Re: Installing a NetBSD DomU on a file-backed disk

[Blair Sadewitz <blair.sadewitz%gmail.com@localhost>]

On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 1:42 PM,  <metalliqaz%fastmail.fm@localhost> wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 12, 2012, at 11:13 AM, Blair Sadewitz wrote:
>> On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 11:01 AM, Manuel Bouyer 
>> <bouyer%antioche.eu.org@localhost>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > I guess a small ext2 partition with the config file and netbsd kernel
>> > at the start of the virtual disk should be enough.
>> >
>>
>> That's what I thought--and that's why I think I must be doing
>> something wrong.  The instructions most applicable to my situation are
>> these:
>>
>> http://wiki.prgmr.com/mediawiki/index.php/NetBSD_as_a_DomU
>>
>> Do note that I have no /dev/xvda as is mentioned there.  This system
>> is setup without any partition table, just an ext3 filesystem.  By
>> partition, did you mean slice in a disklabel or actual partition a la
>> fdisk?
>>
>> If there's anything you'd like to see from my next attempt, just let me
>> know.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> --Blair
>
> I actually wrote most of the stuff on that wiki page.
>
> It is a moderately complicated procedure.  If you're totally new to all
> this, you may want to just run one of the provided Linux images.  You do
> have to wipe the entire disk.  If your provider doesn't support these
> procedures, then just give it up.
>
> My procedure went something like this:
> * Re-partition the disk with FDISK.
> * Make a small boot partition right at the beginning of the disk, make
> it ext2, and drop your kernels there.
> * disklabel the disk manually during the NetBSD install.
> * use the rest of the disk for BSD as you see fit.
> * install grub manually on the boot partition.
>

I was playing around with it, and it seems, as I suspected, that isn't
fdisk isn't going to work.  There is enough room, though, to write a
bsd label; it allows me to write the label and the netbsd installer
will boot again via grub.  Hmm ...

> I'm leaving a lot out from that procedure.  I can say that on my own
> system with NetBSD in a DomU, I don't bother with all that business and
> I just copy my kernel to the Dom0 and do it the old fashioned way
> (without grub).
>

Hopefully I can persuade the system administrator to make it easier on
me, but I'm not about to give up just yet ;-)