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Citrix XenServer 6.0 Administration Essential Guide
Citrix XenServer 6.0 Administration Essential Guide

Citrix XenServer 6.0 Administration Essential Guide: Deploy and manage XenServer in your enterprise to create, integrate, manage and automate a virtual datacenter quickly and easily with this book and ebook.

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Citrix XenServer 6.0 Administration Essential Guide

Chapter 2. Managing User Authentication

In the first chapter, we discussed XenServer resource pools, their concepts, requirements and how to manage them.

As you have learned, a Citrix XenServer pool is composed of multiple XenServer host installations, bound together as a single managed entity. It allows you to view multiple servers and their connected shared storage as a single unified resource, enabling flexible deployment of virtual machines based on the resource needs and business priorities.

In this chapter, we will discover how to manage user authentication and how to control access to your XenServer infrastructure. We will cover the following topics:

  • User management overview

  • Authenticating users with Active Directory

  • Role Based Access Control overview

  • Roles and permissions

  • Assigning roles to users and groups

User management overview


Defining users, groups, roles, and permissions allows you to control who has access to your XenServer hosts and pools and what actions they can perform. XenServer supports Microsoft Active Directory as a directory and authentication service in order to add new users to your virtual infrastructure.

The XenServer setup creates by default a special user account during the installation. This account is the local super user (LSU) and is known by the term root. It is authenticated locally by the XenServer host. It is used for system administration and has full rights over the pool and the hosts.

What can you do if you cannot log in to the XenServer infrastructure in the case of Active Directory unavailability? You will agree that this could be a painful situation and the answer is that using LSU, you can always access the XenServer physical servers, log in, and manage them through the xe command line interface (CLI).

You can create additional users by adding their Active...

Authenticating users with Active Directory


We have understood that if you want to have multiple user accounts and manage different levels of access for these users on a server or a pool, you must use Active Directory. This lets XenServer users log in to a pool using their Windows domain credentials. Before discovering how to enable Active Directory authentication, we have to introduce some concepts regarding authentication.

Access is controlled by the use of subjects. A subject in XenServer maps to an entity on your Active Directory server. This entity can be either a user or a group belonging to your Active Directory domain. When external authentication is enabled, the credentials used to create a session are first checked against the local root credentials (in case your directory server is unavailable) and then against the subject list. To permit access, you must create a subject entry for the person or group you wish to grant access to. This can be done using XenCenter or the xe CLI....

Role Based Access Control overview


In the section related to user management we have introduced the Role Based Access Control (RBAC) feature. Now it is time to discover it in detail.

RBAC allows you to assign roles and permissions to users in order to control who has access to your XenServer pool and what actions they can perform. Using RBAC, you can map a user or a group of users that can access your XenServer pool to defined roles. Each role has some associated permissions that give to the user or the group of users the ability to perform certain operations.

RBAC allows you to easily restrict which operations different groups of users can perform, thus reducing the probability of an accident by an inexperienced user.

Note that you must enable Active Directory authentication in order to take advantage of RBAC. So you must join the pool to the domain and add Active Directory accounts before you can assign roles.

Note

The full RBAC feature is only available in Citrix XenServer Enterprise Edition...

Roles and Permissions


XenServer is shipped with the following six pre-established roles:

  • Pool Administrator (Pool Admin): Like LSU, this role grants you rights to perform all operations on XenServer pools and hosts

  • Pool Operator (Pool Operator): This role can do everything on XenServer pools and hosts apart from adding/removing users and modifying their roles

  • Virtual Machine Power Administrator (VM Power Admin): This role grants you rights to create and manage virtual machines in the pool

  • Virtual Machine Administrator (VM Admin): This role is similar to a VM Power Admin but does not grant you the right to migrate VMs or perform snapshots

  • Virtual Machine Operator (VM Operator): This role grants you the right to perform start/stop/reset operations

  • Read-only (Read Only): This role grants you the right to view resource pool and performance data

Definitions of RBAC Roles and Permissions

After roles, it is time to discover which permissions are available for each role. The following tables summarize...

Assigning roles to users and groups


All XenServer users must have an RBAC role. We have discovered that when new users are added in the XenServer free and advanced editions, they are automatically assigned the Pool Administrator role. If you have the Enterprise or higher edition, you must assign roles to newly added accounts separately, because XenServer does not assign account roles automatically in these editions.

You can assign a user a different role by one of the following methods:

  • Change the role assigned to the user in the Select Roles dialog in XenCenter. This requires the Assign/Modify role permission, which is only available to a Pool Administrator.

  • Modify the user's containing group membership in Active Directory (so that the user becomes part of a group that is assigned a different role).

Assigning or changing a role to a user or group

You can change or assign roles to users or groups using XenCenter or xe CLI. To do this task in XenCenter, follow this procedure:

  1. In the Resources...

Summary


In this chapter, we have learned about user authentication concepts, Active Directory integration and how to manage them. Specifically we have covered:

  • User management overview

  • Authenticating users with Active Directory

  • Adding new users in XenServer using XenCenter and xe CLI

  • Role Based Access Control overview

  • Assigning roles to users and groups

User authentication with Active Directory is very useful when you have a large XenServer deployment and you want to manage the tasks your administrators or users can do on the virtual infrastructure.

