What’s new in XenCenter
XenCenter is updated independently of the version of XenServer or Citrix Hypervisor. To remain supported, ensure that you are using the latest XenCenter version.
Note:
Unless otherwise specified, the XenCenter articles apply to both XenServer and Citrix Hypervisor releases, even if only XenServer is explicitly mentioned.
You can download XenCenter YYYY.x.x from the XenServer downloads page.
After installing a version of XenCenter YYYY.x.x, you can receive further updates to XenCenter automatically. For more information, see Updating XenCenter.
What’s new in 2024.2.1
Released Jul 09, 2024
This update includes the following improvements:
- Added information to the XenCenter installation wizard stating that the current installation removes all previous versions of the XenCenter application from your device.
- Improved the XenServer Conversion Manager wizard to display a warning before starting the conversion process if your VMware ESXi/vCenter VMs are running guest operating systems that are not supported for conversion.
- Removed the VM Recovery Mode feature.
Fixed issues in 2024.2.1
- On Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 Cumulative Update 1 hosts, when attempting to apply a hotfix through automated updates, XenCenter incorrectly shows the warning “The license is deprecated and may revert to Trial Edition if updates are applied”. (XSI-1676)
- When performing actions related to Workload Balancing (such as connecting, pausing, or resuming), XenCenter might fail to show the correct state of the Workload Balancing appliance. (XSI-1674)
- You are unable to migrate a VM to another host using XenCenter 2024.2.0 if the Workload Balancing virtual appliance is offline.
Known issues in 2024.2.1
- After a standalone host is rebooted, including when it’s rebooted after applying updates, the host’s General Tab does not display the status of the system correctly. We recommend that you refresh the host’s General Tab by clicking on a different object and back on the host, or by disconnecting and reconnecting.
- Changing the font size or dpi on the computer on which XenCenter is running can result in the user interface appearing incorrectly. The default font size is 96 dpi; Windows 10 refers to this font size as 100%. (CA-45514) (CAR-1940)
- In XenCenter, when you attempt to import an OVF package or a disk image from a folder containing a hash character (#) in its name, the import fails with a null reference exception. (CA-368918)
- When attempting to run XenCenter from the command line while XenCenter is already running, any arguments with whitespace characters must be wrapped in both double and single quotes: “‘example’”. (CA-389317)
- If you connect to the same XenServer pool with multiple instances of XenCenter, neither XenCenter shows available updates. To attempt to work around this issue, you can disconnect and reconnect XenCenter from the pool. (CA-389319)
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If more than one instance of XenCenter is attempting to install multiple updates on a pool, a host might fail to install with the error: “The update has already been applied to this server. The server will be skipped.” This error causes the whole update process to stop. (CA-359814)
To workaround this issue:
- Ensure that no other XenCenter instance is in the process of updating the pool
- Refresh the update list in the Notifications > Updates panel
- Start the update from the beginning
- When updating to XenCenter 2024.2.0 from 2023.4.0 or earlier, you encounter an error if you attempt to Download XenCenter v2024.2.0.xxx source code.
Earlier releases
This section lists features in previous releases along with their fixed issues. These earlier releases are superseded by the latest version of XenCenter. Update to the latest version of XenCenter when it is available.
XenCenter 2024.2.0
What’s new
Released Jun 06, 2024
Note:
- XenCenter 2024.2.0 is required to receive production support with Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 Cumulative Update 1 and XenServer 8.
Upgrade notes:
- XenCenter 2024.2.0 supersedes earlier versions of XenCenter, including XenCenter 8.2.x. When you install XenCenter 2024.2.0, it removes other versions of XenCenter on your system.
- If XenCenter 2024.2.0 is the first version of XenCenter with a version format YYYY.x.x that you have installed on your system, it imports your server list from any instance of XenCenter 8.2.x on the system. Passwords are not imported.
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If you already have a version of XenCenter YYYY.x.x installed in parallel with XenCenter 8.2.x, this version does not import your server list from XenCenter 8.2.x. To migrate your server list from XenCenter 8.2.x, complete the following steps in order:
- Export your data from XenCenter 8.2.x. Go to File > Export Server List.
