Virt-manager: Difference between revisions

(27 intermediate revisions by 20 users not shown)

Line 1:

[https://virt-manager.org/ Virt-manager] (a.k.a. Virtual Machine Manager) is a GUI application for managing local and remote virtual machines through [[libvirt]]. It primarily targets KVM VMs, but also manages Xen and LXC (Linux Containers).

== Prequisites ==

Though Virt-manager (using the KVM hypervisor) is able to take advantage of virtualisation capabilities without any UEFI/BIOS configuration, best performance demands that the host have Vt-x and Vt-d (Intel) or AMD-V and AMD-Vi (AMD) enabled.

These settings can usually be found under the UEFI/BIOS settings.

== Installation ==

In your configuration file add:

{{File|3=virtualisation.libvirtd.enable = true;

programs.virt-manager.enable = true;|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}{{Note|<br/><br /><code>authentication unavailable: no polkit agent available to authenticate action 'org.libvirt.unix.manage'</code>

~~=== NixOS ===~~

To resolve, add your user to the libvirtd group:

~~<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">~~

~~virtualisation.~~libvirtd~~.enable = true;~~

~~programs.dconf.enable = true;~~

~~environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ virt-manager ]~~

~~</syntaxhighlight>~~

~~You will~~ get ~~a warning when you open it for~~ the ~~first time~~

{{File|3={

users.users.<myuser>.extraGroups = [ "libvirtd" ];

}|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}|leading=After rebuild, you may get the following error:}}

<code>~~Could not detect a default hypervisor. Make sure the appropriate virtualization packages containing kvm, qemu, libvirt, etc. are installed and that libvirtd is running.~~</code>

=== Networking ===

To use the default libvirt network, you will need to install the <code>dnsmasq</code> package. This is required for DNS and DCHP functionality within the network:

~~To resolve~~

{{File|3=environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [

dnsmasq

];|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}

<~~pre~~>

The default network starts off inactive, you must enable it before it is accessible. This can be done by running the following command: <syntaxhighlight lang="console"># virsh net-start default</syntaxhighlight>And if you would like to enable it automatically at boot:<syntaxhighlight lang="console">

~~File in~~ the ~~menu bar -~~> ~~Add connection~~

# virsh net-autostart default

</syntaxhighlight>By default, this will enable a virtual network bridge under the name <code>virbr0</code>. You may need to allow it through your firewall filter like so:

{{File|3=networking.firewall.trustedInterfaces = [ "virbr0" ];|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}

~~HyperVisor~~ = ~~QEMU/KVM~~

=== Display ===

~~Autoconnect = checkmark~~

The default video may not allow different resolutions and is limited. It is recommended to use Virtio instead.

~~Connect~~

For information on how to use Virtio with your VM's, [https://wiki.libvirt.org/Virtio.html you can read up on Virtio on the libvirt wiki].

</~~pre>~~

~~You can get the following error~~ :

=== Shared folders ===

To be able to share a folder with a guest, you will need 'virtiofsd'. The recommended way to solve this problem is now to add <code>pkgs.virtiofsd</code> to <code>virtualisation.libvirtd.qemu.vhostUserPackages</code>:

<~~code~~>~~authentication unavailable: no polkit agent available to authenticate action 'org~~.~~libvirt~~.~~unix.manage'~~</~~code~~>

virtualisation.libvirtd = {

enable = true;

qemu.vhostUserPackages = with pkgs; [ virtiofsd ];

};

</syntaxhighlight>

~~To resolve~~, ~~We would have to add user in~~ the ~~<code>libvirtd<~~/~~code> group~~.

===Windows Guest===

See [https://github.com/virtio-win/virtio-win-guest-tools-installer Virtio-win guest tools] for additional drivers for both paravirtual and emulated hardware

===Guest Agent===

When running NixOS as a guest, enable the [https://wiki.qemu.org/Features/GuestAgent QEMU guest agent] with:

{

~~users~~.~~users~~.~~<myuser>~~.~~extraGroups~~ = ~~[ "libvirtd" ]~~;

services.qemuGuest.enable = true;

services.spice-vdagentd.enable = true; # enable copy and paste between host and guest

}

</syntaxhighlight>

~~You~~ will ~~only need~~ to do this ~~once~~

The host must [https://wiki.libvirt.org/Qemu_guest_agent.html#setting-qemu-ga-up provide the needed virtio serial port] under the special name <code>org.qemu.guest_agent.0</code>.

