XenServer Administrator's Guide 4.1.0 Published March 2008 1.
XenServer Administrator's Guide XenServer Administrator's Guide: Release 4.1.0 Published March 2008 Copyright © 2008 Citrix Systems, Inc. Xen®, Citrix®, XenServer™, XenCenter™ and logos are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other company or product names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
XenServer Administrator's Guide 3
Table of Contents 1. Overview ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. XenServer Hosts and resource pools ................................................................. 1 1.2. Networking ........................................................................................................ 1 1.3. Storage ............................................................................................................ 1 1.4.
XenServer Administrator's Guide 3.5.1. Sample QLogic iSCSI HBA setup ......................................................... 29 3.5.2. Removing HBA-based FC or iSCSI device entries ................................. 29 3.6. Virtual disk QoS settings (Enterprise Edition only) ............................................. 29 4. Networking ................................................................................................................ 31 4.1.
XenServer Administrator's Guide 6.2. Troubleshooting connections between XenCenter and the XenServer Host ........ 100 6.3. Special debug boot options ............................................................................ 100 Index ...........................................................................................................................
Chapter 1. Overview This document is an administrator's guide to XenServer™, the platform virtualization solution from Citrix™. It describes the tasks involved in configuring a XenServer deployment -- in particular, how to set up storage, networking and resource pools, and how to administer XenServer Hosts using the xe command line interface (CLI). This section summarizes the rest of the guide so that you can find the information you need.
Overview • manage and administer storage repositories 1.4. Command Line Interface The Command Line Interface chapter introduces "xe": a powerful CLI that facilitates administration of all aspects of XenServer, including host configuration, storage, networking and VMs.
Chapter 2. XenServer Hosts and resource pools A resource pool comprises multiple XenServer Host installations, bound together into a single managed entity which can host Virtual Machines. When combined with shared storage, a resource pool enables VMs to be started on any XenServer Host which has sufficient memory and then dynamically moved between XenServer Hosts while running with minimal downtime (XenMotion).
XenServer Hosts and resource pools Note The requirement for a XenServer Host to have a static IP address to be part of a resource pool also applies to the servers providing the shared NFS or iSCSI storage.
XenServer Hosts and resource pools xe pool-list 4. Set the shared storage as the pool-wide default with the command xe pool-param-set uuid=pool-uuid default-SR=sr-uuid Since the shared storage has been set as the pool-wide default, all future VMs will have their disks created on shared storage by default. 2.4. Installing and managing VMs on shared storage Procedure 2.3. Installing a Debian Etch (4.0) VM 1. Open a text console on any XenServer Host in the pool. 2.
XenServer Hosts and resource pools Procedure 2.4. To remove XenServer Host b from a resource pool via the CLI 1. Open a text console on any XenServer Host in the pool. 2. Find the UUID corresponding to XenServer Host b using the command xe host-list 3. Command XenServer Host b to leave the pool with the command xe pool-eject host-uuid=uuid The XenServer Host will be ejected and left in a freshly-installed state.
XenServer Hosts and resource pools Note • Do not create the backup in domain 0. • This procedure may create a large backup file. • To complete a restore you may have to reboot to the original install CD. • This data can only be restored to the original machine. Procedure 2.7. To backup a VM 1. Ensure that the VM to be backed up is offline. 2. Run the command: xe vm-export vm=vm-uuid filename=backup Note This backup also backs up all of the VM's data.
XenServer Hosts and resource pools When a member XenServer Host fails, there may be VMs still registered in the running state. If you are sure that the member XenServer Host is definitely down, and that the VMs have not been brought up on another XenServer Host in the pool, use the xe vm-reset-powerstate CLI command to forcibly halt the VMs. See Section 5.4.22.21, “vm-reset-powerstate” for more details. 2.7.2.
XenServer Hosts and resource pools Procedure 2.10. To restore host sotfware and configuration 1. Run the command: xe host-restore host=host file-name=hostbackup 2. Reboot to the host installation CD and select "Restore from backup". 2.7.5. Physical Machine failure If the physical host machine has failed, use the appropriate procedure listed below to recover. Warning Any VMs which were running on a previous member (or the previous host) which has failed will still be marked as Running in the database.
XenServer Hosts and resource pools xe vm-import filename=backup --metadata 2. If the metadata import fails, run the command: xe vm-import filename=backup --metadata --force This command will attempt to restore the VM metadata on a 'best effort' basis. 3. Restart all VMs.
Chapter 3. Storage This chapter discusses the framework for storage abstractions. It describes the way physical storage hardware of various kinds is mapped to VMs, and the software objects used by the XenServer Host API to perform storage-related tasks. Detailed sections on each of the supported storage types include procedures for creating storage for VMs using the CLI, with type-specific device configuration options, and some best practices for managing storage in XenServer Host environments.
