Installing in Citrix XenServer Environments

Cisco Catalyst 8000V installation on Citrix XenServer requires the manual creation of a VM and installation using the .iso file. Deploying the OVA template into a Citrix XenServer environment is not supported in this release.

Cisco Catalyst 8000V supports the VIF vNIC type on the Citrix XenServer implementation.

The following Citrix XenServer features are supported:

  • Virtual machine power-cycle

  • Interface add and delete


    Note
    This operation requires you to shut down the Cisco Catalyst 8000V instance before performing interface add and delete.

  • NIC bonding

  • Virtual machine cloning

    Only cold cloning is supported. That is, you must power down the VM when the cloning takes place.

  • Taking, restoring and deleting snapshots

    Using the Citrix XenServer, you can take a snapshot of the current state of the VM. Snapshots are supported when the Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM is either powered up or powered down.

  • Remote storage

  • Performance monitoring (CPU, network and disk)


    Note
    Cisco Catalyst 8000V does not support XenTools. XenMotion operation is not supported on Cisco Catalyst 8000V because it requires XenTools.

For more information, see the Citrix XenServer documentation.

Installation Requirements for Citrix XenServer

The following are the installation requirements for Citrix XenServer for Cisco Catalyst 8000V running on Cisco IOS XE 17.4 and later.

  • Citrix XenServer version supported: Citrix XenServer 6.5 is recommended—tested and meets performance benchmarks. Citrix XenServer 6.2 is supported

  • Supported vCPU configurations. (Also depends on the throughput license and technology package installed–see Datasheet). : 1 vCPU: requires minimum 4 GB RAM allocation; 2 vCPUs: requires minimum 4 GB RAM allocation; 4 vCPUs: requires minimum 4 GB RAM allocation

  • Virtual CPU cores required: 1

  • Supported vNICs : VIF-netfront (pmap)

  • Maximum number of vNICs supported per VM instance: 7

  • Virtual CD/DVD drive Installed: Required

  • Virtual Disk—a 8 GB virtual disk is supported.

  • Virtual CPU cores—1 vCPU is required

Manually Creating the Cisco Catalyst 8000V VM Using the .iso File (Citrix XenServer)

While the following procedure provides a general guideline for how to manually create the VM for Cisco Catalyst 8000V, the exact steps that you need to perform may vary depending on the characteristics of your Citrix XenServer environment and setup. For more information, see the Citrix XenServer documentation.

To determine, for example, the number of vNICs when you install Cisco Catalyst 8000V on a Citrix XenServer VM, see the relevant installation requirements section for your Cisco IOS XE release.


Note
Cisco Catalyst 8000V does not support deploying the OVA file in KVM environments.

Perform the following steps using the Citrix XenCenter console.

Procedure

Step 1

Download the .iso file from the Cisco Catalyst 8000V software installation image package and copy it onto a local or network device.

Step 2

In the Citrix XenCenter console, to create a new VM, select the server, and click New VM.

The system displays the Select a VM template screen.
Step 3

Click Template. Scroll through the templates and select Other Install Media. Click Next.

Step 4

In the Name field, enter the name of the VM.

Step 5

When prompted for the installation media, choose from one of the following:

  • Install from the ISO library or DVD drive

  • Boot from network

Click Next.

Step 6

Select the server where the VM should be placed.
Step 7

Select the Place the VM checkbox on the server. Click Next.

Step 8

Enter the number of vCPUs and memory settings, and click Next.

Step 9

Add the virtual disks by configuring the following:

  • Enter the description (optional).

  • Select the virtual disk size from the pull-down menu.

    See the requirements sections in this guide for the supported number of vCPUs and memory requirements for your release.

  • Enter the location of the virtual disk.
Step 10

Click Add, and click Next.

Step 11

On the Networking screen, select the networks that will connect to the Cisco Catalyst 8000V through the vNICs.

See the requirements sections in this guide for the supported number of vCPUs and memory requirements for your release.

  1. Select a network and click Add Network.

  2. Select External, and click Next.

  3. Type in the network name. Click Next.

  4. Select the NIC to use, the VLAN, and set the MTU value.
Step 12

Click Finish.

The new network is added. Repeat the procedure in the previous step for each vNIC.

For more information about booting the VM, see the documentation at: http://www.citrix.com/. When the VM is booted, the Cisco Catalyst 8000V begins the first-time boot process. To continue the boot process, see the Booting the Cisco Catalyst 8000V and Accessing the Console section in this guide.