Citrix Xen PowerPack Release Notes, version 103

Version 103 of the Citrix: Xen PowerPack adds support for clustering.

  • Minimum Required SL1 Version: 10.1.0

Before You Install or Upgrade

Ensure that you are running version 10.1.0 or later of SL1 before installing "Citrix: XenPowerPack version 103.

For details on upgrading SL1, see the relevant SL1 Platform Release Notes.

Installation Process

If you are installing the PowerPack for the first time (that is, if you have never installed the PowerPack before), perform the following steps:

To install this PowerPack:

  1. Familiarize yourself with the Known Issues for this release.
  2. See the Before You Install or Upgrade section. If you have not done so already, upgrade your system to the 10.1.0 or later release.
  3. Download the "Citrix: Xen" version 103PowerPack from the Support Site to a local computer.
  4. Go to the PowerPack Manager page (System > Manage > PowerPacks). Click the Actions menu and choose Import PowerPack. When prompted, import "Citrix: Xen" version 103.
  5. Click the Install button. For details on installing PowerPacks, see the chapter on Installing a PowerPack in the PowerPacks manual.

Upgrade Process

To upgrade from a previous version of the PowerPack, perform the following steps:

Due to the changes in the "Citrix XenCenter: VM Discovery" Dynamic Application, you must delete any existing virtual machine (VM) component devices prior to upgrading the PowerPack. You must also unselect the Preserve Hostname checkbox on the Device Properties page (Registry > Devices > wrench icon) for every new VM component that is created to ensure that any VM name changes in XenServer are reflected in the GUID in SL1. These steps are included in the following upgrade instructions.

By default, installing a new version of a PowerPack will overwrite all content in that PowerPack that has already been installed on the target system. You can use the Enable Selective PowerPack Field Protection setting in the Behavior Settings page (System > Settings > Behavior) to prevent the new version of the PowerPack from overwriting local changes for some commonly customized fields.

  1. See the Before You Install or Upgrade section. If you have not done so already, upgrade your system to the minimum required platform version or later release.
  2. To ensure that VM components are not re-discovered before upgrading the PowerPack, go to the Device Manager page (Registry > Devices > Device Manager) and type "XenServer Host" in the Device Class | Sub-class column filter. Select all of the XenServer Host devices. In the Select Action menu in the bottom-right corner, select Disabled (under Change Collection State) and then click Go.
  3. On the Device Manager page, type "XenServer VM" in the Device Class | Sub-class column filter. Select all of the XenServer VM devices. In the Select Action menu, select Delete Selected Devices (under Administration) and then click Go.
  4. Go to the Dynamic Applications Manager page (System > Manage > Applications) and type "Citrix XenCenter: VM Discovery" in the Dynamic Application Name column filter. Click the wrench icon () for the "Citrix: XenCenter: VM Discovery" Dynamic Application. The Dynamic Applications Properties Editor page appears.
  5. Click the Collections tab. On the Dynamic Applications | Collections Objects page, depending on the version of the PowerPack from which you are upgrading, either one or two GUID objects appear in the Collection Object Registry pane. Select the checkboxes for all GUIDs that appear in the list. In the Select Action menu in the bottom-right corner, select Delete Objects (under Administration) and then click Go.
  6. From the Support Site, download Version 103 of the Citrix: Xen PowerPack to a local computer.
  7. Go to the PowerPack Manager page (System > Manage > PowerPacks). Click the Actions menu and choose Import PowerPack. Import Version 103 of the Citrix: Xen PowerPack. For details on importing PowerPacks, see the chapter on Installing a PowerPack in the PowerPacks manual.
  8. Click the Install button. For details on installing PowerPacks, see the chapter on Installing a PowerPack in the PowerPacks manual.
  9. To re-enable collection on the XenServer Host devices, go to the Device Manager page (Registry > Devices > Device Manager) and type "XenServer Host" in the Device Class | Sub-class column filter. Select all of the XenServer Host devices. In the Select Action menu in the bottom-right corner, select Active (under Change Collection State) and then click Go.
  10. After the XenServer VM component devices are re-discovered, go to the Device Properties page (Registry > Devices > wrench icon) for every new VM component device and unselect the Preserve Hostname checkbox.

Features

This release includes the following features:

  • Dynamic Applications that enable the ScienceLogic platform to discover, model, and monitor Citrix XenServer devices
  • Event policies that are triggered when Citrix XenServer devices meet certain status criteria
  • Device classes for each type of Citrix XenServer device monitored
  • Device Dashboards for Citrix XenCenter Hosts, Networks, Storage Resources, and Virtual Machines
  • A widget for use in Device Dashboards
  • An example Basic/Snippet credential for discovering Citrix XenServer devices

Enhancements and Issues Addressed

The following enhancements and addressed issues are included in version 103 of the "Citrix: Xen" PowerPack:

  • If the master node on your XenCenter experiences a failover to a different node in the pool, during the next polling cycle of the Citrix XenCenter: Discover Dynamic Application, the powerpack will find a new master by polling each of the nodes in the pool and connect to it. There should not be any data gaps or device unavailability issues for the remaining nodes.

Known Issues

The following known issues affect version 103 of the Citrix: Xen PowerPack:

  • There is a known issue in XenCenter that may cause a mismatch in the control domain size with the Windows UI if it has been recently changed. The value in SL1 is the correct the domain size. You can double check the correct value by using PuTTY or a similar application to SSH into the Xen server and running the following command:

    ./opt/xensource/libexec/xen-cmdline --get-xen dom0_mem

    NOTE: SL1 may round this value slightly.

  • There is a known issue that is causing a discrepancy between the units of measurement for metrics that are collected by some performance Dynamic Applications and the graphs that display those metrics.