Blog

How to upgrade XenServer

How to upgrade XenServer 6.5 to 7.0 using Rolling Pool Upgrade

Table of Contents

Reading Time: 5 minutes

A while ago I did an XenServer 6.5 Upgrade to 7.0. Check it out here. I thought now let’s create a Citrix XenServer 6.5 pool, and do the automated upgrade using Rolling Pool Upgrade in Citrix XenCenter.

What’s new in Citrix XenServer 7.0:

  • Intel Iris Pro Graphics GPU support
  • NVIDIA GRID vGPU support for Linux Applications
  • Up to 128 vm’s per host with the NVIDIA vGPU M6/M60 graphics card
  • Windows Update integration for XenTools

These are a few things I like. There are far more new features, take a look at the Citrix XenServer site here.

Requirements for the upgrade:

  • Citrix XenServer 6.5 with SP1 and all the latest hotfixes
  • Citrix XenServer 7.0 ISO (www.citrix.com)
  • FTP Server with extracted Citrix XenServer 7 ISO
  • Citrix XenCenter 7.0

My homelab setup

Since I don’t have additional hardware to run XenServer, I installed it as a virtual machine on Hyper-V 2012 R2. This is fine for testing purposes. Just make sure you create the virtual machine als a Generation 1 vm and add the Legacy Network Adapter.

Caution

During the upgrade process you will have the choice to upgrade the partition scheme of the Local Storage Repository (Local SR). The new partition scheme in Citrix XenServer 7.0 is beter for especially log files. But altering the partitions means that you have to move all the virtual machines to a safe place. The upgrade process will delete everything on the Local SR when re-partitioning during the upgrade process!

So let’s start.

Prepare the Local SR for re-partitioning

Before we start the upgrade using the Rolling Pool Upgrade method in XenCenter, we have tell the upgrade process that it is safe to re-partition the Local SR. This has to be done from the command line. I have tried to upgrade without entering this command, and sometimes re-partitioning failed on one of my XenServer hosts. This behaviour was random.

So just to make sure everything goes smooth, enter the following command in the the console of every XenServer host:

touch /var/preserve/safe2upgrade

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_002

Let’s start.

Upgrade XenServer

Make sure you have patched your XenServer 6.5 hosts completely.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_003

Check that the hosts in your XenServer pool are version 6.5.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_004

Go to Tools and select Rolling Pool Upgrade.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_005

Click on Next.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_006

Select the pool. You can click on the plus (+) sign to see all the hosts in the pool and the version number of XenServer. Click on Next.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_007

Now I want XenCenter to do all the heavy lifting so I choose Automatic Mode. If you go for the manual mode you will have to mount the Citrix XenServer 7.0 ISO manually and do the upgrade steps by hand in the upgrade console. Click on Run Prechecks.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_008

When starting the upgrade, I made sure that my XenServer 6.5. hosts were fully patched and updated. But as you can see above I was still missing a critical hotfix according to the upgrade wizard. Click on Apply hotfix for all the hosts listed in your pool.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_009

After the missing hotfix is applied to all the XenServer hosts in the pool, the precheck will run again. We should be good to go now. Click on Next.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_010

The wizard will prompt you to enter the path for the installation files for XenServer 7.0. I downloaded the ISO and extracted it beforehand and made it available to XenCenter using FTP. Make sure you click in Test after entering the information for your setup. If everything is ok you should see the green checkmark next to the Test button. Click on Start Upgrade.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_011

Now it is time to sit back and relax. It can take a while for all the hosts to upgrade and reboot. The wizard will start with the pool master. Just keep an eye on the Overal progress.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_012

After the pool master is finished, it continues to the next host in the pool.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_013

When all is done, click on Finish.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_014

Check in XenCenter that everything is ok and the XenServer version is 7.0. Now that the upgrade is done, let’s do some updating. Always good to have that covered.

