Citrix XenServer ® 6.1.0 Installation Guide Published Friday, 06 September 2013 1.
Citrix XenServer ® 6.1.0 Installation Guide Copyright © 2012 Citrix Systems. Inc. All Rights Reserved. Version: 6.1.0 Citrix, Inc. 851 West Cypress Creek Road Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 United States of America Disclaimers This document is furnished "AS IS." Citrix, Inc. disclaims all warranties regarding the contents of this document, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for any particular purpose.
Contents 1. Welcome ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1. About This Document .................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Introducing XenServer .................................................................................................. 1 1.2.1. Benefits of Using XenServer ............................................................................... 1 1.2.2.
5.1.3. VM Boot Behavior ........................................................................................... 19 5.1.3.1. VM Caching Behavior Settings ............................................................... 19 5.1.3.1.1. Shared Desktop Mode ................................................................ 19 5.1.3.1.2. Private Desktop Mode ................................................................ 19 5.1.4. Implementation Details and Troubleshooting .......................................
A. Troubleshooting .......................................................................................... 39 B. Boot From SAN Environments .................................................................... 40 C. PXE Boot Installations ................................................................................. 41 C.1. Configuring your PXE Environment for XenServer Installation ........................................ 41 C.2. Creating an answer file for unattended PXE installation ................
Chapter 1. Welcome 1.1. About This Document This document is an installation guide for Citrix XenServer®, the complete server virtualization platform from Citrix®. It contains procedures to guide you through the installation, configuration, and initial operation of XenServer. This document also contains information about troubleshooting problems that might occur during installation and points you to additional resources.
For a comprehensive list of xe commands and descriptions, see the XenServer Administrator's Guide. 1.2.3. XenServer Editions The features available in XenServer depend on the edition. The four editions of XenServer are: • Citrix XenServer (Free): Proven virtualization platform that delivers uncompromised performance, scale, and flexibility at no cost. • Citrix XenServer Advanced Edition: Key high availability and advanced management tools that take virtual infrastructure to the next level.
management software. When these extensions are deployed, VMs cannot impersonate any other VM, or intercept traffic intended for any other VM, increasing security in environments where VMs cannot be fully trusted. For a White Paper discussion, refer to CTX134787. • VLAN Scalability improvements: removes a previous limitation which caused VM deployment delays when large numbers of VLANs were in use. This improvement enables administrators using XenServer 6.1.
• XenServer Quick Start Guide provides an introduction for new users to the XenServer environment and components. This guide steps through the installation and configuration essentials to get XenServer and the XenCenter management console up and running quickly. After installation, it demonstrates how to create a Windows VM, VM template and pool of XenServer hosts. It introduces basic administrative tasks and advanced features, such as shared storage, VM snapshots and XenMotion live migration.
Chapter 2. System Requirements 2.1. System Requirements XenServer requires at least two separate physical x86 computers: one to be the XenServer host and the other to run the XenCenter application. The XenServer host computer is dedicated entirely to the task of running XenServer — hosting VMs — and is not used for other applications. Warning: The installation of any third party software directly on the XenServer host (i.e.
Disk Space Locally attached storage (PATA, SATA, SCSI) with 16 GB of disk space minimum, 60 GB of disk space recommended, or SAN via HBA (not via software) if installing with multipath boot from SAN (see http://hcl.vmd.citrix.com for a detailed list of compatible storage solutions). Product installation creates two 4 GB partitions for the XenServer host control domain. Network 100 Mbit/s or faster NIC.
Chapter 3. Installing XenServer and XenCenter This chapter steps through installing the XenServer host software on physical servers, installing XenCenter on Windows workstations and connecting them to form the infrastructure for creating and running virtual machines (VMs). After guiding you through installation, this chapter describes a selection of common installation and deployment scenarios. 3.1.
Upgrading requires careful planning and attention. For detailed information about upgrading individual XenServer hosts and pools, see Chapter 7, Upgrading XenServer. 3.2. Installing the XenServer Host Warning: Installing XenServer will overwrite data on any hard drives that you select to use for the installation. Back up data that you wish to preserve before proceeding. To install or upgrade the XenServer host: 1.
If you select Local media, the next screen asks if you want to install any supplemental packs from a CD. If you plan to install any supplemental packs provided by your hardware supplier, choose Yes. If you select HTTP or FTP or NFS: a. Set up networking so that the installer can connect to the XenServer installation media files. If the computer has multiple NICs, select one of them to be used to access the XenServer installation media files, and then choose Ok to proceed. b.
