[Xen-devel] [Xen-users] XCP - xenserver tools required?

[brooks@xxxxxxxxxxx]

I posted this to xen-users yesterday without much response so I thought 
I'd try xen-devel.
One of the issues I've had using XenServer in a multitenant environment is the 
requirement for the VMs to have xentools installed as it causes significant 
issues when upgrading the VM OS or the pool from one version of XenServer (XCP) 
to another.  Having to touch hundreds VMs (by hand) after an upgrade just 
doesn't scale nor is delegating the task to VM owners an option.  Unfortunately 
a customer, even if they could be educated to do so, can't easily install or 
update the tools unless the xs-tools iso is in the virtual DVD drive, and to 
load it into the DVD drive you need access to XenCenter or to the CLI 
(vm-cd-add, vm-cd-eject, vm-cd-insert, vm-cd-list, vm-cd-remove). On the flip 
side, even if we did cental admin for all the VMs (what a nightmare) we 
wouldn't necessarily have root access to the VM preventing us from installing 
the new tools.
Not only does this create a management issue it also requires a fair amount of 
knowledge to do the right thing based on the VM.  I've seen situations where 
the kernel on the VM has been updated yet install.sh wants to downgrade the 
kernel.  For example, I have a Debian Etch VM that is running an updated 
kernel:
        2.6.18.8.xs5.5.0.15.449

Yet, running install.sh on that VM without the -k option causes an older kernel 
to be installed:
        2.6.18.8.xs1.0.0.16.450_1.0.0.16.450

Not only that but the tools that get installed are for XCP 1.0.

        xe-guest-utilities_1.0.0-647_i386.deb

It's doing the correct thing by installing 1.0.0-647 (XCP 1.x), but is 
certainly doesn't look correct (expecially in XenCenter) unless you do 
some digging.  XCP really needs it's own version of XenCenter, or a better 
alternative.  Speaking of an alternative I've been looking at the 
XenServer for OpenStack implementation:
        http://wiki.openstack.org/XenServerDevelopment

and the last step in the process is to install XenTools using XenCenter, 
OpenXenManager or the CLI.  Having to install and manage XenTools may be 
fine for private clouds where all the VMs are managed by one or more 
engineers but it just doesn't work for public clouds.
The XenServer 5.6fp1 manual states:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

XenServer Tools must be installed for each Virtual Machine (Windows and Linux) 
in order for the VM to have a fully supported configuration, and to be able to 
use the XenServer management tools (the xe CLI or XenCenter). A Windows VM will 
function without them, but performance will be significantly hampered unless 
the tools are installed.
Without the tools being installed, you cannot:

       - Cleanly shut down a VM
       - Cleanly reboot a VM
       - Suspend a VM
       - Migrate a running VM (aka XenMotion)
       - Use the checkpoint and roll back feature
       - Change the vCPUs Live

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Given the above it would seem that it's important to have windows pv drivers, 
some older CentOS kernels, and the xe-guest-utilities installed in an XCP 
environment.  But how do we manage it?  The cloud.com guys (which is based on 
the free version of XenServer) seem to ignore the problem.  What do you do?
All ideas, comments, and opinons are welcome.

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