Update Citrix XenServer 7.0 using XenCenter

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_016

After the actual upgrade to XenServer 7.0, XenCenter will display one update. Select Download and install from the drop-down menu.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_017

Select your XenServer pool. Click on Next.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_018

It will show you when the update is uploaded to all the XenServer hosts. Click on Next.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_019

Click on Next to start updating.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_020

Leave here at default. Again, let’s let XenCenter do the heavy lifting. Click on Install update.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_021

After XenCenter has updated all the hosts, click on Finish.

rolling_pool_upg_6-5_to_7_022

Now there will be more updates for Citrix XenServer 7.0. This is normal. Just apply them using the same method I just described.

So that’s it.

This concludes this tutorial. Feel free to contact me of you have any questions or comments. You can also follow me on twitter or add the rss feed from the blog and you will be notified when I add new posts.

How to upgrade XenServer 6.5 to 7.0 using Rolling Pool Upgrade Read More

How to upgrade XenServer 6.5 to XenServer 7.0

Reading Time: 5 minutes

In this blogpost I will show you how to upgrade XenServer 6.5 to XenServer 7.0. Recently Citrix released XenServer 7. As you can see on my blog, I am a big fan of Citrix solutions :). So now I was wondering: how can I upgrade my Citrix XenServer 6.5 setup without losing the configuration. First of all, let’s take a look at some new features in Citrix XenServer 7.

What’s new in Citrix XenServer 7:

  • Intel Iris Pro Graphics GPU support
  • NVIDIA GRID vGPU support for Linux Applications
  • Up to 128 vm’s per host with the NVIDIA vGPU M6/M60 graphics card
  • Windows Update integration for XenTools

These are a few things I like. There are far more new features, take a look at the Citrix XenServer site here.

Requirements for the upgrade:

  • Citrix XenServer 6.5 with SP1 and all the latest hotfixes
  • Citrix XenServer 7 ISO (www.citrix.com)

My homelab setup

Since I don’t have additional hardware to run XenServer, I installed it as a virtual machine on Hyper-V 2012 R2. This is fine for testing purposes. Just make sure you create the virtual machine als a Generation 1 vm and add the Legacy Network Adapter. Also make sure that you don’t have anything else running on the disk where XenServer is installed. The partition scheme on that disk will be altered during the upgrade process.

Let’s start.

Upgrade XenServer 6.5

Check the version of XenServer using the console.

xs65_to_70_01

Check the version of XenServer using Citrix XenCenter. Note that I am still using XenCenter 6.5. When I’m done updating the XenServer host to version 7, I will install XenCenter 7. Keep reading for that.

xs65_to_70_02

So everything is looking great. Let’s mount the Citrix XenServer 7 ISO using the properties of the virtual machine.

xs65_to_70_03

We can now reboot the host. Make sure it boots from the XenServer 7 ISO, so set it to boot from CD.

xs65_to_70_04

Click on Yes to reboot the server.

xs65_to_70_05

The host will now boot from the Citrix XenServer 7 ISO. Press Enter to start the upgrade proces.

xs65_to_70_06

Choose your keyboard layout. Then choose OK.

xs65_to_70_08

You will be prompted to load additional drivers. I don’t have any so I choose OK.

xs65_to_70_09

Accept the EULA.

xs65_to_70_10

If you run XenServer as a virtual machine, you will get a warning that Hardware Virtualization Assist is not available. This is correct since it is a virtual machine and cannot provide virtualization support for vm’s on it. Choose OK.

xs65_to_70_11

The installer will now detect your Citrix XenServer 6.5 installation, and will provide you with the upgrade option. How great is that! Choose Upgrade XenServer and then OK.

xs65_to_70_12

The installer will need to create a backup. Choose OK to continue.

xs65_to_70_14

Select the installation source. Because I am using a ISO I choose Local media. Choose OK to continue.

xs65_to_70_15

I will not be installing any supplemental packs. Choose NO to continue.

xs65_to_70_16

I choose not to verify the media, because I am sure it is ok since I just downloaded it successfully from the Citrix website. Choose OK to continue.

xs65_to_70_17

The installer has collected all the required information now to perform the upgrade. Choose Install XenServer to continue.

xs65_to_70_18

The installation will now start.

xs65_to_70_19

It will run trough a couple of screens, and then present you with the screen where it says Installation complete. At this point you can unmount the ISO from the virtual cd, and choose Enter to reboot.