- Install XenCenter 2024.2.0.
- Import your data into XenCenter 2024.2.0. Go to File > Import Server List.
For more information, see Exporting and Importing a List of Managed Servers.
This update contains the following new features:
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(XenServer 8) Import a VHDX or AVHDX disk image as a VM: You can now import a VHDX/AVHDX file into a pool or specific host as a VM. VHDX is an improved version of the VHD format that provides better performance, fault tolerance, and data protection features in addition to a larger capacity. For information on how to use the XenCenter Import wizard to import a VHDX/AVHDX file, see Import Disk Images.
If you are a Citrix customer, you can also use this feature to migrate your VMs from VMware to XenServer. As part of its software streaming technology, Citrix Provisioning stores a shared disk image (vDisk) as a VHDX/AVHDX file. By using the XenCenter Import wizard to import a VHDX/AVHDX file, you can easily migrate your vDisk from VMware to XenServer. For more information, see Migrating from VMware.
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Close TCP port 80 for a pool’s management interface by using XenCenter. For more information, see Change Pool Properties.
You can also view the status of port 80 for a pool or server in its General tab in the Management Interface section.
This update includes the following improvements:
- XenCenter lists the make and model of the host hardware on the host’s General tab.
- Improvements to display of licensing information.
- Improvements to branding information in the New Conversion wizard.
- Improvements to NIC labelling. The “FCoE Capable” column is renamed to “Software FCoE Capable”.
- Improvements to error handling and threading in the Conversion Manager wizard.
- Improvements to error handling in the Copy VM wizard.
- Improvements to error handling in the New VM wizard.
- XFS file system type now listed in XenCenter.
Fixed issues
- Some updates that do not include guidance about update tasks are not displayed in the By update view. To see these updates, you can look in the By server view.
- Customers with a Standard Edition license are not able to do GPU Pass-through to a Windows VM through XenCenter.
- In XenCenter 2024.1.0, when you create a new folder it does not appear until you disconnect and reconnect to the modified pool. Also, when a folder is deleted it remains visible until you reconnect.
- Importing dynamic VHDs results in an error.
- Sometimes, the License Manager can assign a non-selected licence and refuse to release the license.
XenCenter 2024.1.0
What’s new
Released Mar 06, 2024
Note:
You must be using this version XenCenter or later before applying updates released after Mar 06, 2024 to your XenServer pool. Always install the latest version of XenCenter.
This update contains the following new features:
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(XenServer 8) Improved update guidance: We’ve added more nuanced guidance for the tasks that are performed as part of updates. These changes are designed to minimize the disruption to your VMs that these update tasks might cause. Tasks are categorized into Mandatory, Recommended, Full-effectiveness, and Live patch. These categorizations enable you to judge whether a update task that might cause downtime or minor disruption for your hosts or VMs is necessary for your environment and risk profile. For more information, see Updating your XenServer hosts.
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(XenServer 8) SNMP: You can now use SNMP and any NMS of your choosing to remotely monitor resources consumed by XenServer. With this feature, you can also configure traps to monitor your XenServer hosts, which are agent-initiated messages that alert the NMS that a specific event has occurred in XenServer. For more information, see Monitoring host and dom0 resources with SNMP.
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Changes to licensing: If you used XenServer 8 during its public preview phase with a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops license, this license is now deprecated and will not be supported with XenServer 8 in future. XenCenter now alerts you that this license is deprecated and prevents you from upgrading from Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU1 to XenServer 8 until you apply a XenServer Premium Edition license to your hosts.
To run Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops workloads on your XenServer pool, you require a XenServer Premium Edition license. For information about getting a license, see the XenServer website.
XenServer is now an entitlement of the Citrix for Private Cloud, Citrix Universal Hybrid Multi Cloud, and Citrix Platform License subscriptions for running your Citrix workloads. Read more.
This update includes the following improvements:
- The Advanced Options panel has been removed from VM Properties. This panel contained obsolete options that are no longer required.
- In the Virtual Interface Properties pane, XenCenter now shows the QoS limit in MBit/s.
