XenServer: Install OS (FreeNAS) from ISO on networked computer

Question

I’ve set up a new XenServer box, and installed XenCenter on my computer. In this past I’ve used ESXi and vSphere, and in that I’m able to use an ISO on my computer to install an operating system on a VM in the server.

With XenServer/XenCenter, I cannot figure out how to do that. I have everything for the VM configured and ready to go, I just can’t figure out how to install FreeNAS from my computer onto the XenServer VM. What am I overlooking?

Answer 1

You can add an SR (over NFS for example) and put the ISO there. An alternative is to create a local SR, here local means on the root fs of your xenserver install:

1. Create a dedicated folder where you want to place ISO's, this can also be a mounted USB stick, or another HDD:

   mkdir -p /var/opt/xen/my_ISOs
   

2. Add a local SR to xenserver that uses the directory above:

   xe sr-create name-label=LocalISO type=iso device-config:location=/var/opt/xen/my_ISOs device-config:legacy_mode=true content-type=iso
   

3. You can then access those ISOs when adding a CD-Drive to your VM:

Just as a side note: There are many other issues you may run into when installing FreeNAS on xenserver, however it's possible - even with full xenhvm support (you'll need your own modified build of FreeNAS).

Feel free to post further questions regarding that.