Appendix C. Troubleshooting VM problems

Table of Contents

C.1.1. Linux VMs
C.1.2. Windows VMs

If you experience odd behavior, application crashes, or have other issues, this chapter is meant to help you solve the problem if possible and, failing that, describes where the application logs are located and other information that can help your XenSource Solution Provider and XenSource track and resolve the issue.

Troubleshooting of installation issues is covered in the XenServer Installation Guide. Troubleshooting of XenServer Host issues is covered in the XenServer Administrator's Guide.

Note

We recommend that you follow the troubleshooting information in this chapter solely under the guidance of your XenSource Solution Provider or XenSource Support.

XenSource provides two forms of support: you can receive free self-help support via the Support site, or you may purchase our Support Services and directly submit requests by filing an online Support Case. Our free web-based resources include product documentation, a Knowledge Base, and discussion forums.

C.1. VM crashes

If you are experiencing VM crashes, it's possible that a kernel crash dump might help identify the problem. If the crash is reproducible, follow this procedure to send the dumps to XenSource.

C.1.1. Linux VMs

For Linux VMs, the crashdump behavior can be controlled through the actions-after-crash parameter. The following are the possible values:

Value	Description
preserve	leave the VM in a paused state (for analysis)
coredump_and_restart	record a core dump, then reboot the VM
coredump_and_destroy	record a core dump, leave VM halted
restart	no core dump, just reboot VM (this is the default)
destroy	no coredump, leave VM halted

To enable saving of Linux VM crash dumps

On the XenServer Host, determine the UUID of the desired VM using the command:
xe vm-list name-label=<name> params=uuid --minimal
Change the actions-after-crash value using the xe vm-param-set; for example:
xe vm-param-set uuid=<vm_uuid> actions-after-crash=coredump_and_restart

C.1.2. Windows VMs

For Windows VMs, the core dump behavior cannot be controlled through the actions-after-crash parameter. By default Windows crash dumps are put into %SystemRoot%\Minidump in the Windows VM itself.

You can configure the VMs dump level by going into My Computer --> Properties --> Advanced --> Startup and Recovery. You can then use lomount to retrieve it.