What’s new in XenCenter
XenCenter is updated independently of the version of Citrix Hypervisor or XenServer. To remain supported, ensure that you are using the latest XenCenter version.
The latest version of XenCenter is version 8.2.7. You can download this version of XenCenter from the Citrix Hypervisor downloads page.
What’s new in 8.2.7
Released May 11, 2023
This version of XenCenter contains the following behavior changes:
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The Health Check Service has been removed.
Note:
Logs for the Health Check service are retained by Windows for troubleshooting purposes. To remove these logs, delete them manually from
%SystemRoot%\System32\Winevt\Logson the Windows machine running XenCenter. -
You can no longer use XenCenter to upload your server status reports (SSRs) to Citrix Insight Services (CIS). Instead, you must generate the report in XenCenter and then go to the Citrix Insight Services website to upload it.
This update includes the following improvements:
- Upgraded the third-party library log4net included in XenCenter to version 2.0.15.
Fixed issues in 8.2.7
This update includes fixes for the following issues:
- XenCenter fails to prompt you to reinsert your credentials during rolling pool upgrades (RPUs) if your credentials were modified since the last connection to the pools in question.
- If you create a new VM in XenCenter and select UEFI Secure Boot for the Boot Mode, XenCenter does not warn you that the selected mode is unavailable.
- During the installation of a driver disk, if the precheck for prerequisite packages fails, XenCenter does not recommend the correct minimum version of the required package.
- When adding a new disk to a VM, or copying or moving a VM or disk within a pool, selecting the SR in which to place your disk takes a long time due to XenCenter scanning all available SRs automatically.
- XenCenter shows a message marking Dynamic Memory Control (DMC) as deprecated. This is no longer the case. DMC is supported in future releases.
Known issues in 8.2.7
This update contains the following known issues:
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After a standalone host is rebooted, including when it’s rebooted after applying updates, the host’s General Tab does not display the status of the system correctly. We recommend to refresh the host’s General Tab by clicking on a different object and back on the host, or by disconnecting and reconnecting.
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[Fixed in XS82ECU1058] In Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU 1 pools with hotfix XS82ECU1029 applied that have GFS2 SRs, using XenCenter to generate a server status report (SSR) can fail. To work around this issue, generate your SSRs by running the following command in the host console:
xenserver-status-report. (CA-375900) -
If a hotfix requires another hotfix to already be installed as a prerequisite, XenCenter does not display the name of the prerequisite hotfix. You can find the prerequisite information in the article on https://support.citrix.com for the hotfix you are trying to install. (CA-383054)
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Changing the font size or dpi on the computer on which XenCenter is running can result in the user interface appearing incorrectly. The default font size is 96 dpi; Windows 8 and Windows 10 refer to this font size as 100%.
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On Windows 10 (1903 and later) VMs, there can be a delay of a few minutes after installing the Citrix VM Tools before the Switch to Remote Desktop option is available in XenCenter. You can restart the toolstack to make this option appear immediately.
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It is not advisable to update the same pool from concurrent instances of XenCenter because this action might disrupt the update process.
If more than one instance of XenCenter is attempting to install multiple hotfixes on a pool, a server might fail to install a hotfix with the error: “The update has already been applied to this server. The server will be skipped.” This error causes the whole update process to stop.
To work around this issue:
- Ensure that no other XenCenter instance is in the process of updating the pool
- Refresh the update list in the Notifications > Updates panel
- Start the update from the beginning
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In XenCenter, when you attempt to import an OVF package or a disk image from a folder containing a hash character (#) in its name, the import fails with a null reference exception.
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Use the latest XenCenter to upgrade from Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU1 to XenServer 8. Using an older version of XenCenter can result in a loss of connectivity.
Download the latest XenCenter from the XenServer product downloads page.
Earlier releases
This section lists features in previous releases along with their fixed issues. These earlier releases are superseded by the latest version of XenCenter. Update to the latest version of XenCenter when it is available.
XenCenter 8.2.6
Released Sep 20, 2022
Note:
Only XenCenter 8.2.6 and later can check for and download hotfixes released after Dec 31, 2022.
This update includes the following improvements:
- Updates to third-party packages.
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Usability improvements to the Rolling Pool Upgrade and Install Update wizards:
- The full name of the VM is displayed, not a shortened version to enable users to correctly map pre-checks problems to the correct VM.
- The update and upgrade logs now include event timestamps by default. To change this setting, go to Tools > Options > Display > Log consoles options > Show timestamps on the update and upgrade log consoles.
Fixed issues
This update includes fixes for the following issues:
- If you have the Container Supplemental Pack installed on your XenServer 7.1 CU2 host and attempt to upgrade to Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU1 by using XenCenter, you are prevented from upgrading because the supplemental pack is no longer supported.
- When installing updates or performing a Rolling Pool Upgrade in XenCenter, the scrollbar in the output window can become inoperative.
- The Japanese-language edition of XenCenter cannot apply downloaded updates.
- When exporting a VM with a lot of data to a network location, the export fails if the system on which XenCenter is running doesn’t have enough storage to accommodate the size of the VM that is being exported.
XenCenter 8.2.5
Released Mar 21, 2022
This update includes the following improvement:
- Improved a misleading confirmation message, which was shown when dismissing update notifications.
