One inventory for every pool
The VMs of all your XenServer environments in a single view, with filters by environment and state and CSV export. Replicas made by XenReplica are marked and can be hidden.
Corellix Software Engineering
Solutions
XenReplica
XenReplica
The same master image, in every data centre.
XenReplica copies MCS master images from one XenServer pool to others, either manually or on a schedule. It transfers the full image initially, and subsequently only the changed blocks. It replicates all snapshots to each destination, ready for updating the catalogs in Citrix Studio.
- XenServer 8 · Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 and above
- Windows · Linux · macOS · Docker
- Web interface with users and roles
Only the blocks that changed
After the first full copy, every update travels as a differencing VHD. Delta with Changed Block Tracking
One snapshot per version
Named the way you choose, ready to select in Studio.
Nothing to install on the hosts
It talks to XAPI on port 443, the way XenCenter does.
No runtime to install
Self-contained packages and the same setup wizard on every system.
Try XenReplica right here
A web interface, in the browser of any workstation. Below, an incremental replication is running on sample data: open it to follow speed and log, browse the inventory and try «Esegui ora» on the replication jobs page.
The interface is the product's own, in its original language; the data are sample data and the simulation is not connected to any system.
The problem
Every data centre needs its own copy
With several data centres, each MCS catalogue needs its own copy of the master image. XenServer has no command to copy a VM to another pool: migration moves it, it does not copy it.
So every update becomes a manual export, a file of tens of gigabytes to move across the WAN and an import to check, repeated for every site each time the image changes.
The answer
A replica that keeps itself up to date
You choose the master image and the destination pools once. From then on XenReplica snapshots the source, transfers only what changed, updates the replica and takes a version snapshot of it.
The catalogue update in each data centre always starts from the same place, under the same name: only the snapshot changes.
What XenReplica does
Incremental replication
After the first full copy it transfers only the changed blocks. If a safety condition is missing (the replica was started or modified, the base snapshot is gone) it falls back to a full copy on its own and logs why.
Snapshots ready for MCS
Every run leaves a version snapshot on the destination, named as you choose, and keeps the last N versions. The replica keeps its name, so the path in Studio does not change.
Schedules and bandwidth limits
Runs on demand, daily, weekly, monthly or with a cron expression, in your time zone. A bandwidth cap per job and zstd compression for the WAN.
Every run in plain sight
Progress, log and outcome per destination in real time, with the transfer speed chart. A run can be cancelled safely: partial imports and snapshots are cleaned up.
Built for administrators
HTTPS with your internal CA certificate, pinned TLS fingerprints towards every host, encrypted environment passwords, users with reader, operator and administrator roles.
One run, step by step
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1
Snapshot the source
The master image can stay powered on: XenReplica takes a snapshot and works from that.
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2
The first time, everything
A full copy streamed from the source pool to the destination storage through the service machine, compressed with zstd, with no intermediate files.
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3
Then, only what changed
From then on it writes to the replica's disks only the blocks that changed since the previous snapshot.
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4
A snapshot for Studio
The replica gets a version snapshot, ready to select in Citrix Studio or with Publish-ProvMasterVMImage.
What it takes
- Hypervisor
- XenServer 8.x or Citrix Hypervisor 8.2 and above
- Where it runs
- Windows Server 2019/2022/2025 or Windows 10/11, macOS 13 or later, Linux x64/arm64 with systemd, Docker
- Network
- TCP 443 to every host of the pools; the web portal port (8443 by default) for the administrators' workstations
- XenServer account
- One per pool, allowed to snapshot, export, import and modify VMs and disks
- Runtime
- None: the packages are self-contained
- How you use it
- Web portal in the browser, optional Windows client, command line
What people ask us
Do I need to install anything on the XenServer hosts?
No. XenReplica uses the XenServer API (XAPI) on port 443, like XenCenter. It is installed on a machine that can reach the pools, typically the administration VM.
Does the data go through a cloud?
No. The transfer goes from the source pool to the service machine and from there to the destination pools, inside your network. Nothing is sent to Corellix.
What if someone changed the replica at the destination?
XenReplica notices before sending the differences and makes a full copy instead, writing the reason in the log. The replica is blocked from starting precisely so that it stays identical to the source.
Does it update the MCS catalogues too?
Today it prepares the version snapshot to select in Studio or in PowerShell. Updating the catalogues automatically is the next item on the roadmap.
Which disks are replicated incrementally?
VHD disks up to 2 TiB. Larger disks, or qcow2 storage (GFS2, SMAPIv3), get a full copy.
Coming next
What is planned next. If you need one of these sooner, say so in your request.
- Automatic MCS catalogue update
- Initial copy made offline and adopted at the destination
- Deltas with Changed Block Tracking
- Sign-in with Active Directory / Entra ID
- E-mail notifications on outcomes
Let's talk
See it on your own pools
Tell us how many data centres and master images you manage: we will show you XenReplica in a demo and plan a pilot on your environments with you.
Rather write to us? Contact page
XenReplica is designed, built and supported by Corellix Software Engineering: the team behind the Corellix platform, which also builds custom software, infrastructure tools and data migrations.
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