Overview

In this Citrix XenServer 5.6 training course, students will learn skills necessary to configure and administer XenServer 5.6, XenCenter, and Provisioning Services 5.6. Through virtual labs, as well as demonstrations and the practical application of concepts, students will gain experience with:

1. Configuring a XenServer virtualization server
2. Managing a XenServer us ing XenCenter
3. Creating Windows and Linux virtual machines
4. Creating XenServer resource pools and connecting to remote storage
5. Using XenMotion and automatic virtual machine placement
6. Designing a Provisioning Server farm
7. Creating, assigning and administering virtual disks
8. Managing target devices
9. Configuring high availability

Audience

This course is des igned for IT professionals, Architects, Systems Engineers and Citrix Partner Network members.

Preparatory Recommendations

Prior to taking this course, Citrix recommends that learners possess the following knowledge and experience:

basic knowledge of the purpos e and goals of virtualization technology An understanding of computing architecture, including network and storage devices, device drivers and operating systems

Basic experience installing and administering Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008 Basic experience installing and administering Linux variants Intermediate knowledge of network devices and site architecture, including configuring vLANs Basic knowledge of storage terminology and technologies, including partitions, SANs, LUNs, iSCSI, NFS, and CIFS file shares

Key Skills

In this Citrix XenServer 5.6 training course, students will learn skills necessary to configure and administer Xenserv er 5.6, XenCenter, and Provisioning Services 5.6. Through hands-on labs, students will gain experience with:

1. Configuring a XenServer virtualization server
2. Managing a XenServer us ing XenCenter
3. Creating Windows and Linux virtual machines
4. Creating XenServer resource pools and connecting to remote storage
5. Using XenMotion and automatic virtual machine placement
6. Designing a Provisioning services farm
7. Creating, assigning and administering virtual disks
8. Managing target devices

Instructional Method

This course is available in either classroom or self-paced online formats, and includes access to a live lab environment, as well as demonstrations and the practical application of concepts through hands-on exercises

Course Length

• 30 hours or 5 days

Certification Preparation

• This course prepares learners for the CCA for Citrix XenServer 5

Registration

• For more information and to register for this course, please go to

Topic Outline

1. Provided is the outline for CXS-202-2

Module 1: XenServer Introduction

1. Overview
2. XenServer Product Line
3. Citrix XenServer 5.6 New Features
4. Role-based Ac cess Control
5. Dynamic Memory Control
6. Virtual Machine Disk Snapshot
7. Automated Virtual Machine Optimizations and Power Management
8. StorageLink Site Recovery
9. Heterogeneous Pools
10. Enhanced Operating-System Support
11. Enhanced XenCenter Interface
12. Adminis trative Logging and Audit
13. XenServer Architecture Overview
14. XenServer Architectural Components
15. Emulation Example
16. Paravirtualization Example
17. XenCenter Overview
18. XenCenter Performance Data

Module 2: XenServer and XenCenter Installation

1. Overview
2. XenServer Installation
3. Virtual Machine Storage
4. Single and Multiple Disk System Installations
5. Multiple Disk System
6. Installing XenServer
7. Pre-Installation Checklist
8. XenServer Installation Process
9. Practice: XenServer Installation
10. Installing XenCenter
11. XenCenter Windows Consoles
12. XenCenter Linux Cons oles
13. XenServer Licensing
14. Licensing Components
15. License File Management
16. Obtaining License Files
17. Installing the Citrix License Server
18. License Management Console
19. Review Questions

Module 3: Windows Virtual Machines

1. Overview
2. Virtual Memory and Disk Size Limits
3. Virtual Device Support
4. Windows Virtual Machine Architecture
5. To Create a Windows Virtual Machine
6. Installation from an ISO
7. ISO Libraries
8. To Create an ISO Library
9. Practice: Windows Virtual Machine Creation from an ISO Library
10. XenServer Tools
11. Review Questions

Module 4: Linux Virtual Machines

1. Overview
2. Linux Virtual Machine Architecture
3. Linux Distributions
4. Xen-enabled Distributions
5. Non-Xen-enabled Distributions
6. Creating Linux Virtual Machines
7. To Create a Linux Virtual Machine
8. Installing XenServer Tools
9. To Install XenServer Tools
10. Virtual Network Computing for Virtual Machines
11. To Configure VNC for Virtual Machines
12. Review Questions

Module 5: Templates and Life-Cycle Operations

1. Overview
2. Virtual Machine Templates
3. Practice: Virtual Machine Templates
4. Exporting a Virtual Machine
5. Importing a Virtual Machine
6. Copying a Virtual Machine
7. Practice: Importing and Exporting a Virtual Machine
8. New Virtual Machine Creation Using a Template
9. Life-Cycle Operations
10. Suspend and Resume
11. Deleting a Virtual Machine
12. Practice: Life-Cycle Operations
13. Review Questions

