The MLN Project

Complex virtual machine management made easy

Navigation










SourceForge.net Logo

FAQ

Installing

  1. What software should be installed on the system for MLN to work properly?

    On Debian, it should be sufficient to have the following packages:
    • user-mode-linux
    • uml_utilities
    • bridge-utils
    • screen

  2. How do I upgrade to a newer version of MLN?

    Simply download the new version and replace it with the old one. Note, that you should look for the newest version of the default template too.

    Since MLN is only a single script, you can simply copy it to the same location as the old and overwrite it. It is reccomended to hang on to the previos one in case the new release wont work on old projects.

  • Any performance tips?

    here.

    Templates

    1. What filesystems are currently suported by MLN

      Ext2 and Ext3. You can add a journal to an ext2 filesystem using tune2fs: 
      
/sbin/tune2fs -j filesystem-image
      MLN will check for a journal at build time. if it finds it inside the template, the /etc/fstab will be set to ext3 instead of ext2. Note, that your user-mode-linux kernel needs support for ext3 buildt into the kernel too.

    2. I have downloaded a template manually, how do I tell MLN about it?

      mln register_template -m "my downloaded template" -t template-file

      MLN will also try to extract it.

    3. What modifications do I have to do to a working filesystem image in order to make it work properly with MLN?

      1. Modify /etc/inittab to do a reboot on ctrl+alt+del and to only open one console.
      2. Remove the root password and allow empty root password

    4. I have made my own template, how do I make it part of MLN's versioning system?

      It has to contain the versioning number in the end of the filename, but before the suffix. Example: my-template-V0.3.ext2

    Syntax

    1. I want my virtual machine to access a folder on my physical machine, is that possible?

      Yes, look in the documentation about the mount keyword.

    2. Does MLN support cow-filesystems?

      Yes! But we don't support upgrading virtual machines based on COW files. See the documentation.

    3. How can I specify IPv6 addresses in MLN?

      The MLN syntax does not support IPv6, but the templates do, so it is possible to run IPv6 on the virtual networks as long as you configure it manually. IPv6 support is planned for the next release.