Virtual Machine Manager
Contents
About
The virt-manager application is a desktop user interface for managing virtual machines through libvirt. It primarily targets KVM VMs, but also manages Xen and LXC (linux containers). It presents a summary view of running domains, their live performance & resource utilization statistics. Wizards enable the creation of new domains, and configuration & adjustment of a domain’s resource allocation & virtual hardware. An embedded VNC and SPICE client viewer presents a full graphical console to the guest domain
Virtual Machine Manager User Interface
Creating a New Virtual Machine
Step 1 - Choose Installation Type
During this step you will be able to select how you will install the operating system. If you have an image, or CDROM you will select "Local Install Media". If you will utilize your network (HTTP/FTP/NFS) to install an operating system then select "Network Install". If you will use PXE then you will select "Network Boot", and finally you can import an existing image with "Import Existing Disk Image". For this demonstration we will be utilizing "Local Install Media".
Step 2 - Select Installation Media
Here you will select your installation media. You can use the "Browse..." button to locate your ISO image, or select "USE CDROM or DVD" and select the device from the dropdown menu. Normally it will automatically detect the operating system type, and version. If not then you can manually select the operating system, and version as needed by unchecking "Automatically detect operating system based on install media".
Step 3 - Assign Memory and CPUs
Now you can select the amount of Memory and CPUs (cores) that you wish to allocate for your virtual machine. Always ensure that you provide enough memory or CPUs for your virtual machine, and that you do not allocate ALL memory or CPUs from the host machine. For this example we will allocate 1GB of RAM, and 1 CPU core.
Step 4 - Enable and Assign Storage
Our virtual machine will need enough storage to store the operating system, and all the tools, applications, and packages that may be installed later. Reference the operating systems requirements, and then add a buffer for additional space.
Step 5 - Finalize Settings and Network
To finalize the creation of your virtual machine you will need to provide a name, and select the network that will be assigned to the virtual machine. You also have the option of additional configuration by selecting the "Customize configuration before install" option.