> The main problem, of course, is where to put it...
Yup
We had pretty much the same problem with the old virt-p2v too. That
used to save a log file into /tmp (on the ramdisk), and gave users a
shell on one of the virtual consoles (Alt + F2 etc) so that users
could switch to that shell and scp the debug file elsewhere. It
wasn't exactly an ideal solution.
I'm not sure what else you could do with debug info - maybe save it the
same way and then if it crashes or fails for some reason, document for
the user how to retrieve the debug info and copy it someplace.
Or in cases where the original boot hangs, it might not get far enough
to save any debug info. My old Dell Optiplex is a GX280 small form
factor, vintage 2004 or so. I bought it used a few years ago - the fan
speeds up when it gets busy and slows down when it's idle. And the
motherboard got really hot a few years ago. Still . . . if Windows XP
runs on it . . . It probably needs some oddball Dell driver for a cheap
component that doesn't exist anymore, built in a small village somewhere
in China for $1 cheaper than any other source. :) Most P2Vs will
probably be on servers anyway.
I'll be happy to do some testing with anything I have here. I have some
ancient Compaq Proliant servers - Compaq, not HP - and I also have some
newer stuff. And I'll be doing some RHEV p2V migrations with customers,
one project in the next few days. Maybe it could be a case study at the
next Summit.
- Greg