Re: [gentoo-amd64] Re: how to build xen kernel with genkernel 3.4.10?

[David Shen]

Thank you. I really did make initramfs my self before, but since we
have genkernel, I did not make it myself for a long time. And other
reason I want to use genkernel rather than do it myself is that I do
not have physical access to that server, I control it through SSH. So,
if I failed...I need to make a trip ;(. Anyway, I think it is a good
time to learn how to make initramfs again ;).


On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 10:59 PM, Duncan<1i5t5.duncan@×××.net> wrote:
> David Shen <davidshen84@××××××××××.com> posted
> 53e35fd50906201903j565753edre2148ff57729466d@××××××××××.com, excerpted
> below, on  Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:03:51 +0800:
>
>> According to gentoo bug #120236, genkernel will not directly support
>> build xen kernel. Does this means I will have to apply the patch in the
>> bug whenever I want to build my xen kernel with genkernel? My system is
>> build on LVM, so I need genkernel to build the start up script to active
>> LVM. Is there a better way to build xen kernel with genkernel?
>
> That bit about LVM isn't correct.  Think about it.  LVM isn't a Gentoo
> invention, while genkernel is a Gentoo app.  What do you think Red Hat,
> Debian and others do to support / on LVM?  They aren't going to run
> genkernel.
>
> While I specifically chose not to put / (or my backup /) on lvm here
> precisely to avoid having to generate an initrd or initramfs as I wanted
> to keep the setup simple, building an initramfs/initrd isn't Gentoo or
> genkernel specific.  There's instructions out there much as there are
> for / on md/kernel RAID and LVM.  If you're working at a sufficiently
> advanced enough level to need both xen and LVM, and to contemplate doing
> the xen kernel patches, then I'd suggest you're advanced enough to learn
> how to manage the kernel, including an initramfs and/or an initrd,
> without genkernel.
>
> Meanwhile, patching the kernel is no big deal.  I created my own scripts
> here to automate my own kernel building, after doing it manually for some
> time.  They apply any patches they find in my patch dir as part of the
> process.  I'm now running direct upstream git repository based kernels,
> occasionally applying patches that haven't yet made it to mainline, but
> while the scripts do deal with patching, as I chose a system simple
> enough not to have to worry about an initrd/initramfs, I haven't dealt
> with that manually and thus haven't expanded the scripts to deal with it
> either.
>
> I'd suggest simply biting the bullet.  Just as you evidently did in
> learning how to setup xen and lvm in the first place, and I did with GRUB
> (I was using LILO until recently), LVM and md/kernel-RAID among other
> things fairly recently and the kernel itself some years ago here, I'd set
> aside a bit of time to go thru the documentation, digesting it in enough
> depth not only well enough to follow some step-by-step, but until I
> groked the basic process well enough to do decent troubleshooting of any
> problems that may come up, as necessary.  That way, when the automated
> tools like genkernel fail because you're now out in territory beyond what
> they're designed to handle, you know the process well enough to deal.
>
> Just "IMHO.  YMMV."  =:^)
>
> --
> Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
> "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
> and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman
>
>
>



-- 
Best Regards,
David Shen