XenServer hotfixes - apply all or "compatible"?

August 21, 2013 14:47

Hi all -

I'm curious if anyone has found the appropriate methodology for determining which hotfixes to apply to XenServer for Cloud Platform 3.0.6... Looking at the matrix in the article below, it appears that only specific XenServer patches are "compatible":

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX134803

However, we have heard from other Citrix representatives that the best practice is to apply "all hotfixes" for the version of XenServer we are running, and the Installation Guide seems to echo this in section 7.1 (5th top-level bullet) with:

Be sure all the hotfixes provided by the hypervisor vendor are applied. The Alerts area of the
Dashboard in the CloudPlatform UI will show notifications about new Citrix XenServer software
updates as they become available. Apply patches as soon as possible after they are released. It is
essential that your hosts are completely up to date with the provided hypervisor patches.

What is the correct approach?

Kurt

Edited by: kbachel903 on Aug 21, 2013 10:47 AM

4 comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Previous 4 comments

Date Votes

Erik Godin

March 23, 2016 07:21

Bump. I too would like to know the answer to this one.

Regards,
Erik Godin

Administrator

March 23, 2016 07:21

Kurt, indeed CP official doc says:

When running hypervisor software on hosts, be sure all the hotfixes provided by the hypervisor
vendor are applied. Track the release of hypervisor patches through your hypervisor vendorâs support
channel, and apply patches as soon as possible after they are released. CloudPlatform will not track or
notify you of required hypervisor patches. It is essential that your hosts are completely up to date with
the provided hypervisor patches. The hypervisor vendor is likely to refuse to support any system that is
not up to date with patches.

As time goes new fixes are released for XenServer and other hypervisors and after we release certain version of Citrix Cloud Platform we are unable to retest all the new fixes and update admin guide every time new fix for XS is out.

So our QA team certifies certain version of hypervisor with some specific set of patches available before release. After release of CCP, we do recommend keep hypervisors up to date with what vendors make available. So content of CloudPlatform Compatibility Matrix is mandatory and additional, newer hotfixes are option and sometimes required too.
From support perspective, we do not reject support for environment with higher version of fixes than described in CTX134803.

I know this is a little bit confusing but I hope I made it clear.

Radek.

Radoslaw Smigielski CITRIX EMPLOYEES 27 August 2013 - 14:28 PM

Kurt Bachelder

March 23, 2016 07:21

Thanks, Radek - I think that clears up the matrix.

Is there any notification mechanism in place for XenServer patches that apply to CloudPlatform, or if there are patches required for proper functionality/security? Or is the expectation that the customer will evaluate whether or not a XenServer patch is required for CloudPlatform?

Thanks!

Kurt

Administrator

March 23, 2016 07:21

This page CloudPlatform and CloudPortal Business Manager Support Portal seems to be the best way to check for any official recommendations and hotfix notifications.
I just notice that there is no RSS feed, will check if we can do something about this and add RSS and let customers to subscribe this page.

Radek.

Radoslaw Smigielski CITRIX EMPLOYEES 28 August 2013 - 08:51 AM