Storage • The LVM format can be used on either local disk or shared storage. Shared LVM access can be provided using either an iSCSI or a Fibre Channel LUN hosted on a network filer that allows shared access by multiple initiators or HBAs. • Managed Netapp LUNs are accessible via the Netapp SR driver type, and are hosted on a Network Appliance device running a version of Ontap 7.0 or greater. LUNs are allocated and mapped dynamically to the host via the XenServer Host management framework. 3.1.3.
Storage SR type Description lvmohba Shared? Sparse? VDI Resize? Fast Clone? Logical Volume Management over yes Fibre Channel or iSCSI Host Bus Adapter (HBA) no yes no lvmoiscsi Logical Volume Management over yes iSCSI using software initiator no yes no netapp NetApp filer using Ontap yes yes yes yes All storage repositories in XenServer are implemented as Python scripts and stored within the control domain's file system in /opt/xensource/sm.
Storage for virtual disks (VDIs). VDIs are stored in the Microsoft VHD format only. Moreover, as NFS SRs can be shared, VDIs stored in a shared SR allow VMs to be started on any XenServer Hosts in a resource pool and be migrated between them using XenMotion with no noticeable downtime. Creating an NFS SR requires the hostname or IP address of the NFS server. The sr-probe command can provide a list of valid destination paths exported by the server on which the SR may be created.
Storage Shared iSCSI support using the software iSCSI initiator is implemented based on the Linux Volume Manager (LVM) and provides the same performance benefits provided by LVM VDIs in the local disk case. Shared iSCSI SRs using the software-based host initiator are capable of supporting VM agility using XenMotion: VMs can be started on any XenServer Host in a resource pool and migrated between them with no noticeable downtime.
Storage The sr-probe command should be used to list the LUN-backed SCSI devices present on the host, and will force a scan for new LUN-backed SCSI devices each time it is run. The path value returned by sr-probe for a LUN-backed SCSI device will be consistent across all hosts with access to the LUN, and therefore must be used when creating shared SRs accessible by all hosts in a resource pool. The same features apply to QLogic iSCSI HBAs. See Section 3.3.
Storage There are two constraints to consider, therefore, in mapping the virtual storage objects of the XenServer Host to the filer; in to order to maintain space efficiency it makes sense to limit the number of LUNs per FlexVol, yet at the other extreme, in order to avoid resource limitations a single LUN per FlexVol provides the most flexibility.
Storage which is compared to all other signatures in the data volume. If an exact block match exists, the duplicate block is discarded and the disk space reclaimed. A-SIS can be enabled on "thin provisioned" Netapp-based SRs and will operate according to the default filer A-SIS parameters, typically every 24 hours. It must be enabled at the point the SR is created and any custom A-SIS configuration managed directly on the filer.
Storage There are two basic steps involved in creating a new storage repository for use on a XenServer Host via the CLI: 1. Probe the SR type to determine values for any required parameters. 2. Create the SR to create the SR object and associated PBD objects, plug the PBDs, and activate the SR. These steps differ in detail depending on type of SR being created. In all examples the sr-create command will return the UUID of the SR if successful.
Storage # xe sr-probe type=lvmoiscsi device-config:target=192.168.1.10 device-config:targetIQN=iqn.192.168.1.10:filer1 \ Error code: SR_BACKEND_FAILURE_107 Error parameters: , The SCSIid parameter is missing or incorrect, \
Storage SR type device-config parameter, in order of dependency Can be probed? Required for sr-create? username No Yes password No Yes chapuser No No chappassword No No aggregate No Yes FlexVols No No allocation No No asis No No server No Yes serverpath Yes Yes lvm device No Yes ext device No Yes nfs 3.3.3.
Storage Parameter Name Description Required server IP address or hostname of the NFS server Yes serverpath path, including the NFS mount Yes point, on the NFS server in which the SR will reside To create a shared nfs SR on 192.168.1.10:/export1 use the following command. xe sr-create host-uuid= content-type=user \ name-label="Example shared NFS SR" shared=true \ device-config:server=192.168.1.10 device-config:serverpath=/export1 type=nfs 3.3.6.
Storage To create a shared lvmohba SR perform the following steps on each host in the pool: 1. Zone in one or more LUNs to each XenServer Host in the pool. This process is highly specific to the SAN equipment in use. Please refer to the documentation for your SAN or contact your storage administrator for details. 2.
