XenServer Detailed introduction and Virtualization series-citrix (XenServer 6.1) installation and configuration _xenserver

First, XenServer 6.1 introduction

Citrix XenServer Server virtualization systems make data centers more flexible and efficient through faster application delivery, higher availability and utilization of IT resources. XenServer provides the advanced functionality required for critical workloads (operating systems, applications, and configurations) without sacrificing the ease of operation required for large-scale deployments. With unique streaming technology, XenServer can quickly deliver a variety of workloads through virtual or physical servers, becoming an ideal virtualization platform for every server in the enterprise.

On October 17, 2012, Beijing--the company announced the introduction of the industry-leading enterprise-class virtualization platform XenServer 6.1,xenserver 6.1 can create and manage virtualized infrastructure for servers, desktops, and cloud computing. The new XenServer strengthens the server virtualization capabilities for data center consolidation, providing a shortcut for enterprise migration to cloud computing through advanced virtual machine migration technologies, enhanced network connectivity and security features, better vendor compatibility, and automated virtual machine conversion tools. It can efficiently manage Windows and Linux virtual servers, achieve server resource consolidation with higher cost performance, and provide good business continuity. XenServer also adds a rich set of management and automation capabilities, enhanced cloud management integration capabilities and security to help users optimize future cloud computing data center platforms.

The new XenServer 6.1 adds the following features compared to the previous version (6.0.2):

1. Enhanced integration with leading cloud platforms: able to integrate directly with Apache Cloudstack and Citrix Cloudplatform using Apache Cloudstack technology, firewall partitioning and workload balancing operations are simpler, Protect the public cloud and private cloud platforms from attack and enhance the security and scalability of the IT systems of various types of enterprises.
2, "No sharing" storage real-time migration: The new version of XenServer with a new storage technology xenmotion, so that IT staff without the use of shared storage can be real-time migration of the virtual machines in operation. Xenmotion storage capabilities make it possible to migrate "no shared" architectures in real time storage space as a virtual disk can migrate freely within the server resource pool and between them, improve storage utilization, simplify backup and maintenance operations, and achieve virtual machine flexibility in real sense on the cloud infrastructure.
3, from VMware to xenserver batch conversion: XenServer Conversion Manager is a simple and Easy-to-use tool, can automatically and bulk of the VMware virtual machine into XenServer virtual machine, to minimize costs and improve efficiency. This tool helps customers ensure that applications installed within their data center and cloud infrastructure are ready to use the best virtualization platform.
This blog is mainly about Citrix XenServer server virtualization, from all aspects of the VMware vsphere virtualization platform In addition to another virtualization platform.

First, XenServer 6.1 introduction
II. Installation of XenServer 6.1
Third, installation settings xencenter
Iv. using Active Directory (AD) to authenticate users
V. Application for XenServer 6.1 licence permission
Vi. establishment of Citrix Licensing server

XenServer is a complete server virtualization platform based on open source Xen System Management program, XenServer is another server virtualization platform other than VMware vsphere, its powerful, rich, excellent open architecture, performance, Storage integration and total cost of ownership. Citrix XenServer is a free virtualization platform based on open source Xen hypervisor, which introduces the multi-server Management console Xencenter with key management capabilities to manage virtual servers, virtual machine (VM) templates, snapshots through Xencenter , shared storage support, resource pooling, and xenmotion real-time migrations. Citrix XenServer is a complete server virtualization platform launched by Citrix. The XenServer package contains all the content needed to create and manage a virtual x86 computer deployment that runs on Xen, an open source, virtual machine hypervisor for performance close to native performance. XenServer has been optimized for Windows and Linux virtual servers. Citrix XenServer is a comprehensive enterprise-class virtualization platform for integration, management, and automation of virtual data centers. A complete set of server virtualization tools enables cost savings throughout the data center. Higher data center flexibility and reliability can provide high performance support for your business. In addition, a variety of new features can effectively manage virtual networks, connect all virtual machines together, and assign virtual machine management access rights to each application user.

