Making friends Citrix XenServer 5.5 and Openfiler 2.3

If you use Citrix XenServer virtualization software in your work, then not using the free XenMotion function for live migration of virtual machines from one host server to another is simply a sin, so to speak. So for the implementation of this function will require 2 things:

1. Host servers running Citrix XenServer - 2 pcs.
2. Shared network storage for a pool of Citrix XenServer servers (SAN, NFS, FC) - 1 pc.

If everything is, in principle, understandable with the first item, then with the second one it is necessary to think a little about implementation.
There may be two options. Either hardware or software HD. Hardware storage does not always justify its price, so I decided to opt for the software implementation, namely openfiler 2.3. On the download page, you can select the desired version for your platform. Installation is quite simple. If you do everything according to the instructions, then there should be no difficulties. After installation, I recommend updating OpenFiler immediately via the web interface, and after partitioning the disks, save the backup, because later, if you have to reinstall the storage, it will not see the partitions already created on the disks.
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And now about the nuances.

When using OpenFiler via iSCSI as a shared network storage for Citrix XenServer, there is a problem with “falling off” the storage and not restoring communication with it if the storage is rebooted. At the same time, the unmap created for Citrix LUN cannot be done in the storage itself.

This trouble is treated as follows:

1. Go to the storage console and enter the command:

openfiler# chkconfig aoe off

With this command, we disable the ATA Over Ethernet service, which intercepts the management of disk sharing over the network and the iSCSI service can no longer begin management.

2. Comment in the editor vi or nano, included in the distribution OpenFiler, for version 2.3, lines 333-337 in the file /etc/rc.sysinit

# if [ -x /sbin/lvm.static ]; then
# if /sbin/lvm.static vgscan --mknodes --ignorelockingfailure > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then
# action $"Setting up Logical Volume Management:" /sbin/lvm.static vgchange -ay --ignorelockingfailure
# fi
# fi

3. Reboot

openfiler# reboot

After rebooting the storage, it will again become available for Citrix XenServer and you can start creating virtual machines.

P.S.

Alternatives You can use everyone’s favorite FreeNAS, because it also allows you to do the iSCSI target ..., someone will say ... You can, but FreeNAS, do not do LUNs, but Citrix XenServer requires them. You can also use NFS as a general storage, but for me iSCSI is more unified, although in all respects NFS loads the system less and hardly loses iSCSI speed.