How to build a custom kernel module or device driver for XenServer

Citrix allows one to build any custom kernel module or hardware driver for XenServer, by offering Driver Development Kit (DDK). A DDK is essentially a virtual machine with all the kernel headers and development tools needed to extend the XenServer kernel. The following guide is on how to use DDK to compile a custom kernel module or hardware driver for XenServer.Read more »

How to set up QoS bandwidth rate limit on XenServer VM's network interfaces

In a multi-tenant VM environment, you would need to allocate network bandwidth appropriately to all existing tenants/VMs, such that no one can consume available network resources by himeself/herself. Even in a single-user environment, you may want to define QoS policies for your VM (such as per-interface bandwidth caps) for various reasons. If you are using XenServer as your hypervisor, XenServer actually allows you to rate limit outgoing traffic of VM's virtual interfaces. If you would like to set up QoS bandwidth rate limit on XenServer VM's network interfaces, follow the instructions here.Read more »

How to apply a XenServer update patch

Citrix distributes patches or hotfixes of XenServer on a regular basis, for fixing bugs or updating security features. A XenServer patch may have dependency on other fixes, in which case you will fail to install the patch without applying all dependent fixes first. If you would like to apply a patch on your XenServer host, you can use either XenCenter client software or XenServer command line interface (CLI). Here I will focus on using XenServer CLI to install XenServer patches.Read more »

How to disable xsconsole autorun in XenServer

Although XenServer's management interface (i.e., xsconsole) is a security protection against XenServer getting tampered with by an unauthenticated user, auto-running xsconsole may be cumbersome for you in certain situations. For example, if you are configuring and testing things out inside the XenServer's local command shell, you probably are not happy with the situation where your command shell is automatically terminated and replaced by xsconsole after some period of inactivity, and you have to re-authenticate against xsconsole to open a new command shell.Read more »

How to change a XenServer’s local storage repository from LVM to EXT

By default, XenServer create LVM-type local storage repository (SR). The LVM-type local SR does not support VHD-formatted virtual hard disks, and hence may not be an ideal option when you are using XenServer along with OpenStack which has features that require access to individual VHD files, for VM snapshot and migration. On the other hand, with EXT-type local SR, you can get direct access to VHD files.Read more »

How to set up a NFS server on XenServer

Suppose you would like to set up a NFS server on your XenServer-running host for whatever reason, so that other hosts can mount a NFS share exported by the XenServer host.Read more »

How to install additional packages in XenServer

I noticed that the default repository maintained by Citrix for XenServer is virtually useless. Read more »

How to add an additional vif to VM in XenServer

Assume that you know the name-label of the VM.

1) create a network for the new interface to be attached to, and returns the network-uuid Read more »