Module 6: XenConvert

1. Overview
2. XenConvert Overview
3. Xen Virtual Appliance Formats
4. Open Virtualization Format
5. XenConvert Default Behavior
6. Physical Machine Conversion
7. To Produce a Virtualized Instance of a Workload
8. Source Volume Properties
9. Destination Volume Properties
10. Disk Properties
11. Practice: Disk Space
12. Converting from Physical to Virtual Machine
13. To Complete the P2V Convers ion
14. New Virtual Machine in XenCenter
15. Practice: P2V Conversion
16. Virtual-to-Virtual-Machine Conversion
17. To Convert a Server or Desktop to a Virtual Machine
18. Review Questions

Module 7: Resource Management

1. Overview
2. Virtual Machine Resource Management
3. Virtual Disk s
4. Virtual Disk Sizes
5. vDisk Resizing
6. Virtual NICs
7. Virtual CPUs
8. Memory
9. Multiprocessor HAL in Windows 2000
10. Practice: Resource Management
11. Resource Optimization
12. CPU Sc heduler
13. CPU Priorities
14. Network and Storage Resources
15. Practice: Fine-Tuning Resources
16. Dynamic Memory Control
17. Dynamic Memory Control Configuration
18. DMC Behavior when Launching New Virtual Machines
19. Events and Alerts
20. To Set Host Alerts in XenCenter
21. To Set Virtual Machine Alerts in XenCenter
22. Alert Customization
23. Perfmon String
24. Valid Virtual Machine Elements
25. Valid Host Elements
26. Pers istent XenServ er Performance Statistics
27. E-mail Alert Configuration
28. Performance Statistics in XenCenter
29. Performance Graphs in XenCenter
30. XenCenter Searches
31. Review Questions

Module 8: Networking

1. Overview
2. Network Components and Architecture
3. Network Architecture Diagram
4. Internal-only Network s
5. Virtual NICs
6. External Networks
7. VLAN Support and Components
8. Practice: Network Component Descriptions
9. Initial Network Setup
10. Management and Normal Interfaces
11. IP Address Information for Normal NICs
12. Practice: Configuring Physical Networks
13. NIC Bonds
14. NIC Bonding Architecture
15. Active-Active Mode
16. Load Balancing
17. Network Adapter Drivers
18. Virtual Network Setup
19. Virtual NIC Creation
20. Virtual NICs Connections
21. To Configure a NIC Bond for a Standalone Host
22. NIC Bond Configuration for Resource Pools
23. Network Configuration
24. To Configure a VLAN
25. Review Questions

Module 9: Managing XenServer

1. Overview
2. Managing XenServer Users
3. End User Authentication using Active Directory (AD)
4. Active Directory Integration Key Benefits
5. External Authentication Process
6. Active Directory Integration
7. Active Directory Integration Configuration
8. Role-based Ac cess Control
9. Roles
10. Command-Line Interface Overview
11. XenServer Menu-Driven Text Cons ole
12. Command-line Interface Operations Targets
13. XenServer Objects
14. Core XenServer Objec ts
15. Host Connector Objects
16. Virtual Machine Connector Objects
17. Object Naming within the Command-Line Interface
18. Command-Line Interface Usage
19. Command-Line Interface Prerequis ites
20. Basic Command-Line Interface Syntax
21. Command-Line Interface Shortcuts
22. Common Object Commands
23. The List Command
24. List Command Displayed Parameters
25. List Command Class Object
26. To Use the List Command Procedure
27. Expanded Fields
28. The Parameter Commands
29. Parameter Command Modifiers
30. To Use the Param Command
31. Practice: XenServer Commands
32. XenServer Help Commands
33. To Access Help Commands
34. Command-Line Interface Ac cess
35. XenServer Host Command-Line Interface
36. To Access the Command-Line Interface Directly from the Host Procedure
37. To Access the XenServer Command-Line Interface Using SSH Procedure
38. To Access the XenServer Command-Line Interface Using XenCenter
39. Remote Command-Line Interface Access
40. Credential Arguments
41. Remote Host Example
42. Review Questions

