3.1. Creating Virtual Environments¶

You can create virtual machines and containers using virt-install.

The following guest operating systems are supported in the alpha build:

Use the OS variant with the --os-variant option of virt-install. You can also replace the default centos7.0 in the Linux VM preset /etc/virt-manager/presets/vz_vm_linux. Use the EZ template when creating container hard disks with vzpkg. If the EZ template is not installed, it will be downloaded from the repository.

To create a Linux virtual machine, it is recommended to use the vz_vm_linux preset. For example:

# mkdir -p /vz/mylinuxvm
# virt-install \
--name mylinuxvm \
--preset vz_vm_linux \
--ram 2048 \
--vcpus 'sockets=1,cores=2' \
--disk 'path=/vz/mylinuxvm/harddisk1.hdd,bus=scsi,startup_policy=optional,boot_order=1,size=64' \
--disk 'path=<linux_dist>.iso,device=cdrom,bus=scsi,boot_order=2' \
--boot cdrom \
--graphics vnc,port=5901,listen=0.0.0.0 \
--import
Starting install...
Allocating 'harddisk1.hdd'                                           |  64 GB  00:00:08
Domain creation completed.

To create a Microsoft Windows virtual machine, it is recommended to use the vz_vm_windows preset. For example:

# mkdir -p /vz/mywindowsvm
# virt-install \
--name mywindowsvm \
--os-variant win2k19 \
--preset vz_vm_windows \
--ram 2048 \
--vcpus 'sockets=1,cores=2' \
--disk 'path=/vz/mywindowsvm/harddisk1.hdd,bus=scsi,startup_policy=optional,boot_order=1,size=64' \
--disk 'path=<windows_dist>.iso,device=cdrom,bus=scsi,boot_order=2' \
--graphics vnc,port=5902,listen=0.0.0.0 \
--import
Starting install...
Allocating 'harddisk1.hdd'                                           |  64 GB  00:00:08
Domain creation completed.

To create a container (except Red Hat Enterprise Linux, see further), do the following:

1. Create a disk image with vzpkg. For example:

   # mkdir -p /vz/mylinuxct
   # vzpkg create image centos-7-x86_64 /vz/mylinuxct/mylinuxct.hdd
   Creating Container root image at /vz/mylinuxct/mylinuxct.hdd (centos-7-x86_64)
   <...>
   Image was succesfully created at /vz/mylinuxct/mylinuxct.hdd
   

2. Create the container based on the disk image. For example:

   # virt-install \
   --connect vzct:///system \
   --name mylinuxct \
   --memory 2048 \
   --disk 'path=/vz/mylinuxct/mylinuxct.hdd,boot_order=1,size=64' \
   --graphics vnc,port=5903,listen=0.0.0.0 \
   --import
   Starting install...
   Domain creation completed.
   You can restart your domain by running:
     virsh --connect vzct:///system start mylinuxct