Virtual Servers on Debian: Requirements

How to setup your Debian system for virtual servers. This document describes the packages you need to install and the kernel changes required to start using virtual servers on your Debian system.

You will need a patched linux kernel that supports process separation using the linux vserver patch. The following instructions are for the Debian stable release code named "sarge".

The following Debian packages should be installed:

• util-vserver
• debootstrap
• iproute
• kernel-patch-vserver

Install the kernel-patch-vserver package. The patch sources are available in /usr/src/kernel-patches/diffs/vserver/. You should find patches for various kernels available.

$ ls -1 /usr/src/kernel-patches/diffs/vserver
patch-2.4.27-9-vs1.2.10-2.diff.gz
patch-2.6.10-5-debian-vs1.9.4.diff.gz
patch-2.6.11.6-vs1.9.5.12.diff.gz
patch-2.6.8-15-vs1.9.5.x-4.diff.gz

Select the kernel you like from the available patches (I chose 2.6.11.6).

Install the kernel source for the selected kernel then patch the kernel as follows

# cd /usr/src/linux-2.6.11.6
# zcat ../kernel-patches/diffs/vserver/patch-2.6.11.6-vs1.9.5.12.diff.gz | patch -p1

This applies the virtual server patch to the kernel sources.

Now build your kernel normally, install, and boot from it.

You are now ready to start playing with virtual servers!