Quoting Randall Webstuff <randallwebstuff@gmail.com>:

I have a dying machine running debian etch that acts as a web/mail server that I would like to virtualize using debian/kvm/libvirt. Is it as simple as removing the hard-disk (multiple ext2/ext3 partitions) from the dying machine into my newer server and then writing a custom xml config file?

The only thing that could require some fixing inside your 'image' is the Grub configuration. And the doubt comes from the ignorance of the inner workings of grub . For the XML, do not forget: - the part that says to kvm which is the name of the disk inside kvm, so that it matches the name it had in the machine, - the part that says to use an emulator that matches the old physical CPU. -- ing. Gian Uberto Lauri Ricercatore / Reasearcher Divisione Ricerca ed Innovazione / Research & Innovation Division GianUberto.Lauri@eng.it Engineering Ingegneria Informatica spa Corso Stati Uniti 23/C, 35127 Padova (PD) Tel. +39-049.8283.571 | main(){printf(&unix["\021%six\012\0"], Fax +39-049.8283.569 | (unix)["have"]+"fun"-0x60);} Skype: gian.uberto.lauri | David Korn, AT&T Bell Labs http://www.eng.it | ioccc best One Liner, 1987