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Is is know that Xen Server is based on CentOS, and it is fact that CentOS can be installed on an ISCSI target flawlessly, but I wanted to install Xen server on an ISCSI target I couldn't find a way.

I already tried the latest version of xen server 6.2, and there is no obvious way who to do the installation without a local disk.

Does anybody have an idea about the subject, or did someone know how to do it?

Please share your experience about this subject.

HXH
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1 Answers1

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Edit: Updated the Answer to better include Xen server Specific information.

Installing to an ISCSI target is similar to installing to a local disk.

You should be able to set your iscsi target as "First HDD" in the iscsi initiator settings.

Additionally, make sure that you have a boot order of:

1) iscsi target (DO NOT ALLOW IT TO BOOT TO THIS TARGET DURING INSTALL) (You should be able to set the target to mount but skip booting 1 time in the initiator settings)

2) CD-Rom drive.

The system should them mount the target, then boot to CD-ROM.

After booting the to the Xen Server Install Media

  • At Xenserver installer boot press F2 to go to Advanced Mode
  • Type 'shell' at the prompt

  • At the prompt type: (Where "iqn.2010-01.com.example:name" is your IQN name)

    echo "InitiatorName=iqn.2010-01.com.example:name" > /etc/iscsi/initiatorname.iscsi

  • Initialize your target ("--mpath" if you have multipath setup to the iscsi LUN)

    /opt/xensource/installer/init --use_ibft

Information lovingly borrowed from here:

https://supportforums.cisco.com/discussion/11517296/iscsi-boot-xenserver

Dan O'Boyle
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  • You are talking about booting Xen Server from and iscsi target, which irrelevant with my question, my question is intalling Xen Server to an iscsi target instead of the local server, just consider that the server that I want to install is diskless. – HXH May 28 '14 at 14:15
  • @GhassenTelmoudi Maybe you could clean up your question a bit? You state "Install Xen Server on an ISCSI Target". The steps I gave you are a birds eye view of how to install Xen Server on that target (Assuming your install media in on the CD-Rom drive) – Dan O'Boyle May 28 '14 at 21:27
  • There is none of what you're talking about on the installation process of Xen Server at least for version 6.2. Can you at least back it up with some screenshot, because it seems to me that we're not talking about the same thing @Dan. – HXH May 30 '14 at 10:12
  • @GhassenTelmoudi I've updated my answer to be more Xen specific. Good luck! – Dan O'Boyle Jun 18 '14 at 14:25
  • Thank you @Dan for you answer, but I have to try it first. – HXH Jun 19 '14 at 15:29
  • Any luck with this @GhassenTelmoudi ? – Dan O'Boyle Oct 14 '14 at 19:41