System requirements
Citrix Hypervisor requires at least two separate physical x86 computers: one to be the Citrix Hypervisor server and the other to run the XenCenter application or the Citrix Hypervisor Command-Line Interface (CLI). The Citrix Hypervisor server computer is dedicated entirely to the task of running Citrix Hypervisor and hosting VMs, and is not used for other applications.
Warning:
Citrix Hypervisor supports only drivers and supplemental packs that are provided by us being installed directly in the host’s control domain. Drivers provided by third-party websites, including drivers with the same name or version number as those we provide, are not supported.
The following exceptions are supported:
Software supplied as a supplemental pack and explicitly endorsed by us.
Drivers that NVIDIA provides to enable vGPU support. For more information, see NVIDIA vGPU.
Other drivers provided by NVIDIA, for example, the Mellanox drivers, are not supported with Citrix Hypervisor unless distributed by us.
To run XenCenter use any general-purpose Windows system that satisfies the hardware requirements. This Windows system can be used to run other applications.
When you install XenCenter on this system, the Citrix Hypervisor CLI is also installed. A standalone remote Citrix Hypervisor CLI can be installed on any RPM-based Linux distribution. For more information, see Command-line interface.
Citrix Hypervisor server system requirements
Although Citrix Hypervisor is usually deployed on server-class hardware, Citrix Hypervisor is also compatible with many models of workstations and laptops. For more information, see the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).
The following section describes the recommended Citrix Hypervisor hardware specifications.
The Citrix Hypervisor server must be a 64-bit x86 server-class machine devoted to hosting VMs. Citrix Hypervisor creates an optimized and hardened Linux partition with a Xen-enabled kernel. This kernel controls the interaction between the virtualized devices seen by VMs and the physical hardware.
Citrix Hypervisor can use:
-
Up to 6 TB of RAM
-
Up to 16 physical NICs
-
Up to 448 logical processors per host.
Note:
The maximum number of logical processors supported differs by CPU. For more information, see the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).
The system requirements for the Citrix Hypervisor server are:
CPUs
One or more 64-bit x86 CPUs, 1.5 GHz minimum, 2 GHz or faster multicore CPU recommended.
To support VMs running Windows or more recent versions of Linux, you require an Intel VT or AMD-V 64-bit x86-based system with one or more CPUs.
Note:
To run Windows VMs or more recent versions of Linux, enable hardware support for virtualization on the Citrix Hypervisor server. Virtualization support is an option in the BIOS. It is possible that your BIOS might have virtualization support disabled. For more information, see your BIOS documentation.
To support VMs running supported paravirtualized Linux, you require a standard 64-bit x86-based system with one or more CPUs.
RAM
2 GB minimum, 4 GB or more recommended
Disk space
- Locally attached storage with 46 GB of disk space minimum, 70 GB of disk space recommended
- SAN via HBA (not through software) when installing with multipath boot from SAN.
For a detailed list of compatible storage solutions, see the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).
Network
100 Mbit/s or faster NIC. One or more Gb, or 10 Gb NICs is recommended for faster export/import data transfers and VM live migration.
We recommend that you use multiple NICs for redundancy. The configuration of NICs differs depending on the storage type. For more information, see the vendor documentation.
Citrix Hypervisor requires an IPv4 network for management and storage traffic.
Notes:
Ensure that the time setting in the BIOS of your server is set to the current time in UTC.
In some support cases, serial console access is required for debug purposes. When setting up the Citrix Hypervisor configuration, we recommend that you configure serial console access. For hosts that do not have physical serial port or where suitable physical infrastructure is not available, investigate whether you can configure an embedded management device. For example, Dell DRAC. For more information about setting up serial console access, see CTX228930 - How to configure console access on XenServer or Citrix Hypervisor.
XenCenter system requirements
XenCenter has the following system requirements:
-
Operating System:
- Windows 10
- Windows 11
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2019
- Windows Server 2022
- .NET Framework: Version 4.8
- CPU Speed: 750 MHz minimum, 1 GHz or faster recommended
- RAM: 1 GB minimum, 2 GB or more recommended
- Disk Space: 100 MB minimum
- Network: 100 Mbit/s or faster NIC
- Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels, minimum
XenCenter is compatible with all supported versions of Citrix Hypervisor.
Supported guest operating systems
For a list of supported VM operating systems, see Guest operating system support.
Pool requirements
A resource pool is a homogeneous or heterogeneous aggregate of one or more servers, up to a maximum of 64. Before you create a pool or join a server to an existing pool, ensure that all servers in the pool meet the following requirements.
Hardware requirements
All of the servers in a Citrix Hypervisor resource pool must have broadly compatible CPUs, that is:
-
The CPU vendor (Intel, AMD) must be the same on all CPUs on all servers.
-
To run HVM virtual machines, all CPUs must have virtualization enabled.
Other requirements
In addition to the hardware prerequisites identified previously, there are some other configuration prerequisites for a server joining a pool:
-
It must have a consistent IP address (a static IP address on the server or a static DHCP lease). This requirement also applies to the servers providing shared NFS or iSCSI storage.
-
Its system clock must be synchronized to the pool master (for example, through NTP).
-
It cannot be a member of an existing resource pool.
-
It cannot have any running or suspended VMs or any active operations in progress on its VMs, such as shutting down or exporting. Shut down all VMs on the server before adding it to a pool.
-
It cannot have any shared storage already configured.
-
It cannot have a bonded management interface. Reconfigure the management interface and move it on to a physical NIC before adding the server to the pool. After the server has joined the pool, you can reconfigure the management interface again.
-
It must be running the same version of Citrix Hypervisor, at the same patch level, as servers already in the pool.
-
It must be configured with the same supplemental packs as the servers already in the pool. Supplemental packs are used to install add-on software into the Citrix Hypervisor control domain, dom0. To prevent an inconsistent user experience across a pool, all servers in the pool must have the same supplemental packs at the same revision installed.
-
It must have the same Citrix Hypervisor license as the servers already in the pool. You can change the license of any pool members after joining the pool. The server with the lowest license determines the features available to all members in the pool.
Citrix Hypervisor servers in resource pools can contain different numbers of physical network interfaces and have local storage repositories of varying size.
Note:
Servers providing shared NFS or iSCSI storage for the pool must have a static IP address or be DNS addressable.
Homogeneous pools
A homogeneous resource pool is an aggregate of servers with identical CPUs. CPUs on a server joining a homogeneous resource pool must have the same vendor, model, and features as the CPUs on servers already in the pool.
Heterogeneous pools
Heterogeneous pool creation is made possible by using technologies in Intel (FlexMigration) and AMD (Extended Migration) CPUs that provide CPU masking or leveling. These features allow a CPU to be configured to appear as providing a different make, model, or feature set than it actually does. These capabilities enable you to create pools of hosts with different CPUs but still safely support live migrations.
For information about creating heterogeneous pools, see Hosts and resource pools.