Virt-install: Difference between revisions
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--location is followed by a path to an ISO file containing an installable distribution image. Note that the file should be readable by the "qemu" user. Also note that the file will not be accessible by the guest after initial boot, so the OS installer will need another way to access the rest of the install media. For an example of how to do that, see [[Virt-install_Examples#Text-Based_Anaconda_Guest_Installation|Text-Based Anaconda Guest Installation Example]]. | --location is followed by a path to an ISO file containing an installable distribution image. Note that the file should be readable by the "qemu" user. Also note that the file will not be accessible by the guest after initial boot, so the OS installer will need another way to access the rest of the install media. For an example of how to do that, see [[Virt-install_Examples#Text-Based_Anaconda_Guest_Installation|Text-Based Anaconda Guest Installation Example]]. An equivalent format, though less flexible as it does not accept --extra-args, uses --cdrom option: | ||
An equivalent format, though less flexible as it does not accept --extra-args, uses --cdrom option: | |||
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Revision as of 02:47, 27 June 2017
External
Internal
Overview
virt-install is a command-line utility for provisioning new virtual machines. It comes as part of the "virt-install" RPM package.
virt-install needs root privileges to work.
Documentation
virt-install --help
Mandatory Options
Guest Virtual Machine Name
The name of the guest virtual machine must be specified with --name or -n:
--name test-01
Memory Amount
virt-install needs the amount of memory allocated to the guest, in MiB, which must be specified with --memory:
--memory 1024
Guest Storage Specification
One of the following must be specified:
--disk
Specifies guest storage, relative to the storage provided by the virtualization host. The most common option is to refer storage from a storage pool, but other options are also available.
--disk size=10
Specified a new 10 GiB image on the default storage pool.
--disk /storage-pool-path/volume-path,size=8,sparse=false,cache=none
--disk device=cdrom,bus=scsi
--disk=?
--nodisks
Installation Method Option
--os-type
The quest operating system type.
Example:
--os-type=linux
--os-variant
This is an important option, used to optimize guest configuration. Valid "--os-variant" values can be obtained with osinfo-query os command
Example:
--os-variant=rhel7.3
Distribution Tree Installation Source
The distribution tree installation source is specified with --location. virt-install can fetch a bootable kernel/initrd pair to launch the install.
Options:
ISO File
--location /path/to/iso-file.iso
--location is followed by a path to an ISO file containing an installable distribution image. Note that the file should be readable by the "qemu" user. Also note that the file will not be accessible by the guest after initial boot, so the OS installer will need another way to access the rest of the install media. For an example of how to do that, see Text-Based Anaconda Guest Installation Example. An equivalent format, though less flexible as it does not accept --extra-args, uses --cdrom option:
--cdrom /path/to/iso-file.iso | URL-with-the-same-format-as-the-ones-used-for--location-argument
For an end-to-end example of how to create a guest VM from a CDROM image, see:
Directory
--location /directory
--location is followed by a path to a local directory containing an installable distribution image. Note that the directory will not be accessible by the guest after initial boot, so the OS installer will need another way to access the rest of the install media. For an example of how to do that, see Text-Based Anaconda Guest Installation Example.
HTTP Server
--location http://host/path
FTP Server
--location ftp://host/path
NFS Server
--location nfs:host:/path --location nfs://host/path
Optional Installation Method Option
--boot
--boot BOOT_OPTS is used to configure guest boot settings:
--boot hd,cdrom,menu=on
--boot init=/sbin/init
--pxe
Boot from the network using the PXE protocol.
--import
Build guest around an existing disk image.
--extra-args=
--extra-args EXTRA_ARGS Additional arguments to pass to the install kernel booted from --location.
Optional Configuration
Graphics
Specifies the type of graphical tool to use for interactive installation or can be set to "none" for a fully automated installation.
--graphics none|spice|...
Network Specification
The network specification is optional, if not defined, a ? will be configured on the guest. Otherwise, it can be specified with '--network NETWORK-SPEC', as follows:
TODO
--network bridge=mybr0
If using a bridge, the bridge must be previously created, as described here Bridged Networking Configuration.
--network network=my_libvirt_virtual_net
--network network=mynet,model=virtio,mac=00:11..
--network none
--vcpus
Specifies the number of virtual CPUs for the guest.
Virtualization Platform Options
-v, --hvm
This guest should be a fully virtualized guest.
-p, --paravirt
This guest should be a paravirtualized guest.
--container
This guest should be a container guest.
--virt-type
Represents the hypervisor name to use ("kvm", "qemu", "xen", etc.)
Access to a Host Directory
"--filesystem" can be used to specify a host directory to be available on the guest.
Example:
--filesystem /my/host/source/dir,/dir/in/guest