Fixed issues
This update includes fixes for the following issues:
- In XenCenter 8.2.3, importing an OVF or OVA package can be slower than in earlier versions of XenCenter. This effect is most noticeable for VMs with empty or not very full disks, as these VMs take the same amount of time to import as in the case where the disk is full of data. In XenCenter 8.2.5, this issue is fixed for packages with VHD disks.
- If you attempt to restore update notifications when there are hosts disconnected from XenCenter, XenCenter crashes.
- XenCenter does not display the VM network usage in the Search tab.
- When doing an automatic update that includes an update to Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 Cumulative Update 1, XenCenter does not perform all prechecks. As a result, the update can get stuck.
XenCenter 8.2.4
Released Dec 13, 2021
This update includes the following improvements:
- To provide a more secure service for hotfix downloads, XenCenter now requires that you authenticate it with Citrix to automatically download and apply hotfixes. To receive these hotfixes through XenCenter, you must also install the latest version of XenCenter and obtain a client ID JSON file. For more information, see Authenticating your XenCenter to receive updates.
- The version of PuTTY embedded in XenCenter 8.2.4 and later is updated to 0.76.
XenCenter 8.2.3
Released Apr 20, 2021
This update includes the following improvements:
- The mechanism used for OVF/OVA import/export and single disk image import has been simplified and these operations are now performed without using the Transfer VM. This change improves the performance and security of the import and export process.
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XenCenter 8.2.3 now uses the SHA-256 cryptographic algorithm to create a manifest for or digitally sign an exported OVF/OVA package.
Note: Older versions of XenCenter do not expect this algorithm. If you want to use an older version of XenCenter to import OVF/OVA packages that were exported by the latest version of XenCenter, you must skip the manifest or signature verification step of the import.
- Uses of the MD5 cryptographic algorithm have been removed from XenCenter.
Fixed issues
This update addresses the following issues:
- If you have FIPS compliance enabled on the system where XenCenter is installed, you cannot import or export VMs in OVF/OVA format or import Virtual Hard Disk images.
- The Conversion Manager and New Conversion wizard are not localized to Simplified Chinese or Japanese.
- When updating a pool to Citrix Hypervisor 8.2, XenCenter can experience a long delay reconnecting to storage after updating each server in the pool. The length of the delay is longer for pools with a larger number of servers.
- XenCenter displays the wrong units on the SR latency graphs for XenServer 7.1 CU2 or Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 servers that are up to date with the latest hotfixes. For example, if the value is 30 milliseconds, XenCenter displays 30 seconds.
- In XenCenter, you cannot delete a custom field.
XenCenter 8.2.2
Released Dec 09, 2020
This update includes the following improvements:
- While pool secret rotation is in progress, XenCenter now prevents you from designating a new pool master or from enabling HA or clustering.
- The Enter Maintenance Mode dialog now provides the ability to rerun the pre-checks and refresh the state of VMs on the server. This aids in resolving issues that prevented a Citrix Hypervisor server from entering maintenance mode.
Fixed issues
This update addresses the following issues:
- When you are using the Pool Admin role, XenCenter can fail to create an SR and then reports the error “root element missing”.
- If XenCenter cannot load the proxy credentials from the user settings, it can crash.
- When attempting to enable clustering in a pool, XenCenter allows you to select a bonded network while its creation is not yet complete. This causes the operation to fail.
- When hovering over a disabled button on the VM’s Storage tab, XenCenter can display a tool tip that states the wrong reason or no reason for the button being disabled.
- When putting a Citrix Hypervisor server into maintenance mode, the Enter Maintenance Mode button can be enabled even if the VMs running on that server are still in the process of shutting down.
- When putting a Citrix Hypervisor server into maintenance mode, the Scanning for VMs dialog takes focus while VM shutdown or migration activities are happening in the background. This dialog has now been removed.
XenCenter 8.2.1
Released Sep 15, 2020
This update includes the following improvements:
- Upgrade XenCenter to use .NET Framework 4.8.
- Upgrade the version of PuTTY included in XenCenter to version 0.74.
- For NVIDIA virtual GPUs, the columns Max resolution and Max displays have been removed from the GPU tab of the VM properties and the dialog for the configuration of allowed virtual GPU types on a GPU. These columns are no longer applicable as NVIDIA now support variable resolutions and displays.
Fixed issues
This update addresses the following issues:
- If you individually dismiss many alerts from the Notifications > Updates tab in quick succession, XenCenter can freeze.
- During storage live migration of a VM, any ISOs in the VM are ejected. These ISOs are not reinserted after migration is complete.
- When launching the Install Update wizard from a Download and Install action in the Updates tab, The Install Update wizard can incorrectly show servers as unavailable for update.
- After restarting a Linux VM, the Open SSH Console option is not available.
- XenCenter reported an incorrect virtualization state for VMs that were converted from PV to HVM.
XenCenter 8.2.0
This update includes the following improvements:
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Enable and disable read caching from within XenCenter.
The read caching feature improves performance on NFS, EXT3/EXT4, SMB, or GFS2 SRs that host multiple VMs cloned from the same source. This feature can now be enabled and disabled for each individual SR from the XenCenter console. You might want to disable read caching in the following cases:
- You have no file-based SRs
- You do not have any cloned VMs
- You have insufficient memory available to allocate to dom0 to derive any performance benefits
For more information, see Changing SR Properties.
Fixed issues
This update addresses the following issue:
- When creating an LVM SR from XenCenter and passing CHAP credentials, the operation might fail with an authentication error.