[mythtv-users] Mythbackend on VMware Server with DVB-tuners

[Raymond Wagner]

On 5/3/2011 11:14, Fredrik Hallgarde wrote:
> Raymond Wagner skrev 2011-04-29 18:11:
>> On 4/29/2011 08:35, Fredrik Hallgarde wrote:
>>> Some say that its overkill to run virtualization at home
>>> (http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/475464#475464)
>>> I have to disagree as it allows me to keep a Mythdora 10.21 installation
>>> (2.6.27) while experimenting with newer kernels and mythtv-versions
>>> (without using more hardware).
>> No, it's simply overkill.  There are two reasons to play with new
>> kernels, hardware support and new interfaces.  Since you're accessing
>> static virtualized hardware, there is not going to be any gain in that
>> department.  Unless you're actually doing development work to implement
>> use of new kernel features into an application, there's not a whole lot
>> of reason to use a VM for that.
>>
>> Anything in the userland can be completely isolated from the rest of the
>> system using a chroot, or something more complex, so there is nothing
>> preventing one from running multiple distro installs on a single
>> kernel.  I've got several jails (advanced chroot) running on my FBSD 8.1
>> backend, some of them still using a FBSD 6.x userland.  I have several
>> old root images for my frontends sitting on iSCSI shares, and at any
>> time, I can connect to one, chroot in, and run it natively.
> I had a Mythdora 10.21 (Fedora 10 + Mythtv 0.21) installation on a P4
> server that died, it used a 32bit kernel to which I have added a few
> modules that are not available in 64-bit AFAIK.
> The new system is meant to be primarily Mythbackend but also other
> things (as services on the Mythbackend or as VMs). Its based around a
> Core i5, Q57 chipset, 4GB RAM. My bandaid solution was to simply move
> the old disks to the new system and plug in an old 100MBit NIC to get
> network support (no driver in Fedora 10).
> My attempt to use VMware server was meant to contain the old
> installation until I had a proper setup on the hardware (e.g. 64bit
> kernel, compiled module for Intel Gbit NIC) and allow me to test MythTV
> 0.24 in parallel to my production system. In other words, the new kernel
> is not in the VM, its on the hardware (which is new).

In that scenario, a simple chroot would likely suffice.  Mount /dev into 
the chroot folder, chroot in, and refresh your environment.  Run mysqld 
if needed, and then run the backend.  You may also want to mount /proc 
or /sys.  In a chroot, hostname will be shared, so you may need to force 
MythTV's hostname in the database credential file, or use the backup 
utility to migrate the settings and data.  Similarly, use the same IP as 
before, add an alias, or change the address of your backend in the setup 
utility.

All x86-64 chips can run 32-bit code natively, even in 64-bit mode.  It 
should not be a problem for it to run the old binaries directly, using 
the chroot to provide the proper environment.  The only time you could 
have issues is if you manually compiled against a specific architecture, 
rather than the generic i686.