This post covers how to Install Citrix XenServer using pxe. As a prerequisite you need to have tftp server configured. Create tftp dir for xenserver mkdir -p /tftpboot/images/xenserver Mount & copy required boot files from xenserver iso mount -o loop /downloads/XenServer-6.1-install-cd.iso /tmp/cd/ cd /tftpboot/images/xenserver cp `find /tmp/cd/ -name install.img` ./ cp `find /tmp/cd/ -name vmlinuz` [...]
Full Story »Apply Citrix XenServer patches using CLI
Apply Citrix XenServer patches using CLI, why? We all have used XenCenter to apply patches to xenservers, probably because its easy. But when it comes to apply patches to a single or multiple xenservers running without xenmotion, using xencenter causes a big downtime as xenserver will reboot for every patch. This is where CLI is [...]
Full Story »Upgrade Citrix XenServer using Rollling Pool Upgrade
With the every new release of citrix xenserver most of us usually upgrade using cd / usb, which may not be convenient with increased number of servers. Upgrade Citrix XenServer using Rollling Pool Upgrade is probably easiest way for any admin. You do not require any kind of cd / usb media, all you need [...]
Full Story »Migrate physical Machine to VirtualBox
You can use live ubuntu / fedora / centos cd OR usb to run dd command. once you have boot using live cd, you can mount nfs partition OR use external usb hdd to store raw file being generated using dd command. dd is probably easiest way to migrate physical machine to virtualbox. Same as [...]
Full Story »Shrink VirtualBox Image
Although we assign 40/50gb hdd space to VM, not all of it is used. After using VM for sometime, you may find vdi is constantly increasing & may need to shrink it. To Shrink vdi size. Linux dd if=/dev/zero of=/testfile rm -rf /testfile Windows sdelete -c You can download sdelete from Run following command to [...]
Full Story »Migrate physical Machine to KVM -P2V
You can use live ubuntu / fedora / centos cd OR usb to run dd command. once you have boot using live cd, you can mount nfs partition OR use external usb hdd to store raw file being generated using dd command. dd is probably easiest way to migrate physical machine to kvm. This article [...]
Full Story »XenServer- Take VM Backup using Bash
Following is the basic bash script to take vm backup using bash & send confirmation mail. This script assumes you already have your backup storage mounted as /mnt/back/ #!/bin/bash #dpthakar@gmail.com #http://www.linuxreaders.com # #this basic script is created to take xenserver guest backup using snapshots #it will first of all create a snapshot for a specific [...]
Full Story »XenServer- Take VM Snapshots using Bash
Following is the script that can be used to take snapshots of running vm, once run it will send mail to ADMIN for the list of the VM snapshots #!/bin/bash #dpthakar@gmail.com #http://www.linuxreaders.com # #this basic script is created to take xenserver guest snapshots #ths script is tested only on standalone server NOT ON SERVER POOL [...]
Full Story »CentOS / Fedora does not shut / reboot using virsh -KVM
Once you are done installing centos / fedora os on kvm as a guest / vm, you may face trouble shutting / reboot using virt-manager or virsh. This can happen only if acpid is not installed or running. Run following commands on centos / fedora guest to enable support for shut / reboot. yum install [...]
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Fedora – How to change boot sequence -Grub2