Build-up your own NetBSD AMI
Fetch and build NetBSD
EC2 does not provide direct access to console. As a consequence, we cannot rely on it for installation, especially via sysinst(8). We must therefore build and install NetBSD in a separate directory, and configure it manually, before upload.
This tutorial assumes that you will build the system under /mnt/ec2.
/!\Please note that you will need the makefs(8) tool later in the process, so you can build a file system image that can be uploaded to Amazon EC2. You are therefore advised to perform the installation directly under a living NetBSD system, or in case your are not, to fetch the src tree to build the toolchain, which will contain the nbmakefs utility.
Details regarding on how you can fetch src are given in the NetBSD's guide. Here are the basic commands you should type to build and install NetBSD under /mnt/ec2:
cd /usr/ # grab a recent src.tgz file (use curl(1), ftp(1), wget(1), ...) ftp -a 'http://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/NetBSD-current/tar_files/src.tar.gz' # Decompress tar -xzpf src.tar.gz cd src # the following commands will build tools, distribution and kernel ./build.sh -O ../obj -T ../tools -m amd64 tools ./build.sh -O ../obj -T ../tools -D ../dest -R ../release -m amd64 -U distribution ./build.sh -O ../obj -T ../tools -m amd64 kernel=XEN3_DOMU # install distribution in /mnt/ec2 su root ./build.sh -O ../obj -T ../tools -D ../dest -R ../release -U -V INSTALLSETS="base etc" install=/mnt/ec2
Configuration of your NetBSD EC2 tree
/!\This part assumes that you have a non-configured NetBSD system extracted under /mnt/ec2; that is, it should have not been modified through sysinst(8), nor by you.
Under /mnt/ec2, edit the files to add (or modify) these lines:
This file is needed if you want to login via the EC2 SSH key pair created previously:
Create various files and directories:
cd /mnt/ec2
# Add proc and kern directories
mkdir grub kern proc
# EC2 network configuration, via DHCP
echo "dhcp" > etc/ifconfig.xennet0
# Basic fstab entries
cat > etc/fstab << EOF
/dev/xbd1a / ffs rw 1 1
/dev/xbd0a /grub ext2fs rw 2 2
kernfs /kern kernfs rw
ptyfs /dev/pts ptyfs rw
procfs /proc procfs rw
EOF
# EC2 startup script (if you installed it)
if [ -f etc/rc.d/ec2_init ]; then
chmod 555 etc/rc.d/ec2_init
fi
You can then proceed to modifying the system living under /mnt/ec2, so it can fit your needs (adding custom binaries, packages, etc). When done, build the NetBSD-AMI.img.gz ffs image, via makefs(8), or nbmakefs, from the toolchain:
$ makefs -t ffs -B le -s 256m -N /mnt/ec2/etc/ -o density=32k /tmp/NetBSD-AMI.img /mnt/ec2/
Calculated size of `NetBSD-AMI.img': 268435456 bytes, 7345 inodes
Extent size set to 8192
NetBSD-AMI.img: 256.0MB (524288 sectors) block size 8192, fragment size 1024
using 5 cylinder groups of 53.88MB, 6896 blks, 1728 inodes.
super-block backups (for fsck -b #) at:
32, 110368, 220704, 331040, 441376,
Populating `NetBSD-AMI.img'
Image `NetBSD-AMI.img' complete
$ gzip -9n NetBSD-AMI.img
Upload NetBSD to EC2
We must now upload our NetBSD system to EC2. For that, we will have to create a minimalist EC2 instance, to which we will copy our files to construct our snapshots. We will use an Amazon Linux AMI instance.
EC2 being localized in geographical regions, you have to carefully choose the AMI identifier you want to use there. This depends on where you want to execute your instance. Amazon Linux AMI IDs are listed on the main page of the project, by regions. Choose ones backed by EBS.
The examples listed here assume that the instances run in US East, within the c zone (e.g. us-east-1c). To have a list of EC2 regions, you can use the command ec2-describe-regions, and ec2-describe-availability-zones for availability zones.
Create an Amazon Linux instance
Creating an instance is straightforward. Amazon provides different types of instances, with varying levels of billing and reliability. We will use a micro instance; its pricing is almost free.
$ ec2-run-instances ami-74f0061d -t t1.micro -z us-east-1c -k $EC2_SSH_KEYNAME RESERVATION r-1ab61377 983624114127 default INSTANCE i-5babe737 ami-74f0061d pending <your_ssh_key_pair_name> 0 t1.micro 2011-02-17T23:15:04+0000 us-east-1c aki-427d952b monitoring-disabled ebs paravirtual xen
Use the instance identifier i-XXXXXXX to query the instance state via ec2-describe-instances. It will take some time to launch:
$ sleep 5 && ec2-describe-instances i-5babe737 | grep running $ sleep 5 && ec2-describe-instances i-5babe737 | grep running INSTANCE i-5babe737 ami-74f0061d ec2-67-202-24-108.compute-1.amazonaws.com ip-10-99-86-193.ec2.internal running <your_ssh_key_pair_name> 0 t1.micro 2011-02-17T23:22:37+0000 us-east-1c aki-427d952b monitoring-disabled 67.202.24.108 10.99.86.193 ebs
Create and attach your NetBSD volumes
We will have to create and attach two EBS volumes:
- one to contain the Grub menu.lst config file, as well as the NetBSD kernel.