xs65_to_70_21

After reboot you will be presented with the GRUB bootloader. Select the first option and press Enter. If you do not press a key during the GRUB bootloader, it will automatically choose the first option and start XenServer.

xs65_to_70_22

Wait for XenServer to load.

xs65_to_70_23

After it has booted completely you will be presented with the xsconsole. As we can see the upgrade went great and XenServer is running happily in my vm.

xs65_to_70_24

Setup XenCenter 7

To manage your new XenServer host you have to install XenCenter 7. Download the installer from Citrix (www.citrix.com) and start the setup. Click on Next.

xs65_to_70_25

The defaults work fine for me. Check that you set them according to your needs. Click Next to continue.

xs65_to_70_26

Click on Install to start the installation.

xs65_to_70_27

After the installation has finished, click on Finish.

xs65_to_70_28

Now it is time to start XenCenter.

xs65_to_70_29

As you can see it has detected my connection to my XenServer 6.5 host. Right-click that and click Connect.

xs65_to_70_30

You can then choose to enrol Health Check. I did not, so I just clicked on Close.

xs65_to_70_31

And we can see the XenServer host version information using XenCenter now.

xs65_to_70_32

So that’s it, the upgrade went great.

This concludes this tutorial. Feel free to contact me of you have any questions or comments. You can also follow me on twitter or add the rss feed from the blog and you will be notified when I add new posts.

How to upgrade XenServer 6.5 to XenServer 7.0 Read More

Creating a Windows 2012 R2 Target Device with Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8

Table of Contents

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) is a great way for running your virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). In my recent blog here I showed you how to setup Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8.

Using Windows 2012 R2 as a VDI platform, you can easily give like 90% of your workers a full-functional desktop or Workspace. And because the concept is Server Based Computing (SBC or Shared Desktop), you can provision multiple full-functional desktops using just one Windows 2012 R2 server. Off course having just one Windows 2012 R2 Server is not ideal, but you get what I’m aiming at. In the end it is all about managing resources and being high-available.

In this blog I will show you how to create a Windows 2012 R2 target device running from Citrix Provisioning Services. I will then use this target device disk (vDisk) as a template (golden image) to create multiple target devices running from the same vDisk in another post using Citrix XenDesktop 7.8. For now let’s focus on creating the Windows 2012 R2 Target Device vDisk.

In this post I will show you how to:

  • Create a Windows 2012 R2 Target Device vDisk
  • Configure a Target Device to use said vDisk and boot from PVS

My lab setup:

  • Windows 2012 R2 server with Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8 installed (pvs01.vikash.nl)
  • Local domain (vikash.nl)
  • Domain controller (dc01.vikash.nl)
  • Hypervisor Hyper-V 2012 R2
  • Windows 2012 R2 Server with latest updates
  • All servers and desktops are running as virtual machines
  • DHCP running on my router
  • Citrix Provisioning Services Boot Disk (blog here)

Make sure that the virtual machine configured in Hyper-V for Windows 2012 R2 PVS target is setup as Gen 1 (generation 1) virtual machine, and that the network card is a Legacy network adapter. Otherwise the virtual machine will not be able to boot using PVS. Sources tell me that the next version of Citix Provisioning Services will be able to work with Gen 2 (generation 2) virtual machines in Hyper-V.

Target Device Installation

So let’s start by installing the Citrix Provisioning Services components in my Windows 2012 R2 virtual machine. Mount the Citrix Provisioning Services ISO using Hyper-V management console.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_01

Start the autorun.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_02

Choose Target Device Installation.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_03

Click again on Target Device Installation.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_04

Click on Install to install the required components.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_05

Click on Next to start the installation.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_06

Accept the License Agreement and click on Next.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_07

Enter your customer information and click on Next.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_08

Select the Destination Folder for installation and click on Next.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_09

Click on Install to complete the installation.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_10

Imaging Wizard

After the installation has completed, make sure to check the Launch Imaging Wizard box (if it is not checked automatically). Click on Finish.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_11

You are now presented with a welcome window. Click on Next.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_12

