XCP-ng 8.3 public alpha 🚀
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@stormi
Definitly an aging homelab system with limited capability (esp. low RAM):Dell OptiPlex 7050 Micro
Intel Core i7-7700T [MT]
8GB RAM[12:55 xcp83 xtf]# ./xtf-runner selftest -q --host Combined test results: test-hvm32-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm64-selftest SUCCESS test-pv64-selftest SUCCESS[13:08 xcp83 xtf]# ./xtf-runner -aq --host Combined test results: test-hvm32-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm64-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-pv64-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm64-fpu-exception-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32-invlpg~hap SUCCESS test-hvm32-invlpg~shadow SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-invlpg~hap SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-invlpg~shadow SUCCESS test-hvm64-invlpg~hap SUCCESS test-hvm64-invlpg~shadow SUCCESS test-hvm64-lbr-tsx-vmentry SUCCESS test-hvm32-livepatch-priv-check SUCCESS test-hvm64-livepatch-priv-check SUCCESS test-pv64-livepatch-priv-check SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-memop-seg SUCCESS test-hvm64-memop-seg SUCCESS test-pv64-memop-seg SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-nmi-taskswitch-priv SUCCESS test-pv64-pv-fsgsbase SUCCESS test-pv64-pv-iopl~hypercall SUCCESS test-pv64-pv-iopl~vmassist SUCCESS test-hvm32-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm64-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32-umip SKIP test-hvm64-umip SKIP test-hvm32-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-123 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-167 SKIP test-hvm64-xsa-168 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-170 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-173 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-182 SKIP test-hvm32-xsa-186 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-186 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-191 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-192 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-193 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-195 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-196 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-200 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-203 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-204 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-212 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-213 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-221 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-221 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-224 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-227 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-231 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-231 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-232 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-232 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-234 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-239 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-255 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-259 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-260 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-261 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-265 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-269 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-277 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-278 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-279 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-286 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-296 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-298 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-304 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-308 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-316 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-333 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-339 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-consoleio-write SUCCESS [13:09 xcp83 xtf]# echo $? 3[13:11 xcp83 xtf]# /usr/libexec/xen/bin/test-cpu-policy CPU Policy unit tests Testing CPU vendor identification: Testing CPUID serialise success: Testing CPUID deserialise failure: Testing CPUID out-of-range clearing: Testing MSR serialise success: Testing MSR deserialise failure: Testing policy compatibility success: Testing policy compatibility failure: Done: all ok [13:12 xcp83 xtf]# echo $? 0 -
One of my first playlab XCP-ng hosts. Clean 8.3.0-alpha2 install had some hickups where the installer did not complete (twice) and demanded a reboot. Did a clean 8.2.1 install to verify and that went well. Repeated a clean 8.3.0-alpha2 install after that and strangely that worked
. Can investigate a bit more if helpfull, but to lazy right now 
.Intel NUC6i5SYK
Intel Core i5-6260U [MT]
32GB RAM[15:46 xcp83 xtf]# ./xtf-runner selftest -q --host Combined test results: test-hvm32-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm64-selftest SUCCESS test-pv64-selftest SUCCESS[15:46 xcp83 xtf]# ./xtf-runner -aq --host Combined test results: test-hvm32-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm64-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-pv64-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm64-fpu-exception-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32-invlpg~hap SUCCESS test-hvm32-invlpg~shadow SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-invlpg~hap SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-invlpg~shadow SUCCESS test-hvm64-invlpg~hap SUCCESS test-hvm64-invlpg~shadow SUCCESS test-hvm64-lbr-tsx-vmentry SUCCESS test-hvm32-livepatch-priv-check SUCCESS test-hvm64-livepatch-priv-check SUCCESS test-pv64-livepatch-priv-check SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-memop-seg SUCCESS test-hvm64-memop-seg SUCCESS test-pv64-memop-seg SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-nmi-taskswitch-priv SUCCESS test-pv64-pv-fsgsbase SUCCESS test-pv64-pv-iopl~hypercall SUCCESS test-pv64-pv-iopl~vmassist SUCCESS test-hvm32-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm64-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32-umip SKIP test-hvm64-umip SKIP test-hvm32-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-123 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-167 SKIP test-hvm64-xsa-168 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-170 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-173 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-182 SKIP test-hvm32-xsa-186 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-186 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-191 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-192 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-193 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-195 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-196 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-200 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-203 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-204 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-212 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-213 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-221 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-221 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-224 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-227 