Virt-install
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.
--location
The location of the installation media. Examples:
--location file:///path
--location http://host/path
--location nfs:host:/path
--cdrom
--cdrom CDROM specifies a CD-ROM installation media.
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
Examples
Text-Based Anaconda Guest Installation
virt-install --name testvm-01 --memory 1024 --os-type=linux --os-variant=rhel7.3 --location /mnt/RHEL7DVD --graphics none \ --disk=/main-storage-pool/testvm-01.img,size=4 \ --extra-args="console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200n8"
TO TEST:
NAT:
virt-install --network=default --name=rhel7-machine --ram=756 --vcpus=4 --os-type=linux --os-variant=rhel7
External DHCP server:
virt-install --network=br0 \ --name=rhel7-machine --ram=756 --vcpus=4 \ --os-type=linux --os-variant=rhel7
Static IPV4 Address:
virt-install \ --network=br0 \ --name=rhel7-machine --ram=756 --vcpus=4 \ --os-type=linux --os-variant=rhel7 \ --extra-args="ip=192.168.1.2::192.168.1.1:255.255.255.0:test.example.com:eth0:n one
The arguments of the --extra-args parameter specify the static network setting, using the following structure:
ip=[ip]::[gateway]:[netmask]:[hostname]:[interface]:[autoconf]