Create Virtual Machines with virt-manager

How to Create Virtual Machines with virt-manager

Virt-manager, a desktop user interface for managing virtual machines through libvirt, is a powerful tool that allows users to easily create and manage virtual machines. It supports various hypervisor types like KVM, Xen, and more. In this guide, we will walk you through the steps to create virtual machines using virt-manager effectively.

Prerequisites

A Linux system with a graphical user interface (GUI)
Administrative privileges
Basic knowledge of virtualization
virt-manager and libvirt installed on your system

Step-by-Step Instructions

Installing virt-manager

First, ensure that you have virt-manager installed on your system. You can install it using the package manager appropriate to your Linux distribution.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install virt-manager

On Fedora or RHEL systems, use:

sudo dnf install virt-manager

Setting Up libvirt

Libvirt is a toolkit that provides a common way to manage virtualization. To set up libvirt, ensure it’s installed and the libvirtd service is running:

sudo apt install libvirt-daemon-system
sudo systemctl start libvirtd
sudo systemctl enable libvirtd

Creating a New Virtual Machine

With virt-manager open, follow these steps:

Click File → New Virtual Machine or press Ctrl+N.
Select your virtual machine’s installation source. You can use:

Local Install Media
Network Install (HTTP, FTP, NFS)
PXE Boot

Click Forward and choose the installation media (ISO file).
Allocate memory and CPU for the virtual machine based on your system’s capacity.
Create a new disk image for the virtual machine’s storage needs.
Finalize the virtual machine’s configurations and click Finish to start its creation.

Once created, the virtual machine will start and boot from the specified installation media.

Managing Virtual Machines

Virt-manager allows you to manage existing virtual machines efficiently:

Start, shutdown, and pause virtual machines.
Edit virtual machine settings like memory, CPU allocation, network, etc.
Monitor resource usage and performance.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

Ensure that your system supports hardware virtualization, and it is enabled in BIOS/UEFI.
Check the status of related services (e.g., libvirtd).
Consult virt-manager documentation (Official site) for detailed insights.

Conclusion and Summary Checklist

Creating virtual machines using virt-manager is straightforward, combining the power of KVM with ease of use. Here’s a quick checklist:

Verify hardware virtualization support
Install virt-manager and libvirt
Configure and start your virtual machines
Use provided tools for efficient management and troubleshooting

Explore advanced features as needed, and integrate with existing infrastructures for maximum benefit. For more guides on virtualization technology, visit our tutorials on using VMware, found here.