Windows on Xen: Installation

Windows is actually quite easy to get installed and running. The basic steps are exactly like any other Xen install, with some extra configuration:

  1. Get Windows install media and put it somewhere that Xen can find it.

  2. Make a config file.

  3. Boot from the install media.

  4. Install using the Windows installer.

  5. Reboot from the emulated hard drive.

  6. Install paravirtualized drivers.

  7. Use Windows.

Easy, right? Let's get started.

Installing Windows Manually

The first thing to do is get a copy of Windows. In our case, we used a physical CD-ROM, which we put in the Xen server's CD-ROM drive. For convenience, you can of course create an image from the CD and use it just like the physical disc:

# dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/var/tmp/windows2k3.iso

(If you ...

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