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-231 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-231 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-232 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-232 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-234 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-239 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-255 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-259 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-260 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-261 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-265 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-269 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-277 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-278 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-279 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-286 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-296 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-298 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-304 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-308 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-316 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-333 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-339 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-consoleio-write SUCCESS [15:47 xcp83 xtf]# echo $? 3[15:49 xcp83 xtf]# /usr/libexec/xen/bin/test-cpu-policy CPU Policy unit tests Testing CPU vendor identification: Testing CPUID serialise success: Testing CPUID deserialise failure: Testing CPUID out-of-range clearing: Testing MSR serialise success: Testing MSR deserialise failure: Testing policy compatibility success: Testing policy compatibility failure: Done: all ok [15:49 xcp83 xtf]# echo $? 0 -
@stormi
Going back in time with my first Intel NUC. Had to switch EPT superpages to secure mode to prevent host crashing.Intel D54250WYK
Intel Core i5-4250U [MT]
16GB RAM[17:43 xcp83 xtf]# ./xtf-runner selftest -q --host Combined test results: test-hvm32-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm64-selftest SUCCESS test-pv64-selftest SUCCESS[18:08 xcp83 xtf]# ./xtf-runner -aq --host Combined test results: test-hvm32-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm64-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-pv64-cpuid-faulting SUCCESS test-hvm64-fpu-exception-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32-invlpg~hap SUCCESS test-hvm32-invlpg~shadow SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-invlpg~hap SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-invlpg~shadow SUCCESS test-hvm64-invlpg~hap SUCCESS test-hvm64-invlpg~shadow SUCCESS test-hvm64-lbr-tsx-vmentry SUCCESS test-hvm32-livepatch-priv-check SUCCESS test-hvm64-livepatch-priv-check SUCCESS test-pv64-livepatch-priv-check SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-memop-seg SUCCESS test-hvm64-memop-seg SUCCESS test-pv64-memop-seg SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-nmi-taskswitch-priv SUCCESS test-pv64-pv-fsgsbase SUCCESS test-pv64-pv-iopl~hypercall SUCCESS test-pv64-pv-iopl~vmassist SUCCESS test-hvm32-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm64-swint-emulation SUCCESS test-hvm32-umip SKIP test-hvm64-umip SKIP test-hvm32-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-122 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-123 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-167 SKIP test-hvm64-xsa-168 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-170 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-173 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-182 SKIP test-hvm32-xsa-186 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-186 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-188 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-191 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-192 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-193 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-195 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-196 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-200 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-203 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-204 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-212 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-213 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-221 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-221 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-224 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-227 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-231 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-231 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-232 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-232 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-234 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-239 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-255 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-259 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-260 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-261 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-265 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-269 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-277 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-278 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-279 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-286 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-296 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-298 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-304 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-308 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-316 SUCCESS test-hvm32-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-hvm64-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-317 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-333 SUCCESS test-pv64-xsa-339 SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-xsa-consoleio-write SUCCESS [18:08 xcp83 xtf]# echo $? 3[18:10 xcp83 xtf]# /usr/libexec/xen/bin/test-cpu-policy CPU Policy unit tests Testing CPU vendor identification: Testing CPUID serialise success: Testing CPUID deserialise failure: Testing CPUID out-of-range clearing: Testing MSR serialise success: Testing MSR deserialise failure: Testing policy compatibility success: Testing policy compatibility failure: Done: all ok [18:10 xcp83 xtf]# echo $? 0 -
Intel Xeon CPU E5-1620 v4 on a
Supermicro SYS-5018R-WR/xtf-runner selftest -q --host Combined test results: test-hvm32-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm32pae-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm32pse-selftest SUCCESS test-hvm64-selftest SUCCESS test-pv64-selftest SUCCESS ./xtf-runner -aqq --host Combined test results: test-hvm32-umip SKIP test-hvm64-umip SKIP test-pv64-xsa-167 SKIP test-pv64-xsa-182 SKIP /usr/libexec/xen/bin/test-cpu-policy CPU Policy unit tests Testing CPU vendor identification: Testing CPUID serialise success: Testing CPUID deserialise failure: Testing CPUID out-of-range clearing: Testing MSR serialise success: Testing MSR deserialise failure: Testing policy compatibility success: Testing policy compatibility failure: Done: all ok -
I consider setting up an XCP-ng server .... or perhaps a xen-server
(for private use), since I like the concept!The problem is that the actual 8.2.1 release is over a year old ...
