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XenServer Commands

This document provides a compilation of XenServer commands that can be used to manage virtual machines, hosts, storage repositories, networks, logs and snapshots. Some key commands include xe vm-list to view VM status, xe host-list to view host details, xe sr-list to find storage repository UUIDs, and xe snapshot-list to view snapshots. The document also provides guidance on pool operations, HA configuration and troubleshooting XenServer and XAPI services.

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OumarToure
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83 views

XenServer Commands

This document provides a compilation of XenServer commands that can be used to manage virtual machines, hosts, storage repositories, networks, logs and snapshots. Some key commands include xe vm-list to view VM status, xe host-list to view host details, xe sr-list to find storage repository UUIDs, and xe snapshot-list to view snapshots. The document also provides guidance on pool operations, HA configuration and troubleshooting XenServer and XAPI services.

Uploaded by

OumarToure
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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XenServer Commands

Below is a compilation of XenServer commands that I use and reference on a


frequent basis.

VMs
Status of VM
xe vm-list name-label=<Name of VM>

Shutdown VM
xe vm-shutdown vm="Name of VM" 

List of VMs and their UUID


xe vm-list

Obtain the UUID of a particular VM


xe vm-list name-label=<Name of VM> (Name of VM is case sensitive)

Start VM from command line


xe vm-start vm=<name of vm>

Reboot VM from command line


xe vm-reboot name-label=<name of vm>

Resume VM from suspended mode


xe vm-resume vm=<name of VM>

When VMs have disappeared due to a failed XenServer host member


xe vm-reset-powerstate --force –multiple
xe vm-reset-powerstate  name-label=<name of machine>

Check power-state status of virtual machine


xe vm-list name-label=<name of virtual machine>

Host
List of XenServer hosts along with their UUIDs
xe host-list

Check disk space on XenServer host


df –h

Review memory settings


free -m

Remove host from pool using command line


xe pool-eject host-uuid= <UUID of Host>

Emergency Master Server Failure Recovery


xe host-emergency-ha-disable force=true
xe pool-emergency-transition-to-master
pool-designate-new-master host-uuid=<UUID of member XenServer host to
become newmaster>
cat /etc/xensource/pool.conf to reflect the name of the new master.
Restarted XAPI service and it back to the pool.

Check if XenServer is a Pool Master


cat /etc/xensource/pool.conf
Output says “master” , slaves output “slave:<master host IP>”

Cancel XenServer Tasks


xe task-list
xe task-cancel uuid=<task uuid>

Identify VMs with an ISO loaded in CD tray


xe vm-cd-list --multiple

List of VMs on a particular XenServer host


xe vm-param-list uuid=<UUID of VM>

or

xe vm-list params name-label=ICORB01

To identify the XenServer host look for the field


resident-on ( RO): <UUID of XenServer Host>

xe host-list UUID=<UUID of XenServer Host>

Sending Host log messages to a central server

To write logs to a remote server

1. Set the syslog_destination parameter to the hostname or IP address of the


remote server where you want the logs to be written:
xe host-param-set uuid=<xenserver_host_uuid>
logging:syslog_destination=<hostname>

2. Issue the command:


xe host-syslog-reconfigure uuid=<xenserver_host_uuid>

Note: You can also execute this command remotely by specifying the host
parameter.
VDIs
List of VDIs on a VM with descriptions and UUIDs
xe vdi-list name-label=<name of VM> params=name-description,uuid

Obtain the VDI UUID of a particular VM


xe-vdi-list name-label=<Name of VM> 

NOTE: If this does not work you must use the name of the actual storage
drive connected to the VM (Name is case sensitive)

xe-vdi-list uuid=<UUID of vdi associated with the VM>

Delete VDI
xe vdi-destroy uuid=<UUID of VDI>

You can identify orphaned VDIs by checking the VBD connections for a
VDI. If no VBD connections exist than the VDI is not connected to any VM.

Identify VBD connections for a VDI


xe vbd-list vdi-uuid=<UUID of VDI>

*VBD (virtual block devices) represent the mapping between VDIs and
VMs. PBDs represent the interface between the physical server and the
SR (storage repository)

http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?threadID=265893

Command to identify excessive tree of cloned VHDs


vhd-util scan -f -m “VHD-*” -l VG_XenStorage-<UUID of SR> -p

Pool
xe pool-sync-database (run on pool master)

Force the pool database to be synchronized across all hosts in the resource
pool. This is not necessary in normal operations since the database is regularly
automatically replicated, but can be useful for ensuring changes are rapidly
replicated after performing a significant set of CLI operations.

Enable HA
xe pool-ha-enable

Disable HA
xe pool-ha-disable

Designate a new pool master

To change the pool master run the following command:


First disable high availability:
         xe pool-ha-disable

Now list your XenServer hosts:


         xe host-list

Using the list above, designate a new pool master by supplying the uuid
associated with the desired host:
         xe pool-designate-new-master host-uuid=<UUID of member XenServer host to
become new master>

You’ll probably lose connection to the pool at this point, but that’s normal
behavior. Once XenCenter reconnects (this should happen automatically),
it’s safe to re-enable high availability:
         xe pool-ha-enable

Backup Existing Pool State


         Use PuTTY to connect to the pool master and run the following command
         xe pool-dump-database file-name=pooldump
         Use WinSCP to connect to the host and extract the pooldump file

Pool Failures (This info was taken from the XenServer 6.1 Admin Guide)

In the event that your entire resource pool fails, you will need to recreate the
pool database from scratch. Be sure to regularly back up your pool-metadata
using the xe pool-dump-database CLI command

To restore a completely failed pool

1.       Install a fresh set of hosts. Do not pool them up at this point.


2.       For the host nominated as the master, restore the pool database from your
backup using the xe pool-restore database command.
3.       Connect to the master host using XenCenter and ensure that all your
shared storage and VMs are available again.

4.       Perform a pool join operation on the remaining freshly installed member


hosts, and start up your VMs on the appropriate hosts.

Replacing a failed master with a still running member

If the master is really dead, choose one of the members and run the command
xe pool-emergency-transition-to-master

Once it has become the master, run the command below and the members will now
point to the new master

xe pool-recover-slaves
SR
Find UUID of Storage Repository (SR)
xe sr-list

Scan SR
xe sr-scan uuid=<uuid of sr>

Listing of VDI's on SR
xe vdi-list sr-uuid=<UUID of SR>

How to Remove a Storage Repository from XenServer


http://frankcontreras.com/how-to-remove-a-storage-repository-from-xenserver/

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX131328

Logs
View High Availability log file on XenServer. Can use this command to
view any log file
tail -f /var/log/xha.log

Snapshots
View a list of snapshots
xe snapshot-list

Use this to identify which vdi is not the snapshot when looking up VMs
with VDIs with snapshots
xe vdi-list name-label=<name of vdi> params=all

NOTE: field <is-a-snapshot> will be true if it is a snapshot and false if it is


not a snapshot

List of VDIs that have snapshots


xe vdi-list is-a-snapshot=true

Common
Cycle xapi service
xe-toolstack-restart 

List Networks and Attributes


xe network-list
XAPI stack
service xapi status
service xapi restart
xe-toolstack-restart

If it hangs at “Stopping xapi” or “Starting xapi”, you may need to kill the process.

To identify the process ID (PID)


Type: top

To kill the process


Type:  kill <pid>

Network connectivity utilities

Ethtool
Check statistics for eth0
Ethtool –S eth0

Ifconfig

Check time
Ntptime

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