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XenServer 9 preview

XenServer 9 preview is finally here released February 19th 2026.

What’s new in XenServer 9 preview

  • NUMA Awareness: Enhanced performance through optimizations for Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) server CPU architectures.
  • Driver Multi-Versioning: Flexibility to support multiple driver versions without requiring driver disks.
  • (Coming Soon) – Host Secure Boot: Strengthened security with UEFI Secure Boot for host systems.
  • Improved Host Network Name Handling
  • Updated Xen Hypervisor (v4.20)
  • Dom0 Kernel Upgraded to 6.x
  • New base Operating System for the Control Domain
  • GFS2 SRs Now Use Corosync3

NOTE:

GFS2 SRs on XenServer 8.4 must be converted from Corosync2 to Corosync3 before upgrading to XenServer 9. Refer to the Corosync feature documentation.

XS9 is a preview
Dont expect you can use any NVIDIA vGPU drivers yet, but you can use GPU pass-through for VM and do testing, which I am going to do.

NUMA optimization

XenServer® 9 introduces NUMA optimization to improve VM performance on NUMA hosts. NUMA optimization co-locates VM vCPUs and memory on the same NUMA node to reduce memory-access latency. This feature is enabled by default, persists across VM lifecycle operations and reboots, and adds per-VM RRD metrics for visibility and troubleshooting. Performance gains vary by workload and CPU architecture.

Secure Boot for hosts

XenServer® 9 adds support for Secure Boot in firmware for host installation and runtime, including boot from SAN. Secure Boot enforces signature verification for each boot component to prevent untrusted code from running and to improve platform integrity. Mixed pools (hosts with Secure Boot enabled and disabled) are supported. You can enable Secure Boot after an upgrade from XenServer 8.4 or on fresh installs. When finalised, you will be able to use the Microsoft UEFI CA; currently a feature preview is available that uses a XenServer development certificate, for more information see Secure Boot for XenServer 9.

Predictable dom0 network interface naming

XenServer® 9 adopts systemd predictable network interface names in the control domain (dom0) and consolidates interface management in Toolstack networkd. Interfaces are no longer forcibly renamed to the legacy ethN pattern (for example, eth0, eth1). This change improves stability and maintainability, reduces ambiguity across reboots and hardware changes, and aligns naming with industry standards. Update scripts and automation that assume ethN device names to discover interfaces dynamically (for example, by MAC address or by using xe pif-list).

Changes to guest operating system support

For the full list of supported guest operating systems in XenServer 9, see Guest operating system support.

Removed

Support for the following guests has been removed in XenServer 9:

  • SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP4 (64-bit)

Restrict use of port 80

For new installations, XenServer 9 disables HTTP (port 80) on the management interface and requires TLS (HTTPS) for secure connections. Upgrades retain existing port settings.

For more information about how to open port 80, see Restrict use of port 80.

Removed features

The following features are no longer supported in XenServer 9:

  • Host BIOS Boot Support
  • Legacy NVIDIA GPU Support (Maxwell & Pascal)
  • Software FCoE
  • Linux Bridge Network Stack

Licensing changes

File based licensing system EOL notification

License Activation Service (LAS) is the next generation technology for product activations across the suite of Citrix products.

NOTE:

File based licensing system, traditionally used for activating various on-premises components, will be End of Life (EOL) on April 15, 2026.

LAS will be the only way to activate and license Citrix on-premises components after April 15, 2026. To remain supported, your XenServer deployment must be on a LAS compatible version.

Requirement

Should you have questions or concerns, contact Customer Care. Citrix may limit or suspend your Citrix Maintenance for non-compliance with these requirements without liability in addition to any other remedies Citrix may have at law or equity. These requirements don’t apply where prohibited by law or regulation.

License Activation Service

Register your Citrix License Server with Citrix Cloud to use the licenses and entitlements that your License Activation Service holds. For more information, see Licensing.

Currently, you can still use the previous licensing mechanism to host license files on your Citrix License Server. However, in future, XenServer can only be licensed through the License Activation Service.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops™ and Citrix DaaS

For more information about getting a XenServer license, see the XenServer website.

XenServer is now an entitlement of the Citrix for Private Cloud, Citrix Universal Hybrid Multi-Cloud, Citrix Universal MSP, and Citrix Platform License subscriptions for running your Citrix workloads. Read more.

