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Citrix XenServer 6 issue with IBM HS22, X3650, X3690

ALEXANDER ERVIK JOHNSEN, CTP founder/owner of ervik.as a great friend and colleque have found an serious issue with Citrix XenServer 6 and IBM HS22.

I can confirm i have the issue seen on IBM HS22 and IBM X3650 and IBM X3690

Kodos to Alexander for this great tip and solution so we can get XenServer 6 to run on these IBM beauties.

Source article from ervik.as

Issue with Citrix XenServer 6 and IBM HS22, X3650 and X3690

The problem was after installing Citrix XenServer 6.0 it just went into a boot loop.
The problem lies with the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).

If it does not have Legacy Support when running XenServer 6.0, it will go into a boot loop.

Here is what you need to do:

Wait for the UEFI boot to finish.

Wait for the blade to connect boot devices and adapters, when prompted hit F1 to enter Setup

Once inside the Setup utility find go down to System Settings

Hit Enter

Go Down to Legacy Support and Hit Enter

Ensure that the options shown in the above picture is selected and hit ESC

Now go into the Boot Manager to remove unwanted features and more

Enter the Add Boot Option

Scroll down to Legacy Support and select it! Then hit ESC and REMEBER to save the settings and reboot!

!!! Remember to change the Bootorder to have legacySupport to initialize first.

Your server should now be able to boot on  IBM HS22 and IBM X3650 and IBM X3690

How to Load Balance IBM Domino Webmail Servers with Citrix Netscaler

Citrix have released this cool knowledge article on how to Load Balance the IBM Domino web servers with a Citrix Netscaler appliances. If you have Domino in your production then this is a must to do thing =o) GO Netscaler…. :o)

 

Summary

This article contains information about how to Load Balance the IBM Domino Webmail Servers with a NetScaler appliance.

Background

The configuration demonstrated in this article refers to a Domino configuration where there is one exclusive logon server and individual mailbox servers for each user.

Refer to Achieving High Availability with IBM Lotus iNotes for more information.

Procedure

Because the Domino server must redirect users to their respective mailboxes, a NetScaler appliance must rewrite the URL sent by the Domino server.

This allows the users to only communicate with one given URL such as https://webmail.example.com, instead of multiple URLs such ashttps://mailbox1.example.com or https://mailbox2.example.com.

The following steps describe the network flow when load balancing the IBM Domino Webmail Servers:

  • A user opens the webmail.example.com website by using a Web browser.
  • The Web browser redirects the user to https://webmail.example.com.
  • The user enters the credentials.
  • If the credentials are successful, then the server redirects the user to http://mailbox1.example.com/.
  • A NetScaler appliance modifies the URL to https://webmail.example.com/ before sending the data back to the user.
  • A cookie is set on the client with the value of mailbox1.
  • When the Web browser requests https://webmail.example.com/ with the cookie mailbox1, a NetScaler appliance content switches this request to the mailbox1 server.

The NetScaler appliance must set a cookie for the mailbox server. Therefore, the clients must support cookies.

Features Required

The following features must be enabled on a NetScaler appliance:

  • Load Balancing
  • Content Switching
  • SSL
  • Rewrite

Configuration

To configure a NetScaler appliance to load balance the IBM Domino Webmail Servers, complete the following steps:

  • Run the following command in the command line interface of the appliance to enable the required features:
    enable ns feature LB CS SSL REWRITE
  • Run the following commands to add the mailbox servers:
    add server mailbox1 1.2.3.1
    add server mailbox2 1.2.3.2
    add server mailbox3 1.2.3.3
    add server mailbox4 1.2.3.4
  • Run the following command add the logon server:
    add server login 1.2.3.10
  • Run the following commands to add the content switching policies:
    add cs policy “Mailbox A” -rule “HTTP.REQ.HEADER(\”Cookie\”).SET_TEXT_MODE(IGNORECASE).CONTAINS(\”mailbox1\”)”
    add cs policy “Mailbox B” -rule “HTTP.REQ.HEADER(\”Cookie\”).SET_TEXT_MODE(IGNORECASE).CONTAINS(\”mailbox2\”)”
    add cs policy “Mailbox C” -rule “HTTP.REQ.HEADER(\”Cookie\”).SET_TEXT_MODE(IGNORECASE).CONTAINS(\”mailbox3\”)”
    add cs policy “Mailbox D” -rule “HTTP.REQ.HEADER(\”Cookie\”).SET_TEXT_MODE(IGNORECASE).CONTAINS(\”mailbox4\”)”
  • Run the following commands to add services for the mailbox servers:
    add service mailbox1-http mailbox1 HTTP 80 -gslb NONE -maxClient 0 -maxReq 0 -cip DISABLED -usip NO -useproxyport YES -sp ON -cltTimeout 180 -svrTimeout 360 -CKA NO -TCPB NO -CMP YES
    add servicemailbox2-http mailbox2 HTTP 80 -gslb NONE -maxClient 0 -maxReq 0 -cip DISABLED -usip NO -useproxyport YES -sp ON -cltTimeout 180 -svrTimeout 360 -CKA NO -TCPB NO -CMP YES
    add service mailbox3-http mailbox3 HTTP 80 -gslb NONE -maxClient 0 -maxReq 0 -cip DISABLED -usip NO -useproxyport YES -sp ON -cltTimeout 180 -svrTimeout 360 -CKA NO -TCPB NO -CMP YES
    add service mailbox4-http mailbox4 HTTP 80 -gslb NONE -maxClient 0 -maxReq 0 -cip DISABLED -usip NO -useproxyport YES -sp ON -cltTimeout 180 -svrTimeout 360 -CKA NO -TCPB NO -CMP YES
  • Run the following command to add a service for the logon server:
    add service login-http login HTTP 80 -gslb NONE -maxClient 0 -maxReq 0 -cip DISABLED -usip NO -useproxyport YES -sp ON -cltTimeout 180 -svrTimeout 360 -CKA NO -TCPB NO -CMP YES
  • Run the following command to add rewrite actions:
    add rewrite action “Webmail – Internal” replace http.REQ.HOSTNAME.SERVER “\”login.example.com\””

