<![CDATA[Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project?]]>Hello to everyone.

There's a very important way to prove to the world that your software is good: excellence in documentation. A project without good documentation is not appealing and looks un-professional.

I mentioned it here or there, but never made a proper announcement, so here it is: we are now using the wiki on our github project to store documentation:

https://github.com/xcp-ng/xcp/wiki

Now, as you can see, it's missing a lot of useful information. Every red link leads to a non-existent page that should exist, and I probably forgot to add many of them. Thankfully, our community comprises many experienced users of XS and XCP-ng, so we should be able to fill the gap.

I'm myself totally unable of writing documentation about storage or networking. My field of expertise is packaging, updates, releases, patching, writing some code. So I only write about what I know. But I'm sure you're not thinking that I will write the documentation alone.

So this is the official start of the "let's improve the documentation together" campaign. Any github user has write access to that wiki (it's versioned so we can revert changes from trolls if needed).

Don't ask for permission before adding or modifying something to the documentation. Just do it, and others will review it.

Even the structure of the home page can be modified. I made one to help us start and see where contributions are needed, but it's just a way to help us start.

Who's in? If you were looking for a way to get involved in XCP-ng but did not know how, here's your chance!

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/topic/435/great-projects-have-great-documentation-is-xcp-ng-a-great-projectRSS for NodeFri, 17 Apr 2026 18:40:36 GMTTue, 25 Sep 2018 09:32:13 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Mon, 22 Mar 2021 17:49:00 GMT]]>The documentation is now in a much better shape than when I started this thread, has been available for months at https://xcp-ng.org/docs/.

You can still contribute to it. Each page footer has a "help us improve this page" link that allows to create a pull request with your changes.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the documentation and to those who will.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/37710https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/37710Mon, 22 Mar 2021 17:49:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:35:16 GMT]]>No you can't that's why as an introduction we warn that you need to make a choice, not mix them.

We might be able to make our agent work with Citrix drivers in the future, but for this we need a dev.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24185https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24185Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:35:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:33:58 GMT]]>Much better. 🙂

On the node of management agent. Can you use the XCP-ng agent with the Citrix drivers from Windows Update? If so, how do we do that?

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24184https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24184Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:33:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:25:45 GMT]]>A new new version, with a copy-paste from an earlier section of the same document about Windows tools, to avoid tl;dr effects...

Using the Windows guest tools from Citrix

Tools from Citrix are not included in the guest tools ISO distributed with XCP-ng for legal reasons.

A reminder

As written above:

  • The device drivers bring optimized I/O performances.
  • The management agent brings more manageability of the VM from XCP-ng, and guest metrics reporting to the host.

Management agent + device drivers

The only way to get the management agent is from Citrix. It is present on Citrix Hypervisor's installation ISO, which can be freely downloaded provided you create an account on their site. The installer will install both the management agent and the device drivers.

Automated installation via Windows Update: device drivers alone

If you are using Xen Orchestra, you can switch the "Windows Update tools" advanced parameter on from the "Advanced" tab of the VM view. This will install the device drivers automatically at next reboot âš  but not the management agent which still needs to be installed from Citrix tools' installer.

... So the "Windows Update tools" option is not a complete solution if you need the guest metrics from the management agent. However it may be a convenient way to get future driver updates if you wish so.

Switching from XCP-ng tools to Citrix tools

If your VM already has XCP-ng tools and you wish to switch to Citrix tools, then you need to do the same kind of clean-up as described higher in this document for the opposite situation.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24183https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24183Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:25:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:21:20 GMT]]>New version:

Using the Windows guest tools from Citrix

Those are not included in the guest tools ISO distributed with XCP-ng for legal reasons.

Management agent + device drivers

The only way to get the management agent is from Citrix. It is present on Citrix Hypervisor's installation ISO, which can be freely downloaded provided you create an account on their site.

