[Openstack-devel] New Debconf template for the nova source package

[Justin B Rye]

Thomas Goirand wrote:
> Template: nova-compute-xen/xenapi_url
> Type: string
> Default: https://my-dom0.example.com
> _Description: Address of the XenAPI dom0:
>  Nova Compute Xen needs to know the address of the server running XenAPI. This
>  can be a server running XenServer, the Citrix CentOS XCP appliance installed
   ^^^
s/can/may/, probaby.  I'm not 100% clear whether I should be reading
this as a list of three possible kinds of *server* or three kinds of
*software* that the server is running...

>  from Citrix ISO image, or even a Debian server running Xen Cloud Platform
       ^
Possibly "from a Citrix ISO image"; or conceivably even "from the
Citrix ISO image", depending on how many such images I have got to
choose from.

When you say "Debian server", do you mean some sort of xen.debian.net
or just any machine running a Debian-based distro?

>  (XCP / Kronos project), which is available directly in Debian under the

The reference to "(XCP / Kronos Project)" is confusing.  Try "running
the Kronos Project's Xen Cloud Platform (available as the package
xcp-xapi)".

>  package name xcp-xapi. You can enter an IP address or a fully qualified domain
>  name if it resolves correctly.

Is that condition applicable to both options or is it just a warning
against using hostnames without reliable DNS?

I'd suggest:
   Nova Compute Xen needs to know the address of the server running XenAPI. This
   may be a server running XenServer, the Citrix CentOS XCP appliance installed
   from a Citrix ISO image, or even the Kronos Project's Xen Cloud Platform
   (available as the package xcp-xapi). You can enter an IP address, or a fully
   qualified domain name if it resolves correctly.

[...]
> Template: nova-compute-xen/xenapi_password

No please_type_it_again and oops_they_dont_match messages?

> [...] Also, I'm not sure if we need that much
> information on the first message (eg: maybe only having "Please enter
> the address of your XenAPI server." may be enough).

It's hard to guess without being more familiar with XenAPI use cases.
One option might be to spit out the crucial instructions from the
supplementary hints:

   Nova Compute Xen needs to know the address of the server running XenAPI,
   either as an IP address or a resolvable fully qualified domain name.
   .
   The server may be running XenServer, the Citrix CentOS XCP appliance
   installed from a Citrix ISO image, or even the Kronos Project's Xen
   Cloud Platform (available as the package xcp-xapi).

(Or indeed drop the second paragraph.)

-- 
JBR	with qualifications in linguistics, experience as a Debian
	sysadmin, and probably no clue about this particular package