How to Create an Ubuntu Template for HyperVM

HyperVM is a multi-server virtualization software platform developed by Lxcenter that enables its users to create, manage and deploy Xen and OpenVZ virtual private servers. You can create a template using, for example, the Ubuntu operating system, configure it and use it to deploy multiple virtual machines with just a few mouse clicks. You can also add repositories, networks and even software packages to your new template to ensure the virtual machine is up and running as soon as the template is applied.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Open the "Applications" menu, select "Accessories" and click "Terminal" to open the Terminal utility.
   • 2
     Create an ext3 filesystem with a size of 10 gigabytes to store the new template by running these commands:

     sudo lvcreate -L 10G -n Ubuntu-disk VolGroup00
     sudo mkfs.ext3 /dev/VolGroup00/Ubuntu-disk
   • 3
     Create a tmp folder and mount the new filesystem by running these commands in the Terminal:

     sudo mkdir /mnt/tmp
     sudo mount /dev/VolGroup00/Ubuntu-disk /mnt/tmp
   • 4
     Get and install an older version of debootstrap to avoid dependency problems by running these commands in the Terminal:

     wget http://www.modernadmin.com/downloads/ostemplates/debootstrap-1.0.10-1.fc10.noarch.rpm
     sudo rpm -Uvh debootstrap-1.0.10-1.fc10.noarch.rpm
   • 5
     Get and install Ubuntu in the tmp folder using debootstrap by running this command in the Terminal:

     sudo debootstrap --include=udev,ssh,quota --arch amd64 jaunty /mnt/tmp http://uk.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
   • 6
     Insert some sources for the APT tool in the template, in case you need to download some packages later. Use these commands:

     sudo cat <<EOF > /mnt/tmp/etc/apt/sources.list
     deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty main restricted universe multiverse
     deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty main restricted universe
     deb http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
     deb-src http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jaunty-updates main restricted universe
     deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jaunty-security main restricted universe
     deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jaunty-security main restricted universe
     EOF
   • 7
     Create a network interface and configure the template for optimal performance by running these commands in the Terminal:

     sudo cat <<EOF > /mnt/tmp/etc/network/interfaces
     auto eth0 lo
     iface eth0 inet static
     address IP.Address
     netmask 255.255.255.0
     up route add -net IP.address netmask 255.255.255.0 dev eth0
     up route add default gw IP.address
     iface lo inet loopback
     EOF
     sudo cat <<EOF > /mnt/tmp/etc/hosts
     127.0.0.1 localhost Ubuntu template
     EOF
     sudo cat <<EOF > /mnt/tmp/etc/hostname
     Ubuntu template
     EOF
     sudo cat <<EOF > /mnt/tmp/etc/fstab
     proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
     devpts /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 1
     /dev/sda2 none swap sw 0 1
     /dev/sda1 / ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
     EOF
     sudo cat <<EOF > /mnt/tmp/etc/event.d/xvc0
     start on stopped rc2
     start on stopped rc3
     start on stopped rc4
     start on stopped rc5
     stop on runlevel 0
     stop on runlevel 1
     stop on runlevel 6
     respawn
     exec /sbin/getty 38400 xvc0
     EOF
     sudo rm -rf /mnt/tmp/etc/event.d/tty1
     sudo echo “alias eth0 xennet” > /mnt/tmp/etc/modprobe.d/xen
     #echo “xvc0″ >> /mnt/tmp/etc/securetty
     sudo cat /dev/null > /mnt/tmp/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules

     Replace "IP.Address" with your IP address and "Ubuntu template" with the name of your template.
   • 8
     Chroot to the new template and set a new password by running these commands in the Terminal:

     sudo chroot /mnt/tmp
     passwd your_password

     Replace "your_password" with a real password.
   • 9
     Unmount the Ubuntu template by running the following commands in the Terminal:

     exit
     sudo umount /mnt/tmp
   • 10
     Create a TAR.GZ archive out of the template by running these commands:

     cd /mnt/tmp
     sudo tar czf /home/hypervm/xen/template/ubuntu-9.04-x86_64-UbuntuTemplate.tar.gz .
     sudo chmod 755 /home/hypervm/xen/template/ubuntu-9.04-x86_64-UbuntuTemplate.tar.gz