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Snap Creator Framework

Citrix XenServer plug-in

Contributors netapp-aherbin NetAppZacharyWambold
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Snap Creator supports the backup and restore of Citrix XenServer virtual machines (VMs) by using the Citrix XenServer plug-in.

Note For the latest information about support or compatibility matrices, see the Interoperability Matrix.

The Citrix XenServer plug-in supports Windows and XenServer.

Consider the following when you use the Citrix XenServer plug-in:

  • Active IQ Unified Manager server as a proxy is not supported.

  • Mount, unmount, and backup operations using Open Systems SnapVault, and archive log management, are not supported.

  • Volume restore operations are not supported; only application-defined restore operations are supported.

  • Deleted VMs can be restored.

  • Snap Creator Agent must be installed on the host where XenCenter is installed, and Snap Creator Server must not be installed on XenServer.

  • The SC_AGENT_TIMEOUT value should be greater than the default value: 600 or higher.

  • If the value of APP_DEFINED_RESTORE is Y, then the SnapVault restore operation using the GUI is not supported.

  • If the pool master goes down in a server pool, then the Snap Creator configuration file should be modified manually with the new master server for further activity.

  • XenServer tools must be installed on all the VMs.

  • For Fibre Channel in a storage area network (SAN) environment, the plink.exe tool must be installed on a host where Snap Creator Agent is installed, and the plink.exe path must be added to the system environment variable.

    For detailed information about how to add the plink.exe path to the system environment variable, refer to the Snap Creator Framework Installation Guide.

  • VM pause and unpause operations are performed serially.

    For multiple VMs, the duration of VM in the pause state during backup operation depends on the number of VMs.

  • Automatic discovery of volumes is supported.

Supported Citrix XenServer configurations

The following Citrix XenServer configurations are supported:

  • SAN

    • Supports guest virtual machines with one virtual disk image (VDI) per storage repository.

    • Supports data disks with one VDI per storage repository

  • NAS

    • Supports guest VMs installed on NFS mounts.

    • Supports data disks on NFS mounts.

Parameters

The following table lists and describes the Citrix XenServer plug-in parameters:

Parameter

Setting

Description

XEN_VMS

host IP:VM#

Lists virtual machines of a particular host, separated by a slash (/). For example: 10.10.10.192:VM1/VM2/VM3

XEN_HOST_USERS

host IP:username/password

Lists Xen hosts and the corresponding user name and password.

XEN_BIN_PATH

For example: c:\Program Files\Citrix\XenCenter\xe.exe

Specifies the path of the XenServer executable (xe). The XenCenter console is required for importing and exporting the VM metadata.

XEN_METADATA_PATH

For example: c:\scmetadata

Specifies the path on the server to which you can download the virtual machine metadata.

XEN_RESTORE_VMS

For example: xenserver1:vm1,vm2;xenserver2:vm1,vm2

Contains the VMs that must be restored. This parameter is required only during a restore operation.

Related information

Interoperability Matrix Tool: mysupport.netapp.com/matrix