Getting started with Xendesktop 4 - Part 2 Installation and configuration of the product using free XenDesktop express version.

First, we need to download the XenDesktop software from the Citrix site. You need to have or create a My Citrix account to be able to download the product. At present version 4.0 is available for download. Optionally, Feature Pack 1 and Feature Pack 2 can be downloaded and installed afterwards. The download includes the XenServer, the XenServer Management Console and the actual XenDesktop software components, so you don’t have to download these parts separately. Remember that XenServer is not required to run XenDesktop. XenDesktop is also supported on other hypervisors like VMware ESX or Microsoft Hyper-V.

First check if the hardware you would like to use complies with the hardware requirements and/or is mentioned on the Hardware Compatibility list. If you don’t have any hardware available you can install XenServer as a virtual machine for example, within VMware Workstation although, this is not officially supported. Just Google “install xenserver on vmware workstation” and you will find several documents and videos on how this can be accomplished.

The installation of XenServer is delivered as an ISO file with the name `XenServer_virtulization_platform.iso`. Make sure that the media is available for installation, by burning the ISO file onto a CD. The installation of XenServer starts with a screen asking you if you would like to install XenServer using the standard installation steps or the advanced steps.

 

When you choose F1 or <ENTER> you opt for the default installation steps. Selecting F2 delivers the option shown in Figure 2.

 

Here we won’t be using the advanced options. The standard installation procedure is envoked by pressing  <ENTER> or the <F1> key. During the installation the first dialog box asks you to specify which kind of keyboard layout you are using. By pressing the spacebar you can select the correct keyboard layout. Via <TAB> you can move to the next button to continue the installation, another way to accomplish this is using <F12> to also continue to the next dialog box. 

The XenServer boot media can also be used to convert a physical machine into a virtual machine (P2V). Because we are installing a XenServer host, we have to choose the option Install or upgrade XenServer Host. Like the previous dialog box you can use <TAB>, <F12> or <ENTER> to continue after the selection or the right option.

 

The next dialog box is just an informative message that you will start the XenServer installation and that all current data on the disks will be erased. Via the OK button the installation will continue. 

Like all other installations the License Agreement will be shown and you need to accept the license agreement to continue with the installation using the “Accept EULA” button.

Hopefully the next dialog box must not shown, because it informs you that your machine does not have hardware virtualization support available. First of all this will impact the performance and secondly you don’t have the possibility to run based Windows Virtual Machines on your XenServer host, so you won’t be able to use XenDesktop. Most time this is caused that hardware virtualization is disabled in the BIOS. Otherwise you should search for other hardware. 

XenServer can be installed from a CD or from a network location using HTTP, FTP or NFS based resources. I expect you will use the local media option for this setup, otherwise you already have a couple of XenServers running in your infrastructure. In that case you are already familiar with installling XenServer. 

 

When using Linux Virtual Machines on your XenServer you should install the Linux Pack. Depending on your condition say Yes or No.

XenServer offers the possibility to verify the installation source on any errors. If you would like to that you select the option Verify Installation Source, if you would like to skip this test choose Skip Verification. 

The following step is an imporant step. In the dialog you need to add a password for the root account of the XenServer. This password is needed to logon the XenServer both on the console as to set-up a connection using the administration tools later. Choose a good password and fill this in two times.

Logically the XenServer need to have a connection with the network. In the next dialog you need to fill in the network address, subnetmask and gateway for the XenServer. It is possible to use a DHCP server, but I advise to use a fixed IP addres or at least a reserveration in the DHCP scope for XenServer hosts. 

A second dialog for the network components is displayed. Here you need to fill in a (unique) hostname and the DNS server available within your infrastructure. As for every hypervisor DNS is critical, so double check the settings you configure. 

Next the Time Zone needs to be configured, this is done by selecting first selecting the area your data centre is located, followed by selecting a nearby city as shown in the below displayed figures.

The last step for the time setting is to specify if you would like to manual configure the correct time or use the NTP protocol. While correct time settings are crucial in every infrastructure I advise to use the NTP option but remember that you need to have a NTP server address.

 

When choosing NTP the next dialog box option you will be asked to fill in (up to three) NTP servers. After filling in the NTP server or when you choose manual time entry the last dialog box will be shown that all information needed is collected and that the actual installation can be started using the Install XenServer button.

After the reboot the the server will show the console as shown in the next figure. You can re-configure settings in case you made a mistake for example, reconfiguring the nework setings. Also some new configuration can be made via this console like adding the server to a resource pool.