Storage # xe sr-probe type=lvmohba \ host-uuid=1212c7b3-f333-4a8d-a6fb-80c5b79b5b31 Error code: SR_BACKEND_FAILURE_90 Error parameters: , The request is missing the device parameter, \
Storage Note The Repair Storage Repository function within XenCenter can be used to retry the PBD creation and plugging portions of the sr-create operation. This can be valuable in cases where the LUN zoning was incorrect for one or more member servers in a pool when the SR was created. Correct the zoning for the affected hosts and use Repair Storage Repository instead of removing and recreating the SR. 3.3.8.
Storage 2. To destroy the SR, which deletes both the SR and corresponding PBD from the XenServer Host database and deletes the SR contents from the physical media: xe sr-destroy uuid= 3. Or, to forget the SR, which removes the SR and corresponding PBD from the XenServer Host database but leaves the actual SR contents intact on the physical media: xe sr-forget uuid= 3.4.2.
Storage 1. Upgrade all hosts in the resource pool to XenServer 4.1. 2. Ensure all hosts in the pool have the SR's LUN zoned appropriately. See Section 3.3.2, “Probing an SR ” for details on using sr-probe to verify the LUN is present on each host. 3. Convert the SR to shared: xe sr-param-set shared=true uuid= 4. Within XenCenter the SR will be move from the host level to the pool level, indicating it is now shared.
Storage 5. Within XenCenter select the VM's storage tab. Use the Attach button and select the VDIs from the new SR. This step can also be done use the vbd-create CLI command. 6. To delete the original VDIs, within XenCenter select the storage tab of the original SR. The original VDIs will be listed with an empty value for the VM field and can be deleted with the Delete button. 3.4.5.
Storage 3.5.1. Sample QLogic iSCSI HBA setup For full details on configuring QLogic Fibre Channel and iSCSI HBAs please refer to the QLogic website. Once the HBA is physically installed into the XenServer Host use the following steps to configure the HBA: 1. Set the IP networking configuration for the HBA. This example assumes DHCP and HBA port 0. Specify the appropriate values if using static IP addressing or a multi-port HBA. /opt/QLogic_Corporation/SANsurferiCLI/iscli –ipdhcp 0 2.
Storage Note also that in the shared SR case i.e. where multiple hosts are accessing the same LUN, the QoS is applied to VBDs accessing the LUN from the same host, i.e. QoS is not applied across hosts in the pool. Note that QoS settings will not have any effect on VHD-based storage types. Before configuring any QoS parameters for a VBD, ensure that the disk scheduler for the SR has been set appropriately. See Section 3.4.
Chapter 4. Networking This chapter discusses how physical network interface cards (NICs) in XenServer Hosts are used to enable networking within Virtual Machines (VMs). XenServer supports up to 4 physical NICs per XenServer Host and up to 7 virtual network interfaces (VIFs) per VM. XenServer 4.1 provides automated configuration and management of NICs via the xe command line interface (CLI).
Networking When a host has multiple NICs the configuration present after installation depends on which NIC is selected for management operations during installation: • PIFs are created for each NIC in the host • the PIF of the NIC selected for use as the management interface is configured with the IP addressing options specified during installation • a network is created for each PIF ("network 0", "network 1", etc.
Networking 4.2.2. Connecting Virtual Machines (VMs) to networks When a new VM is created via the CLI, it does not contain a virtual network interface (VIF). Adding a VIF and connecting it to the desired network must be done as additional steps. When creating VMs using XenCenter, the New VM wizard contains a page allowing creation of virtual network interfaces. Procedure 4.2. To add a new virtual interface to a VM via the CLI 1. Use xe vm-list to find the UUID of the VM to which you want to add the VIF.
Networking xe pif-list 4. Create a VLAN object specifying the desired physical PIF and VLAN tag. A new PIF will be created and plugged into the specified network. The UUID of the new PIF object is returned. xe vlan-create network-uuid= pif-uuid= vlan=5 5. Attach VM VIFs to the new network. See Section 4.2.2, “Connecting Virtual Machines (VMs) to networks” for more details. 4.2.4.
Networking xe pif-list 4. Use the bond-create command to create the bond by specifying the newly created network UUID and the UUIDs of the PIFs to be bonded separated by commas. The UUID for the bond is returned: xe bond-create network-uuid= pif-uuids=, Note See Section 4.2.4.2, “Controlling the MAC address of the bond” for details on controlling the MAC address used for the bond PIF. 5.
Networking the MAC address of the bond should be the same as the PIF/NIC currently in use, allowing the IP address of the host received from DHCP to remain unchanged. The MAC address of the bond can be changed from PIF/NIC currently in use for the management interface, but doing so will cause existing network sessions to the host to be dropped when the bond is enabled and the MAC/IP address in use changes.
