wiki/gofurther/virt-install.md

title	description	published	date	tags	editor	dateCreated
Linux family		true	2021-11-26T21:06:35.123Z		markdown	2021-11-12T15:27:40.366Z

Deploy RPM-based Linux distributions automatically

virt-install is a command-line utility that can be used to create virtual machines. It comes preinstalled with Phyllome OS.

• For Fedora, you can install it using the following command as root:

dnf install virt-install

Automated installation using an ISO file and a local kickstart file

• Use the following wget command to fetch the official Fedora Server ISO file and to put it in the current working directory

wget https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/35/Server/x86_64/iso/Fedora-Server-dvd-x86_64-35-1.2.iso

Please verify your download if you intent to use this virtual machine in production {.is-info}

Move the file to /var/lib/libvirt/iso:

mv Fedora-Server-dvd-x86_64-35-1.2.iso /var/lib/libvirt/iso

• Use the following wget command to fetch a standalone kickstart file made to deploy a stripped down desktop based on GNOME Shell, and put it in the working directory

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PhyllomeOS/phyllomeos/main/leaves/virtual-desktop.cfg

Please verify the content of the script if you intent to use this virtual machine in production, for instance by using the following command cat virtual-desktop.cfg {.is-info}

If you use a custom kickstart script, make sure it does include the cdrom option. {.is-warning}

• Deploy a UEFI-based machine with Fedora Server using the relative path of the local kickstart file

virt-install \
    --connect qemu:///session \
    --os-variant detect=off \
    --virt-type kvm \
    --arch x86_64 \
    --machine q35 \
    --name virtual-desktop \
    --boot uefi \
    --cpu host-model,topology.sockets=1,topology.cores=2,topology.threads=1 \
    --vcpus 2 \
    --memory 4096 \
    --video virtio \
    --graphics spice,listen=none \
    --channel spicevmc \
    --channel unix,target.type=virtio,target.name=org.qemu.guest_agent.0 \
    --autoconsole none \
    --console pty,target.type=virtio \
    --sound none \
    --network type=user,model=virtio \
    --controller type=virtio-serial \
    --controller type=usb,model=none \
    --controller type=scsi,model=virtio-scsi \
    --input type=keyboard,bus=virtio \
    --input type=tablet,bus=virtio \
    --rng /dev/urandom,model=virtio \
    --disk path=/var/lib/libvirt/images/virtual-desktop.img,format=raw,bus=virtio,cache=writeback,size=10 \
    --location=/var/lib/libvirt/iso/Fedora-Server-dvd-x86_64-35-1.2.iso \
    --initrd-inject virtual-desktop.cfg --extra-args "inst.ks=file:/virtual-desktop.cfg"

Remote installation with local kickstart

• Fetch a kickstart script using wget and put it in the current working directory

$ wget https://git.phyllo.me/home/kickstart/raw/branch/main/leaves/vmd.cfg 

If using a custom kickstart script, make sure it includes repo information {.is-warning}

$ virt-install \
    --connect qemu:///system \
    --virt-type kvm \
    --arch x86_64 \
    --machine q35 \
    --name vmd \
    --boot uefi \
    --cpu host-model,topology.sockets=1,topology.cores=2,topology.threads=2 \
    --vcpus 4 \
    --memory 8192 \
    --video virtio \
    --channel spicevmc \
    --autoconsole none \
    --sound none \
    --controller type=virtio-serial \
    --controller type=usb,model=none \
    --controller type=scsi,model=virtio-scsi \
    --network network=default,model=virtio \
    --input type=keyboard,bus=virtio \
    --input type=tablet,bus=virtio \
    --rng /dev/urandom,model=virtio \
    --disk path=/var/lib/libvirt/images/vmd.img,format=raw,bus=virtio,cache=writeback,size=5 \
    --location=https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/34/Everything/x86_64/os/ \
    --initrd-inject bmd.cfg --extra-args "inst.ks=file:/bmd.cfg"

Remote installation with remote kickstart

• Alternatively, same as above but without fetching the kickstart file. The last line has to be swapped with :

virt-install \
    --connect qemu:///session \
    --os-variant detect=off \
    --virt-type kvm \
    --arch x86_64 \
    --machine q35 \
    --name virtual-desktop \
    --boot uefi \
    --cpu host-model,topology.sockets=1,topology.cores=2,topology.threads=1 \
    --vcpus 2 \
    --memory 4096 \
    --video virtio \
    --graphics spice,listen=none \
    --channel spicevmc \
    --channel unix,target.type=virtio,target.name=org.qemu.guest_agent.0 \
    --autoconsole none \
    --console pty,target.type=virtio \
    --sound none \
    --network type=user,model=virtio \
    --controller type=virtio-serial \
    --controller type=usb,model=none \
    --controller type=scsi,model=virtio-scsi \
    --input type=keyboard,bus=virtio \
    --input type=tablet,bus=virtio \
    --rng /dev/urandom,model=virtio \
    --disk path=/var/lib/libvirt/images/phyllome-desktop.img,format=raw,bus=virtio,cache=writeback,size=10 \
    --location=https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/35/Everything/x86_64/os/ \
    --extra-args="inst.ks=https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PhyllomeOS/phyllomeos/main/leaves/virtual-desktop.cfg"

Local deployment without installation

The idea here is to define a virtual machine and use the netboot.xyz.iso as a way to boot into an installer.

virt-install \
    --connect qemu:///system \
    --virt-type kvm \
    --arch x86_64 \
    --machine q35 \
    --name live-with-netboot-xyz \
    --boot uefi \
    --cpu host-model,topology.sockets=1,topology.cores=1,topology.threads=1 \
    --vcpus 1 \
    --memory 2048 \
    --video virtio \
    --channel spicevmc \
    --autoconsole none \
    --sound none \
    --controller type=virtio-serial \
    --controller type=usb,model=none \
    --controller type=scsi,model=virtio-scsi \
    --network network=default,model=virtio \
    --input type=keyboard,bus=virtio \
    --input type=tablet,bus=virtio \
    --rng /dev/urandom,model=virtio \
    --disk none \
    --cdrom=/var/lib/libvirt/iso/netboot.xyz.iso \
    --install no_install=yes

Built-in unattended mode

virt-install can rely on libosinfo's unattended install support to deploy fedora34 without any user intervention:

virt-install --install fedora32 --unattended

Cloud-init

Cloud-init may be used alongside virt-install:

virt-install --install fedora34,cloud=yes --cloud-init root-password-generate=on ssh-key=/home/user/.ssh/test_rsa.pub disable=on