Automated installation via Windows Update: device drivers alone

If you are using Xen Orchestra, you can switch the "Windows Update tools" advanced parameter on from the "Advanced" tab of the VM view. This will install the device drivers automatically at next reboot âš  but not the management agent which still needs to be installed from Citrix tools' installer.

... So the "Windows Update tools" option is not a complete solution if you need the guest metrics from the management agent. However it may be a convenient way to get future driver updates if you wish so.

Switching from XCP-ng tools to Citrix tools

If your VM already has XCP-ng tools and you wish to switch to Citrix tools, then you need to do the same kind of clean-up as described higher in this document for the opposite situation.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24182https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24182Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:21:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:14:30 GMT]]>@S-Pam said in Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project?:

@stormi said in Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project?:

This will allow you to install the tools directly from Windows Updates.

Well, here. this is wrong. The Agent is not included in the Windows Update tools.

Right. Fixed it, I replaced the ambiguous word "tools" with "device drivers".

You did read all 7 sentences, though, didn't you? It says that the management agent will not be installed via Windows update and gives you a way to install it if you want to use Citrix tools.

Windows Agent
The Windows agent is responsibled for communicating guest status to the xcp-ng host/server... blah blah.

  • The agent can only be installed using the xcp-ng tools.
  • If you are using Windows Update to to get the citrix tools, the agent cannot be installed. It is also not included in Windows update.
    ...

I'd like not to mix statements about XCP-ng and Citrix tools. There is a section that explains the differences between the drivers and the agent. It can be improved if needed.

  • The agent can only be installed using the xcp-ng tools.

This is not true.

  • If you are using Windows Update to to get the citrix tools, the agent cannot be installed.

This is not true. Windows Update will not install, but you can still install it.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24180https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24180Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:14:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:07:00 GMT]]>@stormi said in Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project?:

This will allow you to install the tools directly from Windows Updates.

Well, here. this is wrong. The Agent is not included in the Windows Update tools.

Oliver is correct of course. And this should be highlighted in its own section or similar.
Something like:

Windows Agent
The Windows agent is responsibled for communicating guest status to the xcp-ng host/server... blah blah.

  • The agent can only be installed using the xcp-ng tools.
  • If you are using Windows Update to to get the citrix tools, the agent cannot be installed. It is also not included in Windows update.
    ...
]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24178https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24178Tue, 31 Mar 2020 10:07:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 09:57:14 GMT]]>Agent is bundled with XCP-ng tools. It's just in case you are using Windows Update for getting Citrix driver that you aren't "covered".

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24177https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24177Tue, 31 Mar 2020 09:57:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 09:56:42 GMT]]>@S-Pam I have made tests with Citrix Hypervisor: the Windows Update feature does not install the management agent there either.

The management agent is already covered in the part dedicated to XCP-ng tools so I don't think a headline is needed for those who follow that path. So it's all about part of the documentation that is dedicated to Citrix tools.

Here's the text. How would you complete or rework it?

Using the Windows guest tools from Citrix

Those are not included in the guest tools ISO distributed with XCP-ng for legal reasons.

If you are using Xen Orchestra, you can switch the "Windows Update tools" advanced parameter on from the "Advanced" tab of the VM view. This will allow you to install the tools directly from Windows Updates.

âš  This will only install the device drivers for optimized I/O. If you need the management agent, you still need to install it, for example from Citrix Hypervisor's installation ISOs where it resides in the client_install directory.

You can also simply not enable that Windows Update feature and fetch the installer from the client_install directory of Citrix Hypervisor's installation ISO.

If your VM already has XCP-ng tools and you wish to switch to Citrix tools, then you need to do the same kind of clean-up as described higher in this document for the opposite situation.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24176https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24176Tue, 31 Mar 2020 09:56:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 09:47:29 GMT]]>I think that the "Management Agent" really needs to have its own headline in there. It is the thing that is so confusing. Coming from Citrix it is all bundled, but it isn't anymore and this is problematic.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24175https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24175Tue, 31 Mar 2020 09:47:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 08:35:43 GMT]]>@Biggen I did add already that Windows Update only installs the optimized drivers, not the management agent.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24165https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24165Tue, 31 Mar 2020 08:35:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 31 Mar 2020 00:18:21 GMT]]>@stormi The only thing I would add is using the Citrix tools also doesn't display all pertinent information for the VM as I described back in December in this post.