Networking 4. Once storage resources are available via the NIC, create the appropriate storage repositories. To change an unmanaged NIC to managed, use the pif-introduce command. Note Use of the pif-scan command will reset all NICs on the host to managed. 4.2.7. Changing networking configuration options 4.2.7.1.
Networking xe pif-list 2. Use the pif-param-list command to verify the IP addressing configuration for the PIF that will be used for the management interface. If necessary, use the pif-reconfigure-ip command to configure IP addressing for the PIF to be used. See Chapter 5, Command line interface for more detail on the options available for the pif-reconfigure-ip command. xe pif-param-list uuid= 3.
Networking 4.3.2.1. Adding NIC bonds to new resource pools 1. Install the master host and use XenCenter to create the pool. 2. Create the NIC bond on the master as follows: 1. Use the network-create command to create a new pool-wide network for use with the bonded NICs. The UUID of the new network is returned. xe network-create name-label= 2. Use the host-list command to find the UUID of the master host: xe host-list 3.
Networking xe host-management-reconfigure pif-uuid= 8. Use the pif-reconfigure-ip command to remove the IP address configuration from the non-bonded PIF previously used for the management interface. This step is not strictly necessary but might help reduce confusion when reviewing the host networking configuration. xe pif-reconfigure-ip uuid= mode=None 3. Join a member server to the pool.
Networking xe pif-reconfigure-ip uuid= mode=None 5. For each member server, join it to the pool and repeat 3 and 4 to move the management interface on the member server to enable the bond. 4.3.2.2. Adding NIC bonds to an existing pool When adding a NIC bond to an existing pool, the bond must be manually created on each host in the pool. The steps below can be used to add NIC bonds on both the pool master and member servers with the following requirements: 1.
Networking xe bond-create network-uuid= pif-uuids=, Note See Section 4.2.4.2, “Controlling the MAC address of the bond” for details on controlling the MAC address used for the bond PIF. 6. Use the pif-list command to determine the UUID of the new bond PIF. Include the host-uuid parameter to list only the PIFs on the host being configured: xe pif-list device=bond0 host-uuid= 7.
Networking Procedure 4.8. To change the IP address of a pool member host: 1. Use the pif-reconfigure-ip CLI command to set the IP address as desired. See Chapter 5, Command line interface for details on the parameters of the pif-reconfigure-ip command: xe pif-reconfigure-ip uuid= mode=DHCP 2.
Networking xe pif-list params=uuid,device,MAC,currently-attached,carrier,management, \ IP-configuration-mode uuid ( RO) device MAC currently-attached management IP-configuration-mode carrier ( ( ( ( ( ( : RO): RO): RO): RO): RO): RO): 1ef8209d-5db5-cf69-3fe6-0e8d24f8f518 eth0 00:19:bb:2d:7e:8a true true DHCP true ( ( ( ( ( ( : RO): RO): RO): RO): RO): RO): 829fd476-2bbb-67bb-139f-d607c09e9110 eth1 00:19:bb:2d:7e:7a false false None true uuid ( RO) device MAC currently-attached management IP-configur
Networking xe pif-forget uuid=1ef8209d-5db5-cf69-3fe6-0e8d24f8f518 xe pif-forget uuid=829fd476-2bbb-67bb-139f-d607c09e9110 4. Use the pif-introduce command to re-introduce the devices with the desired naming: xe pif-introduce device=eth0 host-uuid= mac=00:19:bb:2d:7e:7a xe pif-introduce device=eth1 host-uuid= mac=00:19:bb:2d:7e:8a 5. Use the pif-list command again to verify the new configuration: xe pif-list params=uuid,device,MAC 6.
Networking $ xe pif-param-set uuid= other_config:ethtool-tx=off Finally, re-plug the PIF or reboot the host for the change to take effect. 4.4.2. Recovering from a bad network configuration In some cases it is possible to render networking unusable by creating an incorrect configuration. This is particularly true when attempting to make network configuration changes on a member XenServer Host.
Chapter 5. Command line interface This chapter describes the XenServer command line interface (CLI). The xe CLI enables the writing of scripts for automating system administration tasks and allows integration of XenServer into an existing IT infrastructure. The xe command line interface is installed by default on XenServer Hosts and is included with XenCenter. A stand-alone remote CLI is also available for Linux. On Windows, the xe.exe CLI executable is installed along with XenCenter.
Command line interface Shorthand syntax is also available for remote connection arguments: -u username -pw password -pwf password file -p port -s server Example: On a remote XenServer Host: xe vm-list -u myuser -pw mypassword -s hostname Arguments are also taken from the environment variable XE_EXTRA_ARGS, in the form of comma-separated key/value pairs.
