Index: xen-3.3.1-testing/tools/python/xen/xm/main.py
===================================================================
--- xen-3.3.1-testing.orig/tools/python/xen/xm/main.py
+++ xen-3.3.1-testing/tools/python/xen/xm/main.py
@@ -58,7 +58,11 @@ from xen.util.acmpolicy import ACM_LABEL
 import XenAPI
 
 import xen.lowlevel.xc
-xc = xen.lowlevel.xc.xc()
+try:
+    xc = xen.lowlevel.xc.xc()
+except Exception, ex:
+    print >>sys.stderr, ("Is xen kernel running?")
+    sys.exit(1)
 
 import inspect
 from xen.xend import XendOptions