XenCenter

SMB Storage

Note:

XenCenter YYYY.x.x is currently in preview and is not supported for production use. Note that any future references to production support apply only when XenCenter YYYY.x.x and XenServer 8 go from preview status to general availability.

You can use XenCenter YYYY.x.x to manage your XenServer 8 and Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU1 non-production environments. However, to manage your Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 CU1 production environment, use XenCenter 8.2.7. For more information, see the XenCenter 8.2.7 documentation.

You can install XenCenter 8.2.7 and XenCenter YYYY.x.x on the same system. Installing XenCenter YYYY.x.x does not overwrite your XenCenter 8.2.7 installation.

SMB servers are a common form of Windows shared filesystem infrastructure that you can use as a storage repository substrate for virtual disks. VM images in SMB servers are stored as thinly provisioned VHD files on an SMB target. As SMB servers are shared SRs, you can start VMs that have virtual disks in SMB servers on any server in a pool. These VMs readily migrate between the servers.

Note:

  • SMB storage is available for XenServer Premium Edition customers. To learn more about XenServer licensing, see About XenServer Licensing.
  • When using SMB storage, do not remove the share from the storage before detaching the SMB SR.

To configure an SMB SR

  1. Open the New Storage Repository wizard: click New Storage on the toolbar.
  2. Select SMB as the physical storage type, then click Next.
  3. On the Name page, enter the name of the new SR. By default, the wizard generates a description of the SR. This description includes a summary of the configuration options you select as you progress through the wizard. To enter your own description, clear the Auto-generate description based on SR settings check box and type in the Description box. Click Next to continue.
  4. On the Location page, specify the details of the storage target:
    • Share Name The IP address or DNS name of the server and the path. For example, \\server\path where server is the DNS name or IP address of the server computer, and path is a folder or file name. Configure the SMB server to export the specified path to all servers in the pool.
    • User name and Password (Optional) To connect to an SMB server using a different user name, enter your login user name and password.
  5. Click Scan to have the wizard scan for existing SMB SRs in the location you specified.
  6. The New Storage Repository wizard lists any existing SRs which are not already attached. You can select an SR from the list and attach it as the new storage repository. Click Reattach an existing SR and select the SR from the list, then click Finish.
  7. If no existing SRs are found, simply click Finish to complete the new SR configuration and close the wizard.
SMB Storage