Installation and deployment scenarios
This section steps through the following common installation and deployment scenarios:
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One or more Citrix Hypervisor servers with local storage
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Pools of Citrix Hypervisor servers with shared storage:
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Multiple Citrix Hypervisor servers with shared NFS storage
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Multiple Citrix Hypervisor servers with shared iSCSI storage
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Citrix Hypervisor servers with local storage
The simplest deployment of Citrix Hypervisor is to run VMs on one or more Citrix Hypervisor servers with local storage.
Note:
Live migration of VMs between Citrix Hypervisor servers is only available when they share storage. However, storage live migration is still available.
Basic hardware requirements
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One or more 64-bit x86 servers with local storage
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One or more Windows systems, on the same network as the Citrix Hypervisor servers
High-level procedure
- Install the Citrix Hypervisor server software on the servers.
- Install XenCenter on the Windows systems.
- Connect XenCenter to the Citrix Hypervisor servers.
After you connect XenCenter to the Citrix Hypervisor servers, storage is automatically configured on the local disk of the hosts.
Pools of Citrix Hypervisor servers with shared storage
A pool comprises multiple Citrix Hypervisor server installations, bound together as a single managed entity. When combined with shared storage, a pool enables VMs to be started on any Citrix Hypervisor server in the pool that has sufficient memory. The VMs can then dynamically be moved between hosts while running (live migration) with minimal downtime. If an individual Citrix Hypervisor server suffers a hardware failure, you can restart the failed VMs on another host in the same pool.
If the High Availability (HA) feature is enabled, protected VMs are automatically moved if there is a host failure.
To set up shared storage between hosts in a pool, create a storage repository. Citrix Hypervisor storage repositories (SR) are storage containers in which virtual disks are stored. SRs, like virtual disks, are persistent, on-disk objects that exist independently of Citrix Hypervisor. SRs can exist on different types of physical storage devices, both internal and external, including local disk devices and shared network storage. Several different types of storage are available when you create an SR, including:
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NFS VHD storage
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Software iSCSI storage
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Hardware HBA storage
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GFS2 storage
This following sections step through setting up two common shared storage solutions – NFS and iSCSI – for a pool of Citrix Hypervisor servers. Before you create an SR, configure your NFS or iSCSI storage. Setup differs depending on the type of storage solution that you use. For details, see your vendor documentation. In all cases, to be part of a pool, the servers providing shared storage must have static IP addresses or be DNS addressable. For further information on setting up shared storage, see Storage.
We recommend that you create a pool before you add shared storage. For pool requirements and setup procedures, see Pool Requirements in the XenCenter documentation or Hosts and Resource Pools.
Citrix Hypervisor servers with shared NFS storage
Basic hardware requirements
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Two or more 64-bit x86 servers with local storage
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One or more Windows systems, on the same network as the Citrix Hypervisor servers
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A server exporting a shared directory over NFS
High-level procedure
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Install the Citrix Hypervisor server software on the servers.
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Install XenCenter on the Windows systems.
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Connect XenCenter to the Citrix Hypervisor servers.
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Create your pool of Citrix Hypervisor servers.
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Configure the NFS server.
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Create an SR on the NFS share at the pool level.
Configuring your NFS storage
Before you create an SR, configure the NFS storage. To be part of a pool, the NFS share must have a static IP address or be DNS addressable. Configure the NFS server to have one or more targets that can be mounted by NFS clients (for example, Citrix Hypervisor servers in a pool). Setup differs depending on your storage solution, so it is best to see your vendor documentation for details.
To create an SR on the NFS share at the pool level in XenCenter:
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On the Resources pane, select the pool. On the toolbar, click the New Storage button. The New Storage Repository wizard opens.
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Under Virtual disk storage, choose NFS VHD as the storage type. Choose Next to continue.
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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 Citrix Hypervisor servers in the pool.
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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
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Open a console on any Citrix Hypervisor server in the pool.
