XEN: Cannot find vmlinuz-xenpae and initrd-xenpae on SLES10 SP3 media

This document (7005079) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11

Situation

Down server upgrade of a 32-bit SLES 10 SP2 XEN VM to SLES 10 SP3
or
Upgrading an OES2 VM guest to OES2 SP2

Novell documentation indicates that when preforming a down-server upgrade the proper kernel type and initrd must be copied from the /boot directory on the SLES 10 SP3 media to a temporary directory. In the case of a 32-bit VM this would bevmlinuz-xenpae and initrd-xenpae.

Unfortunately these were omitted from the media.

Resolution

There are a few options available:

CRITICAL: Always take the time to back-up the image/image file prior to an upgrade! Failure to do so can result in a re-install of the VM should problems occur during the upgrade. A back-up of the image insures a speedy recovery!

1- Use the online update that is available on a fully patched SLES 10 SP2 / OES2 SP1 VM.

2- If the XEN Host is SLES 10 SP3, issue vm-install --upgrade as the root user from a terminal on the XEN host. This will launch vm-install in an "English Only" mode.

Note: Point to the SLES 10 SP3 media after the gui launches and the upgrade option is selected....then select the oes2 sp2 media as the "add-on" product after the upgrade starts.

3- If the XEN Host is SLES 11, contact Novell Technical Support for the "English only" updates that will allow the vm-install --upgrade option.

4- Finally, the missing modules can be downloaded from:

https://you.novell.com/update/i386/update/SUSE-SLES/10/PTF/f2cf38b50ed714a8409693060195b235/20100108

Additional Information

The problem has been reported to development.

The simple issue here is that the xenpae kernel and installation initrd are missing from the SP3 media. This is used only at install time of a paravirtualized SLES 10 SP3 guest. But if it's not there, the "hidden"
vm-install --upgrade option will generate them from the kernel-xen-pae rpm.

The --upgrade option was added to vm-install during the SP3 development cycle in response to an enhancement request. It was well tested but was "hidden/not included" as localization was not completed when SLES 10 SP3 shipped. Caveat: The vm-install screens are English language only.

The option has been ported to SLES 11 but at this time is available in English language only.

The --upgrade option is fully supported.

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