XenCenter

Change VM Properties

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.

Select a virtual machine in the Resources pane. On the General tab, select the Properties button to view or change the properties of the VM.

General

The Edit Properties icon - a gray square with lines in it.

On the General Properties tab you can change the VM’s name and description, place it in a folder, and manage its tags.

  • To change the VM name, enter a new name in the Name box.
  • To change the VM description, enter the new text in the Description box.
  • To place the VM in a folder or to move it to a different folder, click Change in the Folder box and choose a folder. For more information, see Using folders.
  • To tag and untag the VM and to create and delete tags, see Using tags.

Custom fields

The Fields icon

Custom fields allow you to add information to managed resources to make it easier to search and organize them. For more information, see Using custom fields.

CPU and memory

The CPU icon - a green microchip.

On the CPU and memory tab, you can adjust the number of virtual CPUs allocated to the VM, set cores-per-socket for the vCPU, and specify the vCPU priority. Shut down the VM before you modify these settings.

Number of vCPUs (for Windows VMs)

To modify the number of virtual CPUs allocated to the VM, change the number in the Number of vCPUs list. To get the best performance out of your VM, ensure the number of vCPUs does not exceed the number of physical CPUs on its host server.

Maximum number of vCPUs (for Linux VMs)

To modify the maximum number of virtual CPUs allocated to the VM, change the number in the Maximum Number of vCPUs list. To get the best performance out of your VM, ensure the maximum number of vCPUs does not exceed the number of physical CPUs on its host server.

Topology

By default, XenCenter allocates one core per socket for each vCPU. The Topology list displays valid cores-per-socket combinations. Select an option from the list to modify this setting.

Depending on the number of vCPUs you select, XenCenter displays a list of options where the number of vCPUs is divisible by the number of cores per socket. For example, if you specify 8 vCPUs for your VM, the number of cores per socket can only be 1, 2, 4, or 8. If you specify 5 vCPUs, the number of cores per socket can only be 1 or 5.

Current number of vCPUs (for Linux VMs)

This list displays the current number of vCPUs allocated to the VM. You can increase the number of vCPUs allocated to the VM even when the VM is running by choosing the required number of vCPUs from the list.

Note:

Shut down the VM to decrease the number of vCPUs allocated to the VM.

vCPU priority for this virtual machine

vCPU priority is the priority given to each of the VM’s vCPUs during host CPU scheduling, relative to the other VMs running on the same host server. To adjust the vCPU priority for the VM, move the vCPU slider.

The XenServer templates provide typical VM configurations and set reasonable defaults for the memory, based on the type of guest operating system. Consider the following factors when deciding how much memory you give to a VM:

  • The kinds of applications that run on the VM.
  • Other virtual machines that use the same memory resource.
  • Applications that run on the server alongside the virtual machine.

Boot options

Power On icon - a green circle with a power icon overlaid in white.

The available boot options on this tab can vary, depending on the guest operating system. For example, on some VMs, you can change the boot order (or boot sequence), or specify extra boot parameters.

  • To change the boot order, select an item in the Boot Order list and select Move Up or Move Down.
  • To specify extra boot parameters, enter them in the OS Boot parameters box. For example, on a Debian VM, you can enter single to boot the VM in single-user mode.

Start options

Start Options icon - a VM icon with a green circle with white spots overlaid.

On this tab you can adjust the start order, the start delay interval, and the HA restart priority for the selected VM.

Start order

Specifies the order in which individual VMs are started up within a vApp or during a high availability recovery operation, allowing certain VMs to be started before others. VMs with a start order value of 0 (zero) are started first, then VMs with a start order value of 1, and so on.

Attempt to start next VM after

This value is a delay interval that specifies how long to wait after the VM starts before starting the next group of VMs in the startup sequence. This setting applies to VMs within a vApp and to individual VMs during a high availability recovery operation.

HA restart priority

In a pool with high availability enabled, this setting specifies which VMs are restarted automatically if the underlying hardware fails or their host server is lost.

  • VMs with an HA restart priority of Restart are guaranteed to be restarted if sufficient resources are available within the pool. They are restarted before VMs with a Restart if possible priority.
  • VMs with an HA restart priority of Restart if possible are not considered when calculating a failure plan. However, one attempt to restart them is made if a server that is running them fails. This restart is attempted after all higher-priority VMs are restarted, and if the attempt to start them fails, then it will not be retried.
  • VMs with an HA restart priority of Do not restart are not restarted automatically.

For more information, see VM startup settings.

Alerts

Alert icon.

On the Alerts tab, you can configure performance alerts for the VM’s CPU usage, network, and disk activity.

For information about configuring alerts, see Configuring performance alerts.

Home server

Home Server icon - a Server icon with a blue house overlaid.

On the Home Server tab of the VM Properties dialog box you can nominate a server which provides resources for the VM. The VM is started up on that server if possible. If it is not possible to start eh VM on that server, an alternate server within the same pool is selected automatically. For more information, see Creating a new VM.

In pools with Workload Balancing (WLB) enabled, you cannot set a home server. Instead, XenCenter nominates the best server for the VM by analyzing XenServer resource pool metrics and recommending optimizations. You can decide if you want these recommendations geared towards resource performance or hardware density. You can fine-tune the weighting of individual resource metrics (CPU, network, memory, and disk) so that the placement recommendations and critical thresholds align with your environment’s needs.

GPU

GPU icon.

On the VM’s GPU properties tab, you can assign a dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) or one or more virtual GPUs to a VM. This configuration gives the VM direct access to the graphics hardware. The VM can use the processing power of the GPU, providing better support for high-end 3D professional graphics applications such as CAD/CAM, GIS, and Medical Imaging applications.

Note:

In Citrix Hypervisor 8.0 and earlier releases, you can only add one vGPU to a VM. From Citrix Hypervisor 8.1, you can add multiple vGPUs to a VM if your NVIDIA GPU supports this feature and the vGPUs are of the same type.

Click Add to add a GPU to the VM. The GPU type list displays available GPUs and virtual GPU types. Select a virtual GPU type from the list to assign a specific virtual GPU type to the VM. Alternatively, select Pass-through whole GPU to allow a VM to use the full processing power of the GPU.

Note:

GPU Virtualization is available for XenServer Premium Edition customers. For more information about licensing, see About XenServer Licensing.

USB

USB icon

On the VM’s USB properties tab, the right side pane displays the list of USBs attached to the VM. You can attach extra (maximum of 6) USBs to the VM. You can also choose to detach USBs from the VM.

For more information, see Tabs.

Note:

  • USB pass-through is available for XenServer Premium Edition customers.
  • USB pass-through is supported for the following USB versions: 1.1, 2.0, and 3.0.

Advanced options (optimization)

Configure icon - two cogs.

On the Advanced Options tab, you can adjust the amount of shadow memory assigned to a hardware-assisted VM. In some specialized application workloads, such as Citrix Virtual Apps, extra shadow memory is required to achieve the full performance. This memory is considered to be overhead, and is separate from the normal memory calculations for accounting memory to a VM.

  • To optimize performance for VMs running Citrix Virtual Apps, select Optimize for Citrix Virtual Apps.
  • To manually adjust the VM’s shadow memory allocation, select Optimize manually and enter a number in the Shadow memory multiplier box.
  • To restore the default settings for the VM’s shadow memory, select the Optimize for general use option.
Change VM Properties