- the other one will contain the root file-system.
ec2-create-volume -s 1 -z us-east-1c # 1GiB -- will be used for Grub and kernel VOLUME vol-24f88d4c 1 us-east-1c creating 2011-02-18T00:06:21+0000 ec2-create-volume -s 5 -z us-east-1c # 5GiB -- will contain the root file-system VOLUME vol-36f88d5e 5 us-east-1c creating 2011-02-18T00:06:32+0000 *** Wait until both volumes are marked as "available" *** ec2-describe-volumes vol-24f88d4c vol-36f88d5e VOLUME vol-36f88d5e 5 us-east-1c available 2011-02-18T00:06:32+0000 VOLUME vol-24f88d4c 1 us-east-1c available 2011-02-18T00:06:21+0000 # Attach them under /dev/sdf and /dev/sdg respectively ec2-attach-volume vol-36f88d5e -i i-5babe737 -d "/dev/sdf" # root file-system ATTACHMENT vol-36f88d5e i-5babe737 /dev/sdf attaching 2011-02-18T00:13:53+0000 ec2-attach-volume vol-24f88d4c -i i-5babe737 -d "/dev/sdg" # Grub and kernel ATTACHMENT vol-24f88d4c i-5babe737 /dev/sdg attaching 2011-02-18T00:14:02+0000 *** Wait until both volumes are "attached" *** ec2-describe-volumes vol-24f88d4c vol-36f88d5e VOLUME vol-36f88d5e 5 us-east-1c in-use 2011-02-18T00:06:32+0000 ATTACHMENT vol-36f88d5e i-5babe737 /dev/sdf attached 2011-02-18T00:14:00+0000 VOLUME vol-24f88d4c 1 us-east-1c in-use 2011-02-18T00:06:21+0000 ATTACHMENT vol-24f88d4c i-5babe737 /dev/sdg attached 2011-02-18T00:14:10+0000
Snapshots!
Before we can connect to our brand new instance, we have to allow connections on SSH port (22) through the AWS EC2 firewall:
$ ec2-authorize default -p 22 --region us-east-1 GROUP default PERMISSION default ALLOWS tcp 22 22 FROM CIDR 0.0.0.0/0
We can now upload the kernel and the NetBSD disk image created earlier, NetBSD-AMI.img.gz, to our instance host:
# Upload kernel to Linux AMI
rsync -aPv -e "ssh -i $EC2_SSH_KEY" /usr/obj/sys/arch/amd64/compile/XEN3_DOMU/netbsd \
ec2-user@ec2-67-202-24-108.compute-1.amazonaws.com:
# Upload disk image
rsync -aPv -e "ssh -i $EC2_SSH_KEY" NetBSD-AMI.img.gz \
ec2-user@ec2-67-202-24-108.compute-1.amazonaws.com:
Then, log in to the instance, via its name. We will format and mount the Grub partition, create the menu.lst file, then copy files to their respective partitions.
$ ec2-describe-instances i-5babe737 INSTANCE i-5babe737 ami-74f0061d ec2-67-202-24-108.compute-1.amazonaws.com ip-10-99-86-193.ec2.internal running <your_ssh_key_pair_name> 0 t1.micro 2011-02-17T23:22:37+0000 us-east-1c aki-427d952b monitoring-disabled 67.202.24.108 10.99.86.193 ebs $ ssh -i "$EC2_SSH_KEY" ec2-user@ec2-67-202-24-108.compute-1.amazonaws.com [...] [ec2-user@ip-10-99-86-193 ~]$ sudo su [root@ip-10-99-86-193 ec2-user]# mkdir /mnt/grub [root@ip-10-99-86-193 ec2-user]# mkfs.ext2 /dev/sdg [...] [root@ip-10-99-86-193 ec2-user]# mount /dev/sdg /mnt/grub/ [root@ip-10-99-86-193 ec2-user]# mkdir -p /mnt/grub/boot/grub/ [root@ip-10-99-86-193 ec2-user]# cat > /mnt/grub/boot/grub/menu.lst << EOF default=0 timeout=0 hiddenmenu title NetBSD AMI root (hd0) kernel /boot/netbsd root=xbd1 EOF [root@ip-10-99-86-193 ec2-user]# mv netbsd /mnt/grub/boot/ [root@ip-10-99-86-193 ec2-user]# umount /dev/sdg [root@ip-10-99-86-193 ec2-user]# gunzip < NetBSD-AMI.img.gz | dd of=/dev/sdf bs=32k [root@ip-10-99-86-193 ec2-user]# sync
Shutdown the Linux instance
We now have to detach volumes, snapshot them, then we shutdown the Linux instance.
