Automating XenServer with Terraform
The XenServer Terraform Provider enables IT admins to automate configuration and management tasks for XenServer environments. This is especially useful in large-scale setups, where automation ensures consistency, reduces manual errors, and saves time. With the Terraform provider, you can:
- Create virtual machines (VMs)
- Manage snapshots (create and remove)
- Configure storage (add or remove local and NFS types)
- Set up and manage networks
- Retrieve information about XenServer hosts
Key benefits of the XenServer Terraform Provider:
- Automation: Simplifies the deployment and management of XenServer environments through Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) practices.
- Efficiency: Automates tasks such as VM creation, snapshot management, and storage or network configuration, minimizing manual intervention.
- Consistency: Ensures uniform configurations across large environments, minimizing errors.
- Scalability: Supports rapid infrastructure growth by streamlining the creation and rebuilding of environments, such as QA setups.
Prerequisites
Before using the XenServer Terraform Provider, ensure that you have the following:
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Terraform version 1.8 or higher
Download Terraform from the official Terraform Installation Guide.
Windows users can install Terraform using Chocolatey by running the following command:
choco install terraform <!--NeedCopy--> -
XenServer instance with administrative access
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XenServer API credentials
These include the username, password, and the IP address of your XenServer.
Get started
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Prepare the Terraform configuration.
To start, add the XenServer provider to your Terraform configuration file
main.tf:terraform { required_providers { xenserver = { source = "xenserver/xenserver" } } } provider "xenserver" { host = "https://<ip address of XenServer>" username = "root" password = <root password> } <!--NeedCopy--> -
Define resources.
For example, to create a VM, define the resource in your configuration file:
data "xenserver_sr" "sr" { name_label = "Local storage" } resource "xenserver_vdi" "vdi1" { name_label = "local-storage-vdi-1" sr_uuid = data.xenserver_sr.sr.data_items[0].uuid virtual_size = 100 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 } data "xenserver_network" "network" {} resource "xenserver_vm" "windows_vm" { name_label = "Windows VM" template_name = "Windows 11" static_mem_max = 4 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 vcpus = 4 cores_per_socket = 2 cdrom = "win11-x64_uefi.iso" boot_mode = "uefi_security" boot_order = "cdn" hard_drive = [ { vdi_uuid = xenserver_vdi.vdi1.uuid, bootable = true, mode = "RW" } ] network_interface = [ { device = "0" network_uuid = data.xenserver_network.network.data_items[0].uuid, } ] other_config = { "tf_created" = "true" } } <!--NeedCopy-->Or, to create an NFS Storage Repository (SR):
resource "xenserver_sr" "nfs" { name_label = "Test NFS SR" type = "nfs" content_type = "" shared = true device_config = { server = "1.1.1.1" serverpath = "/server/path" nfsversion = "3" } sm_config = { shared = "true" } } <!--NeedCopy--> -
Initialize and apply the configuration.
To install the XenServer provider, run:
terraform init <!--NeedCopy-->Then, to provision the defined resources, run:
terraform apply <!--NeedCopy-->
For advanced configurations and additional resources, refer to the XenServer Terraform Provider Documentation.