Note: XenServer assumes that the time setting in the BIOS of the server is the current time in UTC. 17. Select Install XenServer. If you elected to set the date and time manually, you will be prompted to do so during the installation. Once set, choose Ok to proceed. 18. If you are installing from a CD and elected to include supplemental packs, you will be prompted to insert them. Eject the XenServer installation CD, and insert the supplemental pack CD. Choose Ok.
3. Follow the Setup wizard, which allows you to modify the default destination folder and then to install XenCenter. 3.4. Connecting XenCenter to the XenServer Host To connect XenCenter to the XenServer host: 1. Launch XenCenter. The program opens to the Home tab. 2. Click the Add New Server icon. 3. Enter the IP address of the XenServer host in the Server field. Type the root username and password that you set during XenServer installation. Click Add. 4.
Chapter 4. Installation and Deployment Scenarios This chapter steps through the following common installation and deployment scenarios: • One or more XenServer host(s) with local storage • Pools of XenServer hosts with shared storage: • Multiple XenServer hosts with shared NFS storage • Multiple XenServer hosts with shared iSCSI storage 4.1. XenServer Hosts with Local Storage The simplest deployment of XenServer is to run VMs on one or more XenServer host(s) with local storage.
4.2. Pools of XenServer Hosts with Shared Storage A pool is comprised of multiple XenServer host installations, bound together as a single managed entity. When combined with shared storage, a pool enables VMs to be started on any XenServer host in the pool that has sufficient memory, and then dynamically moved between hosts while running (XenMotion), and with minimal downtime. If an individual XenServer host suffers a hardware failure, you can restart the failed VM(s) on another host in the same pool.
2. Under Virtual disk storage, choose NFS VHD as the storage type. Choose Next to continue. 3. Enter a name for the new SR and the name of the share where it is located. Click Scan to have the wizard scan for existing NFS SRs in the specified location. Note: The NFS server must be configured to export the specified path to all XenServer hosts in the pool. 4. Click Finish. The new SR appears in the Resources pane, at the pool level. Creating an SR on the NFS share at the pool level using the xe CLI: 1.
Before you create an SR, you need to configure the iSCSI storage. To be part of a pool, the iSCSI storage must have a static IP address or be DNS addressable. You will also need to provide an iSCSI target LUN on the SAN for the VM storage, and then configure XenServer hosts to be able to see and access it. Both the iSCSI target and each iSCSI initiator on each XenServer host must have a valid and unique iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN). For configuration details, it is best to see your vendor documentation.
argument is set to true, the shared storage is automatically connected to every host in the pool and any hosts that subsequently join are also connected to the storage. The command returns the UUID of the created storage repository. 2. Find the UUID of the pool by running the pool-list command. 3.
Chapter 5. XenServer and IntelliCache Note: This feature is only supported when using XenServer with XenDesktop. Using XenServer with IntelliCache makes hosted Virtual Desktop Infrastructure deployments more cost-effective by enabling you to use a combination of shared storage and local storage. It is of particular benefit when many Virtual Machines (VMs) all share a common OS image. The load on the storage array is reduced and performance is enhanced.
5.1.2. Converting an Existing Host to Use Thin Provisioning To destroy an existing LVM based local SR, and replace it with a thin provisioned EXT3 based SR, enter the following commands. Warning: These commands will destroy your existing local SR, and VMs on the SR will be permanently deleted.
5.1.3. VM Boot Behavior There are two options for the behavior of a VM VDI when the VM is booted: 1. Shared Desktop Mode On VM boot, the VDI is reverted to the state it was in at the previous boot. All changes while the VM is running will be lost when the VM is next booted. Select this option if you plan to deliver standardized desktops to which users cannot make permanent changes. 2. Private Desktop Mode On VM boot, the VDI is in the state it was left in at the last shutdown.
Q: How do I specify a particular SR for use as the cache? A: The host object field local-cache-sr refers to a local SR. You can view its value by running the following command: xe sr-list params=local-cache-sr,uuid,name-label This field is set either: • after host installation, if the "Enable thin provisioning" option was selected in the host installer • by executing xe host-enable-local-storage-caching host= sr-uuid=.
