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Getting Started

XenServer includes a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) based API providing programmatic access to the extensive set of XenServer management features and tools. You can call the XenServer API from a remote system or from local to the XenServer host.

It's possible to write applications that use the XenServer Management API directly through raw RPC calls. However, the task of developing third-party applications is greatly simplified by using a language binding. These language bindings expose the individual API calls as first-class functions in the target language. The XenServer SDK provides language bindings and example code for the C, C#, Java, Python, and PowerShell programming languages.

System Requirements and Preparation

The first step towards using the SDK is to install XenServer. XenServer is available for download at http://www.citrix.com/downloads/xenserver/. For detailed instructions on how to set up your development host, see the XenServer Installation Guide. When the installation is complete, note the host IP address and the host password.

Downloading

The SDK is packaged as a ZIP file and is available as a free download from http://www.citrix.com/downloads/xenserver/.

SDK Languages

The extracted contents of the SDK ZIP file are in the XenServer-SDK directory. The following is an overview of its structure. Where necessary, subdirectories have their own individual README files.

**Note**: The examples provided aren't the same across all
the SDK languages. If you intend to use one language, it's
advisable to browse the sample code available in the others as well.

The top level of the XenServer-SDK directory includes the XenServer API Reference document. This document describes in more detail the API semantics and the wire protocol of the RPC messages.

The API supports two wire formats, one based upon XML-RPC and one based upon JSON-RPC (v1.0 and v2.0 are both recognised). The format supported by each of the SDK languages is specified in the following sections.

C

The XenServer-SDK directory contains the following folders that are relevant to C programmers:

  • libxenserver

    The XenServer SDK for C.

    • libxenserver/bin

      The libxenserver compiled binaries.

    • libxenserver/src

      The libxenserver source code and examples and a Makefile to build them. Every API object is associated with a header file, which contains declarations for all that object's API functions. For example, the type definitions and functions required to invoke VM operations are all contained in xen_vm.h.

C SDK dependencies

The C SDK supports the XML-RPC protocol.

Platform supported:

  • Linux
  • Windows (under cygwin)

Library:

The library is generated as libxenserver.so that is linked by C programs.

Dependencies:

  • XML library (libxml2.so on GNU Linux)
  • Curl library (libcurl3.so)

Examples: The following simple examples are included with the C SDK:

  • test_vm_async_migrate: Shows how to use asynchronous API calls to migrate running VMs from a slave host to the pool master.

  • test_vm_ops: Shows how to query the capabilities of a host, create a VM, attach a fresh blank disk image to the VM and then perform various powercycle operations.

  • test_failures: Shows how to translate between error strings and enum_xen_api_failure.

  • test_event_handling: Shows how to listen for events on a connection.

  • test_enumerate: Shows how to enumerate the various API objects.

  • test_get_records: Shows how to obtain information on API objects such as hosts, VMs, and storage repositories.

C #

The XenServer-SDK directory contains the following folders that are relevant to C# programmers:

  • XenServer.NET

    The XenServer SDK for C#.NET.

    • XenServer.NET/bin

      XenServer.NET ready compiled binaries.

    • XenServer.NET/samples

      XenServer.NET examples shipped as a Microsoft Visual studio solution.

    • XenServer.NET/src

      XenServer.NET source code shipped as a Microsoft Visual Studio project. Every API object is associated with one C# file. For example, the functions implementing the VM operations are contained within the file VM.cs.

C# SDK dependencies

The C# SDK supports the JSON-RPC v2.0 protocol. The C# SDK is backwards compatible and can be used to communicate with hosts running an older version of XenServer. For server versions prior to XenServer 7.3, the C# SDK uses the XML-RPC protocol, with the exception of XenServer 7.1 LTSR where the JSON-RPC v1.0 protocol is used.

Platform supported:

  • Windows with .NET version 4.5

Library:

  • The library is generated as a Dynamic Link Library XenServer.dll that C# programs can reference.

Dependencies:

  • Newtonsoft.Json.dll is needed for the XenServer.dll to be able to communicate with the JSON-RPC backend. We ship a patched 10.0.2 version and recommend that you use this one, though others may work.

  • CookComputing.XMLRpcV2.dll is needed for the XenServer.dll to be able to communicate with the XML-RPC backend. We ship a patched 2.5 version and recommend that you use this one, though others may work.

Examples:

The following examples are included with the C# SDK in the directory XenServer-SDK/XenServer.NET/samples as separate projects of the XenSdkSample.sln solution:

  • GetVariousRecords: logs to a XenServer Host and displays information about hosts, storage, and virtual machines;

  • VmPowerStates: logs to a XenServer Host, finds a VM and takes it through the various power states. Requires a shutdown VM to be already installed.

Java

The XenServer-SDK directory contains the following folders that are relevant to Java programmers:

  • XenServerJava

    The XenServer SDK for Java

    • XenServerJava/bin

      Java compiled binaries.

    • XenServerJava/javadoc

      Java documentation.

    • XenServerJava/samples

      Java examples.