Enter the name of the PVS server. Make sure you have the right port and use the correct credentials for the PVS server. This can be a domain admin account, provided that they have admin rights on the PVS server. Because I am on my homelab I used my Administrator account. In my case I am using the IP-adress from my PVS server. If you are using a hostname, make sure it always resolves to the PVS server.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_13

Select Create a vDisk and click on Next.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_14

The Provisioning Services Imaging Wizard will create a new Target Device on the PVS server. Choose the correct Device Collection name. I my case I made a separate device collection for Windows 2012 R2 Target Devices. Click on Next.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_15

Specify the vDisk name and click on Next.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_16

Select the appropriate Windows Activation method for you. Click on Next

pvs78_w2012r2_target_17

Choose to image the entire boot disk, and click on Next.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_18

Select the option to Optimize the hard disk and then click on Next. You can adjust the options according to your needs, I choose the defaults because I my experience that is fine.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_19

You will be presented with a summary screen. Check that everything is entered correctly and then click Create.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_20

The wizard will create the vDisk and the target device on the PVS server, after optimising the virtual machine. It needs to restart the virtual machine to start the imaging process. Click on Continue.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_21

Now you will be asked to reboot the device. If you choose Yes the Imaging Wizard will restart the virtual machine. At this point you have to make sure that the virtual machine will boot from network or the PVS boot iso. If you choose No the virtual machine will be shut down. I choose No, so I could mount the PVS boot iso to the virtual machine. The Wizard will then shutdown the machine.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_22

Click on Yes to shutdown the virtual machine.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_23

Change Boot Settings Target Machine

Go to the Settings of the virtual machine. In my case that is the Hyper-V management console.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_24

Make sure the virtual machine boots from CD.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_25

The make sure you mount the PVS boot iso to the virtual CD of the virtual machine. Click on OK.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_26

No start the virtual machine and logon to let the Imaging Wizard continue.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_27

The Imaging Wizard will automatically continue.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_28

Click on Done when the Wizard finishes.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_29

Now go to your PVS console, select the Target Device properties.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_30

We can now boot the Target Device using our newly created vDisk. But before we do so we have to set it to boot from vDisk. Click then on OK.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_31

Restart the Windows 2012 R2 Target Device and you will see that it boots now using the PVS server and the vDisk.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_32

Now let’s check the status of the vDisk after logging in.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_33

We can see that we are now using the vDisk.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_34

Note that the vDisk is in Read/Write mode. This is because the Access Mode of the vDisk is Private. This is default after creating a vDisk. Adjust this before starting to provision multiple target devices using the same vDisk.

pvs78_w2012r2_target_35

This concludes this tutorial. Feel free to contact me of you have any questions or comments.

You can also follow me on twitter or add the rss feed from the blog and you will be notified when I add new posts.

Creating a Windows 2012 R2 Target Device with Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8 Read More

Creating a Windows 10 Target Device with Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) is a great way for running your virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). In my recent blog here I showed you how to setup Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8.

In this blog I will show you how to create a Windows 10 target device running from Citrix Provisioning Services. I will then use this target device disk (vDisk) as a template (golden image) to create multiple target devices running from the same vDisk. I will cover this in another post using Citrix XenDesktop 7.8. For now let’s focus on creating the Windows 10 Target Device vDisk.

In this post I will show you how to:

  • Create a Windows 10 Target Device vDisk
  • Configure a Target Device to use said vDisk and boot from PVS

My lab setup:

  • Windows 2012 R2 server with Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8 installed (pvs01.vikash.nl)
  • Local domain (vikash.nl)
  • Domain controller (dc01.vikash.nl)
  • Hypervisor Hyper-V 2012 R2
  • Windows 10 desktop with latest updates
  • All servers and desktops are running as virtual machines
  • DHCP running on my router
  • Citrix Provisioning Services Boot Disk (blog here)

Make sure that the virtual machine configured in Hyper-V for Windows 10 PVS target is setup as Gen 1 (generation 1) virtual machine, and that the network card is a Legacy network adapter. Otherwise the virtual machine will not be able to boot using PVS. Sources tell me that the next version of Citix Provisioning Services will be able to work with Gen 2 (generation 2) virtual machines in Hyper-V.

Target Device Installation

Now we have to install the Citrix Provisioning Services components in the Windows 10 desktop from which we will create the vDisk.

