HowTo: Amazon EC2 Kernel Images - PV Grub
You can build your own kernel on Amazon EC2, so long as you pick the appropriate PV Grub kernel image.
Types of pv-grub kernel
There are two types of pv-grub kernel image:
- hd0 - for boot disk images that are unpartitioned (as most on the cloud are)
- hd00 - for boot disk images that are partitioned (as most physical servers are)
Configuration file
hd0
pv-grub looks for /boot/grub/menu.lst on the first partition of the hard drive. If you have just one partition for the whole root device, you’ll use the hd0 pv-grub kernel AKI, and the configuration file will be located at /boot/grub/menu.lst.
/boot/grub/menu.lst
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# Sample /boot/grub/menu.lst for hd0
default 0
timeout 3
title EC2
root (hd0)
kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/xvda1 rootfstype=ext4
hd00 multi-partition
If you partitioned the root device, you need to use the hd00 pv-grub AKI. As before, pv-grub looks for /boot/grub/menu.lst on the first partition of the hard drive.
If the first partition is a dedicated boot partition and the second partition is the root partition, the configuration file will be /boot/boot/grub/menu.lst. This is because it is looking for /boot/grub/menu.lst in the first partition, which is /boot.
/boot/boot/grub/menu.lst
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# Sample /boot/boot/grub/menu.lst for hd00
default 0
timeout 3
title EC2
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/xvda2 rootfstype=ext4
hd00 single-partition
However, if for example there is only one partition on the root device (thus making it the root partition), the configuration file will be /boot/grub/menu.lst.
/boot/grub/menu.lst
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# Sample /boot/grub/menu.lst for hd00
default 0
timeout 3
title EC2
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/bzImage root=/dev/xvda1 rootfstype=ext4
Supported File Systems
The following file systems are supported for the partition with /boot:
- ext2
- ext3
- ext4
- xfs
- reiserfs
- btrfs
How to find pv-grub kernel
Note: change region as appropriate
Example API Request
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https://ec2.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/
?Action=DescribeImages
&Owner.1=amazon
&Filter.1.Name=image-type
&Filter.1.Value.1=kernel
&Filter.2.Name=manifest-location
&Filter.2.Value.1=*pv-grub*
&*AUTHPARAMS*
Using AWS CLI:
Console - user@hostname ~ $
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aws --region=us-east-1 ec2 \
describe-images \
--owners "[\"amazon\"]" \
--filters "[
{
\"Name\": \"image-type\",
\"Values\": [\"kernel\"]
},
{
\"Name\": \"manifest-location\",
\"Values\": [\"*pv-grub*\"]
}
]"
Output
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{
"Images": [
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-407d9529",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "i386",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0-V1.01-i386.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-427d952b",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "x86_64",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0-V1.01-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Name": "pv-grub-hd00_1.04-x86_64.gz",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-499ccb20",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "x86_64",
"ImageLocation": "amzn-ami-us-east-1/pv-grub-hd00_1.04-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "137112412989",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel",
"Description": "PV-GRUB release 1.04, 64-bit, configured for (hd0,0)/boot/grub/menu.lst"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-4c7d9525",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "i386",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00-V1.01-i386.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-4e7d9527",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "x86_64",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00-V1.01-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-525ea73b",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "i386",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00_1.02-i386.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Name": "pv-grub-hd00_1.04-i386.gz",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-659ccb0c",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "i386",
"ImageLocation": "amzn-ami-us-east-1/pv-grub-hd00_1.04-i386.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "137112412989",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel",
"Description": "PV-GRUB release 1.04, 32-bit, configured for (hd0,0)/boot/grub/menu.lst"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-805ea7e9",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "i386",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0_1.02-i386.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-825ea7eb",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "x86_64",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0_1.02-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Name": "pv-grub-hd0_1.03-x86_64.gz",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-88aa75e1",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "x86_64",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0_1.03-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel",
"Description": "PV-GRUB release 1.03, 64-bit, configured for (hd0)/boot/grub/menu.lst"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-8e5ea7e7",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "x86_64",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00_1.02-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Name": "pv-grub-hd0_1.04-i386.gz",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-8f9dcae6",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "i386",
"ImageLocation": "amzn-ami-us-east-1/pv-grub-hd0_1.04-i386.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "137112412989",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel",
"Description": "PV-GRUB release 1.04, 32-bit, configured for (hd0)/boot/grub/menu.lst"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Name": "pv-grub-hd0_1.04-x86_64.gz",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-919dcaf8",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "x86_64",
"ImageLocation": "amzn-ami-us-east-1/pv-grub-hd0_1.04-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "137112412989",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel",
"Description": "PV-GRUB release 1.04, 64-bit, configured for (hd0)/boot/grub/menu.lst"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Name": "pv-grub-hd00_1.03-i386.gz",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-b2aa75db",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "i386",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00_1.03-i386.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel",
"Description": "PV-GRUB release 1.03, 32-bit, configured for (hd0,0)/boot/grub/menu.lst"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Name": "pv-grub-hd00_1.03-x86_64.gz",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-b4aa75dd",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "x86_64",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00_1.03-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel",
"Description": "PV-GRUB release 1.03, 64-bit, configured for (hd0,0)/boot/grub/menu.lst"
},
{
"VirtualizationType": "paravirtual",
"Name": "pv-grub-hd0_1.03-i386.gz",
"Hypervisor": "xen",
"ImageOwnerAlias": "amazon",
"ImageId": "aki-b6aa75df",
"State": "available",
"BlockDeviceMappings": [],
"Architecture": "i386",
"ImageLocation": "ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0_1.03-i386.gz.manifest.xml",
"RootDeviceType": "instance-store",
"OwnerId": "206029621532",
"Public": true,
"ImageType": "kernel",
"Description": "PV-GRUB release 1.03, 32-bit, configured for (hd0)/boot/grub/menu.lst"
}
]
}
Using ec2-api-tools:
Console - user@hostname ~ $
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ec2-describe-images \
--owner amazon \
--filter image-type=kernel \
--filter manifest-location=*pv-grub* \
--region us-east-1
Output
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IMAGE aki-407d9529 ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0-V1.01-i386.gz.manifest.xml amazon available public i386 kernel instance-store paravirtual xen
IMAGE aki-427d952b ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0-V1.01-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml amazon available public x86_64 kernel instance-store paravirtual xen
IMAGE aki-4c7d9525 ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00-V1.01-i386.gz.manifest.xml amazon available public i386 kernel instance-store paravirtual xen
IMAGE aki-4e7d9527 ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00-V1.01-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml amazon available public x86_64 kernel instance-store paravirtual xen
IMAGE aki-525ea73b ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00_1.02-i386.gz.manifest.xml amazon available public i386 kernel instance-store paravirtual xen
IMAGE aki-8e5ea7e7 ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd00_1.02-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml amazon available public x86_64 kernel instance-store paravirtual xen
IMAGE aki-805ea7e9 ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0_1.02-i386.gz.manifest.xml amazon available public i386 kernel instance-store paravirtual xen
IMAGE aki-825ea7eb ec2-public-images/pv-grub-hd0_1.02-x86_64.gz.manifest.xml amazon available public x86_64 kernel instance-store paravirtual xen