4 4 3:Citrix XenServer Requirements and Configuration

Overview

This article describes the requirements and configuration steps for SEP sesam integration with Citrix XenServer. Note that the procedures introduced in this article are the configuration steps required to set up Citrix XenServer SEP sesam integration. For details on Citrix XenServer integration key features and backup configuration, see Citrix XenServer Backup.

Requirements

• Check the SEP sesam OS and Database Support Matrix for the list of supported Citrix XenServer versions.
• SEP sesam Server v. 4.4.3 or higher. Citrix XenServer backup client is already included in all SEP sesam packages.
• Check Hardware requirements for SEP sesam Client, SEP sesam Server or RDS.
• Each XenServer must have a dedicated management interface.
• In a cluster configuration where more XenServers are organized in a pool, the pool master XenServer must be configured as a SEP sesam Client.
• Ensure that Network Block Device (NBD) is enabled on your Citrix XenServers. The NBD protocol is used for publishing block devices over TCP and is required for transporting CBT backups. For details, see the section Configuring NBD on network interfaces for CBT.

	Note
	The backup traffic always goes over the management interface of the XenServer. Make sure you get good network performance, for example 2x 10 Gbit network interfaces as bond on both the XenServer and the backup server.

Configuring XenServer as a SEP sesam Client

To protect your virtual machines, you must configure your XenServer as a SEP sesam Client. Ensure that the prerequisites are met before you begin the configuration. The options for configuring the XenServer may differ slightly depending on your SEP sesam version.

1. From Main Selection -> Components -> Topology, select the relevant location and click the New Client button. The New Client window opens.
2. In the New Client window, enter the management interface DNS name of the pool master. If you fail to enter the correct DNS name of the pool master, browsing XenServer environment will not work.
3. Under Platform drop-down list, select the UNIX.
4. Under Operating system drop-down list, select the Citrix XenServer.
5. As of SEP sesam v. 4.4.3, the only supported access mode is PROXY, which is set by default when the Citrix XenServer operating system is selected.

	Note
	If you are using SEP sesam version ≥ 4.4.3, make sure that the PROXY access mode is selected. If access mode CTRL is used, an error occurs when SEP sesam Server checks the connection to the SEP sesam XenServer client.




6. Click the tab Citrix XenServer and enter root/admin credentials for XenServer.
7. Select a Data mover. The data mover must be the host name of the SEP sesam Server or RDS. For details on requirements, see the above section SEP sesam data mover for Citrix XenServer (SDM-CX).


8. Click OK to add the new client.

Selecting https instead of http connection

SEP sesam uses http protocol as the default connection to ensure better performance when transferring data from XenServer to SEP sesam Server. Backups over https can cause up to 98% CPU load on XenServer.

However, you can change the protocol to the secure https (secure with SSL) connection by specifying the https protocol under Backup task -> Properties -> Options tab -> Backup options as follows:

 -a http=https

Configuring NBD on network interfaces for CBT

As of v. 4.4.3.84 SP3, SEP sesam no longer automatically enables Network Block Device (NBD) on all available network interfaces. NBD is required for transporting CBT backups.

To activate NBD on all network interfaces, connect to the Poolmaster via SSH and execute the following command:

for uuid in $(xe network-list | grep uuid | cut -d":" -f 2); do xe network-param-add uuid=$uuid param-name=purpose param-key=nbd ; done

This configuration may cause problems if there are networks the SEP sesam data mover cannot reach. Examples of such constellations are storage networks or a DMZ. In this case, the further configuration might be needed by using the following commands:

• to get a list of available interfaces
xe network-list
• to get the network properties
xe network-param-list uuid=<network-uuid>
• to enable NBD for a specific interface
xe network-param-add uuid=<network-uuid> param-name=purpose param-key=nbd
• to disable NBD for a specific interface
xe network-param-remove uuid=<network-uuid> param-name=purpose param-key=nbd
• to deactivate NBD for all interfaces
for uuid in $(xe network-list | grep uuid | cut -d":" -f 2); do xe network-param-remove uuid=$uuid param-name=purpose param-key=nbd ; done

For more information, see Citrix Hypervisor Documentation.

Known issues

If you have problems with Citrix XenServer, check the Troubleshooting Guide.