[Pkg-xen-devel] Bug#588888: create fails

[Marvin Renich]

Package: xen-utils-common
Version: 4.0.0-1
Severity: normal

I am also struggling with this.  I got farther by creating a .sxp file
(xmexample.hvm.cfg is from /usr/share/doc/xen-utils-common/examples):

# xm create -n -f xmexample.hvm.cfg | tail -n +2 > xmexample.hvm.sxp

(why xm create -n mixes diagnostics with the output of -n on stdout, I
do not know) and then specifying it on the command line:

# xm create -f xmexample.hvm.cfg -F xmexample.hvm.sxp
Error: coercing to Unicode: need string or buffer, NoneType found

It looks like options that don't have defaults are missing from the
domain config file, and the example files in
/usr/share/doc/xen-utils-common/examples give incorrect info about which
options have defaults and which are mandatory.

The error messages are generic python errors and don't even identify the
source file and line where the error occurs, much less what option is
missing.  This makes it very difficult and frustrating for someone new
to xen to get a working config file.

If someone who knows xen (perhaps one of the xen maintainers?) would
take the xmexample.hvm.cfg file and modify it so that it works with xen
4.0 and post it to this bug report, it would help some of us immensely.

Also, if someone knowledgeable would comment on whether creating the
.sxp file is supposed to be required, I would appreciate it.

...Marvin


-- System Information:
Debian Release: squeeze/sid
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (990, 'testing'), (500, 'unstable'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 2.6.32-5-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash

Versions of packages xen-utils-common depends on:
ii  gawk                      1:3.1.7.dfsg-5 GNU awk, a pattern scanning and pr
ii  lsb-base                  3.2-23.1       Linux Standard Base 3.2 init scrip
ii  udev                      158-1          /dev/ and hotplug management daemo
ii  xenstore-utils            4.0.1~rc3-1    Xenstore utilities for Xen

xen-utils-common recommends no packages.

xen-utils-common suggests no packages.

-- no debconf information