Xen CDROM Support
From OptionC
(Tested with version 2.0.6)
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Mounting CDs
Xen supports mounting CDs in a DomU by doing the following:
- In your configuration file, in the "disk=" section, add something similar to:
phy:/dev/hdc,hdc,r
- Boot your DomU as usual.
- Once inside your DomU, type something like:
mount /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom
- You should now have your CD mounted inside the DomU. This depends on the support your DomU has for file systems (for example, if you are trying to mount a DVD using the UDF filesystem, but you don't have support for UDF, you'll get an error message to that effect). Kernel and/or module support for additional file systems is beyond the scope of this document.
A couple of caveats/notes:
- The CD-drive must have a disk inside it when the DomU is booting. If it doesn't you'll get an error:
Error: Adding extent to vbd failed: device (vbd (uname phy:/dev/hdc) (dev hdc) (mode r)), error 8
- The CD can not (currently) be ejected. If your machine has a locking mechanism then you won't be able to pop the disc out and swap it while the DomU is running.
- It is possible to mount the CD-drive on multiple DomUs, or even Dom0, simultaneously. This won't hurt anything because it's read-only. Simultaneous quick access hits work perfectly fine; longer, sustained simultaneous access hits have not been tested.
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Mounting ISO images
You can also mount ISO images:
- In your configuration file, in the "disk=" section, add something similar to:
file:/path/to/image.iso,hdc,r
- Boot your DomU as usual.
- Once inside your DomU, type something like:
mount /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom
- You should now have your ISO mounted inside the DomU, dependent once again on your support for various file systems.
