How to Install Xen on Latest nixOS

Xen is an open-source software that allows multiple operating systems to run on the same hardware concurrently. It is a popular choice among users who want to host virtual machines on their systems. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Xen on the Latest version of nixOS.

Note: This tutorial assumes that you have the latest version of nixOS installed on your system.

Step 1: Update System

Before we proceed with the installation process, let's first update the system packages to the latest version.

sudo nix-channel --update
sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Step 2: Install Xen

Now that our system is up to date, let's proceed with the installation of Xen. We will start by enabling the Xen hypervisor in the NixOS configuration file.

sudo nano /etc/nixos/configuration.nix

Locate the "boot.loader.grub" section and add the following lines beneath it:

 nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;
  boot.loader.grub.extraEntries = ''
    menuentry "Xen" {
      insmod part_gpt
      insmod ext2
      set root=(hd0,gpt2)
      multiboot2 /boot/xen.gz console=com1,vga=mode-0x0311
      module2 /boot/vmlinuz-linux console=com1,vga=mode-0x0311 root=UUID=f8b7bedc-86ba-4hee-a754-2323ea3b1460 rw  xen_blkfront.max=256
      module2 /boot/initrd-linux.img
    }
  '';
  boot.loader.grub.version = 2;

Save and exit the file.

Next, update the system again using:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

Step 3: Verify Xen Installation

Once the system has finished updating, reboot the system using:

reboot

When the system reboots, you can verify that Xen is installed by running the following command:

xl info

This should show you information about the Xen hypervisor and its configuration.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have successfully installed Xen on nixOS latest! You can now start creating virtual machines with Xen and leverage the power of multiple operating systems running concurrently on your hardware.