Really needed to virtualize the server as I can't waste all those resources, so first tried vmware which was ok but I'm not that big a fan; I really wanted to go the XEN route.

So, after some experimenting with a dev machine I finally bit the bullet & installed it.

Check Support

The server processor is an AMD with an ASUS board, so first check you can support virtualization

grep "vmx" /proc/cpuinfo

For AMD, look for SVM, for Intel look for VMX.

Install Xen

Next install xen, 'from here on in, it gets scary fast'

aptitude install xen-linux-system-2.6.26-1-xen-amd64 xen-utils-3.2-1 xenstore-utils xenwatch xen-shell xen-tools

Setup

You're not out of the woods yet, edit /etc/modules if you're after image-based virtual machines; skip otherwise.

nano /etc/modules

...change
loop
...to
loop max_loop=64

Save then edit /etc/xen/xend-config.sxp

nano /etc/xen/xend-config.sxp

• Find (network-script network-bridge) and uncomment
• Make sure (network-script network-dummy) is commented
• Make sure (vif-script vif-bridge) is uncommented

e.g.

(network-script network-bridge)
#(network-script network-dummy)
(vif-script vif-bridge)

Checking

Now reboot

reboot

And check which o/s you've got

uname -r

Mine returns...

2.6.26-1-xen-amd64

more here