Xen and convirt: how do I use it?

[sci-fi guy]

I am trying to wrap my head around using Xen and convirt (my only other experiance with VMs is VirtualBox and VMWare).

I am not sure how to create a new VM in convirt. I think I was going the right direction with right-clicking "Desktops" in the side panel and selecting "Add Server", but I got an error (see attached). The Xen guide in the Ubuntu wiki warns that the instructions are for Feisty, and not completely compatible with Gutsy (and I am using Intrepid); so I am not having much luck using that.

[eternaluxe]

Without knowing what you put in for the host name or your overall setup, I'm just taking a shot in the dark. If you are running Convirt on the same machine as your xen server, then I think you could use the local ip (or the local host name). Otherwise, use the ip of the managed server. You could use the host name of the managed server if it is registered in your domain's dns, other wise just add a line to your /etc/hosts file defining it.
ie:
192.168.1.100 managed-server
(or whatever the ip/host name combination is)
-Patrick

[sci-fi guy]

Well, I am running Xen and convirt on the same machine.I set the host name to this machine's name, and I am now getting a "Connection Refused" error (using my login/password for this machine).

[eternaluxe]

The convirt package for intrepid is version 8.2 which supports up to Xen 3.2. intrepid will install xen 3.1 (which will work) or xen 3.3 (which might not).
which version are you using?

dpkg -l | grep xen

should show which xen packages you have installed
If it's 3.3, you may need downgrade xen or upgrade convirt.
If it isn't we'll have to dig deeper.

[sci-fi guy]

It's 3.3.
Why would there be two different versions in the repos?

Hmm. No .debs for convirt. I think I'll go with downgrading xen. Which packages should I remove? I had installed ubuntu-xen-desktop (autoremove should clear out everything it installed, right?)

[eternaluxe]

Okay, here is what I've come up with. Hold off for the moment on doing anything.
Intrepid uses paramiko 1.7.4 and I haven't seen any patches in the Convirt code for that version of paramiko. I've left a note on the Convirt forum. We'll see.
We may have to install a lower version of paramiko....
-Patrick

[eternaluxe]

According to the developer, Paramiko 1.7.4 squashed the bugs that necessitated the patches, so that's good.
Let's update convirt instead of downgrading Xen.
I'll paraphrase the instruction from the convirt wiki
I list python-xen and python-paramiko in the install in the off chance that by removing convirt you remove them, too.
From the command line:

sudo apt-get remove convirt
wget http://superb-east.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/xenman/convirt-0.9.5-1.suse.noarch.rpm
sudo apt-get install alien python-xen-3.3 python-paramiko
sudo alien -d convirt-0.9.5-1.suse.noarch.rpm
sudo dpkg -i convirt_0.9.5-2_all.deb

That should do it.
Let me know how it works out for you.
-Patrick

[sci-fi guy]

Eh, still getting "Connection Refused"

Also, no Xen processes are listed as running. When I try to run xend I get

$ sudo xend
ERROR Internal error: Could not obtain handle on privileged command interface (2 = No such file or directory)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/sbin/xend", line 44, in <module>
    from xen.xend.server import SrvDaemon
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/xen/xend/server/SrvDaemon.py", line 26, in <module>
    import relocate
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/xen/xend/server/relocate.py", line 28, in <module>
    from xen.xend import XendDomain
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/xen/xend/XendDomain.py", line 35, in <module>
    from xen.xend import XendOptions, XendCheckpoint, XendDomainInfo
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/xen/xend/XendCheckpoint.py", line 20, in <module>
    from xen.xend import balloon, sxp, image
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/xen/xend/image.py", line 44, in <module>
    xc = xen.lowlevel.xc.xc()
xen.lowlevel.xc.Error: (1, 'Internal error', 'Could not obtain handle on privileged command interface (2 = No such file or directory)')

[eternaluxe]

Are you booting with a xen kernel?

uname -r

if you the response ends in -generic you'll need to reboot.
when grub appears press the escape key to get to the grub menu and select one of the xen kernels; they end in -xen.

[sci-fi guy]

Hmmm. For some reason I am on -server, and don't have a -xen installed at all. In fact, I don't see any -xen kernels in the repos. There is, however, a -virtual.