Allison Aiello

VIRTUALLY – ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE

Archive for July, 2012

How to Update a Provisioning Server vDisk

Jul 3

Posted by aaiello in Provisioning Server | No Comments

Procedure: how to update a provisioning server vdisk

Time to apply some updates!

To create a new version:

  1. In the Provisioning Server Console, right-click on a vDisk to version within a device collection or vDisk pool, then select Versions… from the context menu. The vDisk Versions dialog appears.

    Note: Verify that the vDisk is currently not in Private Image mode.

  1. Click New. The new version displays in the dialog with Access set to Maintenance and the update Type method set to Manual.

  1. On Provisioning Server console select a device to use for maintenance and put in maintenance mode,(it should also be in maintenance mode on XenDesktop console. Go to Xenserver and boot the vDisk from the Maintenance device, install or remove applications, add patches, and complete any other necessary updates, then shutdown the Maintenance device. Optionally, test that changes were made successfully.

    Note: If booting a Test or Maintenance device, a boot menu displays that allows the user to select from which vDisk, or version of that vDisk, to boot from.

     


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Select “1″ for maintenance.

After you finish with updates shut down maintenance device

  1. In provisioning services console, right-click on the vDisk, select versions, then select the Promote… menu option from the context menu that appears.

     

    Then choose test or production:

    Target devices that are set to test can access test versions of the vdisk.

     

    Promote to production when you are ready. This ends maintenance. The next time a user logs into the desktop they will receive the latest version.

     

     

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How to Create a New PVS vDisk from an Existing vDisk

Jul 2

Posted by aaiello in Provisioning Server | No Comments

Procedure: how to create a new pvs vdisk from an existing

Oftentimes I find myself with the need to create a new Provisioning Server vDisk from an existing “base” image. If you have an existing image that is a good starting point for the image you wish to create, this will cut down on the effort required. The following are the steps to create a new PVS vDisk from an existing vDisk.

step 1: make a copy of the pvp and vhd files of the existing vdisk

Go to your Provisioning Server vDisk store and make a copy of the PVP and VHD files of the existing vDisk.

step 2: export the existing vdisk

Go to the Provisioning Server Console, go to the vDisk Store and right-click the vDisk and export:

step 3: rename the xml file from the export to the new vdisk name

In the directory where your vDisk store is located, find the xml file which was created for the vDisk you just exported and rename to the name of the new vDisk.

step 4: rename the copied pvp and vhd files to the new vdisk name

In the directory where your vDisk store is located, find the copies of the vDisk PVP and VHD files which were made in the previous step and rename to the new vDisk name (same as in step 3).

step 5: import the new vdisk

Go to the Provisioning Server console and right-click the vDisk Pool and click import:

When the dialog box opens, click on “Search” and select your vDisk, the click “Add”. If the following dialog opens, click “ok”:

Your new vDisk will now be available in your vDisk store.