Install XOA From Source

Sep 5, 2021 · 2 mins read

In the video below, we show you how to install XOA from source

This provides a free way to access the vast majority of Xen Orchestra management features

When you install XCP-ng you will be given a link to install a VM for the Xen Orchestra Appliance but you will need to pay a subscription to unlock features in this, such as hypervisor patching, as well as to get access to technical support

However, xoa is open source, so we show you how to install a xen orchestra community edition that unlocks the vast majority of features

This involves creating a new VM and then installing a xoa from source thanks to Roni Väyrynen who has made this possible via Github

Steps taken

Create a VM running a Linux distro, in our case Debian 10 Buster It is best to give it a static IP address

TIP: You may want to give it more than the basic 2 CPUs and 2GB RAM to begin with but it requires 20GB disk space
Login and switch to the root account as we will need to install various packages

Install git, clone the repository and create an install configuration file

apt install git
git clone https://github.com/ronivay/XenOrchestraInstallerUpdater.git
cd XenOrchestraInstallerUpdater
cp sample.xo-install.cfg xo-install.cfg

Create a certificate and private key so we can access the server via TLS

cd /etc/ssl
mkdir xo
cd xo
openssl req -newkey rsa:4096 -x509 -sha256 -days 3650 -nodes -out xo.crt -keyout xo.key

Update the config file
```
cd /XenOrchestraInstallerUpdater
nano xo-install.cfg
```
Change the entry for PORT from 80 to 443
Uncomment the lines at the end and enter the file paths
```
PATH_TO_HTTPS_CERT=/etc/ssl/xo/xo.crt
PATH_TO_HTTPS_KEY=/etc/ssl/xo/xo.key
```
Save the changes
Run the installation script
```
./xo-install.sh
```
Select option 1 which is to install
Leave to finish installing

TIP: If the installation reports an error check the config file is correct
If the installer reports a failed installation run the script again because in my test lab it seemed to have issues accessing the Internet
Completion
Once the installation has completed you should be able to login to XOA using the IP address and port that was configured
Add your XCP-ng server(s) and you should now have access to the majority of management features
Decommission the original XOA VM and use this one going forward

TIP: Make sure this VM is set to autostart and is protected from accidental deletion and shutdown
Scale back the resources the VM has to 2 CPUs and 2GB of RAM if you want but it depends on how many VMs you expect to manage