Install XCP-ng 8.2 Virtualization Platform – Step by Step with Screenshots
XCP-ng is a turnkey open source virtualization platform based on Xen Source and Citrix® Hypervisor (formerly XenServer). XCP-ng stands for Xen Cloud Platform, a tribute to the old Open Source project XCP, which was abandoned when XenServer was open-sourced in 2013.
XCP-ng project is a result of massive cooperation between individuals and companies, to deliver a powerful type 1 hypervisor. The product components, documentation, repositories and dev process are easily accessible and available to the general public.
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A functional XCP-ng platform is comprised of the following infrastructure components:
- Compute
- Network
- Storage
- API (Xen API)
We will perform a step-by-step installation of XCP-ng virtualization platform. This will be the first article with subsequent guides put into mini-series for easy reference in building your ultimate virtualization solution.
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Installation requirements
XCP-ng can only be installed on a 64-bit x86 server-class machine that has been devoted to hosting Virtual Machines – Linux, Unix, Windows e.t.c. An optimized and hardened Linux partition is created after the installation of XCP-ng, with a Xen-enabled kernel. The kernel is what controls the interaction between the virtual machines hardware and the real physical hardware.
In an XCP-ng virtualization platform supported hardware at the compute level are:
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- Up to 5 TB of RAM
- Up to 16 physical NICs
- Up to 288 logical processors per host.
The devices listed on Citrix Hypervisor’s Hardware Compatibility List are supported by XCP-ng.
Step 1: Download XCP-ng 8.x ISO
We’ll be performing an installation of XCP-ng version which in an LTS release with support until 2025-06-25. There are many options for the installation you can choose from, namely:
ISO installation is the most used method as can be done purely offline without the need for DHCP, PXE and Web server.
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In this article we’ll use the ISO installation method. But first you need to download the latest LTS ISO image of XCP-ng from the iso releases page.
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As of this article writing this is version 8.2.0
wget https://updates.xcp-ng.org/isos/8.2/xcp-ng-8.2.1.iso
You can as well download the file directly from the URL in your browser.
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Step 2: Create bootable USB or attach ISO Media
If doing the installation over a KVM switch or direct server console, you can create a bootable USB key with the commands below:
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dd if=xcp-ng-8.2.1.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=8M oflag=direct
On Windows, you can use Rufus to create the bootable USB stick.
For installation over IPMI you can then attach the ISO to the virtual media:
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Step 3: Install XCP-ng 8.2 Virtualization Platform
Boot off created medium – USB or attached ISO to begin installation of XCP-ng 8.2 Virtualization Platform on your physical box.
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Select keyboard keymap you’re using in this installation.
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Agree to clear data so that installation of XCP-ng Virtualization server can begin.
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Accept the End User License Agreement to progress with the installation.
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Select the disk that will be used for the Virtual Machine storage. Extra configurations can be done after the installation.
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Select the source of files for the installation. Since we’re doing the ISO installation method, this will be “Local media“.
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Verify installation source to check integrity of the files.
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A successful message is expected before we proceed.
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Specify root user password – this has to be at least 6 characters in length.
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Choose the network interface used for connecting to the management server on the host.
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Specify whether to use DHCP or Static IP address for the management interface. For static networking, provide the server IP address, Subnet mask and Gateway IP address.
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If the interface is trunk and VLAN is required, set IP information and specify VLAN ID:
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Set correct DNS server(s) IP addresses:
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Select XCP-ng host geographical area
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Select the city in geographical area chosen.
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Select local time configuration method. NTP is preferred over manual time configuration.
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If you chose NTP you need to input NTP servers details in the next screen.
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Once all the information required to install XCP-ng is provided you can confirm to proceed.
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The installation preparation begins shortly after you confirm.
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Installation could take quite some minutes, so be patient!
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Select “No” for Supplemental packs installation.
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You’re almost through with the installation steps if your screen shows output similar to below.
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Here is my successful installation message. You need to detach installation media then reboot the system,
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After reboot you’re greeted TUI console which looks like this:
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You can start the command shell by hitting “Local Command Shell” from the selection.
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Login the root username and the password set during installation
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The installer creates small partition for the OS and dedicate the remaining to Virtual Machines using LVM.
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Upgrade the system’s packages before you use XCP-ng installed to manage Virtual Machines.
yum update
Confirm upgrades using y key:
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Reboot the host after a successful upgrade.
Step 4: Install XenServer | XCP-ng Management tools (Optional)
Refer to the guides in the links below:
- Managing XCP-ng Hypervisor with XenCenter | XCP-ng Center
- Deploy Xen Orchestra Appliance on Xen/XCP-ng from CLI
- Install Xen Orchestra on Ubuntu | Debian to Manage Xen/XCP-ng
Step 5: Adding ISO Storage repository
Refer to the guide in below link:
Conclusion
In this guide we’ve been able to install XCP-ng 8.2 Virtualization Platform on a dedicated server using ISO downloaded from the website. In the next guides we’ll dive deeper into more configurations and environment preparation before creating Virtual Machines in the platform.
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