Comments for Citrix Blogger http://citrixblogger.org Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:22:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ Comment on Dynamic VHD Walkthrough by jeffreymuir http://citrixblogger.org/2008/12/01/dynamic-vhd-walkthrough/#comment-2312 Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:22:00 +0000 http://citrixblogger.wordpress.com/?p=449#comment-2312 The simple answer is that a file system does take up space for a formatted drive. Even an empty drive really is not empty. Also, the rule is that anything that is written is saved. Even if the file system only uses the block temporarily and writes it, the VHD assumes that it needs to keep it. In other words, if you touch it, then it will be saved.

]]> Comment on Dynamic VHD Walkthrough by rprep http://citrixblogger.org/2008/12/01/dynamic-vhd-walkthrough/#comment-2308 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:40:03 +0000 http://citrixblogger.wordpress.com/?p=449#comment-2308 Thanks for the reply. But if the sparse method is used, the actual file size should be be smaller than total I’m getting. Right?
> You could prove this by dumping out the BAT
I didn’t understood this. I printed all the valid entries (not -1) in the BAT and there are 39 of them. BAT[0]: 259 and the one pointing to last block is BAT[11]: 155945.

]]> Comment on Dynamic VHD Walkthrough by jeffreymuir http://citrixblogger.org/2008/12/01/dynamic-vhd-walkthrough/#comment-2307 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:26:01 +0000 http://citrixblogger.wordpress.com/?p=449#comment-2307 The allocation of blocks in a dynamic VHD is done with a sparse method. In other words, it will only write blocks that are accessed with a write operation. What this really means is that creating and formatting the drive will only touch certain blocks. Most formats these days only focus on what they need to change instead of writing the entire disk.

So, you have not gone crazy. The assumption that format touches each block is the problem. You could prove this by dumping out the BAT. Quite a few of the entries should be empty.

]]> Comment on Dynamic VHD Walkthrough by rprep http://citrixblogger.org/2008/12/01/dynamic-vhd-walkthrough/#comment-2306 Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:25:38 +0000 http://citrixblogger.wordpress.com/?p=449#comment-2306 Thanks for the article. I recently started digging into VHD file and started with MS’s spec doc. Your article clarifies lots of things and was very helpful for dynamic VHD. But look like I’m still missing something. I wrote a test program to read 64 GB dynamic vhd file. For some reason I’m not able to match the size of the file with the one I calculated in my program.

This is the formula I use in my program:
TotalFileSize = 512 (Header) + 1024 (Dynamic header) + (32768 *4) //size of BAT + (valid entries in BAT * (2097152+512)) //size of blocks + 512 (footer)

32768 – #s of 2MB blocks needed for 64 GB data. I get this value correctly.
2 MB = 2097152

Based on this formula I can verify the VHD file size if the VHD disk is just initialized in disk manager. No partition yet. Just MBR. At this point, #s of valid entries in BAT is 1 (one).
Size of VHD file = 2230784
TotalFileSize = 2230784 // #s of 2 MB blocks = 1

Then I formatted the entire disk (64 GB) to NTFS volume.
Size of VHD file = 84868608
TotalFileSize = 81942016 // #s of 2 MB blocks = 39

I can’t understand what I’m doing wrong here. Why the file size that I calculate doesn’t match with actual size of the file.

I’m using 2008 R2 Hyper-V and my VM is 2008 R1. Any idea what I’m missing here.

]]> Comment on Citrix Acronym Soup (Legacy Software) by - Cliff Davies http://citrixblogger.org/2008/03/15/eos-eom-eol-legacy-matrix/#comment-2305 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:18:35 +0000 http://citrixblogger.wordpress.com/?p=213#comment-2305 [...] (EOS), End of Maintenance (EOM) and End of Life (EOL) as Citrix's Jeff Muir wrote an excellent article describing all of this in great [...]

]]> Comment on Dynamic VHD Walkthrough by JF http://citrixblogger.org/2008/12/01/dynamic-vhd-walkthrough/#comment-2296 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:34:04 +0000 http://citrixblogger.wordpress.com/?p=449#comment-2296 Hi

First off thanks for this post.. really helpful in understanding the VHD format. I had a question on differencing vhd… Hope you could clear my doubt. Using CreateVirtualDisk API I created a one step parent-child chain. Now if i see the contents of the child, I see that the BAT starts from the 4th sector of the file..I can account for the first 3 sectors but not the 4th sector whose contents start with the parent’s name and nothing else(first 5sectors dumped together and 5th one is the start of BAT)

Sector 0:
0×0000 : 63 6f 6e 65 63 74 69 78 – 00 00 00 02 00 01 00 00 conectix……..
0×0010 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 – 16 a8 8f ce 77 69 6e 20 ………¿Å╬win.
0×0020 : 00 06 00 01 57 69 32 6b – 00 00 00 01 3f ef fe 00 ….Wi2k….?∩■.
0×0030 : 00 00 00 01 3f ef fe 00 – 28 a0 10 3f 00 00 00 04 ….?∩■.(á.?….
0×0040 : ff ff e9 65 72 e1 78 92 – b5 34 f6 44 96 6d 13 dd   ΘerßxÆ╡4÷Dûm.▌
0×0050 : d3 c2 7b 53 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ╙┬{S…………
0×0060 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0070 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0080 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0090 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0100 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0110 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0120 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0130 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0140 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0150 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0160 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0170 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0180 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0190 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….