    add rewrite action “Webmail – Change Location” replace “http.RES.HEADER(\”Location\”)” “\”https://webmail.example.com\” + http.RES.HEADER(\”Location\”).AFTER_STR(\”example.com\”)”
    Note    : The logon server returns a URL redirect based on its internal name, such as login.example.com.

    add rewrite action “Body Replace” replace “http.RES.BODY(1000).AFTER_STR(\”http://\”).BEFORE_STR(\”/\”)” “\”webmail.example.com\””

    add rewrite action “Insert Cookie” insert_http_header Set-Cookie “http.RES.BODY(1000).AFTER_STR(\”http://\”).BEFORE_STR(\”/\”)”
    Note    : This action sets the mailbox server information cookie on the client.

    add rewrite action “Webmail – Cookie Domain” replace “http.RES.HEADER(\”Set-Cookie\”).AFTER_STR(\”domain=\”).BEFORE_STR(\”;\”)” “\”.example.com\””

  • Run the following command to add rewrite policies:
    add rewrite policy “Webmail – Policy” “http.REQ.HOSTNAME.SERVER.EQ(\”webmail.example.com\”)” “Webmail – Internal”
    Note    : This policy changes the external URL to the internal URL to access the logon server.

    add rewrite policy “Webmail – Host Change” “http.RES.HEADER(\”Location\”).CONTAINS(\”http://webmail.example.com\”)” “Webmail – Change Location”

    add rewrite policy “Webmail-Insert Cookie” “http.REQ.URL.CONTAINS(\”IntRedirMail.nsf\”)” “Insert Cookie”
    Note    : This policy sets the mailbox server information cookie on the client.

    add rewrite policy “Webmail-Replace Body” “http.REQ.URL.CONTAINS(\”IntRedirMail.nsf\”)” “Body Replace”
    Note    : This policy modifies the URL to be an external URL used by users, when the user requests IntReditMail.nsf from the logon server.

    add rewrite policy “Webmail-Replace Cookie Domain” “http.RES.HEADER(\”Set-Cookie\”).CONTAINS(\”example.com\”)” “Webmail – Cookie Domain”
    Note    : This is policy is required, if the internal domain name is different from the external domain name.

