Cloning a XenApp 6 Server

Jeromy Carman — Tue, 18 May 2010 22:05:12 +0000

One of the many enhancements Citrix made in XenApp v6 is that cloning a server is now much easier that it was in previous versions. Here’s a step-by-step guide, with lots of screen caps:

Install the updated XenApp Server Configuration Tool.
Run the XenApp Server Role Manager (Start – All Programs – Citrix – XenApp Server Role Manager – XenApp Server Role Manager):

XenApp Server Role Manager
Select “Edit Configuration:”

Edit Configuration
Select “Prepare this server for imaging and provisioning:”

Choose a Task
On the next screen, check “Remove this current server instance from the farm,” as shown below, then click “Next.” As the pop-up tip indicates, this will save you from having to do it manually later. The server will automatically join the farm when you bring it back on-line.

Provisioning Options
On the next screen, click “Apply:”

Ready to Configure
The server runs through the items that are needed to prepare XenApp for cloning. Note the informational warning that the settings will be applied when you clone or reboot the server. This means that once your new server comes on-line, it will automatically join the farm that the original server was in (before you removed it in Step 5).

Configuring Server
Back at the XenApp Server Role Manager screen, you can choose to reboot the server (which you probably don’t want to do just yet), or simply close the window and proceed with any additional tasks you may need to perform before cloning, such as Sysprep.

XenApp Server Role Manager
After you’ve finished any additional tasks, you can shut the server down, and clone it to your heart’s content. When your clones come back on-line, if they have a network connection on the correct IP subnet, they will automatically join the farm. However (“gotcha” alert), if you didn’t Sysprep them, they will all try to join the farm under the same machine name – the one your original server had. So if you didn’t change the name of the server, it’s best to disconnect it from the network, change the name and IP address, reconnect to the network, join it to the AD Domain, and then reboot it so it can join the XenApp farm using the correct name.

If you’re a Citrix “old-timer,” you’ve got to agree that it doesn’t get much easier that this!

Installing Server 2008 R2 on XenServer 5.0

Jeromy Carman — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:00:08 +0000

Recently I had my first opportunity to create a Windows 2008 R2 virtual machine on Citrix XenServer 5.0. When I attempted to install the operating system I ran into an interesting issue where the installation would hang right at the initial Windows install screen and the CPU usage pegged at 100%. Once that happened no matter how long I waited the installation never progressed beyond that point.

Of course what did I do? I turned to Google and quickly found the following article which provided a workaround for the issue I was having.

I followed the advice in the article and after running the “xe vm-param-set uuid= platform:viridian=false” command as outlined in the article was able to install Windows Server 2008 R2.

Two more things are worth mentioning here, which are not specifically addressed in the previously referenced article:

With Windows 2008 R2 I was able to install the XenServer 5.0 tools with none of the problems others people are having with Windows 7 installations.
This issue has been resolved in XenServer v5.5!

Moose Logic Blog » Jeromy Carman

Cloning a XenApp 6 Server

Installing Server 2008 R2 on XenServer 5.0