Xen Orchestra

What Xen Orchestra is

Xen Orchestra is a self-hosted platform for visualizing, managing, backing up, and delegating XCP-ng or XenServer infrastructure across pools and sites without requiring an agent. Its backup features include full, incremental, chained, mirrored, and replicated backups, encryption, recovery checks, and file-level restore. Amazon S3 and other S3-compatible storage can be used as backup destinations. The Xen Orchestra Appliance is a pre-built virtual machine deployed on a host, and installation from source is also available. XO 6 and XO 5 are web interfaces on the same server and use the same data. Automation options include a supported REST API with a live OpenAPI reference, Ansible inventory, Packer and Terraform providers, Kubernetes recipes, and webhooks. Authentication supports LDAP or SSO plugins, role-based access controls, and API scoping. After the 30-day trial, the appliance continues with the Free feature set and retains its data and configuration. Paid plans range from $1,000 a year for Pro to $4,000 a year for Essential +; costs and support terms differ by plan. Vates reported that version 6.9.0, released on 2026-09-30, fixes a privilege-escalation vulnerability affecting versions before 6.9.0.

Who it suits

Xen Orchestra suits teams managing XCP-ng or XenServer infrastructure across pools or sites that need backups, delegation, or automation. Its self-hosted deployment and appliance option may suit teams able to deploy software on a host.

Limits

After the 30-day trial, the appliance continues with the Free feature set. Essential and Essential+ allow a maximum of three hosts per pool; Pro and Enterprise list a 64-host-per-pool maximum. Support also differs by plan, from six annual tickets on Essential to 24/7 support on Enterprise.

Getting started

1. Visit https://xen-orchestra.com/.
2. Deploy the Xen Orchestra Appliance virtual machine on a host, or install Xen Orchestra from source.
3. Access XO 6 or XO 5 through the web interface.
4. Connect XCP-ng or XenServer infrastructure and configure authentication or automation as needed.
5. Use the 30-day trial, then continue with the Free feature set or choose a paid plan.

Verdict

Xen Orchestra combines self-hosted infrastructure management with backup and automation features, and its Free feature set remains available after the trial. Teams should match plan limits to their host count and ensure they use version 6.9.0 or later in light of the reported vulnerability.