- Units shown in XenCenter have been corrected to reflect accurately the base of the unit (1000 or 1024). Wherever the unit is calculated with multiples of 1024, XenCenter displays kiB, MiB, GiB, TiB, and so on. Wherever the unit is calculated with multiples of 1000, XenCenter displays kB, MB, GB, TB, and so on.
- Usability improvements to the VM Export Wizard.
- XenCenter now shows the object’s UUID on the Properties Dialog > General tab for all objects accessible through XenCenter.
Fixed issues
- Previously, XenCenter allowed you to rolling pool upgrade your hosts to the same version they are currently running, which left the pool in a broken state. XenCenter now prevents this behavior.
- Sometimes, in the VM Snapshot Schedule Properties dialog, the Snapshot Schedule panel doesn’t load. (CA-387186)
- XenCenter can incorrectly allow an upgrade to proceed when there are failed pre-checks. (CA-386488)
- Sometimes, VMs are not restored to their original host after exiting maintenance mode. (CA-387197)
- Updates are not made availble to users on Standard Edition. (CA-389235)
- XenCenter does not prompt you to save your connection state on first opening. (CA-380853)
- When pinned to the taskbar, the XenCenter taskbar icon disappears after a XenCenter update. (CA-379341)
- XenCenter does not preserve the power state when exporting a suspended VM as an XVA. (CA-368247)
- XenCenter incorrectly blocks pool operators from importing appliances and VM admins from exporting appliances. (CA-389487)
XenCenter 2023.4.0
What’s new
Released Dec 04, 2023
This update contains the following improvements:
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(XenServer 8) Monitor host and dom0 resources with NRPE In XenServer 8, users with the Pool Admin role can use any third-party monitoring tool that supports Nagios Remote Plugin Executor (NRPE) to monitor host and dom0 resources. For more information on how to configure NRPE, see Monitoring host and dom0 resources with NRPE.
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(XenServer 8) Support for 64 vCPUs XenCenter can now support up to 64 virtual CPUs on a Linux or Windows VM.
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If you select the Click here to create a DVD drive option, you are now prompted to confirm whether you want to create a new DVD drive.
This update contains the following behavior changes:
- In XenCenter, the performance graph showing the average CPU for a VM has been removed.
Fixed issues
- When applying updates to hosts by using the ‘Install Updates’ wizard, if you pause WLB by using the wizard, XenCenter fails to automatically resume the running of WLB.
- You cannot live migrate a VM to the local storage of another host in the same XenServer pool.
- On the XenCenter Setup wizard, the Launch XenCenter on exiting the Setup wizard checkbox disappeared.
XenCenter 2023.3.2
What’s new
Released Oct 05, 2023
Fixed issues
- In pools with GFS2 SRs, using XenCenter to generate a server status report (SSR) can fail. (CA-375900)
- If you attempt to load a performance graph on a XenServer host after attempting to load a performance graph on a host with 100% CPU usage, the graph has trouble rendering. (CA-376887)
- XenCenter can fail to start due to a file naming issue in third party software. (CA-382850)
XenCenter 2023.3.1
What’s new
Released Aug 24, 2023
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(XenServer 8) A delivery of regular updates to XenServer 8 is made available through XenCenter, allowing you to benefit from a more efficient release process that delivers new features and bug fixes at a faster cadence than was previously possible. For more information, see Update your hosts.
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XenCenter updates can be downloaded and applied from within the UI. For more information, see Update XenCenter.
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You can use XenCenter to manage your XenServer 8 non-production environments.
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PuTTY is no longer bundled with XenCenter. To launch an SSH console to a XenServer host by using XenCenter, you must install an external SSH console tool and ensure that XenCenter is configured to use it. For more information, see Configure XenCenter to use an external SSH console.
Fixed issues
This update includes fixes for the following issues:
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On Windows 10 (1903 and later) VMs, there can be a delay of a few minutes after installing the XenServer VM Tools before the Switch to Remote Desktop option is available in XenCenter. You can restart the toolstack to make this option appear immediately. (CA-322672)
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XenCenter gives an invalid error when you attempt to create multiple VM disks totalling > 2 TB. (XSI-1467)
XenCenter 8.2.7
For more information, see XenCenter 8.2.7.