https://github.com/robur-coop/vm

vm -- Manage KVM/QEMU virtual machines
https://github.com/robur-coop/vm

kvm linux virtualization

Last synced: 9 months ago
JSON representation

vm -- Manage KVM/QEMU virtual machines

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/robur-coop/vm
• Owner: robur-coop
• License: bsd-2-clause
• Created: 2018-01-25T12:18:35.000Z (over 8 years ago)
• Default Branch: master
• Last Pushed: 2019-10-14T13:50:00.000Z (over 6 years ago)
• Last Synced: 2025-05-12T05:58:24.174Z (about 1 year ago)
• Topics: kvm, linux, virtualization
• Language: Shell
• Homepage:
• Size: 44.9 KB
• Stars: 13
• Watchers: 6
• Forks: 2
• Open Issues: 1
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.md
  • License: LICENSE

Awesome Lists containing this project

README

          
## vm -- Manage KVM/QEMU virtual machines

There are [many](https://www.linux-kvm.org/page/Management_Tools) KVM

management tools out there. This one is mine.

It is primarily intended to support the use case of running throwaway KVM/QEMU

VMs (_not_ unikernels) for a CI system (see `examples/`). An eventual secondary

use case is to provide a comfortable CLI for throwaway VM management on a

development machine.

Therefore, it:

- is strictly opinionated and minimalist,

- only tested on Debian GNU/Linux 10.x as a host system,

- only supports LVM with thin provisioning for storage,

- only supports macvtap or bridged networking,

- assumes that the underlying network is an isolated VLAN with DHCP and DNS

  service provided elsewhere.

## Installation

### Dependencies

- Debian GNU/Linux 10.x `x86_64` as a host system.

- LVM, `thin-provisioning-tools`, `socat`, `qemu-system-x86`.

- `rng-tools5` (recommended, see below).

- `ssvnc` (optional).

### Rough steps

This is for an install from scratch, as root:

```sh

make

sudo make install

# READ and edit the script to suit (at least changing the volume group name)

sudo ./install.sh

# READ and edit /etc/vm/config.sh (at least changing the volume group name)

```

The defaults are to use `bridge` mode for networking, using `vmbr0`. For an

example of how to set up `vmbr0`, see [examples/vmbr0](examples/vmbr0).

For `vm console` to work directly on the host, install `ssvnc`.  If you

only need to access consoles via the SSH forwarding functionality, copy

`src/vm-console.sh` to your client host and install `ssvnc` there. In

either case, you do not need the JRE dependency of `ssvnc`.

## Known issues/caveats

- Not much documentation, but the `vm` commands should be self-explanatory.

- Due to the need to manipulate LVM volumes, most `vm` commands must be run as

  root.

- `vm create` and `vm clone` _should_ be safe to execute in parallel, but this

  has not (yet) been extensively tested under load. All other _VM-specific_

  operations on the same VM should not be called in parallel.

- The current network setup relies on an undocumented external dnsmasq

  configuration, I'd like to replace this with a MirageOS unikernel.

- Running VMs regularly will quickly exhaust the host system kernel's entropy

  pool, leading to unexpected hangs of user processes trying to read

  /dev/random.  Install `rng-tools5` to start an `rngd` service feeding entropy

  from hardware sources into the host kernel's entropy pool. The guest VM is

  configured with a `virtio-rng` device which the guest OS should use as an

  entropy source.