From: Alex Pyrgiotis Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2012 16:10:41 +0000 (+0200) Subject: Remove overlapping content with okenos-guides X-Git-Tag: v0.2~9^2~13 X-Git-Url: https://code.grnet.gr/git/snf-image-creator/commitdiff_plain/003021385fb95c0bc550ad5d5703746786b809bc Remove overlapping content with okenos-guides This is the initial commit of the okeanos-helpdesk branch. The main purpose of this branch is to: * Move non-technical parts (e.g examples) to the okeanos-guides docs, where they can be presented in a more user-oriented way * Correct minor omissions that okeanos-helpdesk has encountered during the testing of the image-creator tool --- diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore index a204982..79bebe7 100644 --- a/.gitignore +++ b/.gitignore @@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ build/ dist/ *.egg-info +docs/_build diff --git a/docs/usage.rst b/docs/usage.rst index 70cafb6..2777eb9 100644 --- a/docs/usage.rst +++ b/docs/usage.rst @@ -191,87 +191,3 @@ In the *Register* sub-menu the user can provide: By choosing the *Extract* menu entry the user can dump the image to the local file system and finally, if the user selects *Reset*, the system will ignore all changes made so far and will start the image creation process again. - -Creating a new image -==================== - -Suppose you want to create a new Ubuntu server image. Download the installation -disk from the Internet: - -.. code-block:: console - - $ wget http://ubuntureleases.tsl.gr/12.04.1/ubuntu-12.04.1-server-amd64.iso - -Create a 2G sparce file to host the new system: - -.. code-block:: console - - $ truncate -s 2G ubuntu_hd.raw - -And install the Ubuntu system on this file: - -.. code-block:: console - - $ sudo kvm -boot d -drive file=ubuntu_hd.raw,format=raw,cache=none,if=virtio \ - -cdrom ubuntu-12.04.1-server-amd64.iso - -After the installation finishes, become root, activate the virtual environment -you have installed snf-image-creator in, and use *snf-mkimage* to create and -upload the image: - -.. code-block:: console - - $ sudo -s - $ source /path/to/snf-image-env/bin/activate - $ snf-mkimage ubuntu_hd.raw - -In the first screen you will be asked to choose if you want to run the program -in *Wizard* or *Expert* mode. Choose *Wizard*. - -.. image:: /snapshots/01_wizard.png - -Then you will be asked to provide a name, a description, an *~okeanos* account -and the token corresponding to this account. After that you will be asked to -confirm the provided data. - -.. image:: /snapshots/06_confirm.png - -Choosing *YES* will create the image and upload it to your *~okeanos* account. - -Some caveats on image creation -============================== - -Para-virtualized drivers ------------------------- - -*~Okeanos* uses the *VirtIO* framework. The disk I/O controller and the -Ethernet cards on the VM instances are para-virtualized and need special -*VirtIO* drivers. Those drivers are included in the Linux Kernel mainline since -version 2.6.25 and are shipped with all the popular Linux distributions. The -problem is that if the driver for the para-virtualized disk I/O controller is -built as module, it needs to be preloaded using an initial ramdisk, otherwise -the VM will not be able to boot. - -In the image creation demonstration above, we initially installed the Ubuntu -system on a hard disk (*ubuntu_hd.raw*) that was connected on a -para-virtualized interface (pay attention to the *if=virtio* option of the kvm -line). Ubuntu and Debian create a generic initial ramdisk file that contains -many different modules, including the VirtIO drivers. In many distros this is -not the case. In Arch Linux for example, the user needs to manually add -*virtio_blk* and *virtio_pci* drivers in */etc/mkinitcpio.conf* and rebuild the -initial ramdisk [#f1]_ to make the virtio drivers get preloaded during boot. -For now, *snf-image-creator* cannot resolve this kind of problems and it's left -to the user to do it. - -Swap partitions ---------------- - -If you want your image to have a swap partitions, make sure this is the last -partition on the disk. If snf-image-creator detects a swap partition in the end -of the input media, it will remove the partition when shrinking and will save -enough information to be able to recreate it during image deployment. This will -make the image smaller and will speed up the deployment process. - -.. rubric:: Footnotes - -.. [#f1] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/KVM#Paravirtualized_guests_.28virtio.29