Command line interface 5.3. Command types Broadly speaking, the CLI commands can be split in two halves: Low-level commands concerned with listing and parameter manipulation of API objects, and higher level commands for interacting with VMs or hosts in a more abstract level.
Command line interface Note that not every value of class has the full set of class-param- commands; some have just a subset. 5.3.1. Parameter types The objects that are addressed with the xe commands have sets of parameters that identify them and define their states. Most parameters take a single value. For example, the name-label parameter of a VM contains a single string value.
Command line interface Lists all of the parameters and their associated values. Unlike the class-list command, this will list the values of 'expensive' fields. • [class]-param-get uuid=uuid param-name=parameter [param-key=key ] Returns the value of a particular parameter. If the parameter is a map, specifying the param-key will get the value associated with that key in the map. If param-key is not specified, or if the parameter is a set, it will return a string representation of the set or map.
Command line interface xe vm-list HVM-boot-policy="BIOS order" power-state=halted will only list those VMs for which both the field [power-state] has the value halted, and for which the field [HVM-boot-policy] has the value BIOS order. It is also possible to filter the list based on the value of keys in maps, or on the existence of values in a set.
Command line interface Delete a bonded interface specified by its UUID from the XenServer Host. 5.4.2. CD commands Commands for working with physical CD/DVD drives on XenServer Hosts.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type managed true if the device is managed read only xenstore-data Data to be inserted into the xenstore tree read only map parameter sm-config names and descriptions of storage manager device config keys read only map parameter 5.4.2.1. cd-list cd-list [params=param1,param2,... ] [parameter=parameter value ...] List the CDs and ISOs (CD image files) on the XenServer Host or pool, filtering on the optional argument params.
Command line interface Event classes Event classes are listed in the following table: Class name Description pool A pool of physical hosts vm A Virtual Machine host A physical host network A virtual network vif A virtual network interface pif A physical network interface (note separate VLANs are represented as several PIFs) sr A storage repository vdi A virtual disk image vbd A virtual block device pbd The physical block devices through which hosts access SRs 5.4.4.1.
Command line interface Host selectors Several of the commands listed here have a common mechanism for selecting one or more XenServer Hosts on which to perform the operation. The simplest is by supplying the argument host=. XenServer Hosts can also be specified by filtering the full list of hosts on the values of fields. For example, specifying enabled=true will select all XenServer Hosts whose enabled field is equal to true.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type memory-total total amount of physical RAM on the XenServer Host, in bytes read only memory-free total amount of physical RAM remaining that can be allocated to VMs, in bytes read only host-metrics-last-updated Timestamp of the date and time that the read only metrics for a XenServer Host were read, in the form yyyymmddThh:mm:ss z, where z is the single-letter military timezone indicator, for example, Z for UTC (GMT) host-metrics-live true if t
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type uuid The unique identifier/object reference for the crashdump read only host XenServer Host the crashdump corresponds to read only timestamp Timestamp of the date and time that the crashdump occurred, in the form yyyymmdd-hhmmss-ABC, where ABC is the timezone indicator, for example, GMT read only size size of the crashdump, in bytes read only 5.4.5.1. host-backup host-backup file-name=backup filename [ host-selector=host-selector value...
Command line interface Upload a crashdump to the Citrix Support ftp site or other location. If optional parameters are not used, no proxy server is identified and the destination will be default Citrix Support ftp site. Optional parameters are http-proxy: use specified http proxy, and url: upload to this destination url. 5.4.5.5. host-disable host-disable [ host-selector=host selector value...] Disables specified XenServer Hosts, which prevents any new VMs from starting on them.
Command line interface The xapi agent forgets about the specified XenServer Host without contacting it explicitly. Tip This command is useful if the XenServer Host to "forget" is dead; however, if the XenServer Host is live and part of the pool, you should use xe pool-eject instead. 5.4.5.11. host-get-system-status host-get-system-status filename=name for status file [entries=comma-separated list ] [output=tar.bz2 | zip ] [ host-selector=host-selector value...
Command line interface Attribute Description Indicate an approximate range for the time, in seconds, taken to collect this entry. -1 indicates the time is unimportant. pii Personally identifiable information. Indicates whether the entry would have information that would identify the system owner, or details of their network topology.
Command line interface The host(s) on which this operation should be performed are selected via the standard selection mechanism (see host selectors above). Optional arguments can be any number of the host selectors listed at the beginning of this section. Caution While the xe host-logs-download command will work if executed on the local host (that is, without a specific hostname specified), do not use it this way.
