Managing XenServer and its Virtual Machines Remotely

Question

I have a dedicated server in a data center and I want to install XenServer for virtualization.

XenServer will be running 2 or 3 virtual servers, all of which will be using Public IP's along with a remotely accessible SSH tunnel.

I want to know how I can manage the XenServer virtual machines, such as rebooting, installing Operating Systems etc with a GUI.

Solution 1

This isn't really a XenServer specific question. XenServer comes with XenCenter which is its GUI management tool, but how you connect to your server is completely situation dependent. XenCenter connects directly to XenServer using its management IP, but you certainly wouldn't want a public facing IP. A VPN would be ideal for this, but again, it all depends on what facilities you have at your data center.

Solution 2

There are two approaches to managing XenServer that don't involve adding any extra tools.

1. Command line interface (CLI). If you ssh to XenServer, you'll be logged into the Dom0 VM's shell. Here you can manage XenServer using the xe command. E.g. xe vm-list will return details of the VMs. xe has auto complete, so if follow xe with a space and press the autocomplete (usually a tabe) tab, you'll be offered a list of the available commmands.

2. Windows-based GUI. Point your browser at the XenServer. This will give you access to the XenCenter installer. Download, run. You can connect to your XenCenter, see the VMs, access their console, and start/stop them.

Comments

[user133916]

can i download and install xen centre on my remote server is this possible?

[Dan]

@user133916 Well, you can install it onto a Virtual Machine, sure. It's not really a very good idea, though, because what do you do if that machine goes down - seeing as you only have one server. It would be okay for day to day management, though. The bigger question is how you're going to build this in the first place!