I have to say that the acceleration of the migration is really dramatic, which is particularly useful for occasional ad hoc migrations where another task needs to be performed immediately after the migration is completed.
and thanks!
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RE: XCP-ng 8.3 updates announcements and testing
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RE: XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements
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.
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RE: Problem with importing large VMDK disks
@olivierlambert Thanks for the good news!
I've used VMware for years. ESXi as a server hypervisor and VMware Workstation Pro on the desktop. Even for some labs and test environments I got by with the free version of ESXi with limited APIs. The new licensing policy does not suit me and my companions at all and as a bonus Broadcom has cut the free version of ESXi. Bravo! I think Broadcom should get the award for best marketing of XCP-ng, H-V, Citrix etc. for 2024

On desktops, I need to keep VMware Workstation Pro for many reasons. That's why I was impressed by the videos @lawrencesystems made about XCP-ng & Xen Orchestra. The capabilities that are close to vSphere and vCentre, the ability to import and export VMDK so easily through XO blew me away. And to top it all off, transferring VMDK disks through XO works noticeably faster than migrating VMs between VMw WS and ESXi!
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RE: XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements
@dinhngtu said in XCP-ng Windows PV tools announcements:
@abudef Got it, the agent was not changed since the last version so the build number was not bumped. I'll keep that in mind for the next release.


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RE: Problem with importing large VMDK disks
To conclude this: @florent and I discussed the issue in a private conversation. I provided the vmdk file that was causing the problem. It turned out that the problem was caused by the vmdk thin file from VMware Workstation Pro, which has a slightly different structure than the vmdk files on ESXi hypervisors. Currently XO imports these files fine and the problem can be considered solved. Thank you very much @florent for your cooperation and help.
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RE: XO - enable PCI devices for pass-through - should it work already or not yet?
That's exactly it, thank you


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RE: XCP-ng host - Power management
@tjkreidl We don't need performance, but we do need to test how XCP-ng pools, networking, migration, live migration, backup, import from VMware and so on work. It's just a playground where we can have relatively many XCP-ng hosts, but it's not about performance, it's about efficiency and low requirements, because it's just a playground where we learn, validate how things work, and prepare the process for the final migration from VMware to XCP-ng. We originally had two R630s ready for this, then 4, but that would have been unnecessary, given the power consumption, to have physical hypervisors, so in the end we decided to virtualize it all. Well, on ESXi it's because XCP-ng works seamlessly there in nested virtualization.
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RE: "Hardware-assisted virtualization is not enabled on this host" even though platform:exp-nested-hvm=true is set
@stormi That's not quite what I meant. The point is that if the host is 8.3/4.17, then virtualization is not working on its guest and therefore no other nested guest can be started on this guest. And actually, yes, if 8.3/4.17 appears somewhere in the cascade of nested hosts, then nested virtualization will no longer work on its guest.
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RE: "Hardware-assisted virtualization is not enabled on this host" even though platform:exp-nested-hvm=true is set
But I have a suspicion that it hasn't worked since the last or second to last batch of updates for XCP-ng, that it worked before.
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RE: XCP-ng 8.3 updates announcements and testing
I have to say that the acceleration of the migration is really dramatic, which is particularly useful for occasional ad hoc migrations where another task needs to be performed immediately after the migration is completed.
and thanks! -
RE: Error: Can't init vhd directory without using alias
@pierrebrunet Tested and working again, thanks

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RE: VDI export to VMDK results in a corrupted disk
@Emmanuel-V In my opinion, it would make more sense if a standalone disk exported in VMDK format were exported directly as
monolithicSparse, so that it would not need to be converted. This makes more sense to me because when only the disk is exported, rather than the entire VM (OVA), it can be assumed that the disk will be attached directly to some VM. -
RE: VDI export to VMDK results in a corrupted disk
So in the end, I think the best approach is to export the VHD and convert it, because the conversion has to be done anyway, and the native VHD export is faster.
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RE: VDI export to VMDK results in a corrupted disk
Ah, I see it now. What XO exports is the
streamOptimizedformat, which is used in OVAs for transfer. Such a standalone VMDK cannot be used directly and needs to be converted for both VMware Workstation and ESXi
, or you can use the OVA import, which performs the conversion automatically.So before such a VMDK can be attached to a VMware VM, it needs to be converted to
monolithicSparsee.g.:qemu-img.exe convert -p -f vmdk -O vmdk -o subformat=monolithicSparse WS25.vmdk WS25-2.vmdk -
RE: VDI export to VMDK results in a corrupted disk
Iยดm not a developer so I asked Ai what it "thinks" about it...
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ XCP-ng VDI โ โโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโ โ โ VDI_exportContent() โ format = VDI_FORMAT_VHD โผ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ VHD stream โ โโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโ โ โ vhdToVMDK() โผ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ vhdToVMDKIterator() โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โ parseVhdToBlocks() โผ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ parseVhdStream() โ โ โ โ VHD blocks โ โ { id, data } โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โ onlyBlocks() โ โ lba = id * blockSize โผ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ POSSIBLE ERROR HERE Incorrect mapping of id โ data or incorrect block ordering โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โผ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ generateVmdkData() โ โ โ โ VHD block โ โ โ โ โ grainData โ โ โ โ โ createMarkedGrain() โ โ โ โ โ tableBuffer โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ โผ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ VMDK stream โ โโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโ โ โผ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ โ VMDK file โ โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ -
RE: VDI export to VMDK results in a corrupted disk
I don't think it's a VMware issue. If the XO export created a VMDK with incorrect data block contents, qemu-img check can still complete without reporting any errors. It only means that it did not find any problems with the VMDK structure.
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RE: VDI export to VMDK results in a corrupted disk
qemu-img.exe info Windows Server 2025.vmdk image: Windows Server 2025.vmdk file format: vmdk virtual size: 64G (68719476736 bytes) disk size: 64G cluster_size: 65536 Format specific information: cid: 2849992906 parent cid: 4294967295 create type: streamOptimized extents: [0]: compressed: true virtual size: 68719476736 filename: Windows Server 2025.vmdk cluster size: 65536 format:qemu-img.exe check Windows Server 2025.vmdk No errors were found on the image.It seems that the disk itself is formally OK, but the content is somehow corrupted.
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RE: Error: Can't init vhd directory without using alias
In any case, rolling back XO to an older build helps, so hopefully it will be fixed soon.
