Infrastructure Objects

Owned by Javier Celaya (Unlicensed)
Last updated: May 07, 2019
3 min read

flexVDI Dashboard lets system administrators manage the flexVDI platform. These are the kind of objects that can be found in flexVDI.

Hosts

Host: physical servers included in the virtual platform. Hosts provide computing resources (CPU and RAM) to the platform.

The following operations can be performed on a Host from flexVDI Dashboard:

  • Modifying a Host
  • Disable: When a Host is disabled it changes to "maintenance mode" and stops being available to any Pool to run Guests on it.
  • Enable: Finishes the "disabled state" of the Host, and changes it to the regular state.
  • Unregister: Takes the Host out of the control of the current flexVDI Manager. The Host is now ready to take part in another flexVDI platform.
  • Shutdown.

Guest

Guest: virtual machines created from flexVDI Manager.

Related tasks:

  • Create a new Guest
  • Change the boot device of a Guest: allows the Guest to boot from its virtual disk, a virtual CD, or from network.
  • Start a Guest: the flexVDI Manager will ensure that the selected Guest will start the operation is requested, and it will also restart after a shutdown.
  • Start once a Guest: to boot the Guest once, without automatic restart.
  • Send shutdown to a Guest: equivalent to pressing the power button on a physical machine. OS will receive an ACPI shutdown request and will stop the machine tidily
  • Force stop of a Guest: is the virtual equivalent of shutting down the power source of the machine. The Guest will lose the information not saved in the moment of the shutdown, and can produce file system errors.
  • Pausing a Guest
  • Resuming a Guest
  • Suspending a Guest
  • Restoring a Guest
  • Modifying a Guest. This option allows to change the virtual hardware of a Guest.
  • Insert tools: inserts a virtual CD in the Guest with flexVDI Guest Tools installation software.
  • Changing the Media
  • Copying a Guest
  • Convert a Guest into a template.
  • Migrate a Guest
  • Migrate flexVDI Manager: in the left area of the main window, the flexVDI Manager is shown under one of the Hosts indicating where it is running. This instance behaves like a Guest; if for some reason the Host that executes it needs to be disabled or off, flexVDI Manager can migrate to another Host. In the context menu on the flexVDI Manager icon, click "Migrate" and select the destination host. Previously it is required to have completed the flexVDI Manager clustering configuration with flexvdi-config.
  • Open Guest Console
  • Delete a Guest
  • Convert a template into a Guest.

Pool

Pool: group of Guests. Pools reserves the Hosts resources for the Guests included in them.

  • Creating a new Pool
  • Enabling a Pool
  • Disabling a Pool
  • Modifying a Pool
  • Rebalancing Resources
  • Deleting a Pool

Image Storage

Image Storage: it is a logical space of storage for disk images. Image Storages are created in a set of Hosts that are able to access it. It contains Volumes.

Volume: It is a logical partition of an Image Storage, implemented using a bunch of different technologies. Guest disk images are stored in the Volumes.

Related Tasks:

  • Creating an Image Storage
  • Creating a new Volume
  • Creating a new External Volume
  • Deleting an Image Storage
  • Deleting a Volume
  • Deleting an External Volume


Media Storage

Media Storage: an ISO image repository. Those files can be mounted by Guests, appearing as read only optical discs.

Related Tasks:

  • Creating a new Media Storage
  • Deleting a Media Storage

Direct Storage

Direct Storage: Provides Guests with direct access to physical disks. Those disks will only be visible from the Hosts that have been selected for that purpose, and the disks will always be available for the Guest. 

Related tasks:

  • Creating a Direct Storage
  • Deleting a Direct Storage

Task

Task: actions carried out by flexVDI Manager. In the task view you can find the list of tasks executed by the manager. Each entry provides the following information:

  • Object: Object that has executed the task.
  • Action: Action executed by the object.
  • Status: current status of the task started by the object (completed or pending).
  • Result: Task result (success/error).
  • Message: Detailed message about the outcome of the task.
  • Finish time: Date and time at which the task was finished.

Tasks are shown under four tabs:

  • Session: Tasks started since the beginning of the current flexVDI Dashboard session.
  • Pending: Tasks which execution has not finished.
  • Completed: Tasks which execution has finished.