Installation guide

Installing XenServer

2. burn it to a physical CD if installing from a DVD/CD drive, or set it up for PXE installation as described

in Appendix C, PXE installation of XenServer Host

3. insert the CD when prompted for the Linux Pack during XenServer Host installation

Note

If you decide later to add Linux support, mount the Linux Pack installation CD or ISO image on

the XenServer Host and run the script install.sh, located in the root of the CD.

Procedure 3.1. To install the XenServer Host

When booting the XenServer Host after installation, the message "Loading GRUB, please wait" is displayed,

followed by several "Press any key to continue" messages. This allows you to press a key on either the

physical console or a serial console and let GRUB know where to direct its output. If you wait, the GRUB

menu is automatically directed to the physical console.

Note that on some machines, the BIOS causes the pause between these messages to be unusually long,

such that it takes over a minute for it to automatically direct to the physical console.

1. Boot the computer from the main installation CD, or PXE-boot from your TFTP server if applicable (see

Appendix C, PXE installation of XenServer Host for details on how to set up the XenServer media for

PXE installation).

2. After the initial boot messages, the installer does some hardware detection and initialization, then

presents a screen asking you to select which keyboard keymap you want to use for the installation.

In this and the screens that follow, use Tab or Alt+Tab to move between elements, Space to select,

and F12 to move to the next screen.

Select the desired keymap and choose OK to proceed.

3. Next, the "Welcome to XenServer" screen appears. Select Install or upgrade XenServer Host and

choose OK to proceed.

4. The next screen displays a message telling you that the setup program will install XenServer on the

computer, and warns that it will overwrite data on any hard drives that you select to use for the instal-

lation. Choose OK to proceed.

5. The XenServer End User License Agreement (EULA) is displayed. Use the up and down arrow keys

to scroll through and read the agreement. Choose Accept EULA to proceed.

6. At this point, if the computer on which you are installing the XenServer Host does not have a CPU

which supports hardware virtualization, or if the support is disabled in the BIOS, a message appears

to warn you that you will not be able to run Windows VMs. Choose OK to proceed.

Note that some systems have bugs in their BIOS software which can result in the setting being incorrect.

If you get a spurious warning about a lack of hardware virtualization (or do not see a warning when you

expected one), then perform a hard power cycle of the host and restart the installation. You should also

check the hardware manufacturer's support site for BIOS upgrades.

7. If the installer detects a previously-installed version of XenServer Host, you are offered the choice to

perform a clean installation, or to upgrade the existing version, which preserves any of the VMs present.

Select an installation type and choose OK to proceed.

If you selected to upgrade an existing version, you will get a message that the installer is going to create

a backup of the existing installation. Select Continue to proceed.