Debian install over console

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Wed, Nov 23, 2011 at 04:31:03PM -0500, Neil Watson wrote:
> Greetings,
> 
> I'm trying to install a Debian KVM guest over a console connection.
> I think that the key is -x option for virt-install.  I have this:
> 
> #!/bin/sh
> 
> virt-install -n nwtest --description "Test host" -r 512 -vcpus 1 \
> 	--os-type=linux --os-variant=debiansqueeze \
> 	--disk /srv/virtual/nwtest,device=disk,bus=virtio,size=3 \
> 	--cdrom /srv/virtual/debian-6.0.3-amd64-businesscard.iso \
> 	--network bridge=br0,model=virtio \
> 	--nographics --autostart -x "console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200n8"
> 
> I also tried with the last line being:
>     --nographics --autostart -x "install console=ttyS0,9600n8p"
> 
> Each time I get this:
> ettin:/srv/virtual# /home/neil/neil/docs/it/kvm.sh
> 
> Starting install...
> Allocating 'nwtest'
> Creating domain...
> Connected to domain nwtest
> Escape character is ^]
> 
> Even after several minutes of waiting a console never appears. What have
> I done wrong?

I think trying to use the iso is your mistake.

I don't think the iso works with a serial console on PCs.

At least I don't know anyway to pass the console parameters through the cd
boot loader to the kernel that way.  unless virt-install is a lot better
than it was last time I looked at it, I just don't see that working.

Is it documented that it should work that way?  They do have a lot of
neat features, so who knows.

Are you perhaps supposed to find the serial consolse using 'virsh console
tty0' or something?

-- 
Len Sorensen
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