** Andy Smith <andy@???> [2022-01-07 05:41]:
> Hi Paul,
>
> On Thu, Jan 06, 2022 at 10:42:20PM +0000, Paul Tansom wrote:
> > Thanks Anna, that's encouraging. I'm already on a 5.4.x HWE Kernel so I
> > may just run a complete backup and go for it.
>
> I think what I would do is first try pvshim, achieved by setting
> either your architecture or virtmode to the same as what it
> currently is:
>
> xen shell> arch i686
> xen shell> shutdown
> xen shell> boot
>
> The reason for that is that
>
> a) it's most likely to Just Work, and
> b) it's a change that will be forced on you in 11 days anyway if you
> stay as is, also if you go to PVH mode and then switch BACK, it
> will actually be pvshim as well.
>
> If you are at all worried that it might not work, ask BitFolk to do
> the switch. That doesn't make it any more/less likely to work but if
> it doesn't we can quickly roll the change back and try to see why.
>
> Once you've got that done, you can just leave it there, or you could
> try switch to PVH:
>
> xen shell> virtmode pvh
> xen shell> shutdown
> xen shell> boot
>
> If *that* doesn't work then you can just switch back to where you
> were before:
>
> xen shell> virtmode pv
> xen shell> boot
I can report back that this worked smoothly, which is just as well as
there was a moment just after I'd initiated the first shutdown where I
suddenly realised it was Sunday and not the best day for something to go
wrong (I know the Bitfolk support is great, but you don't want to be
calling for help on a Sunday for something self inflicted!). It has to
be said that looking after my dad has resulted in losing track of days
of the week and fitting in work at all sorts of odd times.
> This virtualisation mode is just a different way of booting, it will
> either work or not; there is not any danger to your data so I don't
> think there is any need to take a special backup (always have normal
> backups!). And you can just switch it back yourself if it doesn't
> work.
>
> Switching to PVH is a simple procedure that doesn't require any
> changes to your VM (assuming new enough kernel and grub2), so I
> would just do it if you can stand a reboot for pvshim and then a
> reboot for PVH.
All done and dusted, running Ubuntu 18.04 i686 on PVH. The plan for a
backup prior to doing the work was to give the option to wipe an
reinstall as 64-bit myself rather than raising a ticket. It probably
wasn't the smartest thought, but there you go.
> > I could always just wipe, install a 64-bit Ubuntu and restore my
> > backup if all goes wrong - I mean what else could go wrong after
> > that ;-)
>
> Having a new account to install into is the same work, but your
> stuff keeps working on the other one while you do it, so there is
> that.
Yes, that's how I've done it before, and will again. I now have
breathing space to finish my planned improvements before requesting the
temporary VPS and starting the migration. (Note to self: get on with
it!).
** end quote [Andy Smith]
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