dnsmasq: unknown interface xennet0

As of version 2.41, dnsmasq doesn't support Xen virtual network interfaces in NetBSD. This means that running dnsmasq inside a Xen domU results in the following error:

dnsmasq: unknown interface xennet0

Uberlord made a patch just a few moments ago:
- http://roy.marples.name/~roy/dnsmasq-netbsd.patch
- http://roy.marples.name/~roy/dnsmasq-bridge.patch

The beauty of Open Source... =)

xen Error: Device 2050 (vbd) could not be connected. Backend device not found.

Problem
NetBSD dom0 is unable to launch more domUs. Attempting to launch more domUs results in the following error:

xen Error: Device 2050 (vbd) could not be connected. Backend device not found.

Solution
The system ran out of loop devices. Create more vnode disks using the following command:

/dev/MAKEDEV vnd1
/dev/MAKEDEV vnd2
...and so on

Xen on NetBSD amd64

I'm trying to install Xen hypervisor on our amd64 box with NetBSD-4.0. I'm getting a couple of errors on getting it to run. The friendly folks at #netbsd told me that I either need to use i386 kernel or use the bleeding edge NetBSD-CURRENT. They suggested that I setup a wiki page to document my progress. I've created an account at http://wiki.netbsd.se/ and I'll see how it goes. I hope this small contribution would benefit others who need to use Xen/NetBSD on x86_64 hardware.

UPDATE: Here's the wiki page-- http://wiki.netbsd.se/Xen_3.1_on_x86_64

Xen on FreeBSD-8.0

Oooh, there are updates on www.fsmware.com! Finally! :) Check out the FreeBSD/Xen wiki as well.

BSD on a box with ICH9 chipset

I've been trying to install FreeBSD on a box with an ICH9 chipset to no avail. FreeBSD-CURRENT (the soon to be 8.0) doesn't seem to work either. There has been discussions in the mailing list that it works with FreeBSD-CURRENT, but it really doesn't work on my box.

NetBSD seems to support ICH9 on 4.0, but I prefer FreeBSD over NetBSD. Oh well, I'll just download the ISO and see how it goes. If it works, then I'll try to replace the kernel with a Xen hypervisor. Our box has a whooping 250GB of hard disk space, and it's more than enough to run a few domU Linux systems. Hmmm... It'll also be an opportunity to run Plan 9 domU as well. I haven't tried that yet. I'm wetting my pants with nerdish delight now.

Virtualization Killer App

Citrix is acquiring XenSource (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2171251,00.asp). Very cool.

As grid computing becomes reality and as processing power, memory, and bandwidth become utilities just like water and electricity, I see that the future lies in virtualization technologies + remote X sessions and/or VNC.

I see that the future in creating an online and pervasive workspace lies on running multiple operating systems and offering it as a service. Each user can have his own virtual machine, and each user can pay the provider based on his memory and processing requirements for each session.

This will be the killer app once the infrastructure is in place.