Source

https://www.xenserver.com/editions/xs9-preview

https://docs.xenserver.com/en-us/xenserver/9/overview

Download XenServer 9 preview here

Hydra 2.1.1.0

Hydra 2.1.1.0 by LoginVSI is released 28th January 2026.

Let’s dig in what’s new in Hydra 2.1.1.0 by LoginVSI, I will also share my experiences after I upgraded my Hydra tenant to latest release and show how does it looks and what is important to be aware of.

Whats new in Hydra 2.1.1.0

Following new features and improvement are in Hydra 2.1.1.0

  • Update engine in Hydra redesigned
  • New Windows 365 capability
  • Script Collection new action feature
  • Hydra in Azure Market place updates
  • Hydra community edition limits

Update engine in Hydra redesigned

Hydra have been redesign before you could only upgrade to newest version. This feature is something I have waited years, so I am happy to see the feature is final here. With newest version Hydra 2.1.1.0 its now possible to control upgrade releases of the Hydra engine. This gives Hydra customers more confidence to test, validate, and move at their own pace—without being forced into change.  Customers can also go back to a previous version this bring in version control of Hydra.

Hydra updates will be retrieved from an Azure Storage Account, allowing flexibility for updates and rollbacks

Whitelist url for the new Hydra engine

IMPORTANT:
The new update engine in Hydra requires you to whitelist these 3 URL in your firewall/security.

https://itpcupdateweu.blob.core.windows.net
https://itpcupdateeus2.blob.core.windows.net
https://itpcupdatesea.blob.core.windows.net

How it looks the new update engine

The Update Center will tell you which version is currently installed and whether it is a “Stable” or “Preview” version.

Pre-Update Checks and Considerations

  • Please only run an update when no deployments, scripts, or imaging processes are running, so plan a maintenance window around the update. Updates typically take around 5 minutes.
  • Refer to the Release Notes to ensure there aren’t any known issues that may impact your deployment, and familiarize yourself with any new features or changes introduced.
  • Have a test Hydra deployment and update it first.
  • Ensure the App Service and SQL backups are working as expected, and you have a relatively recent rollback point.
  • Typical AVD operations, such as brokering and active AVD sessions, will continue as normal.
  • Full administrator permissions are needed in Hydra to conduct the update.  

Updating Hydra

  • After starting the update, it is normal to see API or communications-related errors pop up as the engine goes offline.  
  • After a few minutes, reload the Hydra Portal website. 

Source (whitelist url for hydra update engine)

https://docs.loginvsi.com/hydra/2.1.1/updating-hydra

New Windows 365 capability in Hydra

Hydra continues to close the gap between AVD and Windows 365 device management.
In Hydra 2.1.1.0 LoginVSI have implemented 2 new Windows 365 features. Under Windows 365 you now see Cloud PC Configurations and Network Connections

Cloud PC Configurations 

The Cloud PC configuration page lets you view and manage Cloud PC configurations in Windows 365, including creating, editing, assigning, and deleting configurations.

This functionality is from Intune taking into Hydra

Cloud PC Configuration Table

The table lists the Cloud PC Configuration with the following columns:Enlarges the table by opening it in a full screen dialogOpen

TenantShows the tenant associated with the Cloud PC configuration. You can sort the column in ascending or descending order and filter by tenant.
NameShows the name of the Cloud PC configuration.
AssignedIndicates whether the Cloud PC configuration is assigned. You can filter the list by assignment status.
Last updatedShows the date and time of the most recent update.
PriorityIndicates the order in which Cloud PC configurations were added, represented by a numeric value.
EditOpens the Cloud PC configuration for editing.

This is how it looks in Intune

Intune – > Devices – Windows 365 -> Settings -> Cloud PC configuration

Network Connections

This new feature gain visibility into Azure network settings used by Windows 365, making troubleshooting and validation easier across teams. 
#Note this will NOT show Microsoft managed networks

The Network Connections page provides an overview of all Windows 365 network connections across tenants where the feature is enabled. It allows administrators to search, filter, and review key details for each connection. This page is primarily for reviewing and locating policies; no direct actions (like edit or delete) are available from this page.