Command line interface and the master will continue to function. If you shut down the master, the pool will be out of action until the master is rebooted and back on line, at which point the members will reconnect and synchronize with the master, or until you make one of the members into the master. 5.4.5.20. host-restore host-restore [file-name=backup_filename ] [ host-selector=host selector value...] Restore a backup named file-name of the XenServer Host control software.
Command line interface 5.4.6.1. log-get-keys log-get-keys List the keys of all of the logging subsystems. 5.4.6.2. log-reopen log-reopen Reopen all loggers. Use this for rotating log files. 5.4.6.3. log-set-output log-set-output output=nil | stderr | file:filename | syslog:sysloglocation [key=key ] [level= debug | info | warning | error] Set the output of the specified logger. Log messages are filtered by the subsystem in which they originated and the log level of the message.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type other-config A list of key/value pairs that specify read/write map parameter additional configuration parameters for the network. 5.4.7.1. network-create network-create name-label=name for network [name-description=descriptive text ] Creates a new network. 5.4.7.2. network-destroy network-destroy uuid=network UUID Destroys an existing network. 5.4.8. Patch (update) commands Commands for working with XenServer host patches (updates).
Command line interface Delete the specified patch file from the XenServer Host. 5.4.8.3. patch-pool-apply patch-pool-apply uuid=patch UUID Apply the specified patch to all XenServer Hosts in the pool. 5.4.8.4. patch-precheck patch-precheck uuid=patch UUID host-uuid=host UUID Run the prechecks contained within the specified patch on the specified XenServer Host. 5.4.8.5. patch-upload patch-upload file-name=patch filename Upload a specified patch file to the XenServer Host.
Command line interface Create a new PBD on a XenServer Host. The read-only device-config parameter can only be set on creation as in the following example: To add a mapping of 'path' -> '/tmp', the command line should contain the argument device-config:path=/tmp For a full list of supported device-config key/value pairs on each SR type see Chapter 3, Storage. 5.4.9.2. pbd-destroy pbd-destroy uuid=UUID of PBD Destroy the specified PBD. 5.4.9.3.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type VLAN VLAN tag for all traffic passing through this interface; -1 indicates no VLAN tag is assigned read only bond-master-of The UUID of the bond this PIF is the master of (if any) read only bond-slave-of The UUID of the bond this PIF is the slave read only of (if any) management Is this PIF designated to be a management read only interface for the control domain network-uuid the unique identifier/object reference of the virtual network to
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type pif-metrics-last-updated Timestamp of the date and time that the read only metrics for this PIF were read, in the form yyyymmddThh:mm:ss z, where z is the single-letter military timezone indicator, for example, Z for UTC (GMT) other-config additional configuration read/write map parameter 5.4.10.1. pif-forget pif-forget uuid=UUID of PIF Destroy the specified PIF object on a particular host. 5.4.10.2.
Command line interface another XenServer Host in the pool. Each XenServer Host is really a pool consisting of a single member by default. When a XenServer Host is joined to a pool, it is designated as a member, and the pool it has joined becomes the master for the pool. The singleton pool object can be listed with the standard object listing command (xe pool-list), and its parameters manipulated with the standard parameter commands. See Section 5.3.2, “Low-level param commands” for details.
Command line interface Instruct the specified XenServer Host to leave an existing pool. 5.4.11.4. pool-emergency-reset-master pool-emergency-reset-master master-address=address of the pool's master XenServer Host Instruct a member XenServer Host to reset its master address. 5.4.11.5. pool-emergency-transition-to-master pool-emergency-transition-to-master Instruct a member XenServer Host to become the pool master.
Command line interface The storage manager objects can be listed with the standard object listing command (xe sm-list), and the parameters manipulated with the standard parameter commands. See Section 5.3.2, “Low-level param commands” for details.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type PBDs unique identifier/object reference for the PBDs attached to this SR read only set parameter physical-utilisation physical space currently utilized on this SR, in bytes.
Command line interface 5.4.13.4. sr-introduce sr-introduce name-label=name physical-size=physical size type=type content-type=contenttype uuid=SR UUID Just places an SR record into the database. The device-config parameters are specified by device-config:parameter_key=parameter_value (for example, device-config:device=/dev/sdb1). Note This command is never used in normal operation.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type name-description The description string of the Task read only resident-on The unique identifier/object reference of the host on which the task is running read only status current status of the Task read only progress if the Task is still pending, this field read only contains the estimated percentage complete, from 0. to 1. If the Task has completed, successfully or unsuccessfully, this should be 1.