Chapter 6. Using SCVMM and SCOM with XenServer XenServer's Integration Suite Supplemental Pack allows inter-operation with Microsoft's System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2012 and Systems Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2007 R2. SVCMM allows you to centrally create and manage VMs across the entire datacenter. It enables full lifecycle management of both Microsoft HyperV hosts and XenServer pools through one centralized interface.
• The Integration Suite Supplemental Pack must be installed on each XenServer host that you want to manage with SCVMM (either at installation or post-installation). • Use SCVMM to connect to and manage your XenServer hosts. 6.3. Integration Requirements for SCOM To enable integration with SCOM the following configuration is required: • A host running SCOM 2007 R2. • A XenServer host with storage and networking pre-configured using XenCenter.
Chapter 7. Upgrading XenServer This chapter documents how to upgrade your XenServer deployment using XenCenter and the xe CLI. It guides you through upgrading your XenServer hosts — both pooled and standalone — automatically (using the XenCenter Rolling Pool Upgrade wizard) and manually. XenServer hosts must be running at least version 5.6 in order to upgrade directly to version 6.1.0. For example, to upgrade from version 5.5 to version 6.1.0, you must first upgrade version 5.5 to version 5.
process. This upgrade method keeps critical VMs running by enabling you to live migrate them to other hosts in the pool and then to upgrade one host at a time. This process takes only one XenServer host offline at a time. You can perform a rolling pool upgrade using XenCenter or the xe CLI. If you are using XenCenter, Citrix recommends using the Rolling Pool Upgrade wizard. This wizard organizes the upgrade path automatically and guides you through the upgrade procedure.
Before You Upgrade Before you begin your upgrade, be sure to make the following preparations: • Download the latest version of XenCenter. Earlier versions of XenCenter do not include the wizard. • Citrix strongly recommends that you take a backup of the state of your existing pool using the pool-dumpdatabase xe CLI command (see the XenServer Administrator's Guide). Taking a backup state ensures that you can revert a partially complete rolling upgrade to its original state without losing VM data.
7. Once the upgrade begins, the Rolling Pool Upgrade wizard guides you through any actions you need to take to upgrade each host. Follow the instructions until you have upgraded all hosts in the pool(s). Once the upgrade completes, the wizard prints a summary. Click Finish to close the wizard. 7.1.2. Upgrading XenServer Hosts Using the xe CLI Important: Performing a rolling pool upgrade using the xe CLI requires extremely careful planning. Be sure to read the following section with care before you begin.
Important: You will be unable to contact the pool master until the upgrade of the master is complete. Shutting down the pool master causes the other hosts in the pool to enter emergency mode. In general, a XenServer host enters emergency mode when it is a member of a pool whose master has disappeared from the network and cannot be contacted after a number of attempts. VMs continue to run on hosts in emergency mode, but control operations are not available. 4.
An empty VM CD/DVD drive means that the VM is attached to neither an ISO image nor a physical CD/DVD mounted via the XenServer host. Further, it requires that the VM not be attached to any physical CD/DVD drive on the XenServer host at all. To empty the CD/DVD drive of a VM using the xe CLI: 1.
7.3. Upgrading XenServer to Version 5.6 or Earlier Using XenCenter If you are upgrading XenServer hosts to version 5.6 or earlier, then you must do so manually. The Rolling Pool Upgrade wizard is not available in XenServer versions 5.6 and earlier. Important: Performing a rolling pool upgrade manually requires extremely careful planning. Before you begin, be sure to read Section 7.1.2.1, “Planning an Upgrade Path” and then to plan your upgrade path accordingly.
10. Once each host in the pool has been upgraded, it is important to upgrade the XenServer Tools on all VMs. Please refer to the XenCenter Help or the XenServer Virtual Machine User's Guide for details. Note: Running older versions of the XenServer Tools on newer XenServer installations is not supported, except during the upgrade process. To manually upgrade an individual XenServer host using XenCenter: 1. Shut down or suspend any VMs running on the host that you wish to upgrade.
