Specify disk-image format on Virt-Manager

[Jorge Fábregas]

Hi,

Are there plans to enhance virt-manager so that it allows you to specify
the disk format during the VM-creation wizard?   I create a lot VMs with
virt-install (where I can specify it) but I also use virt-manger once in
a while and would be great if we could specify it there (without first
creating the disk image beforehand).

I saw an enhancement-request but it was closed as it was for RHEL5.

Thanks,
Jorge

[Cole Robinson]

On 09/27/2013 09:58 AM, Jorge Fábregas wrote:
>  Hi,
>  
>  Are there plans to enhance virt-manager so that it allows you to specify
>  the disk format during the VM-creation wizard?   I create a lot VMs with
>  virt-install (where I can specify it) but I also use virt-manger once in
>  a while and would be great if we could specify it there (without first
>  creating the disk image beforehand).
>  
>  I saw an enhancement-request but it was closed as it was for RHEL5.
>   
What disk image format do you want? If qcow2, there's an option to turn it on
globally in Preferences, and we will likely make it the default soon enough.
Anything else (besides raw) we wouldn't want to advertise in the 'create'
wizard since its supportability is suspect. And with a few extra clicks you
can go Browse->Create Volume and have all the bells and whistles.

So for those reasons I don't want to promote another piece of UI in the wizard
that could potentially cause confusion for inexperienced users.

- Cole

[Jorge Fábregas]

On 09/27/2013 10:12 AM, Cole Robinson wrote:
>  What disk image format do you want? If qcow2, there's an option
> to turn it on
>  globally in Preferences,  
Arrrrrgh. I missed that one, sorry. Yes, it is qcow2 that I'm using so
this option solves the problem for me.

>  and we will likely make it the default soon enough. 
That would be perfect!

>  Anything else (besides raw) we wouldn't want to advertise in the
> 'create'
>  wizard since its supportability is suspect. And with a few extra clicks you
>  can go Browse->Create Volume and have all the bells and whistles.
>  
>  So for those reasons I don't want to promote another piece of UI in the wizard
>  that could potentially cause confusion for inexperienced users. 
Thanks Cole for the explanation.  That makes total sense.

All the best,
Jorge

[Tom Horsley]

On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 10:12:01 -0400
Cole Robinson wrote:

>  And with a few extra clicks you
>  can go Browse->Create Volume and have all the bells and whistles. 
I think the real problem is how well this is hidden. I used
virt-manager for years by creating my images first before
I stumbled across the fact that if I dug deep enough into
the menus and dialogues I could have it make the format
image I wanted without me doing it manually.

[Jorge Fábregas]

On 09/27/2013 10:34 AM, Tom Horsley wrote:
>  I think the real problem is how well this is hidden. I used
>  virt-manager for years by creating my images first before
>  I stumbled across the fact that if I dug deep enough into
>  the menus and dialogues I could have it make the format
>  image I wanted without me doing it manually.  
What I find odd  is that, in order to reach the "Storage" tab,  you have
to go thru a menu called "Connection Details".  If we're talking Network
Connection Details then only the "Virtual Networks" & "Network
Interfaces" make sense there.  Perhaps a "Storage" entry of its own in
the Edit menu would make more sense.

-- 
Jorge

[Jorge Fábregas]

On 09/27/2013 11:11 AM, Jorge Fábregas wrote:
>  What I find odd  is that, in order to reach the "Storage"
> tab,  you have
>  to go thru a menu called "Connection Details".  If we're talking Network
>  Connection Details then only the "Virtual Networks" & "Network
>  Interfaces" make sense there.  Perhaps a "Storage" entry of its own in
>  the Edit menu would make more sense. 
...I now realized it's the *hypervisor* "Connection Details" and that
you can use virt-manager to connect to remote hypervisors so the name
makes sense :)

-- 
Jorge