Network Connections Table

The table lists all provisioning policies with the following columns:Enlarges the table by opening it in a full screen dialogOpen

TenantThe tenant where the network connection is applied.
NameName of the network connection.
Virtual networkThe Azure virtual network associated with the network connection.
StatusThe current status of the network connection.
Created byThe administrator who created the network connection.
Join typeThe directory join type used by Cloud PCs that use the network connection
SubscriptionThe Azure subscription that contains the virtual network.
DomainThe domain associated with the network connection.
RegionThe Azure region where the network connection is hosted.

Script Collections new Action feature

In Script Collection (Action) there is added a newer function which allows tasks sequences to automatically quit the collections on hosts with active sessions. This prevents disruption to connected users while keeping automation safe and predictable.

First you goto Scripts and Collections -> Collections.

Then you can modify an existing collection or create a new collection. Add an Action and you will see Others – Quit on hosts with sessions

Example:

In below example I modify a collection “OS Install Windows Update” Which is based on builtin in Hydra and I add the new action “Others – Quit on hosts with sessions“
This means I am now making my collection intelligent which I run each Saturday and if any users are on the hosts this new action will not make the session hosts updated because the new action “Others – Quit on hosts with sessions” prevents that it runs because it identifies users are on active session hosts.

Hydra in Azure Market place updates

Hydra by LoginVSI is now certified by Microsoft in the Azure Marketplace

The Microsoft Solutions Partner with certified software designation recognizes ISVs that demonstrate strong technical integration with Microsoft Cloud, marketplace readiness, and proven customer success. Benefits include increased visibility, software quality validation, and access to Microsoft co-sell opportunities.

Hydra offering in Azure Marketplace

The Hydra can be installed in 3 ways in Azure Marketplace.

  • Hydra for AVD and Windows 365 Management – Trial
  • Hydra for AVD and Windows 365 Management – Private
  • Hydra for AVD and Windows 365 Management –

This is a little confusing so I will in this blogpost go into what each offering is in Azure Marketplace

If you goto the Azure Marketplace and search for Hydra LoginVSI you will see 3 below option.

  • Red is installation of hydra (this is used for doing a trial or installing for production) step 1.
  • Yellow is licensing of hydra (step 2 if you want to buy hydra and license you environment)
  • Blue is a private offer and must be whitelisted by LoginVSI, and get special offering by LoginVSI if you want example 10.000 licenses for a month or for 1-3 years.

Hydra Community edition

Updated Limits effective January 2026

LoginVSI continuing to invest and update the Hydra Community Edition to ensure it continues to serve its purpose — helping IT pros and admins explore Hydra in smaller lab environments and simple commercial use cases.  

Starting with the Release of Hydra 2.x, the Community Edition will include the following limits: 

  • 1 Azure tenant 
  • 5 host pools
  • 5 hosts per pool
  • Up to 100 user sessions shown in the User Sessions page (AVD and Windows 365/Cloud PC) 

All new installations of Hydra include a 30-day, unlimited, fully-function trial, after which the above limits automatically apply if you’re not on a paid plan. These changes help maintain fair use and performance for all Community Edition users. If your environment exceeds these limits or supports production workloads, please reach out — we’ll help you transition to a paid Hydra plan that fits your environment.  

NOTE: These Community Mode limits will not be applied if you are updating from an earlier version of Hydra to version 2.1.1.0. Beginning with Hydra next version, 2.2.0.0, Community Mode updated limits will apply to existing installs

Source

https://docs.loginvsi.com/hydra/2.1.1

FSLogix 26.01

Microsoft have 13th January 2026 released a new version of FSLogix.

version 3.26.102.18413

This release focuses on stability, reliability, and quality fixes rather than introducing new features.

Recommendation if you are using FSLogix in your End User Computing (EUC) anything from Microsoft RDS, AVD, Citrix, Omnissa, Parallels RAS or other EUC platform, I would highly recommend you plan upgrading your environment and test properly before rolling out the release to production.

Fixed issues

  • Updated the default identity exclusions as defined in Device identity and desktop virtualization | Microsoft Learn.
  • Fixed the registry exclusions.
  • Fixed logging when a user is excluded using local exclude groups.
  • Fixed FRX.exe copy-profile utility.
  • Updated default redirections in Outlook for Windows.
  • Fixed an issue where a disk may not detach correctly after a compact operation.
  • Fixed a potential logon hang when a profile does not unload successfully during a timeout operation (< 30 sec).
  • Fixed extended status of SupportedSize for VHD compact operations.
  • Fixed an issue where package registration could fail due to missing authentication context.

