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.

probain

@dinhngtu said in XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements:

@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:

No problem... If you ever decide to have the .exe-file as a separate item. Not bundled within the zip-file. Then I would be even happier. But until then, thanks for everything!

Johny

Management Agent not installed in XCP-ng Center `v20.04.1` and `25.4.0`

Hi team,

Both versions of XCP-ng Center are returning a Management Agent not installed error under the Used Memory column when using the 9.1 driver (this was also an issue with the previous 9.0 version).

Although, XOA does show that it's installed. Is this a known issue?

XCP-ng Center:

XOA:

VM using XenServer's version, for comparison:
Management agent 9.4.2-178

olivierlambert

@Johny said in XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements:

Although, XOA does show that it's installed. Is this a known issue?

Yes it's a known issue, only cosmetic and the next driver update will fix it

Johny

@olivierlambert thanks for the quick reply!

dinhngtu

@probain said in XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements:

No problem... If you ever decide to have the .exe-file as a separate item. Not bundled within the zip-file. Then I would be even happier. But until then, thanks for everything!

The guest agent EXE is just one part of the tools package (and actually may not have the same version as the MSI file), therefore I don't think it should be relied upon for versioning. I recommend using the product_id method instead.

@Johny said in XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements:

Both versions of XCP-ng Center are returning a Management Agent not installed error under the Used Memory column when using the 9.1 driver (this was also an issue with the previous 9.0 version).

Although, XOA does show that it's installed. Is this a known issue?

Looks like XCP-ng Center decided to detect the guest agent in a different way, namely checking for the feature "feature-static-ip-setting" which is XenServer specific (and, as indicated by the name, should not be used for management agent version checking). Please open an issue on the XCP-ng Center repo for this.

The cosmetic issue about management agent version disappearing after migration/resume has already been fixed in 9.1.100.

Johny

@dinhngtu Seems like an issue for this already exists: https://github.com/xcp-ng/xenadmin/issues/260

Added what I wrote above as a comment.

Gnggi created this issue in xcp-ng/xenadmin

open Showing wrong Virtualization state for VMs with Management agent 9.1.100 #260

Greg_E

Just wanted to add a comment:

Thanks for continuing to release the drivers in an ISO. I was having some slowness with the 9.0.9 versions that are currently included with XCP-ng, this is a new Windows 11 25h2 that I'm working with to prototype a workflow in my lab. I just grabbed the 9.1.x ISO from Github and copied it to my ISO SR and installed. There seems to be a slight performance increase in this Win11 VM. That said, 25h2 is horribly bloated with junk, so much so that I think I'm going to need to strip a bunch out before I put this version into production. This might be a condition for MicroWin customization.

Or maybe add a couple of things to the LTSC version (we have licensing for this at work).

john.c

@Greg_E said in XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements:

Just wanted to add a comment:

Thanks for continuing to release the drivers in an ISO. I was having some slowness with the 9.0.9 versions that are currently included with XCP-ng, this is a new Windows 11 25h2 that I'm working with to prototype a workflow in my lab. I just grabbed the 9.1.x ISO from Github and copied it to my ISO SR and installed. There seems to be a slight performance increase in this Win11 VM. That said, 25h2 is horribly bloated with junk, so much so that I think I'm going to need to strip a bunch out before I put this version into production. This might be a condition for MicroWin customization.

Or maybe add a couple of things to the LTSC version (we have licensing for this at work).

Download the full Windows 11 ISO then use Microsoft Windows ADK. To customise, strip down unwanted parts, including appx provision packages and slipstream in drivers and/or msi installers.

If your using a high enough edition of Windows 11 version 25H2 don’t forget the new GroupPolicy option to remove default packages!

Greg_E

@john.c

I'll have to update group policy and check that out, would be a time saver. Everything I use is an Enterprise level of some kind, using EDU in production right now, and Pro/Enterprise evaluation in the lab.

I was looking at running a post imaging script to prevent some of the bloat, but a GPO might be easier.

john.c

@Greg_E said in XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements:

@john.c

I'll have to update group policy and check that out, would be a time saver. Everything I use is an Enterprise level of some kind, using EDU in production right now, and Pro/Enterprise evaluation in the lab.

I was looking at running a post imaging script to prevent some of the bloat, but a GPO might be easier.

You can use Windows ADK to customise the installation media and build a custom ISO. That file can then be placed on your ISO SR. The GPO is especially effective when combined with a custom ISO built using Windows ADK.

I have tried this myself and it’s very effective doing it this way, the Windows ADK tool is very powerful but will require time to learn. Will save time with all of the extra installations, if you use a custom ISO.