33
9.4. Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) provider
The Windows tools also include a XenServer VSS provider that is used to quiesce the guest filesystem in
preparation for a VM snapshot. The VSS provider is installed as part of the PV driver installation, but is not enabled
by default.
To enable the Windows XenServer VSS provider
1. Install the Windows PV drivers.
2. Navigate to the directory where the drivers are installed (by default c:\Program Files
\Citrix\XenTools, or the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Citrix\XenTools
\Install_dir in the Windows Registry).
3. Double-click the install-XenProvider.cmd command to activate the VSS provider.
Note:
The VSS provider is automatically uninstalled when the PV drivers are uninstalled, and need
to be activated again upon re-installation. They can be uninstalled separately from the PV
drivers by using uninstall-XenProvider.cmd in the same directory.
9.5. Connecting to a Windows VM Using Remote Desktop
There are two ways of viewing a Windows VM console, both of which support full keyboard and mouse
interactivity.
1. Using XenCenter. This provides a standard graphical console and uses XenServer's in-built VNC technology to
provide remote access to your virtual machine console.
2. Connecting using Windows Remote Desktop. This uses the Remote Desktop Protocol technology
In XenCenter on the Console tab, there is a Switch to Remote Desktop button. This button disables the standard
graphical console within XenCenter, and switches to using Remote Desktop.
If you do not have Remote Desktop enabled in the VM, this button will be disabled. To enable it, you will need
to install the XenServer Tools (PV drivers) and follow the procedure below to enable it in each VM that you want
to connect using Remote Desktop:
To Enable Remote Desktop on a Windows VM
1. Open System by clicking the Start button, right-click on Computer, and then select Properties
2. Click Remote settings. If you're prompted for an administrator password, type the password you created
during the VM setup.
3. In the Remote Desktop area, click the check box labeled Allow connections from computers running any
version of Remote Desktop (Windows 7) or Enable Remote Desktop on this computer (Windows 2003
Server).
4. If you want to select any non-administrator users that can connect to this Windows VM, click the Select
Remote Users button and provide the usernames. Users with Administrator privileges on the Windows
domain can connect by default.
You will now be able to connect to this VM using Remote Desktop. For more information, see the Microsoft
Knowledge Base article, Connect to another computer using Remote Desktop Connection.
Note:
You cannot connect to a VM that is asleep or hibernating, so make sure the settings for sleep
and hibernation on the remote computer are set to Never.
