Install XenServer 7 on USB
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This was going onto a Dell Server so I guessing that is legacy BIOS so to speak not UEFI anyway.
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Should mention this is on a Dell R510 server (I thought it was a R710 but remembered I used that in my ESXi farm)
Going to try it again and play with BIOS settings.
(Did try Hyper-V which did work from USB but couldn't find NIC
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My thought is that the system is not booting from the "C: drive" which is actually the USB.
That the BIOS is defaulting to some other boot device, be it the CD/DVD or the array.
The array would be my guess.
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Getting my T320 to boot off of USB is a little ... odd. You have to go into an option that looks like the hard drive, but the USB is also listed there.
But you said it was already booting an OS off of USB, so I am sure you are aware of that.
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@DustinB3403 said in Install XenServer 7 on USB:
My thought is that the system is not booting from the "C: drive" which is actually the USB.
That the BIOS is defaulting to some other boot device, be it the CD/DVD or the array.
The array would be my guess.
That's kind of what I was trying to say, but you said it better.
But since he's already booted off USB on this server, I assumed that was not the case.
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It might be that with a different USB in the system (are there multiple USB ports available that are available inside of this server?) it's assigning it the letter "D:" or something like that.
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@DustinB3403 said in Install XenServer 7 on USB:
20 dollars a piece.
http://m.staples.com/PNY-64GB-Turbo-USB-30-Flash-Drive/product_338640
Micro Center has 64GB for $13. Best warranty you'll find is the real reason I like those tho, if it ever goes bad they'll replace it.
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@travisdh1 said i
Micro Center has 64GB for $13. Best warranty you'll find is the real reason I like those tho, if it ever goes bad they'll replace it.
I'm a little OCD so I've been buying the little teeny ones that go flush on the server.
But your link looks like a great option.
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@BRRABill said in Install XenServer 7 on USB:
@travisdh1 said i
Micro Center has 64GB for $13. Best warranty you'll find is the real reason I like those tho, if it ever goes bad they'll replace it.
I'm a little OCD so I've been buying the little teeny ones that go flush on the server.
But your link looks like a great option.
They're great for the internal USB port, which most servers have. I don't have any 1U servers, they might not fit something that short.
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would you adam and eve it!!!!!
re-created the install USB stick. Used disk part on the 64GB and "cleaned" it. Re-installed and it boots first time
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@scottalanmiller said
Everything that writes anything more than a config file should be off of the USB. Swap on USB would be insanely slow AND kill it quickly. Basically you should never allow swapping AND logging should be external.
Question 1:
Even though I set up logging to be external, it still seems to write data to the boot device. (Not sure if this still happens in XS7. Just set it up tonight.)
Is there an amount of writing that would be OK? Like a few KB a day? Or would we prefer to see NO log writing?Question 2:
How does one go about disabling swapping on XS? -
@BRRABill said in Install XenServer 7 on USB:
Question 1:
Even though I set up logging to be external, it still seems to write data to the boot device. (Not sure if this still happens in XS7. Just set it up tonight.)
Is there an amount of writing that would be OK? Like a few KB a day? Or would we prefer to see NO log writing?Ideally, no writing. If something is logging, even just once in a while, we have to ask... why?
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@BRRABill said in Install XenServer 7 on USB:
Question 2:
How does one go about disabling swapping on XS?remove the swap entry from /etc/fstab
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@scottalanmiller said
Ideally, no writing. If something is logging, even just once in a while, we have to ask... why?
For some reason XS keeps writing to the boot disk even after you move the logging. There is a workaround, but it never worked for me without changing permissions.
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@BRRABill said in Install XenServer 7 on USB:
@scottalanmiller said
Ideally, no writing. If something is logging, even just once in a while, we have to ask... why?
For some reason XS keeps writing to the boot disk even after you move the logging. There is a workaround, but it never worked for me without changing permissions.
What is it writing?
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@BRRABill said in Install XenServer 7 on USB:
@scottalanmiller said
What is it writing?
Log files.
but which ones, from what source?
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@scottalanmiller said
but which ones, from what source?
This is the article that describes the logging, and how to stop the logging that happens even after you choose to use remote logging.
This is what I could not get to work, as other people also seem to have had an issue with per the comments.
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That doesn't seem to highlight where it is failing, though.
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@scottalanmiller said
That doesn't seem to highlight where it is failing, though.
The issue I was having (and the commenter was also having) is that after I made those changes, the files would just overwrite themselves again.
The only way to fix it was to follow the "dirty, dirty trick" he recommends by changing the permissions to read only on those files.
That finally did it for me.
I keep bringing up this issue because as a community we always tell people to install XS and install it on USB. But XS does writing to the boot partition sometimes even when you think it is not.
Has anyone actually LOOKED at their USB boot device. Are you SURE it isn't being written to? Because mine definitely was, and I think that is the standard.
I think it was @DustinB3403 who said to just remap the log directory elsewhere. I guess that would work as well?
And I know you two were discussing the swap partition. Did we ever decide if it really WAS writing to it?
Is there a way to know how much data is being written to a particular partition?