Module 10: Storage

1. Overview
2. Storage Introduction
3. Storage Components
4. Storage Types
5. Storage Type Feature Comparison
6. Practice: Storage Components
7. Storage Architecture
8. Storage Repositories
9. Local Disk Storage Architecture
10. Storage Repository Architecture
11. Practice: Storage Architecture
12. Multiple Storage Repositories
13. Practice: Storage Repositories
14. Initial Storage Setup
15. Local Storage
16. Virtual Machine Storage Types
17. Virtual Disk Setup
18. Virtual Disk Size
19. Practice: Local Storage
20. Scaling Storage for the Enterprise
21. Remote Storage Features
22. Storage Capability Comparison
23. Fibre Channel SANs Overv iew
24. Fibre Channel Architecture
25. Storage Repositories Configuration
26. LUN Device Path
27. Practice: Fibre Channel HBA Management
28. iSCSI Storage Overview
29. iSCSI Terminology and Names
30. iSCSI Network
31. Software-based iSCSI
32. iSCSI Storage Configuration
33. iSCSI Setup Best Practices
34. Practice: iSCSI Storage
35. NFS Storage Overview
36. NFS Remote Storage
37. Software NFS Architecture
38. NFS Virtual Disks
39. NFS Remote Storage Configuration
40. NFS Setup Best Practices
41. Practice: NFS Storage
42. Third-Party Storage
43. NetApp Storage Overv iew
44. NetApp Storage Architecture
45. FlexVol Limits and Parameters
46. NetApp Access Control
47. NetApp Features
48. Dell EqualLogic Storage Integration
49. Storage Management
50. Dedicated NIC Bonds for Remote Storage
51. Dedicated Remote Storage Interface Configuration
52. Storage Multipathing
53. iMultipathing and Disaster Recovery
54. Storage Repository Recovery
55. StorageLink Overview
56. StorageLink Components
57. StorageLink Manager Interface
58. StorageLink Configuration
59. Creating a Storage Repository
60. To Create a Storage Repository
61. Allocating Storage for Virtual Machines
62. Creating a Storage Profile
63. Template Management
64. Virtual Machine Creation from Templates
65. StorageLink Command-Line Interface and PowerShell
66. Review Questions

Module 11: Resource Pools

1. Overview
2. Resource Pools Overview
3. Resources Shared in a Pool
4. Resource Pool Architecture
5. Pool Member Types
6. Resource Pool Communication
7. Heterogeneous Pools
8. Pool Member Requirements
9. Resource Pool Requirements Diagram
10. CPU Requirements
11. Network Settings
12. XenServer Licenses in a Resource Pool
13. Resource Pool Administration
14. Resource Pool Creation and Configuration
15. Shared Configurations
16. Pool Members
17. To Prepare for Adding a Member
18. To Add a Member to a Resource Pool
19. To Remove a Secondary Member from a Resource Pool
20. Resource Pool Recovery
21. Master Failure Overview
22. Failure Detection Process
23. Recovered Master Reconnection
24. To Promote a Secondary Member to a Master
25. Practice: Master and Secondary Server Roles
26. Virtual Machine Movement
27. Automatic Virtual Machine Placement
28. Virtual Machine Location
29. XenMotion Overview
30. XenMotion CPU Requirements
31. To Use XenMotion (XenCenter)
32. Alternate Virtual Machine Movement Methods
33. Practice: Virtual Machine Movement
34. Review Questions

Module 12: High Availability

1. Overview
2. High Availability Overview
3. High Availability Requirements
4. High Availability Considerations
5. Restart Protection Levels
6. Protection Level Settings
7. Serv er Failure Tolerance
8. Overcommitting
9. Overcommitment Warning
10. High Availability on a XenServer Pool
11. High Availability Failure Tolerance
12. To Configure High Availability (XenCenter)
13. To Configure High Availability (Command-Line Interface)
14. Host Fencing
15. Changing High Availability Settings (CLI)
16. Practice: Configuring High Av ailability
17. Disaster Recovery
18. Metadata
19. Practic e: Virtual Machine Rollback
20. To Roll Back a Virtual Machine (XenCenter)
21. To Roll Back a Virtual Machine (Command-Line Interface)
22. Review Questions

Module 13: Workload Balancing

1. Overview
2. Work load Balancing Overview
3. Work load Balancing Key Concepts
4. Work load Balancing Components
5. Work load Balancing Deployment
6. Work load Balancing High Availability
7. Single Server Deployment
8. Key Services
9. XenServer Environment Sizes
10. Work load Balancing Installation
11. Pre-Installation Considerations
12. Installation on a Single Server
13. Work load Balancing Installation Verification
14. Work load Balancing Configuration
15. To Initialize Workload Balancing
16. Pool Workload Balancing Configuration
17. Authorization for Workload Balancing
18. XenServer and the Workload Balancing Server
19. Antivirus Software Configuration
20. Performance Thresholds and Metric Weighting
21. Practice: Workload Balancing Power Management
22. Work load Balanc ing Settings Configuration
23. Optimization Mode
24. Fixed and Scheduled Optimization Modes
25. Optimization Recommendations
26. Work load Balancing Power Management
27. Power Management Behavior
28. Power Management and Virtual Machine Consolidation
29. To Apply Optimization Recommendations Automatically
30. Practice: Workload Balancing
31. Critical Thresholds
32. Default Settings for Critical Thresholds
33. Tuning Metric Weightings
34. Host Exclusion from Recommendations
35. To Exclude Hosts
36. Optimal Server Selection
37. Maintenance Mode with Workload Balancing Enabled
38. Work load Balancing Reports
39. Pool Optimization Performance History Report
40. Pool Audit Log History
41. Pool Health
42. Pool Health History Report
43. Pool Optimization History
44. Virtual Machine Motion History Report
45. Virtual Machine Performanc e History Report
46. Configuring for a Different Workload Balancing Server
47. Disable Work load Balancing
48. To Update Workload Balancing Credentials
49. Review Questions

