To install SmeServer, download the ISO (http://mirror.contribs.org/releases/8.1/iso/i386/smeserver-i386.iso).

Create a new virtual machine by clicking on New.

Insert the Name, select Linux from Type and Red Hat from Version. Click on Next.

Select the amount of RAM that you want to use during the setup. When you run this virtual machine on the Abilis-VMX you can choose a different RAM size. Click on Next.

Select Create a new virtual drive now. Click on Create.

Select VMDK (Virtual Machine Disk) as hard disk file type and click on Next.

When the wizard asks if use a dynamically allocated hard disk file you can leave the default value and click on Next.

Write the filename of your disk image and select the desired size, then click on Create.

Now you have a new item in the virtual machines list.

Click on it with the right button and open Settings.

Click on the Storage label and remove both the SATA disk and the SATA controller.

Add a new IDE disk. A window asks if create a new disk or use a existing one. Click on Choose existing disk and select the previously created image.

Click on OK and start the virtual machine by clicking on Start.

Now, the software asks a optical disk or a ISO file to start the VM. Choose the smeserver-i386.iso file on your hard disk, then click on start.

At the boot screen, write sme nolvm raid=0 and press Enter.

Following the istructions on the screen, select the language, the time zone and install the system.

At the first startup, you have to configure the system following the istructions.

Now you can access to the shell. You need to configure the system to run into Xen.

Install the Xen kernel: rpm -ihv /media/cdrom/SME/kernel-xen-2.6.18-371.4.1.el5.i686.rpm

Rebuild the initrd with the Xen modules: mkinitrd --builtin=ata_piix --with=xenblk --with=xennet /boot/initrd-2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen.img 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen -f

Modify the /boot/grub/menu.lst file by changing the lines under title SME Server (2.6.18-341.4.1.el5xen) into:

root (hd0,0)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen ro root=LABEL=/ nodmraid
initrd /initrd 2.6.18-371.4.1.el5xen.img

Save and give the poweroff command to shutdown the virtual machine.

Now we have to convert and upload the disk image file of our virtual machine.

Download the qemu-img utility at http://mirror2.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/knoppix/qemu-0.8.1/qemu-img.exe

Open the Command Prompt and enter into the virtual machine's directory using cd or chdir. I called my VM "SmeServer" and my username is "Luca", so the command is: cd "C:\Users\Luca\VirtualBox VMs\SmeServer"

Now is time to convert the disk image. I saved the qemu-img.exe utility into the C:\ root directory, so the command is: C:\qemu-img.exe convert SmeServer.vmdk SmeServer.img

Connect to your Abilis-VMX through SSH. In this example we assume that the IP address is 192.168.1.1: ssh root@192.168.1.1

Insert the password and press Enter.

Create a directory for your virtual machine in /opt/domains: mkdir /opt/domains/SmeServer

Using scp or WinScp (http://winscp.net/eng/download.php) copy your .img disk image file into the previously created directory (/opt/domains/SmeServer).

Connect to the Abilis-VMX and create a new configuration file for your paravirtualized machine. Copy the following configuration in /opt/xen/smeserver_pvm.cfg:

# smeserver_pvm.cfg #
# Example config file for a paravirtualized environment running SmeServer.
# BOOTLOADER: pyGrub is a domU bootloader that allows, like GRUB, the loading
# of kernel and initrd that are into the VM disk image.
# In order to make it run, GRUB 1 must be installed on the VM.
bootloader = '/usr/lib/rtxen-4.1-1/bin/pygrub'

# MEMORY: specify the amount of RAM (MB) to assign at the VM. It couldn't be
# more than the physical RAM on the Abilis
memory = '512'

# DISK: specify the type of disk to use on the virtual machine.
# In this example we are using the disk image located in
# /opt/domains/smeserver/SmeServer.img. We want use that as a hda disk and have
# to be writable (w). The filename is case sensitive.
disk =[ 'file:/opt/domains/SmeServer/SmeServer.img,hda,w' ]

# NAME: the virtual machine name
name = 'smeserver_pvm'

# VIF: This section specifies the virtual inetrfaces to assign at the VM.
# Every interface (ethX) will be named into dom0 as vifY.X, where Y is the 
# domain ID.
# Is mandatory assign a unique MAC address to the vif in the same network. If
# it is not specified, rtXen will create a different address at every restart,
# producing potential issues with the DHCP server or internal domU scripts that
# need the MAC address ad a reference (ex: udev). Xen's domU MACs all start
# with 00:06:3E
vif = [ 'mac=00:06:3E:AA:BB:CC' ]

# ON_*: This section defines what to do when the VM is rebooted, turned off,
# destroyed or recovered after a system crash.
# Is also specified the behavior at start/stop of the Xen daemon.
on_poweroff = 'destroy'
on_reboot = 'restart'
on_crash = 'restart'
on_xend_start = 'start'
on_xend_stop = 'shutdown'

# EXTRA: Is possible to add extra parameters to give to the kernel at startup.
# Adding extra='clocksource=jiffies' you can avoid some issues with the domU's
# system clock. More informations at:
# http://bugzilla.xensource.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=1098
extra='clocksource=jiffies'

Before running the virtual machine, another modify is needed. We need to access to the files into the disk image.

Create a directory where mount the image: mkdir /opt/domains/SmeServer/loop

Find the start of the partition to mount: fdisk -lu /opt/domains/SmeServer/SmeServer.img

We want to access to the second partition. It starts at 208845, but it is the sector number. We want to know at what byte the partition starts, so we have to multiply this number by 512. The second partition starts at the 106928640th byte.

Associate the image to a loop device (we'll use loop0): losetup -o 106928640 /dev/loop0 /opt/domains/SmeServer/SmeServer.img

Mount the image into the previously created directory: mount /dev/loop0 /opt/domains/SmeServer/loop

Now we have to change the default output shell to xvc0.

Open /opt/domains/SmeServer/loop/etc/inittabs and replace the following line

1:123457:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty1

with this one:

1:123457:respawn:/sbin/mingetty xvc0

Open /opt/domains/SmeServer/loop/etc/securetty and add xvc0 at the end of the file.

Unmount the device using: umount /opt/domains/SmeServer/loop

Disconnect the image from loop0 using: losetup -d /dev/loop0

Start the virtual machine and connect to the console: xm create -c /etc/xen/smeserver_pwm.cfg

Now you can use your paravirtualized SmeServer machine.