xen kernel options

Xen DomU Kernel Modules/Options

The VPS kernel lives on the host server 'outside' your VPS. So you will not see the binary files on your VPS.

The kernels RimuHosting use do not have modules enabled. This is so we can upgrade VPS kernels to newer ones when newer kernels come out and not break customers' setups. e.g. if a customer was depending on a kernel they had built for 2.6.18 and we restarted their server with a newer 2.6.30 kernel then that module may not work for them.

The implication of this setup is that you can install whatever kernel you like inside the VPS but it will have no effect on anything (i.e. it won't be used, nor will any self compiled modules be used).

If you need a custom kernel option enabled we are often happy to accommodate that. Most options people frequently used are already built into the kernels we use.

SELinux

SELinux is one option that is not currently in the kernels we use. We had found that some (older) distros do not boot when it is enabled. So we do not put it in our default kernel. In the past we have custom built a SELinux kernel for customers. In a few of those cases we reverted back to the non-SELinux kernel as the customers found that SELinux was not as easy for them to use as they would have liked.

At some point what we may do is make the default kernel a SELinux kernel. But by default boot everyone up with selinux=0 in their command line. This would let us enable SELinux on a case by case basis. So for customers that really, really need SELinux let us know and we can provide some timelines on when such a setup would be available.