From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Christopher Allan Webber Subject: Re: Hosting a GuixSD server on commodity hosting platforms, a journey Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2016 14:53:45 -0600 Message-ID: <87mvge6oiu.fsf@dustycloud.org> References: <878ts212ic.fsf@dustycloud.org> <871sxt1sho.fsf@dustycloud.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:43512) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1cCuq6-0008W6-8x for help-guix@gnu.org; Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:53:51 -0500 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1cCuq4-0003F3-Uh for help-guix@gnu.org; Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:53:50 -0500 Received: from dustycloud.org ([2600:3c02::f03c:91ff:feae:cb51]:57428) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.0:DHE_RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1cCuq4-0003Ea-PG for help-guix@gnu.org; Fri, 02 Dec 2016 15:53:48 -0500 Received: from oolong (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by dustycloud.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 975C02672C for ; Fri, 2 Dec 2016 15:53:46 -0500 (EST) In-reply-to: <871sxt1sho.fsf@dustycloud.org> List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: help-guix-bounces+gcggh-help-guix=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: "Help-Guix" To: help-guix Hello everyone! So I got a very nice and useful response about getting GuixSD working on Rackspace Cloud. I've gotten permission to post the conversation verbatim, so I've done so below. But here's the tl;dr: - In order for our image to work, we need to get XenServer and nova-agent working and running on it. DHCP isn't used. - Apparently the right format is "VHD in an OVF container" but is hard to get right. I'm assuming we probably won't get it right by guessing based on that description. - So we probably should use this tool to do our first attempt (then figure out from there how to generate such an image ourselves without help): http://rackerlabs.github.io/boot.rackspace.com/ - In order to use that, we'll need to supply a .iso, so I guess in order to move forward with the Rackspace route, we'll need to finish figuring out how to generate a .iso here too! Thanks again to AlexOughton for the useful feedback. > [Fri Dec 2 2016] > hi, i just saw your question about GuixSD on #rackspace. you'll > need to get both the XenServer tools and the nova-agent working, > as Rackspace Cloud doesn't use DHCP [14:52] > hi! Ah I see :) > I've been documenting my attempt at getting GuixSD on Rackspace > here: > http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-guix/2016-11/msg00073.html > http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-guix/2016-11/msg00074.html > [14:54] > mind if I paste your reply here into the #guix irc channel and/or > to the mailing list? > sure. i don [14:55] > sure. i don't know how far you're going to get with image import > methods (as this can be flaky, and also requires VERY specific > format). you might get better luck bootstrapping your own custom > image this way: http://rackerlabs.github.io/boot.rackspace.com/ > [14:56] > that only provides a few distros, but there are ways of pointing > iPXE to your own ISO file to then boot that and perform an > installation [14:57] > ok, thanks. Yeah I was having trouble finding any information > about what the expected format is [15:00] > and there doesn't seem to be much info > i believe it's VHD in an OVF container. [15:02] > i think your success or failure is going to be down to whether > or not the OS works on XenServer (which is what our hypervisors > are), and whether or not the XenServer tools work. what kernel > does guixsd use? > linux-libre 4.8.10 is latest I think [15:03] > you can install other kernels > but that's the default > ok, well since it's a Linux my guess would be that it's possible > to get XenServer tools working. and then the nova-agent is just > python, so hopefully that's possible too [15:04] > cool, ok. I guess we need both nova-agent and XenServer then :) > right. the boot.rackspace link i gave you above has > documentation for getting both of those working as well > cool... well, I was just looking into making a .iso of the boot > install media yesterday (currently we mostly use a USB install > stick) so I guess there's extra motivation to do that now :) > [15:05] > thanks for your help, this was a very useful conversation. Okay > for me to just paste this conversation verbatim to the mailing > list? [15:06] > yep, no problem. as long as it's understood that i'm just > answering as an individual, and that this isn't any kind of > official rackspace support answer. because it's definitely not > something which rackspace would be able to support for you > [15:07] > understood :) > thank you! > you're welcome > I really appreciate it :)