XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements

dinhngtu

@dom0 They are built from scratch using these components:

Upstream Xen Project PV driver sources, which includes contributions from Citrix, Vates, Invisible Things Lab among others, and where we are one of the maintainers;
The Rust guest agent, which is developed by us;
The installer, packaging and tooling is completely our own.

The main repo is here: https://github.com/xcp-ng/win-pv-drivers

dinhngtu

Hello all,

Version 9.1.100 Release Signed of the Windows PV tools has been released.

Download the latest release here: https://github.com/xcp-ng/win-pv-drivers/releases

It will be integrated into the XCP-ng built-in tools ISO after a test period of 2 weeks.

This release brings multiple bug fixes to all Windows drivers and guest tools components.

To download XenClean, click here. The installer downloads also includes a copy of XenClean and XenBootFix. Remember to carefully read XenClean docs before use.

Before installing

Thank you for using our Windows PV tools. Please carefully read the instructions below.

Not compatible with the "Manage Citrix PV drivers via Windows Update" option. You must disable this option before installing.
We recommend creating backups/snapshots before installing.

Changes since 9.0.9137

NEW: Add installer option to disable time sync.
NEW: SBOM is now included with the installation package.
Improved: Better cleanup of Xenbus devices.
Fixes: Driver symbols are now back after an accidental omission in 9.0.9137.
Fixes: Fix restoration of network settings after uninstallation.
Fixes: Fix XenClean in Safe Mode.
Fixes: Fix system time drifting when time sync is enabled.
Fixes: Fix display of Windows OS version.
Fixes: Fix Xen Guest Agent reporting on VM resume.
Fixes: Fix receive-side scaling.
Fixes: Various driver stability fixes.

Help / Community support

If you encounter installation/uninstallation errors, please try again with one of the following commands:

For installing:
msiexec.exe /i XenTools-x64.msi /log install.log

For uninstalling:
msiexec.exe /x XenTools-x64.msi /log uninstall.log

Please include this log along with the file C:\Windows\INF\setupapi.dev.log in your bug report. These files will help us troubleshoot any installation issues.

Additionally, please report any errors or BSOD you encounter during testing of this release. Your feedback is very appreciated.

Discussion: https://xcp-ng.org/forum (preferred)
Issue Tracker: https://github.com/xcp-ng/xcp/issues
IRC: #xcp-ng and #xcp-ng-dev on irc.freenode.net

Full Changelog: https://github.com/xcp-ng/win-pv-drivers/compare/v9.0.9137...v9.1.100

manilx

@dinhngtu Updated from previous version running on 8 Windows Server 2022 VM's across HomeLab & Office.

No issues.

dom0

@dinhngtu

Thank you for explanation!

My production servers are currently running XenServer VM Tools for Windows 9.4.2. Would you recommend switching to XCP-ng tools?

dinhngtu

@dom0 Yes, the Vates tools are our recommended guest tools for XCP-ng going forward.

probain

Would it be possible to either have direct links to the exe's without them being zipped? Or list the version number of the xen-guest-agent.exe?

I'm installing these through Ansible (see code below). And it would be way cleaner if either of those two wishes could be true.

    - name: Install Xen Guest tools on Windows hosts
      when: ansible_system == "Win32NT"
      tags: xcp_ng
      block:
        - name: Install Xen Guest Tools
          when: ansible_virtualization_type == "xen"
          block:
            - name: Copy over Latest Xen PV drivers
              ansible.windows.win_copy:
                src: "XenTools-x64_{{ xen_guest_agent_version }}.msi"
                dest: "C:\\Users\\{{ ansible_user }}\\Downloads\\XenDrivers-x64.msi"
                force: true

            - name: Install XenDrivers if the version isnt already created
              ansible.windows.win_package:
                path: "C:\\Users\\{{ ansible_user }}\\Downloads\\XenDrivers-x64.msi"
                creates_path: C:\Program Files\XCP-ng\Windows PV Drivers\XenGuestAgent\xen-guest-agent.exe
                creates_version: "{{ xen_guest_agent_version }}"
                arguments:
                  - /quiet

dinhngtu

@probain The canonical way is to check the product_id instead https://docs.ansible.com/projects/ansible/latest/collections/ansible/windows/win_package_module.html#parameter-product_id The ProductCode changes every time a new version of XCP-ng Windows PV tools is released, and you can get it from each release's MSI:

abudef

Can we look forward to automatic updates arriving in the future as well?

olivierlambert

We reserved a PCI ID (if I remember correctly), so it's more about asking Microsoft to put it in their update system. I have no idea if it's feasible for us.

abudef

I was thinking more of updating the entire set of the agent and drivers, similar to how XenServer VM Tools for Windows have it implemented. Using a scheduled job, they regularly check whether an update is available, and if so, they carry out the update of both the agent and the drivers themselves.