Module 14: Troubleshooting XenServer

1. Overview
2. XenServer Logs and Reports
3. XenCenter Event Logs
4. Serv er Status Reports
5. XenServer dmes g Overview
6. To Generate the dmesg File in XenCenter
7. To Generate the dmesg File in the Command-Line Interface
8. XenServer Crashdump Overview
9. To Generate a Crashdump File in XenCenter
10. To Generate the Crashdump File in the Command-Line Interface
11. XenServer Debug Tools
12. XenCenter Searches
13. Troubleshooting Usage
14. Upgrading Usage
15. XenServer Alerts
16. To Create XenServ er Alerts in XenCenter
17. To Create E-mail Alerts in XenCenter
18. Overcommitment Warnings
19. XenServer-to-XenCenter Communications
20. XenCenter Version
21. Valid License
22. Network Port Availability
23. XenServer Patch Location
24. XenServer Patch Installation
25. Rolling Pool Upgrade
26. Planning a Rolling Upgrade
27. To Prepare for Upgrading
28. To Perform a Rolling Upgrade
29. Review Questions

Module 15: Provisioning Services Installation and Configuration

1. Overview
2. Provisioning Services for XenServer
3. Citrix Provisioning Services Infrastructure
4. Provisioning Services Administration
5. Citrix Provisioning Services Components
6. Key Serv ices
7. Practice: Key Services
8. Installation Planning
9. Network Boot Services
10. Boot Process
11. DHCP Deployment Options
12. DHCP Configuration
13. Provisioning Services Farm Design
14. Farms
15. SQL Database Server
16. SQL Database Authentication
17. Sites
18. Stores
19. Write Caches
20. Practice: Write Cac he
21. Storage Requirements
22. Sample vDisk Storage Requirements
23. Provisioning Services Installation
24. To Install Provisioning Services
25. Provisioning Services Configuration
26. To Configure a Provisioning Services Farm
27. Store Configuration
28. Provisioning Services Hosts in the Console
29. Target Device Connections
30. Serv er Properties
31. Target Device Management
32. Target Device Collection
33. Target Device Views
34. Target Device Properties
35. To Copy Target Device Properties
36. Target Device Additions to the Database
37. Auto-Add Wizard
38. Active Directory Integration
39. Domain Pass word Management
40. Automatic Password Renegotiation
41. To Integrate Active Directory
42. To Enable Machine Ac count Password Management
43. Troubleshooting Provisioning Services Installation and Configuration
44. Review Questions

Module 16: vDisk Administration

1. Overview
2. vDisk Image Modes
3. Standard Image Mode
4. Difference Disk Image Mode
5. Private Image Mode
6. Write-Cache Types
7. Cache on Server Disk
8. Cache on Server Disk: Local Storage
9. Cache on Server Disk: Shared Storage
10. Cache on Devic e's Hard Drive
11. Cache on Devic e's Hard Drive: Local Storage
12. Cache on Device's Hard Drive: Shared Storage
13. Target Device-based RAM Cache
14. Target Device RAM
15. To Create a vDisk
16. vDisk File Creation
17. VHD Format
18. vDisk Mounting
19. vDisk Formatting
20. Master Target Device
21. Boot Order
22. Master Target Device Software
23. To Create a Windows Master Target Device using the Imaging Wizard
24. To Image Windows Target Devices with XenConvert
25. vDisks Streaming to Diskless Virtual Machines
26. To Create a Diskless Virtual Machine
27. To Create a Master Target Virtual Mac hine Workload Image
28. Practice: Master Target Device
29. Troubleshooting vDisk Creation Issues
30. vDisk Management
31. To Unassign vDisks from Target Devices
32. To Delete a vDisk
33. vDisk Locks
34. vDisk Back up
35. vDisk Updates
36. Automatic Update
37. Incremental Update
38. Autoupdate Tool
39. Incremental Update Rollback
40. Scheduled vDisk Updates
41. Practice: vDisk Updates
42. vDisk Update Strategies
43. High Availability Overview
44. High Availability Benefits
45. High Availability Components
46. Boot File Configuration for High Availability
47. Provisioning Services Host Addition to the Boot File
48. To Add a Login Server
49. Enabling High Availability on vDisks
50. Review Questions