The XenServer 6.1 Edition offers four editions, namely, free, advanced, enterprise and platinum. All XenServer versions contain Xencenter management features.

II. Installation of XenServer 6.1

Although XenServer is typically deployed on server-level hardware, XenServer is also compatible with many workstation and laptop models. The XenServer host should be a 64-bit x86 server-level computer dedicated to the managed VM. The computer should run optimized and enhanced Linux partitions and control the interaction between VM-oriented virtualization devices and physical hardware by supporting the Xen kernel. Before installing Xenserer, turn on the INTER-VT feature in the host BIOS.

1, can download XenServer installation files from the Internet, burn them to CD. Insert the master installation CD into the primary computer's DVD drive. Select boot from the DVD drive. Restart the computer, the initial boot message is displayed and the Welcome to XenServer (Welcome to XenServer) interface, under which there are two options: Press the F1 key to indicate a standard installation; Press the F2 key to indicate advanced settings.

2, in the choice of press F1 to enter the standard installation, into the installation settings interface, in the selection of keyboard layout page, select the keyboard layout to be used during the installation process.

3, select the keyboard will show Welcome to XenServer Setup (Welcome to the XenServer installer) interface, as shown in Figure 13-5, told the user to install the XenServer will reformat the local hard drive, all the original data will be lost, and ask the user to confirm that there is important data. Select OK after the OK (OK). Throughout the installation process, you can quickly advance to the next screen by pressing the F12 key. To obtain general help information, press the F1 key.

4, in the Citrix User Agreement, read and accept the XenServer End User License Agreement (EULA), because Xen version of the kernel is Linux, open source system, so must choose to agree with the user License agreement.

5, if you have more than one local hard drive, please select the primary disk to install. Select OK (OK). The following is to open the local cache function, can reduce the storage pressure, in the DDC server configuration, select host should also correspond to open only line, mainly for Citrix Virtual desktop.

6. Select local media (native media) as the installation source in the Select installation media.

7. When the system asks you if you want to install any additional packages, please select No to continue.

8, in the Verification installation source interface Select Skip Verification (skip verification), and then select OK (OK). If you experience problems during installation, it is recommended that you verify the installation source.

9, set and confirm root user password, XenCenter application will use this password to connect XenServer host.

10, set the main management interface that will be used to connect XenCenter. If the computer has more than one network interface card (NIC), select the network adapter used to implement management, configure the IP address of the management NIC to be a static IP address or use DHCP. Manually specify or use DHCP to automatically specify the host name and DNS configuration.

11. If you manually configure DNS, enter the IP addresses of the primary (required), level two (optional), and three-level (optional) DNS servers in the fields provided.

12, select the time zone, first select the geographical area, and then select the city.


13. Specify the method used by the server to determine the local time: use NTP or manually enter the time. Select OK (OK) as shown in Figure 13-16. If you use NTP, you can specify whether to set up a time server by DHCP or to enter at least one NTP server name or IP address in the following fields.

14, after the completion of the selection of Install XenServer (Installation XenServer).

15, select the installation, XenServer will be installed, the installation process needs to restart the server.


16, if you choose to set the date and time manually, you will be prompted to enter local time information.

17. Installation Complete (Installation complete) screen, eject the installation CD from the drive and select OK to reboot the server.

18, after the server reboots, XenServer will display the Xsconsole, which is a system configuration console. To this end, Citrix xenserve installation is complete.

Third, installation settings xencenter

Installation Xencenter requires the operating system to be Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, WindowsServer 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 (all versions) or. NET Framework3.5 versions.

Install Xencenter Required hardware configuration: CPU frequency minimum 750 MHz, recommended to use 1 GHz or faster Cpu;ram minimum 1 GB, recommended 2 GB or higher capacity of RAM, the minimum disk space MB, network card for MB/s or faster net Card; The screen has a minimum resolution of 1024x768 pixels.

Download Xencenter can access the XenServer installed before, and can access the download Xencenter,ie access to the xencenter of installation files and ISO files via IE. After downloading, insert the XenServer master installation CD into the DVD drive of the computer that you want to run XenCenter. Open the Client_install folder on the CD. or download Xencenter installation files from Citrix's official website. Double-click Xencenter.msi to start the installation.

