virt-manager/libvirtd beginner question: how to "convert" qemu-kvm image for use by virt-manager

[Tom London]

I have a pre-existing qemu-kvm VM that I run with the following command:

qemu-kvm -localtime -vga std -m 512 -usbdevice tablet -name "Windows
XP" -hda ~/VirtualMachines/raw.img -k en-us

I've been trying to "convert/adapt" this to be run with virt-manager,
without success.  Is there a "recipe" I can follow?

I ran the following 'virt-install' command on a "copy" of the image:

[root@tlondon ~]# virt-install --name=WinXP --ram=512 --accelerate
--os-type=windows --os-variant=winxp -v --import
--file=/home/tbl/VirtualMachines/gold-raw.img --vnc

Starting install...
Guest installation complete... restarting guest.
[root@tlondon ~]#

But the VM fails to complete booting: I see the BIOS screen, followed
by the Windows "previous attempt to boot failed" screen, and an
endless cycling between these 2 screens.

virt-manager shows the VM running.  I clean up each time by "forcing
shutdown" and deleting the VM from within virt-manager.

I can boot the image (~/VirtualMachines/gold-raw.img) after this with
'qemu-kvm' without problem.

I've tried swapping '--sdl' for '--vnc', adding 'noacpi', dropping
'--accelerate', to no avail.

Is what I'm trying to do feasible, or is the qemu-kvm image 'polluted'
with unsupported drivers and or settings?

Appreciate any help!

tom

[Cole Robinson]

Tom London wrote:
> I have a pre-existing qemu-kvm VM that I run with the following command:
>
> qemu-kvm -localtime -vga std -m 512 -usbdevice tablet -name "Windows
> XP" -hda ~/VirtualMachines/raw.img -k en-us
>
> I've been trying to "convert/adapt" this to be run with virt-manager,
> without success.  Is there a "recipe" I can follow?
>
> I ran the following 'virt-install' command on a "copy" of the image:
>
> [root@tlondon ~]# virt-install --name=WinXP --ram=512 --accelerate
> --os-type=windows --os-variant=winxp -v --import
> --file=/home/tbl/VirtualMachines/gold-raw.img --vnc
>
> Starting install...
> Guest installation complete... restarting guest.
> [root@tlondon ~]#
>
> But the VM fails to complete booting: I see the BIOS screen, followed
> by the Windows "previous attempt to boot failed" screen, and an
> endless cycling between these 2 screens.
>
> virt-manager shows the VM running.  I clean up each time by "forcing
> shutdown" and deleting the VM from within virt-manager.
>
> I can boot the image (~/VirtualMachines/gold-raw.img) after this with
> 'qemu-kvm' without problem.
>
> I've tried swapping '--sdl' for '--vnc', adding 'noacpi', dropping
> '--accelerate', to no avail.
>
> Is what I'm trying to do feasible, or is the qemu-kvm image 'polluted'
> with unsupported drivers and or settings?
>
> Appreciate any help!
>
> tom

Hmm, can you run 'virsh edit yourvmname' (will launch vi by default),
and in the <features> block, add:

<acpi/>

If it isn't already present. Then try starting your VM.

- Cole

[Tom London]

On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:46 AM, Cole Robinson  wrote:
> Tom London wrote:
> > I have a pre-existing qemu-kvm VM that I run with the following command:
> >
> > qemu-kvm -localtime -vga std -m 512 -usbdevice tablet -name "Windows
> > XP" -hda ~/VirtualMachines/raw.img -k en-us
> >
> > I've been trying to "convert/adapt" this to be run with virt-manager,
> > without success.  Is there a "recipe" I can follow?
> >
> > I ran the following 'virt-install' command on a "copy" of the image:
> >
> > [root@tlondon ~]# virt-install --name=WinXP --ram=512 --accelerate
> > --os-type=windows --os-variant=winxp -v --import
> > --file=/home/tbl/VirtualMachines/gold-raw.img --vnc
> >
> > Starting install...
> > Guest installation complete... restarting guest.
> > [root@tlondon ~]#
> >
> > But the VM fails to complete booting: I see the BIOS screen, followed
> > by the Windows "previous attempt to boot failed" screen, and an
> > endless cycling between these 2 screens.
> >
> > virt-manager shows the VM running.  I clean up each time by "forcing
> > shutdown" and deleting the VM from within virt-manager.
> >
> > I can boot the image (~/VirtualMachines/gold-raw.img) after this with
> > 'qemu-kvm' without problem.
> >
> > I've tried swapping '--sdl' for '--vnc', adding 'noacpi', dropping
> > '--accelerate', to no avail.
> >
> > Is what I'm trying to do feasible, or is the qemu-kvm image 'polluted'
> > with unsupported drivers and or settings?
> >
> > Appreciate any help!
> >
> > tom
>
> Hmm, can you run 'virsh edit yourvmname' (will launch vi by default),
> and in the <features> block, add:
>
> <acpi/>
>
> If it isn't already present. Then try starting your VM.
> Cole

Yup: perfectly fixes this.  Thanks!!!

