XAPI Ubuntu Install

Ubuntu is supported both as a PV or HVM guest on XAPI-based orchestrators like XenServer. Ubuntu 10.04 LTS works out-of-the-box as a PV guest.

There's some helpful information on the Ubuntu wiki, but bear in mind this information is oriented towards a local Xen Project configuration, not specifically XAPI:

• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Xen
• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/XenProposed (a better version of the docs)

Considerations for XenServer Users

On XenServer, the easiest way to install a new Ubuntu guest is to use XenCenter and one of the built-in Ubuntu templates.

If using the Ubuntu template in XenCenter to create a new VM, enter this URL as the InstallURL to setup a new copy of Ubuntu: http://archive.ubuntu.net/ubuntu. This will allow you to easily do a network install with 10.04.

If you have boot problems, please read XAPI_Ubuntu_PV for more information about configuring the Ubuntu kernel to boot correctly from XenServer.

XAPI packages in Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS

Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS now supports the Xen Project Hypervisor, the XAPI packages (called XCP-XAPI) and XAPI-based OpenStack plug-ins. The inclusion of the XAPI packages into Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS makes the Xen Project Hypervisor more easily accessible to Ubuntu users and adds a wealth of enterprise virtualization functionality.

Access via XAPI protocol on Ubuntu Server 12.04

This post suggests that an adjustment to the PAM rules is needed for remote XAPI nodes to access the server. This affects XenServer's XenCenter and third-party XAPI-based orchestrators.

Edit the /etc/pam.d/xapi file as follows. If you change the file to look like this, you should be able to log in with a XAPI-based orchestrator:

#%PAM-1.0
auth include common-auth
account include common-auth
password include common-auth

Documentation

• XAPI package on Ubuntu
• XAPI documentation on Ubuntu
• OpenStack documentation