32
xe-mount-iso-sr //server1/myisos -t cifs -o username=johndoe/mydomain
xe-mount-iso-sr //server2/iso_share -t smbfs -o username=alice
After mounting the share, any available ISOs will be available from the Install from ISO Library or DVD drive drop-
down list in XenCenter, or as CD images from the CLI commands.
The ISO should be attached to an appropriate Windows template.
9.3. XenServer Tools
The Citrix paravirtualized network and SCSI drivers (XenServer Tools) provide high performance I/O services
without the overhead of traditional device emulation. These drivers replace the emulated devices and provide
high-speed transport between Windows and the XenServer product family software. During the installation of
a Windows operating system, XenServer uses traditional device emulation to present a standard IDE controller
and a standard network card to the VM. This allows Windows to complete its installation using built-in drivers,
but with reduced performance due to the overhead inherent in emulation of the controller drivers.
If you are working with a VM that does not have XenServer Tools installed, a Tools not installed message in red
text will be visible on the General tab in the properties pane. A message will also be displayed here if XenServer
has been updated and the VM has an older version of XenServer Tools from an earlier release. In this case, the
message displayed is Tools out of date (version x.y installed). For a Windows VM, you can double-click on this
text to switch to the VM console, load the Tools ISO, and launch the Tools installation wizard; for Linux VMs, you
can double-click on this text to switch to the VM console and load the Tools ISO (however, you must mount the
ISO and manually run the installation).
After Windows is installed, install the XenServer Tools. These are on an ISO available to the virtual CD-ROM drive
of the Virtual Machine.
Note:
While a Windows VM functions without them, performance is significantly hampered unless
these drivers are installed. Running Windows VMs without these drivers is not supported.
Some features, such as live relocation across physical hosts, will only work with the PV drivers
installed and active.
Attach the Windows PV drivers ISO to the VM by using the Install Tools menu in XenCenter, or by directly attaching
the built-in xs-tools.iso ISO image on the VM using the CLI. Once the ISO is attached, double-click on the
xensetup.exe installer executable and follow the on-screen prompts.
Note:
To silently install the XenServer Tools and prevent the system from rebooting afterwards, use
the /S and /norestart options:
<install_dir>/xensetup.exe /S /norestart
The Windows PV drivers are installed by default in the C:\Program Files\Citrix\XenTools directory
on the VM.
The XenServer Tools can also be installed on a provisioned Windows machine by running the executable
windows-pvdrivers-xensetup.exe, located in the client_install/ directory of the installation
CD.
Note:
In order to install XenServer Tools on a Windows VM, the VM must be running the
Microsoft .NET Framework Version 4.0 or later. If a VM is running Windows 2003, you need to
install the Windows Imaging Component (see your vendor documentation for details) before
installing XenServer Tools.
