ABD Troubleshooting Guide


ABDs (or Alike Backup Delegates) are tiny "helper" Linux VMs that are used for most XenServer backup, replication, and restore jobs. These tiny helpers reside as a template in your pool's default SR, and are provisioned, and torn down as needed by Alike to perform it's jobs. Typically, you won't even know they are running. However, in some environments getting ABDs working initially can be a bit of a challenge, especially if you are not familiar with them.


By default, ABDs:

  • Are stored as a template on your default (shared) SR
  • Use DHCP to acquire an IP address
  • Use 128MB of ram when booted


ABDs do have some requirements to be aware of: Each running ABD must have an IP address. If you don't have DHCP, or prefer to use static IPs, be sure to provide enough IP addresses to handle your peak concurrent load. ABDs must be able to reach/route to your A2's IP.


By far, the most common problem with ABDs is using the wrong XenNetwork (which can be assigned in the Alike UI, under ABDs).