# ec2-detach-volume vol-36f88d5e ATTACHMENT vol-36f88d5e i-5babe737 /dev/sdf detaching 2011-02-18T00:14:00+0000 # ec2-detach-volume vol-24f88d4c ATTACHMENT vol-24f88d4c i-5babe737 /dev/sdg detaching 2011-02-18T00:14:10+0000 # ec2-create-snapshot vol-36f88d5e SNAPSHOT snap-deef2bb2 vol-36f88d5e pending 2011-02-18T01:17:59+0000 983624114127 5 # ec2-create-snapshot vol-24f88d4c SNAPSHOT snap-8aef2be6 vol-24f88d4c pending 2011-02-18T01:18:10+0000 983624114127 1 # ec2-terminate-instances i-5babe737 INSTANCE i-5babe737 running shutting-down
Playing with your first NetBSD instance
Create your first NetBSD AMI
An AMI requires multiples components to be registered: the snapshots IDs we made in the previous chapter, as well as a specific AKI: the one that can chain-load Xenified kernels through PyGrub.
/!\ AKIs are entitled to the same conditions as AMIs: their IDs are region-specific. So choose one carefully, or you will not be able to launch your NetBSD instance later!
The list of AKIs that suits our situation can be obtained with the following command:
# Obtain all kernel images (AKI) for region US East, for which manifest location contains pv-grub (for PyGrub) # ec2-describe-images -a --region=us-east-1 -F image-type=kernel -F manifest-location=*pv-grub* 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
Pick the one with the correct architecture (x86_64 here). hd0 are for AMIs where the snapshot contains no partition (where the volume is itself the whole partition), while hd00 are for snapshots partitioned in a classical way (via MBR). Choose hd0 AKIs. In this case, that will be aki-427d952b.
We can proceed to the creation of our AMI, with:
- /dev/sda1 as Grub partition (/dev/sdg, snapshot snap-8aef2be6 of volume vol-24f88d4c)
- /dev/sda2 as root file-system (/dev/sdf, snapshot snap-deef2bb2 of volume vol-36f88d5e)
$ ec2-register -a x86_64 --kernel aki-427d952b --region us-east-1 \
-b "/dev/sda1=snap-8aef2be6" -b "/dev/sda2=snap-deef2bb2" -n "NetBSD-x86_64-current" \
-d "<add your own description here>
IMAGE ami-74d0231d
Launch your first instance
You can now start your own NetBSD instance, via:
$ ec2-run-instances ami-74d0231d -t t1.micro -z us-east-1c -k $EC2_SSH_KEYNAME
RESERVATION r-08218465 983624114127 default
INSTANCE i-953d72f9 ami-74d0231d pending 0 t1.micro 2011-02-18T02:05:46+0000 us-east-1c aki-4e7d9527 monitoring-disabled
*** Wait a few minutes, micro instances take time to start ***
# Query console output for your new instance
$ ec2-get-console-output i-953d72f9
Copyright (c) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
The NetBSD Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 1982, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
NetBSD 5.99.45 (XEN3_DOMU) #9: Wed Feb 16 21:14:49 CET 2011
[...]
NetBSD/amd64 (ip-10-112-58-223.ec2.internal) (console)
login:
Connect to your NetBSD instance
Connection is similar to the one you used for the Amazon Linux instance, except that you login as "root" instead of "ec2-user":
$ ec2-describe-instances i-953d72f9 RESERVATION r-da8021b7 983624114127 default INSTANCE i-953d72f9 ami-74d0231d ec2-50-16-3-55.compute-1.amazonaws.com ip-10-112-58-223.ec2.internal running <your_ssh_key_pair_name> 0 t1.micro 2011-02-19T04:01:03+0000 us-east-1c aki-427d952b monitoring-disabled 50.16.3.55 10.112.58.223 ebs paravirtual xen BLOCKDEVICE /dev/sda1 vol-ec3c4a84 2011-02-19T04:01:31.000Z BLOCKDEVICE /dev/sda2 vol-ee3c4a86 2011-02-19T04:01:31.000Z $ ssh -i "$EC2_SSH_KEY" root@ec2-50-16-3-55.compute-1.amazonaws.com The authenticity of host 'ec2-50-16-3-55.compute-1.amazonaws.com (50.16.3.55)' can't be established. [...] Thank you for helping us test and improve NetBSD. Terminal type is xterm. We recommend that you create a non-root account and use su(1) for root access. ip-10-112-58-223# uname -a NetBSD ip-10-112-58-223.ec2.internal 5.99.45 NetBSD 5.99.45 (XEN3_DOMU) #9: Wed Feb 16 21:14:49 CET 2011 jym@paris:/home/jym/cvs/obj/sys/arch/amd64/compile/XEN3_DOMU amd64 ip-10-112-58-223#
Done!
And now?
Well, you got a NetBSD instance that is in almost every part similar to what a NetBSD domU can be. You can use this domU to host Internet services, run a database, extend your build farm, or use it as a sandbox. The AMI being built around snapshots, you can play and break your instance in every way you want; just restart one anew if you need to. Don't forget that Amazon will charge acccordingly 
Remember, you can query information regarding your AWS account through misc/ec2-api-tools package. It is quite easy to use these tools for scripting; for a more elaborate, graphical interface, use the Amazon Management Console.