    • XenServerJava/src

      Java source code and a Makefile to build the code and the examples. Every API object is associated with one Java file. For example the functions implementing the VM operations are contained within the file VM.java.

Java SDK dependencies

The Java SDK supports the XML-RPC protocol.

Platform supported:

  • Linux
  • Windows

Library:

  • The language binding is generated as a Java Archive file xenserver-.jar that is linked by Java programs.

Dependencies:

  • xmlrpc-client-3.1.jar
  • xmlrpc-common-3.1.jar
  • ws-commons-util-1.0.2.jar

These jars are needed for the xenserver.jar to be able to communicate with the xml-rpc server. These jars are shipped alongside the xenserver.jar.

Examples:

Running the main file XenServer-SDK/XenServerJava/samples/RunTests.java runs a series of examples included in the same directory:

  • AddNetwork: Adds a new internal network not attached to any NICs;

  • SessionReuse: Shows how a Session object can be shared among multiple Connections;

  • AsyncVMCreate: Makes asynchronously a new VM from a built-in template, starts, and stops it;

  • VdiAndSrOps: Performs various SR and VDI tests, including creating a dummy SR;

  • CreateVM: Creates a VM on the default SR with a network and DVD drive;

  • DeprecatedMethod: Tests a warning is displayed when a deprecated API method is called;

  • GetAllRecordsOfAllTypes: Retrieves all the records for all types of objects;

  • SharedStorage: Creates a shared NFS SR;

  • StartAllVMs: Connects to a host and tries to start each VM on it.

PowerShell

The XenServer-SDK directory contains the following folders that are relevant to PowerShell users:

  • XenServerPowerShell

    The XenServer SDK for PowerShell.

    • XenServerPowerShell/XenServerPSModule

      The XenServer PowerShell module.

    • XenServerPowerShell/samples

      PowerShell example scripts.

    • XenServerPowerShell/src

      C# source code for the XenServer PowerShell cmdlets.

Detailed installation instructions are provided within the README file accompanying the module. After the module is installed, you can obtain an overview of the cmdlets by typing:

PS> Get-Help about_XenServer

PowerShell SDK dependencies

The PowerShell module supports the same RPC protocols as the C# SDK.

Note This module is generally, but not fully, backwards compatible. To communicate with hosts running older versions of XenServer, it is advisable to use the module of the same version as the host.

Platform supported:

  • Windows with .NET Framework 4.5 and PowerShell v4.0

Library:

  • XenServerPSModule

Dependencies:

  • Newtonsoft.Json.dll is needed for the module to be able to communicate with the JSON-RPC backend. We ship a patched 10.0.2 version and recommend that you use this one, though others may work.
  • CookComputing.XMLRpcV2.dll is needed for the module to be able to communicate with the XML-RPC backend. We ship a patched 2.5 version and recommend that you use this one, though others may work.

Examples:

The following example scripts are included with the PowerShell module in the directory XenServer-SDK/XenServerPowerShell/samples:

  • AutomatedTestCore.ps1: Shows how to log into a XenServer host, create a storage repository and a VM, and then perform various powercycle operations.

  • HttpTest.ps1: Shows how to log into a XenServer host, create a VM, and then perform operations such as VM importing and exporting, patch upload, and retrieval of performance statistics.

Python

The XenServer-SDK directory contains the following folders that are relevant to Python developers:

  • XenServerPython

    This directory contains the XenServer Python module XenAPI.py.

    • XenServerPython/samples

      XenServer API examples using Python.

Python module dependencies

The Python module supports the XML-RPC protocol.

Platform supported:

  • Linux

Library:

  • XenAPI.py

Dependencies:

  • xmlrpclib

Examples:

The SDK includes the following Python examples:

  • fixpbds.py - reconfigures the settings used to access shared storage;

  • install.py - installs a Debian VM, connects it to a network, starts it up and waits for it to report its IP address;

  • license.py - uploads a fresh license to a XenServer Host;

  • permute.py - selects a set of VMs and uses XenMotion to move them simultaneously among hosts;

  • powercycle.py - selects a set of VMs and powercycles them;

  • vm_start_async.py - shows how to invoke operations asynchronously;

  • watch-all-events.py - registers for all events and prints details when they occur.

Command Line Interface (CLI)

Besides using raw RPC or one of the supplied SDK languages, third-party software developers can integrate with XenServer hosts by using the XE command line interface xe. The xe CLI is installed by default on XenServer hosts. A stand-alone remote CLI is also available for Linux. On Windows, the xe.exe CLI executable is installed along with XenCenter.

CLI dependencies

Platform supported:

  • Linux
  • Windows

Library:

  • None

Binary:

  • xe on Linux
  • xe.exe on Windows

Dependencies:

  • None

The CLI allows almost every API call to be directly invoked from a script or other program, silently taking care of the required session management. The xe CLI syntax and capabilities are described in detail in the XenServer Administrator's Guide. For more resources and examples, visit the Citrix Knowledge Center.

Note

When running the CLI from a XenServer Host console, tab-completion of both command names and arguments is available.