1, in IE browser, enter the address of XenServer, and then click to continue browsing.

2, can according to their own needs to download the corresponding format of the xencenter.

3, start the Citrix Xencenter Installation Wizard operation. The wizard allows you to modify the default destination folder and then install XenCenter.

4, select the installation directory of Citrix Xencenter, click Browse to change the installation directory. Click Users to use Citrix Xencenter


5, in the Ready to install Cirtix XenCenter page, click Install, start installing Citrix XenCenter.

6, follow the installation wizard prompts to install, until the installation is complete.

7. Through XenCenter, you can manage the XenServer environment from Windows desktop computers and deploy, manage, and monitor virtual machines. Monitoring and managing activities on the server from XenCenter requires that the server be added to the XenCenter collection of managed resources. When you first connect to a server (by adding a new server or Server menu on the toolbar)

8, click the Add Server icon to open the Add New Server dialog box.

9. In the Server box, enter the IP address or DNS name of the server you want to add. If you have multiple XenServer servers, you can add multiple servers with the same logon credentials by entering a semicolon-delimited name or IP address in the Server box. Type the user name (for example, root) and password that were set during the XenServer installation. If Active Directory (AD) authorization is enabled in an XenServer environment, you can enter AD credentials here. Click Connect, the connection Progress Monitor is displayed, and to cancel the connection, click Cancel.

10, after the successful addition of the XenServer server, you can see the information and virtual machines in the XenServer server.

Iv. using Active Directory (AD) to authenticate users

If you want to use multiple users and groups of users to administer the XenServer server, you must authenticate using the Active Directory user account. XenServer users can log on to the XenServer of the pool using their Windows domain credentials. You can configure different access levels for specific users. Access can be controlled by the user. A topic in XenServer corresponds to an entity (user or group) on the directory server. When external authentication is enabled, the credentials that are used to create the session are first checked against the credentials of the local root user (in case the directory server is not available) and then checked against the list of consumers. To allow access, you must create a consumer for the user or group that you are authorized to access.

Here's how to join the XenServer server to the domain and add administrators from the domain.

1, click to select the XenServer to join the domain, select users in the operating interface, currently does not configure the ad, to enable AD authentication, click the "Join Domain" button,

2, enter the domain name and the administrator of the domain in the Ad Authentication dialog box.

3. After successfully joining the domain, the local administrator root that currently has the Admin XenServer server is displayed. To add an administrator from the domain, click the Add button.

4, the user or user group into the "name" text box, you can enter multiple directories and separated by commas or semicolons. When you finish entering, click Grant Access.

5, by XenServer joined the domain to resolve the user name entered, and added to the XenServer.

6. When added successfully, it will be displayed in users and groups with access rights. You can also delete roles and change roles.

7. In changing roles, you can set permissions for users in the domain, including pool administrators, pool operators, VM Super Administrators, VM Administrators, VM operators, and read-only.

V. Application for XenServer 6.1 licence permission

Citrix XenServer is a free virtualization product, but if users want to use the advanced features of XenServer, they must purchase the appropriate version. Citrix has developed the appropriate version for different enterprise users. XenServer is authorized by the authorization file. Its authorization file ends with LIC or licx. The free version of the activation method and the charging version of a slightly different way.

Citrix offers a free version of the XenServer, both corporate and individual, that can be installed using a free version of XenServer. Citrix XenServer can be used for production free of charge, without constraints or time limits. To use XenServer, simply activate the product, and in the process of activation, Citrix collects the intent to record the use of the product. Application for a free version of the license is valid for one year, if the license expires after one year, you can continue to apply for use, the software will be within one months of the expiration of the license to start reminding the administrator license expires. You can run for 30 days in the form of a XenServer (free version) before the XenServer host gets permission. After 30 days, you will not be able to start any new, suspended, or shutdown VMS until the host activates or configures Citrix licenses for them.