Looking at XEN that release 4.17 is much more recent ...So I consider 8.3 .... however ... it is alpha which sounds as ^still a long way to go^ / not stable. I also think I would need to update from 8.2 since there is no 8.3 snapshot.iso available
So I wonder what the expected 8.3 timeline is, and to which extend XEN 4.17 is included in the 8.2 / 8.3 release.
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@Louis what's the issue with 8.2.1? It's an LTS, so it's normal to use mature versions of Xen and such. It's not a contest on getting latest versions, especially since XCP-ng is very stable. What do you want to achieve?
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The latest versions tend to have fixes, security updates and probably added features. For those reasons I always prefer to use the latest versions the more at the moment I start a new system.
So, I am not saying 8.2 is bad / not ok, but on the other hand I am surprised to see that 8.2.1 is over a year old. And at the same time I note that there is a xen-server release november 2022.
I assume that XCP-ng is based on xen-server. But on which version !??
Of course there have been security updates, but never the less. But I have no idea what has changed since the original 8.2.1 release. As far as I am aware there is no change log.
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The latest versions tend to have fixes, security updates
Not true. All security fixes are backported. Do you really think we'll leave an LTS version of XCP-ng without any security fix since 2020?
Probably added features
Which features in Xen 4.17 you need you don't have in 4.13?
I am surprised to see that 8.2.1 is over a year old
This is not a toy project but a serious distro meant to run in a stable fashion in datacenters, at scale. Especially as an LTS version, that is expect to be maintained between 5 and 10 years.
I assume that XCP-ng is based on xen-server. But on which version !??
It's XenServer. Take a guess, XCP-ng 8.2 is based on which XenServer edition?
Of course there have been security updates, but never the less.
Never the less? That's the most important thing, to backport the sec patches.
As far as I am aware there is no change log.
You should really look at the documentation. Each XCP-ng release is covered by a change log, and each update is also documented with at least a dedicated blog post. You can start here: https://docs.xcp-ng.org/releases/ (to read what's an LTS and why we don't add features in an LTS) and there: https://xcp-ng.org/blog/ for all the blog posts on our almost monthly updates.
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Yep I agree that security fixes are the most important ones. And I know that security patches are provided (as I wrote in my mail).
Since I am new to XCP-ng, and I did not study the changes related to 8.3, I do not know the improvements, but I assume there are!
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As I said previously, you should really take a look at the doc and the blog...
https://xcp-ng.org/blog/2022/11/18/xcp-ng-8-3-alpha/
And posted very recently: https://xcp-ng.org/blog/2023/02/27/news-about-8-3-alpha/
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Olivier thanks for the links. But it only confirms my idea that I should go for the latest releases as far as possible!
- IPV6 support is important to me (should work!)
- all security fixes (not only the most important ones)
- better hardware support ( I do have e.g. 2.5 g interfaces)
- newer python
- better update management
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You should really start to work on 8.2 LTS first and see what you really need in real life. If it's not enterprise production, then go for 8.3.
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Summary: upgrade from 8.3alpha to 8.3alpha2 broke my installation.
Yesterday I tried to upgrade my Intel NUC11 from the original 8.3alpha (very stable so far) to the 8.3alpha2.
The upgrade process concluded without errors, however upon restart while the host was accessible via SSH, all the rest disappeared (no XOALite, no VM and obviously no XOA).
I tried to list the vm with "xe vm-list" resulting in "Error: Connection refused (calling connect)". Then I tried to restart with "xe-toolstack-restart" but without success.
Right now using the installer I reverted to previous installation... indeed a useful function
Your insights is welcome, I can make any test you might be interested in.
Thanks
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Hi There,
Just to mention, my personal hopes are for the future, that whatever kernel will be used, RPM packages will still be supported to install.Usecase:
I am using Dell / Quest DR-Appliances for Backups. They've implemented RapidCIFS and RapidNFS in order to do kind of CBT enhancement on these protocols. So when backing up - only delta is copied.However, as usual, they provide this driver officially only for Windows and RHEL. Therefore I could install the RPM on the XCP-Hosts, and benefit from this. It's running amazingliy smooth.
I would assume that there might be more of such use cases, and keeping support for RHEL packages could be wise in oder to keep a foot into the "enterprise door".
Thanks, for your work!
Regards,
RaHu -
Thanks for your feedback @RaHu
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Thank you, appreciated
I followed - maybe bluntly - this reassuring sentence but I guess it meant from 8.2!
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@rRobbie Yes, it meant from 8.2
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@gskger Thanks! For shorter logs, could you run
./xtf-runner -aqq --hostrather than./xtf-runner -aq --hostin the future? We don't need the full list of successful tests. Only skipped and failed ones.
