Re: [libvirt-users] libvirt beginner needs to create and start VMs entirely on command line

KARR, DAVID
2015-07-09T18:48:45Z

Thanks for replying.  Good info so far.

After I start the VM, I’m going to need to see the boot console, and I’ll need
to ssh into it with a hostname or IP.  What are some required steps for those
needs?

This VM is going to need to access a few associated networks.  I can see that
the “—networks” option is part of the interface for configuring this.  What are
some things I’ll have to do for this?

From: Jeff Tchang [mailto:jeff.tchang@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2015 11:21 AM
To: KARR, DAVID
Cc: libvirt-users@redhat.com
Subject: Re: [libvirt-users] libvirt beginner needs to create and start VMs
entirely on command line

I actually find I do almost all my VM management inside the virsh command.
If the VM appears to exist inside virsh but is in a shut off state then you
should try to start it.

VNC can also be SSH port forwarded (which I have done before).

Not sure if this will help but this is the command I use to create VMs:

virt-install \
  --name example \
  --vcpus=4 \
  --disk /data/example,size=80 \
  --ram 2048 \
  --graphics vnc,password=**********,listen=0.0.0.0,port=15916 \
  --accelerate \
  --cdrom /var/kvm/ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64-autoinstall.iso \
  --os-type=linux \
  --noautoconsole \
  --network network=default \
  --boot cdrom,fd,hd,network,menu=off

I also edit the XML file sometimes. Notice I have the autoinstall iso. Basically
I went through and created a ks.cfg file after extracting the ISO file to a
directory. Then I ran a command like this:
mkisofs -D -r -V "auto install" -cache-inodes -J -l -b
isolinux/isolinux.bin -c isolinux/boot.cat<http://boot.cat> -no-emul-boot
-boot-load-size 4 -boot-info-table -o
/var/kvm/ubuntu-14.04.1-server-amd64-autoinstall.iso /root/serveriso


On Thu, Jul 9, 2015 at 10:57 AM, KARR, DAVID
<dk068x@att.com<mailto:dk068x@att.com>> wrote:
I'm a beginner to libvirt and creating VMs, for that matter.  I have a set
of specifications for VMs I need to create and log into, but I have to create
them on an Ubuntu box that I only have ssh access to.  I won't have desktop
GUI access, although I do have dynamic port forwarding, so I can access a
browser GUI from my desktop.

Reading through the libvirt info, I see numerous mentions about using VNC to do
additional work, but I won't be able to use VNC (not allowed within our
firewall).

I could use some advice on how to move forward with this.  I've started at
https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/serverguide/libvirt.html for initial information.

I managed to create a disk image for my first VM, and I believe I created the
first VM using an ISO (based on CentOS, I believe), but I'll probably have
to rebuild that, because I think I have to configure networks on the VM, which I
didn't do on initial creation.  I was confused by the initial results from
"virt-install", because it seemed to hang after a second or two (I
posted this SO question about this:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/31302871/trouble-using-virt-install-on-ubuntu-to-create-vm-just-hangs-after-displaying
).  The reply from this makes it seem like it was trying to present a GUI for
next steps, but I of course never saw that.  The VM appears to exist, but in a
"shut off" state.

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