

=item I<mac>

The MAC address for the virtual interface.  If mac is not specified,
one will be randomly chosen by xen with the 00:16:3e vendor id prefix.

=back

=item B<vfb>

A virtual frame buffer stanza in the form:

    vfb = [ "stanza" ]

The stanza specifies a set of I<name = value> options separated by
commas, in the form: "name1=value1, name2=value2, ..."

B<OPTIONS>

=over 4

=item I<type>

There are currently two valid options: I<vnc> starts a VNC server that
lets you connect an external VNC viewer, and I<sdl> starts an internal
viewer.

=item I<vncdisplay>

The VNC display number to use, defaults to the domain ID.  The
VNC server listens on port 5900 + display number.

=item I<vnclisten>

The listening address for the VNC server, default 127.0.0.1.

=item I<vncunused>

If non-zero, the VNC server listens on the first unused port above
5900.

=item I<vncpasswd>

Overrides the XenD configured default password.

=item I<display>

Display to use for the internal viewer, defaults to environment
variable I<DISPLAY>.

=item I<xauthority>

Authority file to use for the internal viewer, defaults to environment
variable I<XAUTHORITY>.

=back

=back

=head1 ADDITIONAL OPTIONS

The following options are also supported in the config file, though
are far more rarely used.

=over 4

=item B<builder>

Which builder should be used to construct the domain.  This defaults
to the I<linux> if not specified, which is the builder for
paravirtualized Linux domains.

=item B<cpu>

Specifies which CPU the domain should be started on, where 0 specifies
the first cpu, 1 the second, and so on.  This defaults to -1, which
means Xen is free to pick which CPU to start on.

=item B<cpus>

Specifies a list of CPUs on which the domains' VCPUs are allowed to
execute upon.  The syntax supports ranges (0-3), and negation, ^1.
For instance:

    cpus = "0-3,5,^1"

Will result in CPUs 0, 2, 3, 5 being available for use by the domain.

=item B<extra>

Extra information to append to the end of the kernel parameter line.
The format is a string, the contents of which can be anything that the
kernel supports.  For instance:

    extra = "4"

Will cause the domain to boot to runlevel 4.

=item B<nfs_server>

The IP address of the NFS server to use as the root device for the
domain.  In order to do this you'll need to specify I<root=/dev/nfs>,
and specify I<nfs_root>.

=item B<nfs_root>

The directory on the NFS server to be used as the root filesystem.
Specified as a fully qualified path, i.e. I</full/path/to/root/dir>.

=item B<vcpus>

The number of virtual cpus to allocate to the domain.  In order to use
this the xen kernel must be compiled with SMP support.

This defaults to 1, meaning running the domain as a UP.

=back

=head1 DOMAIN SHUTDOWN OPTIONS

There are 3 options which control domain shutdown (both planned and
unplanned) under certain events.  The 3 events currently captured are:

=over 4

=item B<on_shutdown>

Triggered on either an I<xm shutdown> or graceful shutdown from inside
the DomU.

=item B<on_reboot>

Triggered on either an I<xm reboot> or graceful reboot from inside the
DomU.

=item B<on_crash>

Triggered when a DomU goes to the crashed state for any reason.

=back

All of them take one of 4 valid states listed below.  

=over 4

=item B<destroy>

The domain will be cleaned up completely.  No attempt at respawning
will occur.  This is what a typical shutdown would look like.

=item B<restart>

The domain will be restarted with the same name as the old domain.
This is what a typical reboot would look like.

=item B<preserve>

The domain will not be cleaned up at all.  This is often useful for
crash state domains which ensures that enough evidence is to debug the
real issue.

=item B<rename-restart>

The old domain will not be cleaned up, but will be renamed so a new
domain can be restarted in it's place.  The old domain will be renamed with
a suffix -1, -2, etc, and assigned a new random UUID; the new domain will
keep the original name and UUID.  The old domain will release the devices that
it holds, so that the new one may take them.

=back

=head1 EXAMPLES

The following are quick examples of ways that domains might be
configured.  They should not be considered an exhaustive set.

=over 4

=item I<A Loopback File as Root>

    kernel = "/boot/vmlinuz-2.6-xenU"
    memory = 128
    name = "MyLinux"      
    root = "/dev/hda1 ro"
    disk = [ "file:/var/xen/mylinux.img,hda1,w" ]

This creates a domain called MyLinux with 128 MB of memory using a
default xen kernel, and the file /var/xen/mylinux.img loopback mounted
at hda1, which is the root filesystem.

=item I<NFS Root>

FIXME: write me

=item I<LVM Root>

FIXME: write me

=item I<Two Networks>

FIXME: write me

=back

=head1 SEE ALSO

B<xm>(1)

=head1 AUTHOR

  Sean Dague <sean at dague dot net>

=head1 BUGS

Not all options are currently documented