Hotfix XS56ESP2018 for XenServer 5.6 SP2

Issues Resolved In This Hotfix

This hotfix resolves the following issues:

1. Restarting XAPI in a pool consisting of a large number of Virtual Disk Images (VDIs) can cause pool members to indefinitely enter maintenance mode.
2. Virtual Machine (VM) templates for experimental RHEL 6 are displayed in XenCenter even after upgrading a XenServer host from XenServer 5.6 Feature Pack 1 to XenServer 5.6 Service Pack 2.
3. When a VM internally shuts down at the same time as XAPI restarts, XAPI can get into a state where it cannot restart again and will incorrectly record the VDI activation state.
4. Restarting XAPI does not flag VMs with outdated XenServer Tools even when there is an update available.
5. VM import tasks running for more than 24 hours, will fail.

In addition, this hotfix also includes fixes released in CTX133175- Hotfix XS56ESP2015 – For XenServer 5.6 SP2.

Installing the Hotfix

Customers should use either XenCenter or the XenServer Command Line Interface (CLI) to install this update. As with any software update, please back up your data before applying this hotfix. Citrix recommends updating all hosts within a pool sequentially. Upgrading of hosts should be scheduled to minimize the amount of time the pool runs in a “mixed state” where some hosts have been upgraded and some have not. Running a mixed pool of updated and non-updated hosts for general operation is not supported.

NOTE: The attachment to this article is a zip file. It contains both the hotfix update package, and the source code for any modified open source components. The source code is not necessary for hotfix installation: it is provided to fulfil licensing obligations.

Installing the update using XenCenter

1. Download the update to a known location on a computer that has XenCenter installed.
2. In XenCenter, on the Tools menu, select Install New Update. This displays the Install Update wizard.
3. Click Nextto start the Wizard.
4. Click Add…to upload a new update.
5. Browse to the location where you downloaded the hotfix, select it, and then click Open.
6. From the list of updates select XS56ESP2018.update and then click Next.
7. Select the hosts you wish to apply the hotfix to, and then click Next.
8. Follow the recommendations to resolve any upgrade prechecks.
9. Click Install to start the installation.

Note: The XenCenter controlled upgrade process reboots each host sequentially starting with the Pool Master, where possible VMs will be migrated to other running hosts to avoid VM downtime. When the Pool Master is being rebooted, XenCenter will be unable to monitor the pool.

Installing the update using the off-host CLI

1. Download the hotfix to a known location on a computer that has the XenServer CLI installed.
2. Upload the hotfix to the pool or host you wish to apply it to:
   

   xe -s <server> -u root -pw <password> patch-upload file-name=<filename>

   Here, -s <server>refers to the hostname. XenServer assigns the update file a UUID, which this command prints. Note the UUID:

   b27637be-fdff-4220-991f-a591078bdba4

3. Apply the hotfix to the pool, specifying the UUID of the hotfix, as given by the upload command in the previous step:
   

   xe -s <server> -u root -pw <password> patch-pool-apply uuid=b27637be-fdff-4220-991f-a591078bdba4

4. Verify that the update was applied by using the patch-list command. If the update has been successful, the hostsfield will contain the host UUID.
5. The hotfix is applied to all hosts in the pool, but it will not take effect until each host has been rebooted. For each host, migrate the VMs that you wish to keep running, and shutdown the remaining VMs before rebooting the host.

You can download the hotfix or read the origjnal post here.