Notes on setting up qemu-kvm on Debian Jessie
The system
# cat /etc/debian_version /etc/issue
8.4
Debian GNU/Linux 8 \n \l
# uname -r
3.16.0-4-amd64
# grep "model\ name" /proc/cpuinfo -m1
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz
# egrep "vmx|svm" /proc/cpuinfo -c
8
Install the following debian packages
qemu-kvm - QEMU Full virtualization on x86 hardware
libvirt-bin - programs for the libvirt library
virtinst - Programs to create and clone virtual machines
bridge-utils - Utilities for configuring the Linux Ethernet bridge
# apt-get update
# apt-get install qemu-kvm libvirt-bin virtinst bridge-utils
Example interfaces file
# cat /etc/network/interfaces
source /etc/network/interfaces.d/*
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual
auto br0
iface br0 inet static
address 192.168.1.93
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
bridge_ports eth0
bridge_stp off #disable spanning tree
bridge_waitport 0 #no delay before a port becomes available
bridge_fd 0 #no forwarding delay
bridge_hello 2 #Use hello packets to communicate information about the topology throughout the entire Bridged Local Area Network.
Restart network
# /etc/init.d/networking restart
Check bridge
# brctl show
bridge name bridge id STP enabled interfaces
br0 8000.f832e4a45ec2 no eth0
Create a guest VM
# virt-install \
--connect qemu:///system \
-n eratosthenes \
--memory=4056,maxmemory=8112 \
--vcpus=1,maxvcpus=2 \
--disk path=/home/vm/eratosthenes/eratosthenes.qcow2,size=20 \
--cdrom=/home/vm/debian-8.4.0-amd64-netinst.iso \
--graphics vnc --noautoconsole \
--os-type linux \
--network=bridge=br0 \
--hvm
virt-install options used
qemu:///system
For creating KVM and QEMU guests to be run by the system libvirtd
instance. This is the default mode that virt-manager uses, and
what most KVM users want.
-n NAME, --name=NAME
Name of the new guest virtual machine instance. This must be unique
amongst all guests known to the hypervisor on the connection,
including those not currently active. To re-define an existing guest,
use the virsh(1) tool to shut it down ('virsh shutdown') & delete
('virsh undefine') it prior to running "virt-install".
--memory=MEM[,OPT1=VAL][...]
Memory to allocate for the guest, in megabytes. Sub options are
available, like 'maxmemory' and 'hugepages'. This deprecates the
-r/--ram option.
--vcpus=VCPUS[,maxvcpus=MAX][,sockets=#][,cores=#][,threads=#][,cpuset=CPUSET]
Number of virtual cpus to configure for the guest. If 'maxvcpus' is
specified, the guest will be able to hotplug up to MAX vcpus while
the guest is running, but will startup with VCPUS.
CPU topology can additionally be specified with sockets, cores, and
threads. If values are omitted, the rest will be autofilled
preferring sockets over cores over threads.
'cpuset' sets which physical cpus the guest can use. "CPUSET" is a
comma separated list of numbers, which can also be specified in
ranges or cpus to exclude. Example:
0,2,3,5 : Use processors 0,2,3 and 5
1-5,^3,8 : Use processors 1,2,4,5 and 8
If the value 'auto' is passed, virt-install attempts to automatically
determine an optimal cpu pinning using NUMA data, if available.
Use --vcpus=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete
details at
--disk=DISKOPTS
Specifies media to use as storage for the guest, with various
options. The general format of a disk string is
--disk opt1=val1,opt2=val2,...
The simplest invocation to create a new 10G disk image and associated
disk device:
--disk size=10
virt-install will generate a path name, and place it in the default
image location for the hypervisor. To specify media, the command can
either be:
--disk /some/storage/path[,opt1=val1]...
or explicitly specify one of the following arguments:
path
A path to some storage media to use, existing or not. Existing
media can be a file or block device.
Specifying a non-existent path implies attempting to create the
new storage, and will require specifying a 'size' value. Even for
remote hosts, virt-install will try to use libvirt storage APIs
to automatically create the given path.
--cdrom=CDROM
File or device use as a virtual CD-ROM device for fully virtualized
guests. It can be path to an ISO image, or to a CDROM device. It can
also be a URL from which to fetch/access a minimal boot ISO image.
The URLs take the same format as described for the "--location"
argument. If a cdrom has been specified via the "--disk" option, and
neither "--cdrom" nor any other install option is specified, the
"--disk" cdrom is used as the install media.
--noautoconsole
Don't automatically try to connect to the guest console. The default
behaviour is to launch virt-viewer(1) to display the graphical
console, or to run the "virsh" "console" command to display the text
console. Use of this parameter will disable this behaviour.
-w NETWORK, --network=NETWORK,opt1=val1,opt2=val2,...
Connect the guest to the host network. The value for "NETWORK" can
take one of 4 formats:
bridge=BRIDGE
Connect to a bridge device in the host called "BRIDGE". Use this
option if the host has static networking config & the guest
requires full outbound and inbound connectivity to/from the LAN.
Also use this if live migration will be used with this guest.
Install kvm-vnc-list
# git clone https://github.com/ipduh/kvm-vnc-list.git
# mv kvm-vnc-list/kvm-vnc-list /usr/sbin/
# rm -r kvm-vnc-list
kvm jessie
