XCP-ng 8.0
The big release is here. After about a month of QA on the Release Candidate, XCP-ng 8.0 is now available and can be safely used in production environments.
Most of the new features available in this new version have already been presented in our previous blogpost concerning the RC (some highlights, UEFI support, ZFS support and a new XOA quick deploy). However, some additional features and changes are notable.
Join us to discuss the XCP-ng 8.0 release on this forum thread.
Xen developer and design Summit
First things first. Our dev team was at the Xen developer and design summit earlier this month. Benjamin from our team got the opportunity to give a presentation during the event.
How to upgrade
Since XCP-ng 8.0 will be a major release, there will be no support for upgrading using yum only.
The main reasons for that are:
- New kernel: The installer runs on the same kernel as XCP-ng 8.0, so booting the installer ISO is a good way to make sure your hardware is still recognized by the new kernel.
- The
yum-style upgrade does not offer backing-up your system at this stage, so it's too risky for a major upgrade.
You need to follow the steps available in our Upgrade Howto wiki.
All ISOs are available right here:
- Standard ISO: http://mirrors.xcp-ng.org/isos/8.0/xcp-ng-8.0.0.iso
- Net-install ISO: http://mirrors.xcp-ng.org/isos/8.0/xcp-ng-8.0.0-netinstall.iso
- SHA256SUMS: http://mirrors.xcp-ng.org/isos/8.0/SHA256SUMS
- Signatures of the sums: http://mirrors.xcp-ng.org/isos/8.0/SHA256SUMS.asc
If you don't have the ability to boot from an ISO, you can still use the remote upgrade alternate method
Major changes since the RC
Alternative Kernel
As we previously announced, XCP-ng 8.0 comes with an updated Kernel (4.19) and a new version of CentOS (7.5).
In addition to this updated Xen Kernel, we introduced an alternative kernel (kernel-alt) with more recent updates embedded. This alternative kernel is known to have solved some hardware compatibility issues already.
This is not the principal Kernel, consequently, this version has not been tested very extensively. Use it with caution.
In the future, we are also planning to include an experimental kernel in order to create a greater bond between the latest innovations in Xen and their integration in XCP-ng.
Security update
In relation to the MDS security breach, two security updates have been applied in XCP-ng 8.0 (as well as XCP-ng 7.6):
- A kernel security update has been applied
- A microcode update for the SandyBridge CPU family
Additional packages in XCP-ng 8.0
Some useful packages have been added to XCP-ng 8.0. Most of them are designed to improve the quality of life for Sysadmins. Some of them might be useful to help solve bugs. All of them are now officially supported in XCP-ng.
Some of these packages are natively installed with XCP-ng 8.0
| package | provenance | Role |
|---|---|---|
| cryptsetup | centos | Allow the user to create encrypted partitions |
| htop | epel | Allow the user to consult the resources consumption |
| iftop | epel | Allow the user to monitor network usage |
Others can be installed depending of your needs.
| package | provenance | Role |
|---|---|---|
| dstat | centos | Monitor systems during performance tests, benchmarks or troubleshooting |
| iperf | epel | Network performances tests |
| iperf3 | centos | Network performances tests |
| iotop | centos | Show of behalf of which process is the I/O going on |
| joe | epel | Lightweight text editor |
| lshw | centos | Display detailed information about the peripherals of a computer |
| mc | centos | Add MC console application |
| mtr | centos | Perform network diagnostic |
| nload | epel | Know which components is the most network consuming |
| nvme-cli | centos | nvme management command line |
| socat | centos | Relay for bidirectional data transfer |
| tmux | centos | A very popular terminal multiplexer |
| traceroute | centos | Test path taken by network packets |
| vim-enhanced | centos | Improve VIM text editor |
Remember to read the RC blogpost to check all the new features available in XCP-ng 8.0
Linux Foundation
A while back we announced our will to join a recognized open source foundation. Things are moving lately on that topic and we have now officially applied to the Linux Foundation as a Xen subproject.
You can read our complete proposal on this page
Pro Support
If you are using XCP-ng in a production environment, you should consider getting a pro support subscription to be covered on your hypervisor layer.
Check out our dedicated website about XCP-ng pro support to learn more.
XCP-ng available means that the current supported version in XCP-ng are now 7.6 and 8.0. XCP-ng 7.6 is going to be end of life very soon.