Mount the PVS ISO on the Windows 10 virtual machine.

pvs78_w10_target_01

Start the autorun and choose Target Device Installation.

pvs78_w10_target_02

Click on Target Device Installation.

pvs78_w10_target_03

Click Install to install the requirements.

pvs78_w10_target_04

Click on Next to start the installation.

pvs78_w10_target_05

Accept the license agreement and click on Next.

pvs78_w10_target_06

Enter your customer information and click on Next.

pvs78_w10_target_07

Select the Destination Folder for installation and click on Next.

pvs78_w10_target_08

We are now ready to install. Click on Install.

pvs78_w10_target_09

After installation has finished, make sure to select Launch Imaging Wizard option and click on Finish.

pvs78_w10_target_10

Now the Imaging Wizard will start. Click on Next.

pvs78_w10_target_11

Enter the name of the PVS server. Make sure you have the right port and use the correct credentials for the PVS server. This can be a domain admin account, provided that they have admin rights on the PVS server. Because I am on my homelab I used my Administrator account.

pvs78_w10_target_12

Select Create a vDisk. Click Next.

pvs78_w10_target_13

The wizard will create a new target device on the PVS server. Choose a device collection to put the newly created target device in. Click on Next.

pvs78_w10_target_14

Enter a name for the vDisk. Select the the correct store and choose the vDisk type. Click on Next.

pvs78_w10_target_15

Choose the activation type for Windows 10. This depends on the license model you have from Microsoft. Click on Next.

pvs78_w10_target_16

Choose to image the entire boot disk. Click Next.

pvs78_w10_target_17

Select the option to Optimize the hard disk and then click on Next. You can adjust the options according to your needs, I choose the defaults because I my experience that is fine.

pvs78_w10_target_18

You will be presented with a summary screen. Check that everything is entered according to your needs and then click Create.

pvs78_w10_target_19

The wizard will create the vDisk and the target device on the PVS server, after optimising the virtual machine. It needs to restart the virtual machine to start the imaging process. Click on Continue.

pvs78_w10_target_20

Now you will be asked to reboot the device. If you choose Yes the Imaging Wizard will restart the virtual machine. At this point you have to make sure that the virtual machine will boot from network or the PVS boot iso. If you choose No the virtual machine will be shut down.

pvs78_w10_target_21

In my case I have to choose No because I can’t change the boot order of a Gen 1 Hyper-V virtual machine while it is powered on. Check if your hypervisor is able to adjust while the virtual machine is powered on.

So I have to adjust the settings of my virtual machine.

pvs78_w10_target_22

First I have to mount the PVS boot iso. Go to the DVD Drive and select the iso.

pvs78_w10_target_23

Now we have to adjust the boot order. Go to BIOS, select the CD and move it to the top of the list. Then click OK.

pvs78_w10_target_25

We can now power on the virtual machine. Connect to the console and check that it is booting from the PVS boot iso and connecting to the PVS server.

pvs78_w10_target_26

Now logon to the virtual machine so the Image Wizard can continue.

pvs78_w10_target_27

The Image Wizard will continue automatically and start with taking a snapshot.

pvs78_w10_target_28

Then the Image Wizard will start the copy process to the PVS server.

pvs78_w10_target_29

After the Image Wizard completed the copy process successfully click on Done.

pvs78_w10_target_30

Time for testing

Now shutdown the virtual machine and disconnect the local “physical” disk, because now we want to start from the newly created vDisk from the PVS server. This has to be done using the hypervisor manager, in my case Hyper-V mmc. Go to settings to remove the locally attached “physical” disk.

pvs78_w10_target_31

Go to IDE Controller 0 and Remove the disk. This will only disconnect it and make it invisible to the virtual machine, the virtual disk file will not be deleted.

pvs78_w10_target_32

When the target device is created on the PVS server, it is set to boot from hard disk. This is done to complete the image proces but can also be used to make changes to the virtual disk. Now we have to tell the target device that is has to boot from the vDisk.

