Using DRBD VBDs

In order to use a DRBD resource as the virtual block device, you must add a line like the following to your Xen domU configuration:

disk = [ 'drbd:resource,xvda,w' ]

This example configuration makes the DRBD resource named resource available to the domU as /dev/xvda in read/write mode (w).

Of course, you may use multiple DRBD resources with a single domU. In that case, simply add more entries like the one provided in the example to the disk option, separated by commas.

[Note]Note

There are three sets of circumstances under which you cannot use this approach:

  • You are configuring a fully virtualized (HVM) domU.

  • You are installing your domU using a graphical installation utility, and that graphical installer does not support the drbd: syntax.

  • You are configuring a domU without the kernel, initrd, and extra options, relying instead on bootloader and bootloader_args to use a Xen pseudo-bootloader, and that pseudo-bootloader does not support the drbd: syntax.

    pygrub (prior to Xen 3.3) and domUloader.py (shipped with Xen on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10) are two examples of pseudo-bootloaders that do not support the drbd: virtual block device configuration syntax.

    pygrub from Xen 3.3 forward, and the domUloader.py version that ships with SLES 11 do support this syntax.

Under these circumstances, you must use the traditional phy: device syntax and the DRBD device name that is associated with your resource, not the resource name. That, however, requires that you manage DRBD state transitions outside Xen, which is a less flexible approach than that provided by the drbd resource type.