About Citrix XenConvert

Citrix XenConvert is a physical-to-virtual (P2V) conversion tool for converting a Windows operating system, applications, and data from a physical machine to a XenServer virtual machine, Provisioning Services vDisk, virtual appliance in the Open Virtualization Format (OVF), or disk image in the Virtual Hard Disk format.

XenConvert 2.4. adds the following improvements :

• XenServer 6.0 support
• Provisioning Services 6.0 support
• Select target storage repositories during conversion
• Copy files in use during Windows Server 2003 conversions

XenConvert 2.4.1 fixes the following issues :

• XenConvert does not duplicate the compression state of a directory
• XenConvert does not restore the original owner of select system files owned by a system service with privileges greater than the local administrator
• XenConvert allows the choice of invalid storage repositories when converting to XenServer
• XenConvert virtual-to-virtual (V2V) functionality is now included in XenCenter and complements the new virtual appliance and disk image import feature in XenServer 6.0.Use XenCenter 6.0 to import virtual appliances and disks created by XenConvert.

Download Citrix XenConvert 2.4.1 here (require MyCitrix ID)

Fred Donovan from Citrix have updated the whitepaper - Communication Ports Used by Citrix Technologies to version 1.5 (April 2011)

Overview

This document provides an overview of ports that are used by Citrix components and must be considered as part of Virtual Computing architecture, especially if communication traffic traverses network components such as firewalls or proxy servers, where ports must be opened to ensure communication flow.

References

The assignments are listed by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), updated regularly, and revised when new information is available and new assignments are made. The specific location of the port numbers list is available at the following Web site: http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers.

Microsoft Article “Network Ports Used by Key Microsoft Server Products”.

Microsoft Article ID 832017 “Service overview and network port requirements for the Windows Server system”.

Download WhitePaper - Communication Ports Used by Citrix Technologies here

What’s New in Citrix XenConvert 2.1.1
This release adds many new conversion features.

Converting and Resizing Multiple Volumes
XenConvert can now convert and resize multiple volumes from a physical machine to all destinations:

•VHD
•OVF Package
•XenServer
•Provisioning Services vDisk.

For conversions to VHD, OVF Package, and XenServer, XenConvert automatically resizes the virtual disk to accommodate the used space of the selected volumes, the free space requested for each volume, and any unallocated space requested for the virtual disk.

For the conversion to a Provisioning Services vDisk, XenConvert can automatically resize the volumes on the destination disk so they fit in the Provisioning Services vDisk by changing their amount of free space. After giving first preference to the Windows Boot Volume, the free space amounts of other volumes are allocated proportionately.

Faster Conversions
Most conversions now use OVF technology with dynamic (sparse) VHDs resulting in faster conversion times and lower free space requirements on the local disk.

Compatible with Project Kensho 1.3
XenConvert produces and consumes an OVF Package compatible with Project Kensho 1.3 including new features such as EULA and compression method.

Test XenServer Default Storage Repository
For conversions to XenServer, test the availability of a default storage repository required by XenConvert. Also, for conversions from ‘This Machine to XenServer’, test for sufficient free space on the default storage repository.

For further informations and download
http://www.citrix.com/English/ss/downloads/details.asp?downloadId=1862307&productId=683392