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List:       xen-users
Subject:    Re: [Xen-users] Installing ISOs, help?
From:       "Austin S. Hemmelgarn" <ahferroin7 () gmail ! com>
Date:       2016-10-07 12:40:22
Message-ID: ee14437c-f667-838a-fbbd-14df5c3bf2f1 () gmail ! com
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On 2016-10-07 00:40, Todd Howe wrote:
> Hello;
> 
> I'm working to build my first lab and I'm excited to base it on Xen-Project.
> Because FOSS. I've looked through the wiki, installed some test Debian
> Jessie domU's, xen-tools and debootstrap are pretty great.
> 
> Now, I want to install Kali and Metasploitable from ISOs as a place to
> start, and create a blog post to document it for others. I've found
> Grant William's older tutorial to installing Kali, but it's based
> on Xen-Server and that clearly doesn't work for Xen-Project.
> 
> I've tried accomplishing this with xen-tools by flailing around with
> commands like the following, after mounting the ISO. (There's apparently
> no longer a dist=other in 4.4.1, which was recommended as a switch in one
> page I read).
> 
> xen-create-image --hostname=kali --memory=512mb --vcpus=2 --lvm=vg1 \
> --ip=192.168.1.60 --netmask=255.255.255.0 --gateway=192.168.1.0 \
> --mirror=file:/media/cdrom/kali --dist=jessie 
> That dies of course, the debootstrap running in the background appears to
> try to treat the ISO as a repository:
> 
> ----------------------------log fragment-------------------------------
> 
> Copying files from host to image.
> Copying files from /var/cache/apt/archives/ -> \
> /tmp/kj1iVyvmcE/var/cache/apt/archives Done
> Done
> I: Retrieving Release
> E: Failed getting release file file:/media/cdrom/kali/dists/jessie/Release
> Running command '/usr/sbin/debootstrap  --arch amd64 jessie /tmp/kj1iVyvmcE \
> file:/media/cdrom/kali 2>&1' failed with exit code 256. Running command \
> '/usr/sbin/debootstrap  --arch amd64 jessie /tmp/kj1iVyvmcE file:/media/cdrom/kali \
> 2>&1' failed with exit code 256. Aborting
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Anyways, so I'm clearly new to this, and would appreciate any help you can
> provide! A existing walkthrough would be ideal, but I'll take really leading
> hints as well, thanks!
Just a general piece of advice, if you want to learn to use Xen, you're 
probably going to learn more by building domains by hand instead of 
using xen-create-image.  Building up a domain by hand takes some more 
work, but it also gives you a much better understanding of how things 
actually work, and allows for much greater flexibility in the 
configuration.  Additionally, the xen-tools project is Debian specific, 
so learning to use it won't really translate to any distro that isn't 
Debian based (which is significant if you have any interest in doing 
professional work with Xen).  On that note, the general procedure for 
doing it by hand is:
1. Set up your storage back-end.  In this case, it looks like you're 
using LVM, so this would amount to creating the LV's you want to use for 
the virtual disks.
2. Prepare the domain configuration.  The file format involved is pretty 
simple, and well documented, so this step isn't too hard if you have 
some basic background with VM's, check the man pages link for your 
version on https://wiki.xen.org/wiki/Xen_4.x_Manuals for more info.
3. Install the guest system.  For a HVM domain, the easiest way is 
usually to just boot it with the install ISO loaded and connect to the 
VNC console for the domain.  For a PV domain, the easiest way varies, 
but for Debian or Gentoo, the simplest option is to just prep the 
filesystem from the host system (debootstrap works well for this).
4. Perform any post-install configuration (such as network setup, 
configuring services, etc).  For a HVM domain, just use the VNC console 
to set things up.  for a PV domain, `xl console` is usually the best option.

Now, as for xen-create-image, try pointing it at the package repository 
for Kali, and using whatever their release code-name is.  If you have an 
existing install of it, you can check /etc/apt/sources.list on that 
system to figure out what mirror to pass and what release code-name to 
use with --dist.

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