Go to your PVS console and select the Properties from you target device.

pvs78_w10_target_33

In the General tab choose vDisk in the Boot from dropdown menu. Then click on OK.

pvs78_w10_target_34

Also we want to set the Access mode for the vDisk to Standard Image. This is necessary if we want to start multiple virtual machines using the same vDisk (in the future). Go to the vDisk Pool in your PVS console and select the Properties for the vDisk we just made.

pvs78_w10_target_35

In the General tab set the Access mode to Standard Image. Then click OK.

pvs78_w10_target_36

Now it is time to boot the virtual machine and see some PVS magic! Connect to the console of the virtual machine using your hypervisor tools, in my case Hyper-V mmc, so you can see what is happening during boot.

pvs78_w10_target_37

As you can see the virtual machine is booted from my PVS boot iso and logged in to PVS. PVS is accepting the connection and providing the virtual machine with a vDisk.

Logon to the virtual machine to check if the Virtual Disk Status.

pvs78_w10_target_38

In the General tab you can see that the vDisk is now Read Only. This is exactly what we wanted.

pvs78_w10_target_39

In the Statistics tab you can see some diagnostic information.

pvs78_w10_target_40

This concludes this tutorial. Feel free to contact me of you have any questions or comments.

You can also follow me on twitter or add the rss feed from the blog and you will be notified when I add new posts.

Creating a Windows 10 Target Device with Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8 Read More
Create Bootable ISO for target devices

Citrix Provisioning Services create bootable ISO for target devices

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The target devices booting from Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) server can boot using PXE or using a bootable ISO. I choose to boot my devices using a bootable ISO. This method is very reliable, as it doesn’t rely on PXE services or network connections.

My lab setup:

  • Windows 2012 R2 server running Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8.

In this post I will show you how to:

  • Create a bootable ISO for PVS target devices

Create a bootable ISO for your PVS target devices

Go to the Start Menu and select Provisioning Services Boot Device Manager.

Create Bootable ISO for target devices

 

In my experience many boot related problems can be solved when you enter the IP address of the PVS server here instead of the hostname or fqdn. So I selected Use static ip for the server. Then click on Add.

Create Bootable ISO for target devices

 

Enter the network settings and fill in the IP address of your PVS server. Click on OK.

Create Bootable ISO for target devices

 

Click on Next.

Create Bootable ISO for target devices

 

In the Set Options window enable Verbose Mode. This is very useful in case you have to troubleshoot, and the added boot delay can be neglected. Then click on Next.

Create Bootable ISO for target devices

 

Select Citrix ISO Image Recorder in the dropdown menu and click on Burn.

pvs78_boot_iso_06

 

Choose a location to save the ISO file and click on Save.

pvs78_boot_iso_07

 

When the ISO has been created successfully, click on OK.

pvs78_boot_iso_08

You can now close the Boot Device Management window.

pvs78_boot_iso_09

 

Check that you have the ISO file.

pvs78_boot_iso_10

This concludes this tutorial. Feel free to contact me of you have any questions or comments.

You can also follow me on twitter or add the rss feed from the blog and you will be notified when I add new posts.

Citrix Provisioning Services create bootable ISO for target devices Read More

Setup and configuration of Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Recently Citrix has released Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8 (PVS). I wanted to see how this works, so I decided to set it up in my homelab and share the setup and configuration steps with you guys.

I will be needing this component to stream my desktops and servers. Citrix Provisioning Services (PVS) eliminates the need to manage, update and patch individual systems. Instead it allows us to use a master image to provision computers. This master image (vDisk) can be used simultaneously by multiple computers.

In this post I will show you how to:

  • Install PVS
  • Basic configuration using the PVS wizard
  • Create a PVS farm

My lab setup:

  • Windows 2012 R2 server with patches and updates which I will be using to install PVS
  • Downloaded PVS ISO from www.citrix.com
  • Service Account in Active Directory
  • Local domain (vikash.nl)
  • Domain controller (dc01.vikash.nl)
  • Hypervisor Hyper-V 2012 R2
  • SQL server (sql01.vikash.nl)
  • Citrix License Server (dc01.vikash.nl)
  • All servers running as virtual machines

Install Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8

Mount the ISO to using Hyper-V manager on your virtual server and start the setup. Click on Server Installation.

