kvm-vm-register

README

kvm-vm-register

This tool allows you to easily register a new KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) virtual machine using an existing image file. It copies the image to the libvirt images directory and registers the VM without starting it.

Use debvirt-image-kit to create virtual machine images.

Features

• Copies the specified VM image to /var/lib/libvirt/images
• Generates XML configuration for the new VM
• Registers the VM with libvirt without starting it
• Customizable VM parameters (memory, vCPUs, network)
• Creates an independent qcow2 image
• Automatically sets the VM's hostname to match the VM name (can be skipped for unsupported OSes)
• Optional virtio support for disk and network devices

Notes

• This tool requires sudo privileges to copy the image file and interact with libvirt.
• The tool does not start the VM after registration. You can start it manually using virsh start your-vm-name.
• Make sure you have enough disk space in /var/lib/libvirt/images before running the tool.
• The VM's hostname is automatically set to the VM name specified as an argument, unless the -no-hostname-change option is used.
• Virtio drivers can significantly improve VM performance, but ensure your guest OS supports them before enabling.

Requirements

The following commands must be available in the system PATH:

• virt-install
• virsh
• qemu-img
• virt-customize
• sudo

Installation

Build the tool:

$ go build

Usage

Run the tool with the following command:

$ ./kvm-vm-register [options] -image /path/to/your/image.qcow2 vm_name

Options

• -image: Path to the VM image (required)
• -memory: Memory size in MB (default: 1024)
• -vcpus: Number of virtual CPUs (default: 1)
• -network: Network configuration for virt-install (default: "network=default")
• -no-hostname-change: Skip hostname change (for FreeBSD or other unsupported OSes)
• -virtio-disk: Use virtio for disk device
• -virtio-network: Use virtio for network device
• -version: Print version information and exit

Examples

Standard VM creation:

$ ./kvm-vm-register -image ../debvirt-image-kit/output/debian-12.7.0-amd64 -memory 2048 -vcpus 2 bookworm64

VM creation with virtio for both disk and network:

$ ./kvm-vm-register -image ../debvirt-image-kit/output/debian-12.7.0-amd64 -memory 2048 -vcpus 2 -virtio-disk -virtio-network bookworm64

VM creation for FreeBSD (skipping hostname change):

$ ./kvm-vm-register -image /path/to/freebsd/image.qcow2 -memory 2048 -vcpus 2 -no-hostname-change freebsd-vm

These commands will:

1. Copy the specified image to /var/lib/libvirt/images/<vm_name>.qcow2
2. Set the VM's hostname to the specified name (unless -no-hostname-change is used)
3. Generate an XML configuration for the VM with the specified parameters
4. Register the VM without starting it

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.