Blog of spblinux

Looking for a graphical, browser based tool to manage xen 4.0 virtual machines I tried xen orchestra):

• pro: needs only a web server with php (mysql optional); user interface not overloaded;  open source, well structured code.
• con: only one detail window can be opened at the same time – needs patch; needs on ubuntu 10.04 a workaround for command xm new (see previous post).

The patch for multiple detail windows just had to replace some html tag id fields in htdocs/scripts/xo.js (01-xo.js.wId.diff).

Because I found it convenient to inspect my virtual machines with a browser based vnc viewer, I added a line to the detail window which displays the id and a link to vnc:
Domain id: 1 (vnc)
This patch uses the xen api to query the consoles of the virtual machine and looks up the ip address and the port of the vnc server connected to the console (02-add_vnc_link.diff, to be applied after 01-xo.js.wId.diff).

Patched version of xen orchestra: xen-orchestra-2010-03-22-patched.zip (local version of original file: xen-orchestra-2010-03-22.zip; local version of tightvnc java viewer: VncViewer.jar)

Minor, negligible bugs:

• Network and Storage section of detail windows are empty.
• If the machine running xen orchestra is too busy, xen orchestra displays an empty window; just press the refresh button of the browser to get the main window back.
• ‘Login again’ button of java vnc viewer window does not reconnect (but refresh button of browser does).
• Error messages are not displayed if a virtual machine fails to start (open a terminal and use the command xm start yourvm).
• the vnc viewer window has a fixed hardcoded size (800×600 in htdocs/vnv.php); as workaround add &w=1024&h=798 to the browser address line to display a 1024×768 virtual machine.
• non captured mouse does not work well in windows, unless graphics tablet mouse driver is installed (see next post about gtk-viewer plugin on linux).

Conclusion: I really appreciate the work of Olivier Lambert, the author of xen orchestra!