wiki/getstarted/disk.md

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Get started with Phyllome OS true 2021-11-23T15:54:21.555Z markdown 2021-11-13T11:37:31.498Z

How to use Phyllome OS

This section explains how to further configure Phyllome OS, and how to deploy a tiny and live operating system within it.

Post-installation configuration

After Phyllome OS has been successfully installed and its first-launch process completed, a few tasks are required before it can be used to its fullest potential.

As Phyllome OS evolves, one of the main goal is to shorten the time it would take for an end-user to have a fully operational virtual machine loaded with the installer of their favorite operating system, to the point that a user may not see the Phyllome OS environnement at all. {.is-info}

The following post-instalaltion configuration will, hopefully, be made obsolete in a future Phyllome OS version. {.is-info}

Grant the current user the ability to manage virtual machines

Any new user, including the one that has been created during the first-launch set up, won't be part of the libvirt group. It means that it won't be able to manage the qemu:///system, which runs libvirt as root.

To avoid a password prompt each time the Virtual Machine Manager is launched, you can add the current user to the libvirt by using the following command, in the terminal:

sudo usermod -a -G libvirt $(whoami)

A known bug affects the terminal: extra spaces between letters. To solve it, click on the burger menu (the three stacked horizontal lines) then go to Preferences > Profiles > Unnamed and check the box called Custom font. {.is-warning}

Phyllome OS will eventually switch to the qemu:///session URI, which doesn't require elevated privileges. Have a look at this great blog post to understand some of the differences between the session and the system URI.
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Run a few scripts

During the installation process, a few scripts are fetched and stored under the /usr/sbin directory. They need to be run to further customize Phyllome OS.

Desktop enhancements

The following script will change the desktop background and pick opinionated defaults for the Virtual Machine Manager. It will also add a new User session URI for the Virtual Machine Manager.

Open the terminal and run the following script as a regular user:

/usr/sbin/configure-vmm-and-desktop.sh

The updated desktop background. Notice that there is now a new URI called QEMU/KVM User session

post-install-conf-1.png

Create and run a virtual machine without any attached disk

The following script, which also doesn't require root privileges, will create a virtual machine called my-first-live-vm. This virtual machine will be started automatically and added to virt-manager.

/usr/sbin/create-live-vm.sh

Notice the new icon under QEMU/KVM: this is the new virtual machine that has just been created. Go to the section to learn how to interact with it.

post-install-conf-2.png

Access your virtual machine display

  • Double-click on my-first-live-vm to open its virtual display, then click on Connect to console.

post-install-conf-3.png

Phyllome OS ships with a small ISO crafted by the team behind netboot.xyz, and that can do network boot, allowing it to do network-based installations of the most popular Linux distributions, among other niceties. {.is-info}

post-install-conf-11.png

  • After a few seconds, you will be greeted by the following screen.

post-install-conf-4.png

  • Under the menu, go to View and select Full Screen

post-install-conf-5.png

  • Go to Live CDs

There is no disk attached to this virtual machine. As a result, only Live CDs will work out-the-box. {.is-info}

post-install-conf-10.png

  • Scroll down this list

post-install-conf-13.png

  • Stop at Tiny Core Linux and press Enter

post-install-conf-14.png

  • Select Tiny Core Linux x86_64

post-install-conf-15.png

  • Select Tiny Core Linux CorePure

post-install-conf-16.png

  • Enjoy your disposable virtual machine

post-install-conf-6.png

When you are done messing around, input the following, and you will be back in Phyllome OS

sudo poweroff

That's it, congratulations! {.is-success}


Are you looking for tasks to do with your system? If so, have a look at doing some suggested tasks