  • Run the following commands to add load balancing Virtual Servers:
    add lb vserver mailbox1-lb HTTP 0.0.0.0 0 -persistenceType NONE -cltTimeout 180
    add lb vserver mailbox2-lb HTTP 0.0.0.0 0 -persistenceType NONE -cltTimeout 180
    add lb vserver mailbox3-lb HTTP 0.0.0.0 0 -persistenceType NONE -cltTimeout 180
    add lb vserver mailbox4-lb HTTP 0.0.0.0 0 -persistenceType NONE -cltTimeout 180
    add lb vserver login-lb HTTP 0.0.0.0 0 -persistenceType NONE -cltTimeout 180
    add lb vserver “webmail redirect” HTTP 10.10.10.1 80 -persistenceType NONE -redirectURL “https://webmail.example.com” -cltTimeout 180
  • Run the following command to add the content switching Virtual Server:
    add cs vserver Webmail SSL 10.10.10.1 443 -cltTimeout 180
  • Run the following commands to bind the load balancing Virtual Server to the services:
    bind lb vserver mailbox1-lb mailbox1-http
    bind lb vserver mailbox2-lb mailbox2-http
    bind lb vserver mailbox3-lb mailbox3-http
    bind lb vserver mailbox4-lb mailbox4-http
    bind lb vserver login-lb login-http
  • Run the following commands to bind the content switching policies to the Virtual Server:
    bind cs vserver Webmail -policyName “Webmail – Policy” -priority 100 -gotoPriorityExpression NEXT -type REQUEST
    bind cs vserver Webmail -policyName “Webmail – Host Change” -priority 1 -gotoPriorityExpression NEXT -type RESPONSE
    bind cs vserver Webmail -policyName “Webmail-Replace Cookie Domain” -priority 10 -gotoPriorityExpression NEXT -type RESPONSE
    bind cs vserver Webmail -policyName “Webmail-Insert Cookie” -priority 20 -gotoPriorityExpression NEXT -type RESPONSE
    bind cs vserver Webmail -policyName “Webmail-Replace Body” -priority 30 -gotoPriorityExpression NEXT -type RESPONSE
    bind cs vserver Webmail login-lb
    bind cs vserver Webmail mailbox1-lb -policyName “Mailbox A” -priority 100
    bind cs vserver Webmail mailbox2-lb -policyName “Mailbox B” -priority 90
    bind cs vserver Webmail mailbox3-lb -policyName “Mailbox C” -priority 80
    bind cs vserver Webmail mailbox4-lb -policyName “Mailbox D” -priority 70
  • Run the following command to bind the SSL certificate to the content switching Virtual Server:
    bind ssl vserver Webmail -certkeyName webmail.example.com

This document applies to:

XenDesktop on XenServer and IBM Hardware – Sizing Baseline and Reference Configuration

Citrix and IBM have created this great whitepaper on howto size baseline and reference configuration on XenDesktop on XenServer on IBM Hardware

Overview

The overall goal of this White paper is to provide sizing baselines for the deployment of Citrix XenDesktop on IBM BladeCenter Servers running Citrix XenServer.

A laboratory environment was created to test and validate the different components of the IBM hardware and the XenDesktop solution. The main focus of all tests conducted in the laboratory was to define the optimum number of virtual desktops that can be hosted on a single IBM BladeCenter HX5 server.

Reference configuration of the environment, methodology for conducting tests, and the findings from tests performed are presented in this document.

This document assumes that the reader has an architectural understanding of blade server hardware, storage area networks, and the Citrix XenDesktop Platinum components.

Executive Summary

The laboratory environment used for conducting all tests was based on the IBM BladeCenter HX5 Blade Server and the IBM System Storage N5200.

A total of two BladeCenter HX5 servers were used. Each featured dual 1.86GHz Nehalem-EX processors with Intel Hyper-Threading enabled. Both servers were equipped with 50GB solid state drives (SSD), dual port Gigabit NICs, and Qlogic Fiber Channel adapters. Memory configurations included 64GB of DDR3 RAM for the blade hosting virtual infrastructure servers and 128GB for the blade hosting the virtual desktops.

The IBM System Storage N5200 featured a cluster of two controllers and the IBM EXN4000 disk expansion unit with 14 FC 15K HDDs. The N5200 was attached to the HX5 Blade servers via 2Gbit Fiber Channel.

The latest release of the Citrix XenDesktop 5 components available at the time of testing were used to build the laboratory virtual desktop infrastructure. The XenDesktop 5 Site consisted of:

  • Two (2) Desktop Delivery Controllers for brokering and managing the virtual desktops
  • Two (2) Provisioning Servers for OS provisioning.

Citrix Licensing and Web Interface servers were also deployed as part of the environment. All of the XenDesktop 5 infrastructure servers were virtualized on XenServer 5.6 FP1.

Tests conducted within the laboratory environment validated the Citrix XenDesktop 5 hosted VDI solution running on the XenServer platform with IBM BladeCenter HX5 servers. Single server scalability tests show a single IBM BladeCenter HX5 server being capable of supporting an optimum number of 80 virtual desktops with a “medium user” workload using Microsoft Office 2010 on Microsoft Windows 7 Professional.

Memory utilization was determined to be the main bottleneck limiting the server from effectively hosting additional desktops with the XenServer virtual desktop host reporting 98% of RAM utilization with 80 active desktops.

A combination of tools was used to simulate user load, monitor resource utilization, and gather data in order to validate the reference configuration. The latest version of the Login Virtual Session Indexer (VSI) 3 from Login Consultants was used for load testing and capturing system response time data. Other tools used for benchmarking and monitoring the environment included Citrix XenCenter, Citrix VM Performance Utility, Windows Performance Monitor, and NetApp’s ONTAP .

Click here to download whitepaper – XenDesktop on XenServer and IBM Hardware – Sizing Baseline and Reference Configuration