6.5. Adding a Host

Before adding a host to the CloudStack configuration, you must first install your chosen hypervisor on the host. CloudStack can manage hosts running VMs under a variety of hypervisors.
The CloudStack Installation Guide provides instructions on how to install each supported hypervisor and configure it for use with CloudStack. See the appropriate section in the Installation Guide for information about which version of your chosen hypervisor is supported, as well as crucial additional steps to configure the hypervisor hosts for use with CloudStack.
Warning
Be sure you have performed the additional CloudStack-specific configuration steps described in the hypervisor installation section for your particular hypervisor.
Now add the hypervisor host to CloudStack. The technique to use varies depending on the hypervisor.
- Section 6.5.1, “Adding a Host (XenServer or KVM)”
- Section 6.5.2, “Adding a Host (vSphere)”

6.5.1. Adding a Host (XenServer or KVM)

XenServer and KVM hosts can be added to a cluster at any time.

6.5.1.1. Requirements for XenServer and KVM Hosts

Warning

Make sure the hypervisor host does not have any VMs already running before you add it to CloudStack.

Configuration requirements:

Each cluster must contain only hosts with the identical hypervisor.
For XenServer, do not put more than 8 hosts in a cluster.
For KVM, do not put more than 16 hosts in a cluster.

For hardware requirements, see the installation section for your hypervisor in the CloudStack Installation Guide.

6.5.1.1.1. XenServer Host Additional Requirements

If network bonding is in use, the administrator must cable the new host identically to other hosts in the cluster.

For all additional hosts to be added to the cluster, run the following command. This will cause the host to join the master in a XenServer pool.

# xe pool-join master-address=[master IP] master-username=root master-password=[your password]

Note

When copying and pasting a command, be sure the command has pasted as a single line before executing. Some document viewers may introduce unwanted line breaks in copied text.

With all hosts added to the XenServer pool, run the cloud-setup-bond script. This script will complete the configuration and setup of the bonds on the new hosts in the cluster.

Copy the script from the Management Server in /usr/lib64/cloud/common/scripts/vm/hypervisor/xenserver/cloud-setup-bonding.sh to the master host and ensure it is executable.
Run the script:
```
# ./cloud-setup-bonding.sh
```

6.5.1.1.2. KVM Host Additional Requirements

If shared mountpoint storage is in use, the administrator should ensure that the new host has all the same mountpoints (with storage mounted) as the other hosts in the cluster.
Make sure the new host has the same network configuration (guest, private, and public network) as other hosts in the cluster.

6.5.1.2. Adding a XenServer or KVM Host

If you have not already done so, install the hypervisor software on the host. You will need to know which version of the hypervisor software version is supported by CloudStack and what additional configuration is required to ensure the host will work with CloudStack. To find these installation details, see the appropriate section for your hypervisor in the CloudStack Installation Guide.
Log in to the CloudStack UI as administrator.
In the left navigation, choose Infrastructure. In Zones, click View More, then click the zone in which you want to add the host.
Click the Compute tab. In the Clusters node, click View All.
Click the cluster where you want to add the host.
Click View Hosts.
Click Add Host.
Provide the following information.
- Host Name. The DNS name or IP address of the host.
- Username. Usually root.
- Password. This is the password for the user from your XenServer or KVM install).
- Host Tags (Optional). Any labels that you use to categorize hosts for ease of maintenance. For example, you can set to the cloud's HA tag (set in the ha.tag global configuration parameter) if you want this host to be used only for VMs with the "high availability" feature enabled. For more information, see HA-Enabled Virtual Machines as well as HA for Hosts.
There may be a slight delay while the host is provisioned. It should automatically display in the UI.
Repeat for additional hosts.

6.5.2. Adding a Host (vSphere)

For vSphere servers, we recommend creating the cluster of hosts in vCenter and then adding the entire cluster to CloudStack. See Add Cluster: vSphere.