1, first in the Xencenter menu bar, click Tools > License Manager (License Manager)
2, after the entry into the License Manager manager, will display the XenServer server version and authorization period, because no license, the default is free to use 30 days. Select one or more hosts to be activated. Click Activate Free XenServer, then select Request Activation Key.
3. Select Application activation file (Request activation Key)
4, XenCenter will open a Web browser, and enter the Citrix XenServer activation (Citrix XenServer activation) page, according to the open page, fill in the relevant information. Remember, be sure to fill in the regular email address, the license key is sent to the applicant through the mailbox.
5, activate the form to enter the details, and then click Submit (Submit), the license key is sent through the registered person's e-mail address. Typically, the activation key is generated within 10 minutes and emailed to you. However, in some cases, the maximum may take 30 minutes.
6, the contents of the e-mail message that contains the activation key (. xslic file name extension) are received to activate the key to XenServer. The requested license can be used by multiple servers.

Vi. establishment of Citrix Licensing server

The Citrix Advanced Edition, Enterprise Edition, and Platinum Edition XenServer require a license for each XenServer host you use. The licenses are no longer stored on the host server, but must be added and managed on a separate license server. XenServer now uses the same licensing method as other Citrix products, which means that the license server can be shared across products. It can also be licensed for XenServer, XENAPP, XenDesktop and other Citrix products. The Create license server is for businesses and individuals who have purchased Citrix XenServer, using a license server to activate the XenServer server.

The first is to install the Citrix Licensing Server, download the Licensing server from Citrix, and Citrix Licensing can install the license server on the server running the Microsoft operating system. Includes Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008,windows Server 2008 R2,windows 7, 32-bit, and 64-bit versions, and you need to install Microsoft. NET Framework 3 .5, the browser supports Internet Explorer versions 6.0 through 9.0.

1, run Ctx_licensing.msi installation program, agree to accept the terms of the License agreement, click Next.
2, the default installation path or click Change to change the installation directory, click Install.
3, in the installation, until the installation is complete.
4, after the installation of Citrix Licensing will eject the simple settings interface, accept or change the license components used by the default port number. If you want, you can change these port numbers after installation, the license server port number is 27000, the vendor daemon port number is 7279, the console Web port is 8082, and the password for admin is set.
5, open IE Browser, input Citrix licensing address add port number 8082. Click the "Manage" button at the top right to set up licensing and import license books.
6, you can view system information about the license server and the system running the license server. Click the Administrative option located in the upper-right corner of the license management console, and then click the System Information tab to view the information.
7. In the License management console, local Users and Active Directory users and groups are managed through the console and stored in the console. These users do not connect to local users of the computer. Active Directory users and groups are part of an active directory/network authentication system. To provide support to Active directory Users and groups, the Windows license server must be a member of the Microsoft Active Directory domain and must run the License Management console. Windows NT domain is not supported. Users are equipped with local roles or Active Directory roles so that they can add users and groups.
8. Click the Import license to browse to the license file, if you copy the file directly to the Myfiles directory, or if the file has the same name as the existing file, select overwrite the license file on the license server. Click Import License. The import process copies this file from its existing location to the Myfiles directory from which the license server can read it.
9, after the successful import of information, click the "OK" button.
10. At this point, the license file has been successfully uploaded to C:Program files (x86) citrixlicensingmyfilesxendesktop_xenserver-1.lic. You can also copy lic directly to this folder. After the import is successful, because the daemon requires a reboot to take effect, find Citrix Licensing in the system services and select reboot. After restarting the Citrix Licensing service, you can see information about LIC and concurrent licenses in Control Panel
11. After restarting the Citrix Licensing service, you can see information about LIC and concurrent licenses in Control Panel.
12, Citrix Four versions of the authorization, of which the fourth is to purchase xendesktop supporting XenServer Enterprise Edition, according to the purchase authorization to select the appropriate version, and input Citrix Licensing server address and port number.

When successfully activated, this chapter of the Virtualization series-citrix XenServer 6.1 Virtual machine management is introduced here. Thank you.

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