This is the third post in my series on installing Xen. Hopefully this’ll be useful for folks who are either just setting up the Xen Hypervisor into their current Grub installation and new Grub users alike.

Here’s a copy of my /boot/grub/grub.conf:

# this loads the first profile by default
default 0
# wait 12 seconds before loading default
timeout 12
# use a nifty image
spashimage=(hd0,4)/grub/splash.xpm.gz

# in case of a proprietary emergency (which has yet to happen)
title=Windows XP
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1


After you’ve saved this file, run:
# grub-install
That should set up your grub installation. If it doesn’t work, try the following links.

Other resources to help you set up Grub for Xen:
Gentoo.org Grub installation documentation
Small Grub tutorial

I got used to Lilo back when I installed my first Linux system years ago. It was Mandrake 7.somthin’ and it was already so complicated for me to get the thing set up that I happily allowed them to give me the default boot loader. Lilo was the default on my next several installations and eventually I began to deliberately choose it.

Now I’m switching to Grub. The Xen Hypervisor requires a multi-boot standard that only Grub can handle.

To install Grub, check out these fine instructions:
Redhat Grub Installation Instructions
Grub 2 Documentation

This is hard. I’ve downloaded the binary package of the Xen Hypervisor (available here) and I’ve started installing it. I’ve had the chance to unpack it and start fooling around and I’m noticing that this is a fine, fine piece of software. Because of that, it’s complicated and therefore it takes some work to get it going.

In January of this year XenSource (the company that makes Xen happen) reported that they raised $6 million in funding. That’s a serious approach to software. Considering the size of this project and the scope of their resources, I imagine this is going to be a show-stopping piece of software. In a couple years no powerful Linux box will be found without it.