Current State

Xen packages are available in Debian proper since Etch, and the maintainers working on these, gather together atthe project page on alioth- if you are interested in the things that happen there, please go there! A current(as of today, 2008-03-21) problem in Debian, and probably other distribution is that there is currently no up to date Kernel version with Xen patches that can run as a dom0 Kernel.

Historical information

Ian has made some comments on the lists about "a concerted, organised group effort on debian packaging and documentation," so I created this page in the hopes that the various people on the lists (and off) who have offered to help would check in and leave a brief note about what they might like to do. I know it's not very elaborate, but it's a starting point.

Recently a new group, called the Xen Debian Team, has been formed. You can reach them through the project page, on alioth. They are working to package Xen3 so it can get properly integrated inside Debian.
Adam Heath - He's the current package maintainer. He does all the real work in creating the Debian packages
Yvette Chanco (b.k.a. yentlsoup) - I've been trying to help by making some unofficial 2.0.6 and 2.0.7 packages available, getting feedback, and by creating this silly wiki page.
Edward Despard - He's on the Clarkson Xenophilia team, and has been awarded a "Google Summer of Code bounty on integrating Xen into Ubuntu Linux." Because of the nature of the project, he has limitations to the types of collaboration he can do, but since his name (and Ubuntu) have been mentioned with regards to this on a few lists, I'm adding a link to [the site where he posts his progress].
Ralph Passgang has created Xen 2.0.7 and Xen 3 packages for debian sid/sarge/etch. The xen3 packages are available for 32bit, 32bit+pae & 64bit.

tha Notes

^12-19-05Xen 3.0.0 Packages are available from packages.debianbase.de. The source compiles on 32bit & 64bit and there is an extra source archiv for a 32bit pae version!

Ralph Passgang's sources are here:

http://packages.debianbase.de/sources/xen/

http://packages.debianbase.de/sources/xen3/

http://packages.debianbase.de/sources/xen3-pae/

Binary packages can be found here:

http://packages.debianbase.de/sarge/i386/xen/

http://packages.debianbase.de/sarge/i386/xen3/

http://packages.debianbase.de/sarge/i386/xen3-pae/

http://packages.debianbase.de/sarge/amd64/xen3/

(Please replace sarge with sid or etch, if you don't use the debian sarge release).

iMac Notes

I have been a Xen user since just before the first official Debian packages from Adam Heath appeared. Today I run my own 2.6.11 make-kpkg images from unofficial Debian Xen source packages available on my Sarge gateways (APT::Default-Release "stable";). Like many, I started with the Xen packages available from Debian, purged them, and made the switch to Xen packages available from Edward Despard (clarkson.edu sources) for his Google Summer of Code project.

^11-01-05Updates: The clarkson.edu sources can be viewed here, and I have also found option-c.com sources and debianbase.de sources.

Option-C also are working on newer 2.0.8 packages for Debian. See below. Current packages for stable viewed here and staging for newer packages here.

Current packages from Edward have been running for quite some time now, but I expect I will need to get off the 2.6.11 sources soon to maintain security and compatibility with future module sources I build with make-kpkg (openswan, madwifi, madwifi-ng). Perhaps Ralph's packages, which seem to be the newest will provide the needed functionality.

Xen-Users Debian References

Comments in Xen-Users from Edward here http://lists.xensource.com/archives/html/xen-users/2005-08/msg00783.html and here http://lists.xensource.com/archives/html/xen-users/2005-09/msg00013.html. Note that the apt sources have a URL typo (xendebs should read xen-debs).

Useful Debian installation resources from Miguel Enrique Cobá Martínez here http://lists.xensource.com/archives/html/xen-users/2005-10/msg00430.html

2.0.7-3 Edward Despard changelog.Debian.gz

xen (2.0.7-3) unstable; urgency=low

python dependencies fix
fix for kernel config when priority is set to high
-- edward despard < despareg@clarkson.edu > Sun, 28 Aug 2005 15:15:48 -0400

xen (2.0.7-2) unstable; urgency=low

added kernel patch packages
fixed bashismis in update-grub-xen script
-- edward despard < despareg@clarkson.edu > Thu, 25 Aug 2005 20:41:11 -0400

xen (2.0.7-1) unstable; urgency=low

New upstream release
merge update-grub-xen changes from unstable
-- edward despard < despareg@clarkson.edu > Tue, 23 Aug 2005 22:06:28 -0400

3.0.0-0tha6 Ralph Passgang changelog.Debian.gz

xen (3.0.0-0tha6) unstable; urgency=low

suggests "bridge-utils", because most people need it (bridge mode is std.)
-- Ralph Passgang < ralph@debianbase.de > Sun, 18 Dec 2005 23:30:00 -0100

xen (3.0.0-0tha5) unstable; urgency=low

The "AMD64"-Release
updated control file for amd64 (works now with i386 & amd64).
updated .install files (for new amd64 arch)
updated rules file (for new amd64 arch)
added manpages (they never were installed before)
added qemu keytabs (I forgot them on the update for xen3)
-- Ralph Passgang < ralph@debianbase.de > Sun, 18 Dec 2005 16:30:00 -0100

--[[User:Imac|Imac]] 11:09, 21 Oct 2005 (EDT)

yentlsoup Notes (especially in response to iMac)

As to which version of the 2.0 packages to use, it's a grand question, and any feedback from the users here would be much appreciated. It doesn't appear to be my calling to maintain these packages for Debian, but I do keep them available for others via Option-C, and so would like to make a few brief comments...

(I believe, based on the brief communication I've had with him...) Ed Despard's packages differ from the Option-C ones after the basic point of using the 2.0.7 source with Adam's patches; as such, I'm not comfortable with comparisons, since the source is the same for Xen/the kernel but the implementation different. Nevertheless, I've tested his packages and had they been available when I first went to 2.0.7 (or 2.0.6), I would quite likely have used them
For various reasons (and I'll point back to the option-c.com page on this to address them), we've decided to push towards testing/2.0.8 (which should be out 'real soon now' http://lists.xensource.com/archives/html/xen-devel/2005-10/msg00631.html) for the packages we make availabe, even though we currently use 2.0.7 in production and make those debs available too.
Getting the kernel right is the most fun. My hope was always to have three versions (xen default, default + well-tested modules, and everything that could compile) and without more hardware upon which to test, I'm not comfortable releasing them.