Sector 1:
0×0000 : 63 78 73 70 61 72 73 65 – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff cxsparse        
0×0010 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 00 – 00 01 00 00 00 00 0a 00 …………….
0×0020 : 00 20 00 00 ff ff de 28 – 5f 23 91 a6 d7 62 5a 45 ….  ▐(_#æª╫bZE
0×0030 : a8 8d a1 96 4a b4 93 d1 – 16 a8 8f 59 00 00 00 00 ¿ìíûJ┤ô╤.¿ÅY….
0×0040 : 00 43 00 3a 00 5c 00 63 – 00 6f 00 64 00 65 00 5c .C.:.\.c.o.d.e.\
0×0050 : 00 74 00 65 00 73 00 74 – 00 5c 00 70 00 61 00 72 .t.e.s.t.\.p.a.r
0×0060 : 00 65 00 6e 00 74 00 2e – 00 76 00 68 00 64 00 00 .e.n.t…v.h.d..
0×0070 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0080 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0090 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0100 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0110 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0120 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0130 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0140 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0150 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0160 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0170 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0180 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0190 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….

Sector 2:
0×0000 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0010 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0020 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0030 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0040 : 57 32 6b 75 00 00 02 00 – 00 00 00 2e 00 00 00 00 W2ku…………
0×0050 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 06 00 – 57 32 72 75 00 01 00 00 ……..W2ru….
0×0060 : 00 00 00 18 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 30 00 …………..0.
0×0070 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0080 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0090 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0100 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0110 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0120 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0130 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0140 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0150 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0160 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0170 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0180 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0190 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….

Sector 3:
0×0000 : 43 00 3a 00 5c 00 63 00 – 6f 00 64 00 65 00 5c 00 C.:.\.c.o.d.e.\.
0×0010 : 74 00 65 00 73 00 74 00 – 5c 00 70 00 61 00 72 00 t.e.s.t.\.p.a.r.
0×0020 : 65 00 6e 00 74 00 2e 00 – 76 00 68 00 64 00 00 00 e.n.t…v.h.d…
0×0030 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0040 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0050 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0060 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0070 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0080 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0090 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x00f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0100 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0110 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0120 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0130 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0140 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0150 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0160 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0170 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0180 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0×0190 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01a0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01b0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01c0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01d0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01e0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….
0x01f0 : 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 – 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 …………….

Sector 4:
0×0000 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0010 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0020 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0030 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0040 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0050 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0060 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0070 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0080 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0090 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x00a0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x00b0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x00c0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x00d0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x00e0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x00f0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0100 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0110 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0120 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0130 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0140 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0150 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0160 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0170 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0180 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0×0190 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x01a0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x01b0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x01c0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x01d0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x01e0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff                 
0x01f0 : ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff – ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff …………….

]]> Comment on Citrix Acronym Soup (Legacy Software) by Citrix plans to end support for XenApp 6.0 in 2013. What's that? You're still migrating to 6.0? | My Digital Desktop http://citrixblogger.org/2008/03/15/eos-eom-eol-legacy-matrix/#comment-2294 Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:33:01 +0000 http://citrixblogger.wordpress.com/?p=213#comment-2294 [...] End of Maintenance (EOM) and End of Life (EOL) as Citrix’s Jeff Muir wrote an excellent article describing all of this in great [...]

]]> Comment on The Hedgehog Concept by Five Things the MMA Fighter MUST Have for Ring Dominance http://citrixblogger.org/2008/04/29/the-hedgehog-concept/#comment-2229 Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:24:47 +0000 http://citrixblogger.wordpress.com/?p=247#comment-2229 [...] yourself a “Hedgehog”. When you get a chance, visit this link to understand in detail what a “Hedgehog” is. Basically, a hedgehog is the one thing you do [...]

]]> Comment on Debugging XAMA SDK Applications by https://jonathanc.myopenid.com/ http://citrixblogger.org/2011/12/19/debugging-xama-sdk-applications/#comment-2222 Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:15:00 +0000 http://citrixblogger.org/?p=757#comment-2222 See also Debugger.Launch():
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.diagnostics.debugger.launch.aspx

]]> Comment on Debugging XAMA SDK Applications by jeffreymuir http://citrixblogger.org/2011/12/19/debugging-xama-sdk-applications/#comment-2221 Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:09:54 +0000 http://citrixblogger.org/?p=757#comment-2221 This is an excellent tip since it would allow the program to be waiting for the debugger as soon as it was started.

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