Did I miss an option to 'virt-install'?

tom

[Cole Robinson]

Tom London wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:46 AM, Cole Robinson  wrote:
> > Tom London wrote:
> > > I have a pre-existing qemu-kvm VM that I run with the following command:
> > >
> > > qemu-kvm -localtime -vga std -m 512 -usbdevice tablet -name "Windows
> > > XP" -hda ~/VirtualMachines/raw.img -k en-us
> > >
> > > I've been trying to "convert/adapt" this to be run with virt-manager,
> > > without success.  Is there a "recipe" I can follow?
> > >
> > > I ran the following 'virt-install' command on a "copy" of the image:
> > >
> > > [root@tlondon ~]# virt-install --name=WinXP --ram=512 --accelerate
> > > --os-type=windows --os-variant=winxp -v --import
> > > --file=/home/tbl/VirtualMachines/gold-raw.img --vnc
> > >
> > > Starting install...
> > > Guest installation complete... restarting guest.
> > > [root@tlondon ~]#
> > >
> > > But the VM fails to complete booting: I see the BIOS screen, followed
> > > by the Windows "previous attempt to boot failed" screen, and an
> > > endless cycling between these 2 screens.
> > >
> > > virt-manager shows the VM running.  I clean up each time by "forcing
> > > shutdown" and deleting the VM from within virt-manager.
> > >
> > > I can boot the image (~/VirtualMachines/gold-raw.img) after this with
> > > 'qemu-kvm' without problem.
> > >
> > > I've tried swapping '--sdl' for '--vnc', adding 'noacpi', dropping
> > > '--accelerate', to no avail.
> > >
> > > Is what I'm trying to do feasible, or is the qemu-kvm image 'polluted'
> > > with unsupported drivers and or settings?
> > >
> > > Appreciate any help!
> > >
> > > tom
> >
> > Hmm, can you run 'virsh edit yourvmname' (will launch vi by default),
> > and in the <features> block, add:
> >
> >    <acpi/>
> >
> > If it isn't already present. Then try starting your VM.
> > Cole
>
> Yup: perfectly fixes this.  Thanks!!!
>
> Did I miss an option to 'virt-install'?
>
> tom

Nope, you did as much as you could. We need to fix virt-install to not
disable ACPI for windows if installing on KVM: the original setting was
leftover from early Xen days.

Thanks,
Cole

[Daniel P. Berrange]

On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 10:26:20AM -0700, Tom London wrote:
> I have a pre-existing qemu-kvm VM that I run with the following command:
>
> qemu-kvm -localtime -vga std -m 512 -usbdevice tablet -name "Windows
> XP" -hda ~/VirtualMachines/raw.img -k en-us
>
> I've been trying to "convert/adapt" this to be run with virt-manager,
> without success.  Is there a "recipe" I can follow?

We are actally working on a command for virsh to perform 'import' of
existing QEMU args, spitting back out a libvirt domain XML file.

I've got a crude perl script proof of concept people can use in the
meanwhile - it is far from complete & doesn't cover all QEMU args,
but it may be of use in short term. It is attached to this mail. Run
it with perl, giving the full list of QEMU args you have, eg

# perl virt-xml-import-qemu-args  qemu-kvm -localtime -vga std \
        -m 512 -usbdevice tablet -name "Windows XP" -hda \
        ~/VirtualMachines/raw.img -k en-us
<domain type='kvm'>
  <name>Windows XP</name>
  <memory>524288</memory>
  <vcpu>1</vcpu>
  <os>
    <type arch='i686'>hvm</type>
    <boot dev='hd'/>
  </os>
  <features>
    <acpi/>
  </features>
  <clock offset='localtime'/>
  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
  <devices>
    <emulator>qemu-kvm</emulator>
    <disk type='/home/berrange/VirtualMachines/raw.img' device='disk'>
      <source file='/home/berrange/VirtualMachines/raw.img'/>
      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
    </disk>
    <graphics type='sdl' display=':0.0/>
  </devices>
</domain>

You'll likely still need to edit some things - particularly network
config, but this will get you started in the right direction...

Daniel

[Tom London]

On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 1:27 PM, Daniel P. Berrange  wrote:
> We are actally working on a command for virsh to perform 'import' of
> existing QEMU args, spitting back out a libvirt domain XML file.
>
> I've got a crude perl script proof of concept people can use in the
> meanwhile - it is far from complete & doesn't cover all QEMU args,
> but it may be of use in short term. It is attached to this mail. Run
> it with perl, giving the full list of QEMU args you have, eg
>
> # perl virt-xml-import-qemu-args  qemu-kvm -localtime -vga std \
>        -m 512 -usbdevice tablet -name "Windows XP" -hda \
>        ~/VirtualMachines/raw.img -k en-us
>
> <domain type='kvm'>
>  <name>Windows XP</name>
>  <memory>524288</memory>
>  <vcpu>1</vcpu>
>  <os>
>    <type arch='i686'>hvm</type>
>    <boot dev='hd'/>
>  </os>
>  <features>
>    <acpi/>
>  </features>
>  <clock offset='localtime'/>
>  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
>  <devices>
>    <emulator>qemu-kvm</emulator>
>    <disk type='/home/berrange/VirtualMachines/raw.img' device='disk'>
>      <source file='/home/berrange/VirtualMachines/raw.img'/>
>      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
>    </disk>
>    <graphics type='sdl' display=':0.0/>
>  </devices>
> </domain>
>
> You'll likely still need to edit some things - particularly network
> config, but this will get you started in the right direction...
>
> Daniel

Thanks for this!

This appears to enter the '<acpi/>' that was missing from virt-install... :-)

I'll test this out a bit.

Thanks again!

tom