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Modernization notes (development branch only)

XCP-ng Center is modernized only on the development branch.

Supported workflow

  • Integrate and release from development.
  • GitHub Actions (.github/workflows/test-builds.yml) restores packages, builds Release and Debug, runs unit tests, and uploads artifacts.
  • Package versions are managed centrally in Directory.Packages.props.

Runtime targeting

Project TFMs
CommandLib, XenCenterLib, XenOvfApi, XenModel net481;net8.0
XenAdmin (WinForms app) net8.0-windows

Versioning: year.month.day.revision from Directory.Build.props (UTC date; BuildRevision defaults to 0, CI sets -p:BuildRevision=$GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER).

Update downloads and Import Wizard URL fetch use HttpClient via HttpFileDownloader.

Client updates (Avalonia shell)

XcpNgCenter.Shell checks GitHub Releases (Narehood/xenadmin by default; override with XCPNG_UPDATE_GITHUB_REPO=owner/name) a few seconds after launch. When a newer tag/version is found, a bottom-right banner offers View release / Dismiss (dismiss is remembered per version). Draft and prerelease tags are ignored. Publish with the manual workflow Publish Shell Release (.github/workflows/publish-shell-release.yml) or gh release create vYYYY.M.D.N. The soak/CI binary must stamp a lower year.month.day.revision than the release tag for the banner to appear. On Linux, View release uses xdg-open.

Plugins (opt-in, IE WebBrowser)

Plugin tabs (TabPageFeature / WebBrowser2) remain available but disabled by default. Enable with registry EnablePlugins=1. Credential look-ups no longer use Application.DoEvents; IE hosting is retained until a future UI rewrite replaces this surface.

UI rewrite

Active track: XcpNgCenter.Shell (Avalonia), documented in UI_REWRITE.md. Coexists with WinForms XenAdmin. Do not revive origin/avalonia as-is.

On development: Phase 1–2 parity + migrate/move harden + VM chrome + Import/Export (XVA/OVF) + global Alerts + Performance graphs + calendar versioning + GitHub update banner + Settings/About + auto-reconnect + Linux soak hardening (RFB cursor alpha, file pickers, XDG paths, xdg-open, Publish Shell Release). Production remains WinForms until soak is clean.

Next: Continue Linux/Windows desktop soak against real pools → exercise update banner against published vYYYY.M.D.N → later HA/AD/DR. RDP stays WinForms-only.

Still later

  • Broader async cleanup / installer CI automation.
  • Memory/quiesced snapshot types (disk-only shipped first; System.Drawing.Common is Windows-only on .NET 8).
  • RDP in the Avalonia shell (strategy TBD; WinForms remains available).
  • HA/AD/DR wizards (alert fix-link for HA still points users to WinForms).

Non-goals

Track Status
origin/avalonia Historical placeholder. Superseded by XcpNgCenter.Shell.
master-linux*, linux-dev-cocoon Abandoned 2019 Mono experiments. Discard.
Re-sync from archived Citrix xenserver/xenadmin Historical only.

TLS / certificates (XCP-ng self-signed)

XCP-ng ships with self-signed management certificates by default. The client must not require a public CA, and must not blindly accept every cert.

Policy implemented in XenAdmin/Network/SSL.cs (WinForms) and XcpNgCenter.Shell TOFU services (Avalonia):

  • Trust on first use (TOFU): first connection to a host pins the certificate hash after acceptance.
  • Later connections: require the pinned hash; changes prompt before re-pinning.
  • No accept-all: low-level HTTP paths without the app TOFU callback reject untrusted chains instead of returning true.
  • Shell: Avalonia dialogs for first-seen and changed certs (CertificateTrustWindow); pins in %APPDATA%\XCP-ng\XCP-ng Center Shell\known-servers.json (Windows) or ~/.config/XCP-ng/XCP-ng Center Shell/ (Linux).

Public IP connection warning

When Add Server targets a literal public IP, PublicIpWarningDialog warns about exposing the management plane and suggests a VPN/SSH tunnel/private path. Users can proceed or cancel; “don’t show again” and Options → Security control WarnPublicIpConnection. Non-IP hostnames are not warned (no DNS resolve in this pass).

Stale local scripts

branding-xcp-ng/build.sh and parts of brand-to-xcp-ng.sh describe an obsolete .NET 4.6 / VS2013 / packages-folder flow. The supported build path is SDK-style MSBuild / dotnet via GitHub Actions and the Building wiki.