Command line interface Template parameters Templates have the following parameters: Parameter Name Description Type uuid The unique identifier/object reference for the template read only name-label The name of the template read/write name-description The description string of the template read/write user-version string for creators of VMs and templates to read/write put version information is-a-template true if this is a template.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type You can tune a VCPU's pinning with xe vm-param-set uuid= VCPUs-params:mask=1,2,3 A VM created from this template will then run on physical CPUs 1, 2, and 3 only.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type allowed-VIF-devices list of VIF identifiers available for use, read only set parameter represented by integers of the range 0-15. This list is informational only, and other devices may be used (but may not work). HVM-boot-policy read/write HVM-boot-params The order key controls the HVM guest boot order, represented as a string where each character is a boot method: "d" for the CD/DVD, "c" for the root disk, and "n" for network PXE boot.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type 1970 Z (beginning of Unix/POSIX epoch) for a template memory-actual The actual memory being used by a VM based on this template; 0 for a template read only VCPUs-number The number of virtual CPUs assigned to a VM based on this template; 0 for a template read only VCPUs-utilisation A list of virtual CPUs and their weight read only map parameter vm-metrics-last-updated Timestamp of the date and time read only that the metrics for a VM based on
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type possible-hosts list of hosts that could potentially host the VM read only HVM-shadow-multiplier multiplier applied to the amount of shadow read/write that will be made available to the guest dom-id domain ID (if available, -1 otherwise) recommendations An XML specification of recommended read only values and ranges for properties of this VM xenstore-data data to be inserted into the xenstore tree (/ read/write map parameter local/domain/
Command line interface VBD parameters VBDs have the following parameters: Parameter Name Description Type uuid The unique identifier/object reference for the VBD read only vm-uuid The unique identifier/object reference for the VM this VBD is attached to read only vm-name-label The name of the VM this VBD is attached to read only vdi-uuid The unique identifier/object reference for the VDI this VBD is mapped to read only vdi-name-label The name of the VDI this VBD is mapped to read only emp
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type links each of the running tasks using this object (by reference) to a current_operation enum which describes the nature of the task. unpluggable true if this VBD will support hot-unplug read/write attachable true if the device can be attached read only other-config additional configuration read/write map parameter 5.4.18.1.
Command line interface 5.4.19. VDI commands Commands for working with VDIs (Virtual Disk Images). A VDI is a software object that represents the contents of the virtual disk seen by a VM, as opposed to the VBD, which is a connector object that ties a VM to the VDI.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type location location information read only managed true if the CDI is managed read only xenstore-data data to be inserted into the xenstore tree (/local/domain/0/backend/vbd// /sm-data) after the VDI is attached. This is generally set by the SM backends on vdi_attach. read only map parameter sm-config SM dependent data read only map parameter 5.4.19.1.
Command line interface 5.4.19.5. vdi-forget vdi-forget uuid=UUID of VDI Unconditionally removes a VDI record from the database without touching the storage backend. In normal operation, you should be using vdi-destroy instead. 5.4.19.6. vdi-import vdi-import uuid=UUID of VDI filename=filename of raw VDI Import a raw VDI. 5.4.19.7.
Command line interface The VIF objects can be listed with the standard object listing command (xe vif-list), and the parameters manipulated with the standard parameter commands. See Section 5.3.2, “Low-level param commands” for details.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type single-letter military timezone indicator, for example, Z for UTC (GMT) 5.4.20.1. vif-create vif-create vm-uuid=UUID of the VM device=see below network-uuid=UUID of the network the VIF will connect to [mac=MAC address ] Create a new VIF on a VM. Appropriate values for the device field are listed in the parameter allowed-VIF-devices on the specified VM. Before any VIFs exist there, the allowable values are integers from 0-15.
Command line interface VM selectors Several of the commands listed here have a common mechanism for selecting one or more VMs on which to perform the operation. The simplest way is by supplying the argument vm=name or uuid . VMs can also be specified by filtering the full list of VMs on the values of fields. For example, specifying power-state=halted will select all VMs whose power-state parameter is equal to halted.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type suspend-VDI-uuid The VDI that a suspend image is stored on read only VCPUs-params configuration parameters for the selected VCPU policy. read/write map parameter You can tune a VCPU's pinning with xe vm-param-set uuid= VCPUs-params:mask=1,2,3 The selected VM will then run on physical CPUs 1, 2, and 3 only.
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type destroy (no coredump and leave VM halted).