Download

You can download FSLogix 26.01 (3.26.102.18413) here

Source

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fslogix/overview-release-notes

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/fslogix/overview-what-is-fslogix

VMware ESXi 8.0 Update 3e now available as a Free Hypervisor

Broadcom have made VMware ESXi free available as a hypervisor. But it’s only for ESXi 8.0 Update 3e->. There is currently no plan for VMware ESXi 9 to make this free.

Features included in the free version:

  • Run unlimited VMs within hardware limits
  • Up to 2 physical CPUs supported per host
  • 8 vCPUs per virtual machine
  • Access to vSphere Host Client for web-based host management
  • Basic hardware health and logging

Limitations in the free license:

  • Cannot be managed by vCenter
  • No access to vMotion, DRS, HA, VADP-based backups
  • Usage of API’s to manage hosts is not supported, and may only provide read-only information.
  • No official Broadcom support 

How to download Free ESXi 8.0 Update 3e:

  1. Log in to Broadcom Support Portal
  2. Go to My Downloads
  3. Click on the box that says “Free Software Downloads available HERE”
  4. Search for “VMware vSphere Hypervisor”
  5. Click “I agree to the Terms and Conditions ” and download the ISO
  6. Once installed, the free license is embedded in the software download itself — no separate key required. 

Source

https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/399823/vmware-esxi-80-update-3e-now-available-a.html

VMware vSphere 9

In this blogpost I will as a VMware vExpert cover whats new in VMware vSphere 9

VMware vSphere 9 was released, June 17 2025 as part of VMware vSphere Foundation 9 and VMware Cloud Foundation 9

Build number: 24957454

Components of VMware vSphere 9

  • VMware vSphere ESXi9
  • VMware vCenter 9

Versions of VMware vSphere 9

  • VMware vSphere Foundation 9
  • VMware Cloud Foundation 9

Upgrade path for VMware vSphere 9

Streamlined Upgrade Path: vSphere 9.0 supports direct upgrades from vSphere 8.0, enabling smoother transitions for recent versions.
Compatibility Requirements: vCenter 9.0 requires ESX 8.0 or later, dropping support for ESX 7.0 and earlier versions.
Lifecycle Management Shift: Traditional VMware Update Manager is replaced by image-based lifecycle management for all clusters and hosts.

Key New Features in vSphere 9.0

1. Memory Tiering over NVMe
vSphere 9 introduces NVMe Memory Tiering, allowing local NVMe devices to serve as a secondary memory tier. This can expand effective host memory capacity and improve VM density without requiring more DRAM. 

2. Virtual Hardware Version 22

  • Updated VM hardware version that enables support for up to 960 vCPUs and larger memory limits (e.g., ~16 TB).
  • Improved device support (NVMe, PCI passthrough, graphics).
    This unlocks greater performance and scalability for heavy workloads. 

3. Enhanced Storage Support

  • Native support for 4K SSDs on compatible hardware.
  • Write Zeroes support and namespace write protection for virtual NVMe devices, which improve performance and storage efficiency. 

4. Lifecycle Management Upgrades

  • vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) enhancements, including mixed-hardware clusters and composite cluster images.
  • Traditional baselines-based patching is replaced by image-based lifecycle workflows. 

5. vMotion & Cluster Improvements

  • Optimizations for vMotion (including better performance for GPU-enabled workloads).
  • Improvements to managing clusters and lifecycle across hosts. 

6. Kubernetes & Modern Workloads Support

  • Enhanced support and tooling for integrating Kubernetes workloads via Supervisor services (especially in vSphere Foundation / Cloud Foundation contexts).
  • Live VM customization APIs and enhanced automation. 

7. API & Developer Experience Enhancements

  • Open API 3.0 and a more unified SDK for automation across vCenter, vSAN, and core APIs.
  • Simplified automation and scripting using consistent API sets. 

8. Security & Compliance Improvements

  • Enhanced support for modern security standards including TLS 1.3 and vTPM support.
  • Namespace write protection and disk protections for virtual storage. 

9. Changes in Deprecated/Removed Features
vSphere 9 also marks the deprecation or removal of certain legacy features such as Auto Deploy, Host Profiles, baselines (in favor of vLCM), and parts of older management tooling — signaling VMware’s shift toward more modern infrastructure management. 

Source

https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/vsphere/9-0/release-notes.html