BRRABill's Field Report With XenServer
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@scottalanmiller said
Would really suck if you couldn't. Nice that updating isn't too bad.
I was certainly happy to have XS installed on USB.
I wonder what it would be like if XS is on the same disk/array as the SR.
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Has anyone ever done an upgrade to the same version?
By that, I mean, installed, say XS7 over an existing XS7 install?
I am thinking of doing that to test my "clone to a bigger USB" theory.
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Another question, this one more for general knowledge.
If I were to clone the current boot USB, and then try this upgrade and it bombs, can I just go back to the cloned original setup?
This is the kind of stuff that I don't think you can do, but then @scottalanmiller says ... "you are thinking windows ... Linux is just .... EASY"
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@BRRABill said in BRRABill's Field Report With XenServer:
Another question, this one more for general knowledge.
If I were to clone the current boot USB, and then try this upgrade and it bombs, can I just go back to the cloned original setup?
This is the kind of stuff that I don't think you can do, but then @scottalanmiller says ... "you are thinking windows ... Linux is just .... EASY"
Yes you can do that. As the Boot USB is what is running the hardware, the hardware doesn't store any of the boot info.
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@DustinB3403 said
Yes you can do that. As the Boot USB is what is running the hardware, the hardware doesn't store any of the boot info.
And none of the VM info/data is altered with an upgrade?
So, in theory you could try going to 7 from 6.5, it could bomb, and you could just go back to your 6.5 USB?
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@BRRABill said in BRRABill's Field Report With XenServer:
@DustinB3403 said
Yes you can do that. As the Boot USB is what is running the hardware, the hardware doesn't store any of the boot info.
And none of the VM info/data is altered with an upgrade?
So, in theory you could try going to 7 from 6.5, it could bomb, and you could just go back to your 6.5 USB?
That's the theory.
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Of course, testing in a LAB would be ideal.
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@DustinB3403 said
Of course, testing in a LAB would be ideal.
What, no one has ever tested this?
Once I get all the production stuff up I will give it a shot.
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Testing is for losers.
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@scottalanmiller said in BRRABill's Field Report With XenServer:
Testing is for losers.
Or for people who prefer to not play with production.
But YOLO!
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@scottalanmiller said in BRRABill's Field Report With XenServer:
Testing is for losers.
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@olivier said
Indeed, you can't live migrate a VM from a recent version of XS to an older one.
What about move and copy? Can you do that to a stopped VM?
What about export? Could i export the VM from XS7 and import it to XS6.5?
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@BRRABill said in BRRABill's Field Report With XenServer:
@olivier said
Indeed, you can't live migrate a VM from a recent version of XS to an older one.
What about move and copy? Can you do that to a stopped VM?
What about export? Could i export the VM from XS7 and import it to XS6.5?
I don't believe you can move a VM backwards to an older version of XS7.
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@BRRABill You should be able to export / import from XS7 to an older version. Not sure about moving a stopped VM.
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@DustinB3403 said
I don't believe you can move a VM backwards to an older version of XS7.
I admit I am still unclear (as are a lot, I think) as to how much the VMs get touched in various operations.
For example, my question yesterday about a botched upgrade. If you can theoretically go back to 6.5 from a botched 7 upgrade, it can't be touching the VMs, right?
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@BRRABill said in BRRABill's Field Report With XenServer:
@DustinB3403 said
I don't believe you can move a VM backwards to an older version of XS7.
I admit I am still unclear (as are a lot, I think) as to how much the VMs get touched in various operations.
For example, my question yesterday about a botched upgrade. If you can theoretically go back to 6.5 from a botched 7 upgrade, it can't be touching the VMs, right?
Well if the install was botched, then perhaps the upgrade to the VM's hadn't happened yet.
The only thing I recall changing when moving from ESXi version to version was the ESXi tools inside the OS, the outside (the VM container) didn't seem to change.
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@BRRABill said
Ah, OK.
Can you perhaps invent a little paper clip that comes up on the bottom of the XO windows that tells you to click that button again?
I AM KIDDING, OF COURSE.
BTW, I know you guys watch Silicon Valley. What a coincidence I mentioned this, haha.
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So, for reasons I am not going to discuss to protect my stupidity, I reinstalled XS7 today.
I started from scratch, and this is how things got partitioned on my fancy new 64GB USB stick.
Just FYI...
1 46139392 83888127 18G Microsoft basic
2 8390656 46139391 18G Microsoft basic
3 83888128 84936703 512M BIOS boot parti
5 2048 8390655 4G Microsoft basic
6 84936704 87033855 1G Linux swap -
Doubled the RAM in my production XS today, and finally migrated the production mail server off the desktop that was running XS to the DELL server running XS7.
I used the live migration, and it worked like a dream.
Awesome...
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@olivier said
It's always a trade off. At least, it will be a quiesce snapshot if your Windows VM support it.
But ideally, to avoid any risk, shutdown THEN copy is the safest solution.
Depends of risk level (and downtime!) you can accept (eg live migration is still possible, but you could possibly reboot at destination if CPU instructions are not correct)
Would the only risk be the server crashing?
AKA, it would copy over OK< but might not just keep running.
XS7 did not fix my issue. I'm debating buying a second server to have just for redundancy, but not sure if it's really prudent with my smaller shop.