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type config parameter includes the key/value pair auto_poweron: true start-time Timestamp of the date and time that the read only metrics for the VM were read, in the form yyyymmddThh:mm:ss z, where z is the single-letter military timezone indicator, for example, Z for UTC (GMT) install-time Timestamp of the date and time that the read only metrics for the VM were read, in the form yyyymmddThh:mm:ss z, where z is the single-letter military timezone ind
Command line interface Parameter Name Description Type z, where z is the single-letter military timezone indicator, for example, Z for UTC (GMT) actions-after-shutdown action to take after the VM has shutdown read/write actions-after-reboot action to take after the VM has rebooted read/write possible-hosts potential hosts of this VM read only dom-id domain ID (if available, -1 otherwise) read only recommendations An XML specification of recommended read only values and ranges for properties
Command line interface Lists CDs attached to the specified VMs. The VM or VMs on which this operation should be performed are selected via the standard selection mechanism (see VM selectors). Optional arguments can be any number of the VM parameters listed at the beginning of this section. You can also select which VBD and VDI parameters to list. 5.4.22.5. vm-cd-remove vm-cd-remove cd-name=name of cd [ vm-selector=vm selector value...] Remove a virtual CD from the specified VMs.
Command line interface Copy an existing VM, but without using storage-level fast disk clone operation (even if this is available). The disk images of the copied VM are guaranteed to be "full images" - that is, not part of a copy-on-write (CoW) chain. Specify the name and the optional description for the resulting copied VM using the new-name-label and new-name-description arguments. Specify the destination SR for the resulting copied VM using the sr-uuid.
Command line interface The VM or VMs on which this operation should be performed are selected via the standard selection mechanism (see VM selectors). Optional arguments can be any number of the VM parameters listed at the beginning of this section. 5.4.22.13. vm-disk-list vm-disk-list [vbd-params] [vdi-params] [ vm-selector=vm selector value...] Lists disks attached to the specified VMs.
Command line interface Note The older directory-based XVA format does not fully preserve all the VM attributes. In particular, imported VMs will not have any virtual network interfaces attached by default. If networking is required, create one using vif-create and vif-plug. If the metadata is [true], then a previously exported set of metadata can be imported without their associated disk blocks. Metadata-only import will fail if any VDIs cannot be found (named by SR and VDI.
Command line interface 5.4.22.20. vm-reboot vm-reboot [ vm-selector=vm selector value...] [force=true ] Reboot the specified VMs. The VM or VMs on which this operation should be performed are selected via the standard selection mechanism (see VM selectors). Optional arguments can be any number of the VM parameters listed at the beginning of this section. Use the force argument to cause an ungraceful shutdown, akin to pulling the plug on a physical server. 5.4.22.21.
Command line interface Start the specified VMs. The VM or VMs on which this operation should be performed are selected via the standard selection mechanism (see VM selectors). Optional arguments can be any number of the VM parameters listed at the beginning of this section. If the VMs are on a shared SR in a pool of hosts, use the on argument to specify which host in the pool on which to start the VMs. By default the system will determine an appropriate host, which might be any of the members of the pool.
Chapter 6. Troubleshooting If you experience odd behavior, application crashes, or have other issues with a XenServer Host, this chapter is meant to help you solve the problem if possible and, failing that, describes where the application logs are located and other information that can help your Citrix Solution Provider and Citrix track and resolve the issue. Troubleshooting of installation issues is covered in the XenServer Installation Guide.
Troubleshooting and aggregate them correctly. The syslogd daemon is a standard part of all flavors of Linux and Unix, and third-party versions are available for Windows and other operating systems. Procedure 6.1. To write logs to a remote server 1. Set the syslog_destination parameter to the hostname or IP address of the remote server where you want the logs to be written: xe host-param-set uuid= logging:syslog_destination= 2.
Index FlexVol, NetApp, 16 A Hardware virtualization AMD-V, 3 Intel VT, 3 HBA (see Host bus adapter) Host (XenServer Host) commands, xe CLI, 55 Host bus adapter, 15 H AMD-V (AMD hardware virtualization), 3 C CD commands, xe CLI, 53 CLI (see command line interface) Command line interface (CLI) basic xe syntax, 47 Bonding commands, 52 CD commands, 53 command types, 49 console commands, 54 event commands, 54 host (XenServer Host) commands, 55 log commands, 63 low-level list commands, 51 low-level paramet
Index requirements for creating, 3 S SAN (see Storage Area Network) Shared network attached storage (NFS), 13 Shared storage, 4 Storage Area Network, 14 Storage Manager commands, xe CLI, 71 Storage repository (SR) CD-ROM, 13 commands, xe CLI, 72 DVD-ROM, 13 Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN), 15 local disk, 13 local hotplug devices, 13 NetApp Filer, 16 overview, 11 shared iSCSI storage area network (SAN), 14 shared network attached storage (NFS), 13 USB read/write device, 13 T Task commands, xe CL
