[clug] I need help with KVM vitualization

[Michael Still]

https://moozing.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/converting-a-physical-machine-to-a-virtual-machine/

This looks like a reasonable guide to me.

Michael

On Sun, 19 Jul 2020, 8:02 pm Eyal Lebedinsky via linux, <
linux at lists.samba.org> wrote:

> On 2020-07-19 19:29, Michael Still via linux wrote:
> > KVM is a totally cromulent tool to do this sort of thing, but you'd have
> a
> > better experience if you were using libvirt or a libvirt wrapper
> > (virt-manager, a hobby project from a burnt out cloud engineer, that sort
> > of thing).
>
> I am not even clear about how kvm, qemu and libvirt relate to each other.
> Hence my search for a good doco.
>
> > What you describe should just work.
>
> "should"...
>
> I did use virt-manager in this case. I pointed it at the vdi file and let
> it boot.
> It then failed etc.
>
> My plan now is this:
> - start virt-manager, tell it the disk size I want, memory, CPUS... boot a
> clonezilla iso.
> then:
> - clone from the original machine to this empty disk.
> or:
> - create an ext4 partition. Mount it.
> - rsync the content of the original machine into this partition
> - probably fix fstab and install grub
>
> > Michael
> >
> > On Sun, 19 Jul 2020, 4:51 pm Eyal Lebedinsky via linux, <
> > linux at lists.samba.org> wrote:
> >
> >> The first thing I need is a pointer at a good doco that explains what
> >> linux kvm is and how to import
> >> a physical machine into the virtual domain.
> >>
> >> I dd'ed the root disk (/dev/sda) to a file on a local disk of the
> machine
> >> that will be the VM host.
> >> I searched for instructions and found most are missing what I consider
> >> essential detail, like where
> >> exactly I should run each step etc. Others have a more complicated setup
> >> (lvm and what not).
> >>
> >> My main worry is that I tried it once, used the GUI tool (virt-manager)
> >> and pointed it at a disk
> >> image (from a VirtualBox I had lying around). It started booting
> (offered
> >> the grub selection)
> >> then showed a screen with three dots and gone quiet. After a few
> minutes I
> >> got an error message
> >> and a dracut prompt.
> >>
> >> Not knowing how to proceed I decided to just abandon this vm. I issued
> >> 'halt' inside the small
> >> console window and it did it.
> >> It also shut down the host machine (and probably every other linux
> machine
> >> in Australia - I
> >> could not tell).
> >>
> >> I was surprised that a virtual tool can do this to the host, having used
> >> Vmware and VirtualBox
> >> where there is a clear fence around the VM world.
> >>
> >> So much fun, but I probably need to educate myself better about what KVM
> >> really is.
> >>
> >> My need is simple:
> >>     - I have an image (dd) of the disk from a physical machine. I want
> to
> >> run it as a virtual
> >>       machine on another host. How do I import the image?
> >>     - Is kvm the correct tool for this? Should I go back to using
> >> VirtualBox?
> >>
> >> TIA
> >>
> >> --
> >> Eyal at Home (eyal at eyal.emu.id.au)
> >>
> >> --
> >> linux mailing list
> >> linux at lists.samba.org
> >> https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/linux
> >>
>
>
> --
> Eyal at Home (eyal at eyal.emu.id.au)
>
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