Chapter 8. Applying Updates and Hotfixes to XenServer Between releases of XenServer, Citrix occasionally releases updates and hotfixes. Hotfixes fix one or more specific issues; updates contain accumulated bug fixes and, occasionally, small feature improvements. This chapter describes the general procedures for applying updates and hotfixes to your XenServer deployment through XenCenter and the xe CLI. Public hotfixes and updates are made available for download from the Citrix Knowledge Center.
are run as part of the procedure that the Install Update wizard guides you through. Prechecks alert you if any preparatory o have been missed. 8.2. Updating Individual XenServer Hosts To update individual hosts using XenCenter: 1. Download the update file (.xsupdate file extension) to a known location on the computer running XenCenter. Note: To download the update file: • From the XenCenter menu, select Tools and then Check for Updates.
Here, -s refers to the hostname. XenServer assigns the update file a UUID, which this command prints. Note the UUID. Tip: Once an update file has been uploaded to a XenServer host, you can use the patch-list and patch-param-list commands to view information about the update file. 4. If XenServer detects any errors or preparatory steps that have not been taken (for example, VMs are running on the host), it alerts you. Be sure to follow any guidance before continuing with the update. 5.
actions required are listed in the text box below. If you wish to save the listed actions to a text file for your reference, click Save to File. Select Install update to proceed with the installation. The Install Update wizard shows the progress of the update, printing the major operations that XenCenter performs while updating each host in the pool. While the pool master is being updated, XenCenter will usually lose contact with the pool, temporarily. 9.
Chapter 9. Licensing XenServer Important: Utilizing the XenServer 6.1.0 advanced features requires a Citrix License Server Virtual Appliance (11.6.1 or higher) and a XenServer 6.1.0 license. A Citrix License Server Virtual Appliance with a pre-installed XenServer 6.1.0 license is available for download from the Citrix XenServer 6.1.0 Download page. To use an existing Citrix License Server Virtual Appliance, installation of the XenServer 6.1.0 license is required.
c. Browse to and select the activation key file, and select Open. To install an activation key using the xe CLI, open a console on the host (or connect to the host via SSH) and run the following command: xe host-license-add [license-file=<>] 9.2. Licensing XenServer Editions XenServer Advanced, Enterprise, and Platinum editions use the same licensing model as other Citrix products. XenServer Advanced editions and higher require a license for each XenServer host you use.
To configure licensing for XenServer hosts using XenCenter: 1. On the Tools menu, select License Manager. 2. Select one or more host(s) that you wish to assign a license. Click Assign License. The Apply License dialog box opens. 3. In the Apply License dialog box, choose the XenServer license edition and then enter the Citrix Licensing Server details. Note: 27000 is the port that the licensing server uses by default for communication with Citrix products.
Grace Period After a license is checked out by a XenServer host, the host and the license server exchange "heartbeat" messages every five minutes to indicate to each other that they are still up and running. If XenServer and the license server fail to send or receive heartbeats (for example, due to problems with the license server hardware or software, or network failures), XenServer lapses into the licensing grace period of 30 days and licenses itself through cached information.
Appendix A. Troubleshooting Citrix provides two forms of support: free, self-help support on the Citrix Support website and paid-for Support Services, which you can purchase from the Support site. With Citrix Technical Support, you can open a Support Case online or contact the support center by phone if you experience technical difficulties during installation.
Appendix B. Boot From SAN Environments Boot from SAN environments offer a number of advantages, including high performance, redundancy and space consolidation. In these environments, the boot disk resides on a remote SAN, and not on the local host. The diskless host communicates with the SAN through a host bus adapter (HBA), and the BIOS of the HBA contains the instructions that enable the host to find the boot disk.
Appendix C. PXE Boot Installations This appendix describes how to configure your PXE environment for XenServer installation. It steps through setting up your TFTP and NFS, FTP or HTTP servers to enable PXE booting of XenServer host installations. It then describes how to create an XML answer file, which allows you to perform unattended installations. C.1.
default xenserver label xenserver kernel mboot.c32 append /tftpboot/xenserver/xen.gz dom0_max_vcpus=1-2 dom0_mem=752M,max:752M com1=115200,8n1 \ console=com1,vga --- /tftpboot/xenserver/vmlinuz \ xencons=hvc console=hvc0 console=tty0 \ --- /tftpboot/xenserver/install.
sda sdb sdc us mypassword http://pxehost.example.com/XenServer_/ http://pxehost.example.
Element Description Required? The desired root password for the XenServer host. If a password is not provided, a prompt will be displayed when the host is first booted. N Attributes: You can also specify a type attribute for this element. For example: type="hash">hashedpassword
Element Description Required?