Furthermore, you can delegate some tasks to other users such as VM power management.

In the next chapter, we will introduce storage concepts and discuss storage management.

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Key benefits

  • This book and eBook will take you through deploying XenServer in your enterprise, and teach you how to create and maintain your datacenter.
  • Manage XenServer and virtual machines using Citrix management tools and the command line.
  • Organize secure access to your infrastructure using role-based access control.
  • Back up your host and the highavailability of virtual machines.
  • The book contains practical examples and tips by the author from his own experience in clear step by step

Description

Virtualization helps an organization reduce costs and achieve low maintenance. It is fast becoming an important skill for all administrators. Citrix's XenServer is one of the leading virtualization solutions for enterprises and helps companies reduce costs while allowing them to integrate, automate and easily manage their datacenters. It comes with a steep learning curve, but the results are well worth the effort. This practical guide on XenServer administration shows you how to manage XenServer pools; create, configure and manage virtual machines and a datacenter. With the help of real-world examples in this book, you will be able to apply these concepts directly in your everyday life. Packed with author's tips and helpful advice; the book is your best choice for anything related to XenServer administration. This is the only book that focuses on the most vital aspect of XenServerñadministration. You don't have to struggle through the lesser-documented tasks anymore, this book will provide all the information you need to create and run a perfectly designed datacenter using XenServer.You will begin your journey towards becoming an expert XenServer administrator by configuring XenServer pools and managing role-based user authentication. Your next step is to create and manage virtual machines. In the following chapters you will learn to configure storage. The book discusses some of the more difficult tasks like configuring and managing VM memory. In the end you will be capable of handling your datacenter and virtual machines through a network, and you will learn how to monitor and backup your XenServer setup. All through the book, the author adds his helpful tips and advice that will help you choose the best options for your setup.

Who is this book for?

If you are an administrator working on XenServer, this book is for you. The book assumes that you have a basic understanding of XenServer administration, but need not have working experience with XenServer. You must be well aware of virtualization concepts as the book does not cover that.IT consultants, service providers and architects, who want to approach XenServer as a virtualization platform will also find this book useful.

What you will learn

  • Create and manage XenServer resource pools to manage your XenServer host as a unique identity
  • Use XenServer features like XenMotion to move the VM from one host to another without downtime
  • Manage user authentication using role-based access control
  • Configure Storage Repository and Networking
  • Create, Import and Export Virtual Machines
  • Convert physical machines to virtual using XenConvert
  • Manage Virtual Machines memory and snapshots with dynamic memory control and optimize Xen memory usage
  • Enable and manage High Availability in your XenServer
  • Integrate and configure XenServer with Microsoft Active Directory
  • Manage backups of XenServer host, protection, and the high-availability of virtual machines

Product Details

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Publication date, Length, Edition, Language, ISBN-13
Publication date : Jun 25, 2012
Length: 364 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849686167
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Product Details

Publication date : Jun 25, 2012
Length: 364 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781849686167
Vendor :
Citrix
Concepts :
Tools :

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Table of Contents

9 Chapters
Introducing XenServer Resource Pools Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing User Authentication Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Storage Repositories Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Creating Virtual Machines Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Virtual Machines Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing XenServer and Virtual Machine Memory Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing XenServer Networking Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing High Availability and Snapshots Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Protecting and Monitoring XenServer Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

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Dee Kirby Jun 09, 2013
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This was a gift, and he really loves it! It was very useful to him for his job. Great value, too!
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Steve Aug 14, 2016
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I am a Citrix Architect and I found this book to be on point with breaking down the essentials of Citrix XenServer administration. The author does a great job with presenting the information in logical steps and explaining each key piece. Used this book to study for one of my CCA certifications and passed.I purchase a lot of products on Amazon. Some of those products are free, some are at a discounted price, and others are full price purchases. I will always note when a product is free or discounted. I have listed my rating system below as a reference.My personal guidelines for reviewing products:5 stars – I love the product! Not only would I buy it again I would recommend it to friends and family.4 stars – I like it, and I would buy it again. I would prefer a few minor tweaks but overall still a great product.3 stars - It was okay, but perhaps not for me. I would still consider the product as a gift for others.2 stars – The product could use improvement and I would not buy it again until it was fixed.1 star – I dislike the product and I would not purchase it for myself or as a gift for others.
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Allan Feb 05, 2017
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Received the book electronically within minutes and able to start reading right away. Thank you very much.
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bilbo Dec 17, 2013
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Used this book as well as downloaded the software. Very good book to get to know Xenserver. I recommend it, I passed the Citrix exam with a 100 percent.
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AntonioProietti Aug 16, 2012
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As the author says in the preface of this manual, "The book starts by providing an overview of the XenServer platform and Resource Pool concepts...then dives deep into topics such as virtual machine creation and management, management of XenServer memory and networking, snapshots, and High Availability features and monitoring."According to me the strength of this book is without doubt the presence of numerous "practical examples covering typical tasks related to virtual infrastructure management." These tasks, explained step by step by the author, cover almost 99% of the daily activities of a XenServer administrator, so I can say this book is an excellent starting point for learning about XenServer, whether you don't know anything about virtualization, both for those are already familiar with other hypervisors, like VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V, and wants test / learn even XenServer.
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