Steps to install NIC drivers on XenServer

Steps to install NIC drivers on XenServers

Check NIC driver version by running ethtool -i eth0

I created a directory in the tmp directory called iso. It does not have to be called iso this is just what I chose. I performed this using WinSCP

[root@fsxensvr14 ~]# cd /tmp/iso

Copy the NIC drivers to this new directory and then perform an ls to view the files in the directory

[root@fsxensvr14 iso]# ls

bnx2x-1.74.22.tar.gz  bnx2x.iso  bnx2x.iso.md5  bnx2x.metadata.md5

Mount the iso using the following command. You are mounting the iso to the /tmp/iso directory that you created earlier

[root@fsxensvr14 iso]# mount bnx2x.iso /tmp/iso -o loop,ro

Change directories to the /tmp/iso directory

[root@fsxensvr14 iso]# cd /tmp/iso

Perform an ls to view the files in the directory

[root@fsxensvr14 iso]# ls

bnx2x-modules-kdump-2.6.32.43-0.4.1.xs1.6.10.784.170772-1.74.22-1.i386.rpm

bnx2x-modules-xen-2.6.32.43-0.4.1.xs1.6.10.784.170772-1.74.22-1.i386.rpm

install

install.sh

XS-PACKAGES

XS-REPOSITORY

Execute install.sh by running the following command

[root@fsxensvr14 iso]# ./install.sh

Installing 'Broadcom bnx2x driver'...

Preparing...                ########################################### [100%]

   1:bnx2x-modules-xen-2.6.3########################################### [ 50%]

   2:bnx2x-modules-kdump-2.6########################################### [100%]

Pack installation successful.

Change directories to root by running the following command

[root@fsxensvr14 iso]# cd /

Unmount the /tmp/iso directory by running the following command

[root@fsxensvr14 /]# umount /tmp/iso

Clean UP !! Delete the files that you copied over to perform the installation.

Check the performance of your storage repository

Ref: http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX121634

[root@FsXENSVR109 ~]# ll /dev/disk/by-id/ | grep <SCSI ID>   NOTE: SCSI ID can be found on the 'General' tab of your SR in XenCenter

The output of this command will be something like the following:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Feb 12 19:16 scsi-36000d3100087d3000000000000000005 -> ../../sdb

Once you have this information you can execute the following command

[root@FsXENSVR109 ~]# hdparm -t /dev/sdb

/dev/sdb:
 Timing buffered disk reads: 248 MB in  3.06 seconds =  81.08 MB/sec
[root@FsXENSVR109 ~]# hdparm -t /dev/sdb

XenServer MultiPath Info

Useful commands discovered and used along the way. 

Check iSCSI sessions

iscsiadm -m session

Ping storage from a particular NIC IP address

ping -I xenbr8 192.168.190.10

Note: You may need to use this command to figure out where to ping from
brctl show
Show info on virtual switches

Rescan iscsi sessions

iscsiadm -m session -r 1 --rescan

Show all records in discovery database and show the targets that
were discovered from each record:
./iscsiadm -m discovery -P 1

Display session statistics:
./iscsiadm -m session -r 1 --stats

Display running sessions:
./iscsiadm -m session -P 1

Restart iscsi service
service open-iscsi restart

Check iscsi service status
service open-iscsi status

To get information about the running sessions: including the session and
device state, session ids (sid) for session mode, and some of the
negotiated parameters, run:
iscsiadm -m session -P 2

To get a Host view of the session there is the host mode.
iscsiadm -m host

Log into iSCSI targets
iscsiadm -m node --login

To log into an individual iSCSI target use:
iscsiadm -m node -l -T iqn.2001-05.com.equallogic:83bcb3401-16e0002fd0a46f3d-rhel5-test -p 172.23.10.240:3260

TFTP - cheat sheet

Here is a quick reference on how to backup/restore switch configurations...

A free TFTP server is available for download from Solarwinds website

To copy a switch configuration to a TFTP server run the following command:

copy running-configuration tftp://TFTP-IP/filename.txt

To copy a switch configuration from a TFTP server to switch run the following command:

copy TFTP://TFTP-IP/filename.txt startup-configuration

Then type:
reload

vDisk owned by Control Domain

VM disks becoming “owned by the Control Domain”.

You know: you tried to migrate a VM, move a disk, or take a snapshot and POW: you look on your SR to find that your VM’s disk is owned by “the control domain”.

1.  Why does this happen?

Basically it boils down to disk operations on/from a VM failing.  Operations such as move, copy, snapshot, export, etc.

2.  How do I get around it?

One answer is to reboot.

Another way is to find the link between your virtual disk and DOM0 (the control domain) from your stand-alone XenServer (or primary server if you have a pool).

Use  list_domains to get the UUID of DOM0 (the control domain):

[root@rightserver boot]# list_domains
id |                                                        uuid |  state
 0 | 09dffafe-5bec-430d-bc80-6ddb2313beff |     R
1 | 94c63c12-0851-708d-7f95-c011f2760649   |    RH
21 | a8f76fee-0b45-b5ee-7d83-14f6b530141f   |    B H

The control domain UUID is 09dffafe-5bec-430d-bc80-6ddb2313beff

Now we have to  find the VBD(s) that DOM0 (the control domain) owns:

xe vbd-list vm-uuid=<DOM0 UUID, such as 09dffafe-5bec-430d-bc80-6ddb2313beff id>

This will show information about any Virtual Block Device (VBD) that DOM0 (the control domain) may be hanging onto.  What we are interested in is the UUID of the VBD(s).

Grab the VBD’s UUID and execute:

xe vbd-unplug uuid=<UUID of the VBD being held by DOM0>

Finally, run:

xe vbd-destroy uuid=<UUID of the VBD being held by DOM0>

And there – rescan your storage repository and your VDI (virtual disk interface) should be free for your use.

Prevent users from auto-forwarding their email to an external domain

In Exchange Server 2007

Exchange Management Console | Hub Transport | Remote Domains | Default -> properties | Message Formats tab | "Allow Automatic Forward" - uncheck this.

XenApp 6.x terminology mapped to XenApp 7.x

XenApp 6 Instead of…	XenApp 7 Think of…
Independent Management Architecture (IMA)	FlexCast Management Architecture (FMA)
Farm	Delivery Site
Worker Group	Session Machine Catalog Delivery Group
Worker	Virtual Delivery Agent Server OS Machine Desktop OS Machine
Zone and Data Collector	Delivery Controller
Delivery Services Console	Citrix Studio and Citrix Director
Publishing applications	Delivering applications
Data store	Database
Load Evaluator	Load Management Policy
Administrator	Delegated Administrator Role Scope