Edit: Well I can't figure out how to link a specific post in a thread. Is there no way with the forum software to link specific post? Any, you can scroll down some to my post where I have pictures depicting missing VM information when using the Citrix tools. Figured it out...

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24159https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24159Tue, 31 Mar 2020 00:18:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Mon, 30 Mar 2020 22:30:34 GMT]]>@stormi supercool 🙂

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24158https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24158Mon, 30 Mar 2020 22:30:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Mon, 30 Mar 2020 12:52:36 GMT]]>Far better readability, thanks @stormi 🙂

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24113https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24113Mon, 30 Mar 2020 12:52:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Mon, 30 Mar 2020 12:48:13 GMT]]>I have rewritten a good part of the page dedicated to guest tools in the wiki: https://github.com/xcp-ng/xcp/wiki/Guest-Tools

Feedback and corrections welcome.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24112https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/24112Mon, 30 Mar 2020 12:48:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Sun, 12 Jan 2020 15:38:48 GMT]]>@stormi Yes, after trying to save the changes, an error banner appeared with the message "Your account has been flagged". It was indeed a policy for new accounts, according to the github support team. I'll try again, thanks!

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/21110https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/21110Sun, 12 Jan 2020 15:38:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Fri, 10 Jan 2020 09:25:56 GMT]]>@tuxen There's no permission that I'm aware of. Maybe github has some rule that requires users to wait for a few hours before they are allowed to make edits. Was there an error message? What do you mean with "was flagged"?

By "without creating an account" I meant that many people already have an account so they don't need to create yet another account to edit the wiki. In your case, since you did not already have a github account, this isn't true.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/21075https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/21075Fri, 10 Jan 2020 09:25:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Fri, 10 Jan 2020 03:58:39 GMT]]>@stormi I've just created a github account but it was flagged right after trying to edit the wiki 😞

Is there some sort of permission?

FYI, I couldn't edit the wiki without an account. The edit button only appears after signed in.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/21071https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/21071Fri, 10 Jan 2020 03:58:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 14:55:15 GMT]]>github's wiki is not my preferred solution, but it's the most straightforward to let people contribute without first creating an account. In my opinion, that wiki is decent enough and what matters most for now is the contents that is present or missing.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/21036https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/21036Wed, 08 Jan 2020 14:55:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Wed, 08 Jan 2020 07:51:04 GMT]]>Hi

I can see repetable questions on this forum, indeed xcp lacks of good documentation. But also I don't think github is the best way to make docs. I think Sphinks is better example here: https://wiki.opnsense.org - what do You think about that?

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20995https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20995Wed, 08 Jan 2020 07:51:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Tue, 07 Jan 2020 10:26:27 GMT]]>I think the main missing piece in current docs is a quickstart guide, as discussed here https://xcp-ng.org/forum/topic/2427/what-to-do-after-install

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20957https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20957Tue, 07 Jan 2020 10:26:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Thu, 05 Dec 2019 09:55:39 GMT]]>Yes, as long as they are clearly identified as third party videos, I think they would be a useful addition.

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20179https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20179Thu, 05 Dec 2019 09:55:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Wed, 04 Dec 2019 12:22:18 GMT]]>In addition to the write ups in the Wiki, would it be ok to link my YouTube tutorial videos that I have made on many aspects of the project?

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20145https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20145Wed, 04 Dec 2019 12:22:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Great projects have great documentation. Is XCP-ng a great project? on Wed, 04 Dec 2019 10:58:24 GMT]]>@stormi 😉

]]>https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20143https://xcp-ng.org/forum/post/20143Wed, 04 Dec 2019 10:58:24 GMT