What is the best way to share files between Xen VM's?

Question

Is there some built-in way to share files between Xen guests? I don't currently need to share the actual images, just some data files.

Answer 1

Do you mean between Xen and the host or between different guests?

If guests, I don't think there is something provided but you should probably use NFS as it is the best supported file system that supports a decent number of permissions and attributes but assumes a trusted network.

Answer 2

You can also try glusterfs or lustre to share files between Xen guests.

Answer 3

I ran into this same issue and my solution was to add an extra virtual drive to each guest which pointed to a shared lvm or device.

So xvda3 was pointed at /dev/md0 in the guest configuration file. You could just as easily use /dev/vg0/lg0 for an logical volume.