pvs_78_01

 

The setup wizard will automatically detect the required components and will prompt to install them. Click on Install.

pvs_78_02

 

Click on Yes to install the SQL components.

pvs_78_03

 

Click on Next on the welcome screen.

pvs_78_04

 

Accept the license agreement and click on Next.

pvs_78_05

 

Enter the username and organization name. Select the all users option and click on Next.

pvs_78_06

 

Choose the installation folder. In my case I left this default. Then click on Next.

pvs_78_07

 

Click on Install to start the installation.

pvs_78_08

 

Click on Finish to finish the installation.

pvs_78_09

 

You will get a warning message about the PVS Console. We will install this later. Click on OK.

pvs_78_10

 

Now the Provisioning Services Configuration Wizard will automatically start. Click on Next.

pvs_78_11

 

You will now be prompted to choose a DHCP option. When the PVS server is running DHCP (local service), choose The service that runs on this computer. In my case my DHCP is running on my router, so I choose The service that runs on another computer. Click on Next.

pvs_78_12

 

Choose the PXE options. If your virtual machines will boot using the PXE service, enable this. In my environment I will be using a bootable ISO for all the virtual machines running from PVS. You can see  here how to create a bootable ISO. So I choose The service that runs on another computer and click on Next.

pvs_78_13

 

Now we have to create a new farm since this is my first PVS server. Choose Create farm and click on Next.

pvs_78_14

 

The wizard will create the database now. The active directory account running the configuration wizard should have rights to create the database on the SQL server. Otherwise make sure the database is created beforehand and that you have the correct account to login to the database. Enter the SQL fqdn and click on Next.

pvs_78_15

 

Enter the database name. If this is an existing database, choose the name using the dropdown menu. Make sure to select the correct Active Directory group to manage the PVS server (Farm Administrator group). Enter the other information needed to create the farm and click on Next.

pvs_78_16

 

Select the destination to store the virtual disks for the virtual machines running from PVS. Give it a name and click on Next.

pvs_78_17

 

Enter the license server fqdn. Click on Next.

pvs_78_18

 

Now we have to specify an account for running the PVS service. This will be used to run the Stream and Soap service. Enter the correct information and click on Next.

pvs_78_19

 

The target devices running from PVS cannot update their own password in the Active Directory, so we must enable PVS to do this for us. Make sure this is enabled and click on Next.

pvs_78_20

 

Check the network communication settings for management and streaming. Select the correct interface, check with your network admin in case this is not clear. In my case my PVS server has one NIC. Click on Next.

pvs_78_21

 

Next you will be prompted to enter the TFTP options. Enable it and click on Next.

pvs_78_22

 

Now everything is setup to finish the configuration wizard. Click on Finish.

pvs_78_23

 

If you have Windows Firewall running on your server, you will get a message about that. Make sure you disable it later or open the necessary ports. Click on OK.

pvs_78_24

 

Click on Done after the configuration wizard has finished.

pvs_78_25

 

Install the Citrix Provisioning Services Console

In order to manage Citrix Provisioning Services you need to install the console. Run the setup from the Citrix Provisioning Services ISO and this time click on Console Installation.

pvs_78_26

 

Click Next in the welcome screen.

pvs_78_27

 

Accept the License Agreement and click on Next.

pvs_78_28

 

Enter the Customer Information and click on Next.

pvs_78_29

 

Choose the installation path and click on Next.

pvs_78_30

 

Click on Install to begin the installation.

pvs_78_31

 

After the installation is finished, click on Finish.

pvs_78_32

 

Now go to the Start Menu and start the Provisioning Services Console.

pvs_78_33

 

Right click Provisioning Services Console and click on Connect to Farm….

pvs_78_34

 

Enter the correct fqdn, select Auto-login on application start or reconnect to automatically connect to the PVS server and then click on Connect.

pvs_78_35

 

Now you should be able to manage the PVS server.

pvs_78_36

This concludes this tutorial. Feel free to contact me of you have any questions or comments.

You can also follow me on twitter or add the rss feed from the blog and you will be notified when I add new posts.

 

 

Setup and configuration of Citrix Provisioning Services 7.8 Read More