kvm

Does my CPU support Virtualization and is it enabled in BIOS / UEFI?

[gans@server1 ~]$ grep -c vmx /proc/cpuinfo
1
[gans@server1 ~]$
[gans@server1 ~]$ lsmod | grep kvm
kvm_intel             170086  0
kvm                   566340  1 kvm_intel
irqbypass              13503  1 kvm

How to run nested KVM within VMWare ESXi (5.5)

https://forum.ivorde.com/kvm-nested-in-vmware-esxi-5-5-enable-guest-hypervisor-vmx-svm-flags-without-vsphere-web-client-t19773.html

  1. Shutdown the VM

2. Locate the guest hypervisor virtual machine configuration file (<VM-name.vmx>), edit and add the following line at the end

vhv.enable = "TRUE"

3. Identify the nested hypervisor vm ID and reload it’s configuration with the vim-cmd esxi command

~ # vim-cmd vmsvc/getallvms | grep -i 50_s1
    30     RH_Lab122_50_s1          [datastore3] RH_Lab122_50_s1/RH_Lab122_50_s1.vmx             rhel6_64Guest           vmx-10
~ #
~ # vim-cmd vmsvc/reload 30
  1. Start the VM

5. Verify that the nested hypervisor correctly detects the vmx flag

[gans@server1 ~]$ grep -c vmx /proc/cpuinfo
1

Packages to install for KVM in RHEL

These can be installed via the GNOME Software Manager

../_images/rhel-kvm-packages-to-install.png

As an alternative, install the Virtualization Host and Virtualization Client groups:

# yum group install "Virtualization Host" "Virtualization Client"

Move KVM Storage location to another place

One advantage of this setup is that it retains the default SELinux settings for the /var /lib/libvirt/images directory, as defined in the file_contexts file in the /etc/selinux/targeted /contexts/files directory. In other words, this configuration survives a relabel of SELinux

# mkdir /home/gans/KVM
# su -
# semanage fcontext -a -t virt_image_t '/home/gans/KVM(/.*)?'
# restorecon /home/gans/KVM
# rmdir /var/lib/libvirt/images
# ln -s /home/gans/KVM /var/lib/libvirt/images

File permission issues when changing the VM Storage location to another place

When installing the first VM there may be permission errors for the linked /var/lib/libvirt/images directory. In my case I linked to /home/gans/KVM - so best approach for me to overcome these errors was to run virt-manager as my own user.

In file /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf find the user and group parameters and uncomment | enter own user and group information.

vi /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf
systemctl restart libvirtd.service

Application documentation - admin, usertasks a.s.o

Documented under applications kvm: Mounting installation media for VM installation.

Indices and tables