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Create the storage repository on server:/path by entering the following:
xe sr-create content-type=user type=nfs name-label=sr_name= \ shared=true device-config:server=server \ device-config:serverpath=path <!--NeedCopy-->The
device-config-serverargument refers to the name of the NFS server and thedevice-config-serverpathargument refers to the path on the server. Sincesharedis set to true, the shared storage is automatically connected to every host in the pool. Any hosts that later join are also connected to the storage. The UUID of the created storage repository is printed to the console. -
Find the UUID of the pool by using the
pool-listcommand. -
Set the new SR as the pool-wide default by entering the following:
xe pool-param-set uuid=pool_uuid \ default-SR=storage_repository_uuid <!--NeedCopy-->As shared storage has been set as the pool-wide default, all future VMs have their disks created on this SR.
Citrix Hypervisor servers with shared iSCSI storage
Basic hardware requirements
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Two or more 64-bit x86 servers with local storage
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One or more Windows systems, on the same network as the Citrix Hypervisor servers
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A server providing a shared directory over iSCSI
High-level procedure
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Install the Citrix Hypervisor server software on the servers.
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Install XenCenter on the Windows systems.
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Connect XenCenter to the Citrix Hypervisor servers.
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Create your pool of Citrix Hypervisor servers.
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Configure the iSCSI storage.
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If necessary, enable multiple initiators on your iSCSI device.
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If necessary, configure the iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) for each Citrix Hypervisor server.
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Create an SR on the iSCSI share at the pool level.
Configuring your iSCSI storage
Before you create an SR, configure the iSCSI storage. To be part of a pool, the iSCSI storage must have a static IP address or be DNS addressable. Provide an iSCSI target LUN on the SAN for the VM storage. Configure Citrix Hypervisor servers to be able to see and access the iSCSI target LUN. Both the iSCSI target and each iSCSI initiator on each Citrix Hypervisor server must have a valid and unique IQN. For configuration details, it is best to see your vendor documentation.
Configuring an iSCSI IQN for each Citrix Hypervisor server
Upon installation, Citrix Hypervisor automatically attributes a unique IQN to each host. If you must adhere to a local administrative naming policy, you can change the IQN by using the following xe CLI command:
xe host-param-set uuid=<host_uuid> iscsi_iqn=<iscsi_iqn>
<!--NeedCopy-->
To create an SR on the iSCSI share at the pool level using XenCenter:
Warning:
When you create Citrix Hypervisor SRs on iSCSI or HBA storage, any existing contents of the volume are destroyed.
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On the Resources pane, select the pool. On the toolbar, click the New Storage button. The New Storage Repository wizard opens.
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Under Virtual disk storage, choose Software iSCSI as the storage type. Choose Next to continue.
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Enter a name for the new SR and then the IP address or DNS name of the iSCSI target.
Note:
The iSCSI storage target must be configured to enable every Citrix Hypervisor server in the pool to have access to one or more LUNs.
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If you have configured the iSCSI target to use CHAP authentication, enter the User and Password.
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Click the Discover IQNs button, and then choose the iSCSI target IQN from the Target IQN list.
Warning:
The iSCSI target and all servers in the pool must have unique IQNs.
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Click the Discover LUNs button, and then choose the LUN on which to create the SR from the Target LUN list.
Warning:
Each individual iSCSI storage repository must be contained entirely on a single LUN and cannot span more than one LUN. Any data present on the chosen LUN is destroyed.
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Click Finish.
The new SR appears in the Resources pane, at the pool level.
To create an SR on the iSCSI share at the pool level by using the xe CLI:
Warning:
When you create Citrix Hypervisor SRs on iSCSI or HBA storage, any existing contents of the volume are destroyed.
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On the console of any server in the pool, run the command:
xe sr-create name-label=name_for_sr \ host-uuid=host_uuid device-config:target=iscsi_server_ip_address \ device-config:targetIQN=iscsi_target_iqn device-config:SCSIid=scsi_id \ content-type=user type=lvmoiscsi shared=true <!--NeedCopy-->The
device-config:targetargument refers to the name or IP address of the iSCSI server. Since thesharedargument is set totrue, the shared storage is automatically connected to every host in the pool. Any hosts that later join are also connected to the storage.The command returns the UUID of the created storage repository.
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Find the UUID of the pool by running the
pool-listcommand. -
Set the new SR as the pool-wide default by entering the following:
xe pool-param-set uuid=pool_uuid default-SR=iscsi_shared_sr_uuid <!--NeedCopy-->As shared storage has been set as the pool-wide default, all future VMs have their disks created on this SR.