=== Wayland ===

In order to run on Wayland, virt-manager must be ran under XWayland with `$ GDK_BACKEND=x11 virt-manager` or a gdk cursor must be set. An example of setting a gdk cursor with home-manager is as follows:

home.pointerCursor = {

gtk.enable = true;

package = pkgs.vanilla-dmz;

name = "Vanilla-DMZ";

};

== Troubleshooting ==

=== Unable to find 'efi' firmware ===

The following guide is to fix the following error which will occur when starting a virtual machine after NixOS upgrade:

<code>Error: Error starting domain: operation failed: Unable to find 'efi' firmware that is compatible with the current configuration</code>

Solution:

# Delete old generations: <code>nix-collect-garbage -d</code>

# Find where the EFI boot loaded file is located: <code>find /nix/store/ -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "*qemu*" | xargs -I {} find "{}" -type f -name "edk2-x86_64-secure-code.fd"</code> Find the dir holding the latest qemu. The directory should be something like: <code>xbfjilai721rzd9rf9dhhpv03xza4xp4-qemu-9.1.3</code>. Take a note of this directory name.

# Open VM in virt-manager, go to XML and within the <code><os ...></code> tag:

## Edit <code><loader ...></code> with the above directory name

## Edit <code><nvram ...></code> with the above directory name.

[[Category:Virtualization]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[https://virt-manager.org/ Virt-manager] (a.k.a. Virtual Machine Manager) is a GUI application for managing local and remote virtual machines through [[libvirt]]. It primarily targets KVM VMs, but also manages Xen and LXC (Linux Containers).
+== Prequisites ==
+Though Virt-manager (using the KVM hypervisor) is able to take advantage of virtualisation capabilities without any UEFI/BIOS configuration, best performance demands that the host have Vt-x and Vt-d (Intel) or AMD-V and AMD-Vi (AMD) enabled.
+These settings can usually be found under the UEFI/BIOS settings.
 == Installation ==
+In your configuration file add:
+{{File|3=virtualisation.libvirtd.enable = true;
+programs.virt-manager.enable = true;|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}{{Note|<br/><br /><code>authentication unavailable: no polkit agent available to authenticate action 'org.libvirt.unix.manage'</code>
-=== NixOS ===
+To resolve, add your user to the libvirtd group:
-<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
-virtualisation.libvirtd.enable = true;
-programs.dconf.enable = true;
-environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ virt-manager ]
-</syntaxhighlight>
-You will get a warning when you open it for the first time
+{{File|3={
+  users.users.<myuser>.extraGroups = [ "libvirtd" ];
+}|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}|leading=After rebuild, you may get the following error:}}
-<code>Could not detect a default hypervisor. Make sure the appropriate virtualization packages containing kvm, qemu, libvirt, etc. are installed and that libvirtd is running.</code>
+=== Networking ===
+To use the default libvirt network, you will need to install the <code>dnsmasq</code> package. This is required for DNS and DCHP functionality within the network:
-To resolve
+{{File|3=environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
+  dnsmasq
+];|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}
-<pre>
+The default network starts off inactive, you must enable it before it is accessible. This can be done by running the following command: <syntaxhighlight lang="console"># virsh net-start default</syntaxhighlight>And if you would like to enable it automatically at boot:<syntaxhighlight lang="console">
-File in the menu bar -> Add connection
+# virsh net-autostart default
+</syntaxhighlight>By default, this will enable a virtual network bridge under the name <code>virbr0</code>. You may need to allow it through your firewall filter like so:
+{{File|3=networking.firewall.trustedInterfaces = [ "virbr0" ];|name=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|lang=nix}}
-HyperVisor = QEMU/KVM
+=== Display ===
-Autoconnect = checkmark
+The default video may not allow different resolutions and is limited. It is recommended to use Virtio instead.
-Connect
+For information on how to use Virtio with your VM's, [https://wiki.libvirt.org/Virtio.html you can read up on Virtio on the libvirt wiki].
-</pre>
-You can get the following error :
+=== Shared folders ===
+To be able to share a folder with a guest, you will need 'virtiofsd'. The recommended way to solve this problem is now to add <code>pkgs.virtiofsd</code> to <code>virtualisation.libvirtd.qemu.vhostUserPackages</code>:
-<code>authentication unavailable: no polkit agent available to authenticate action 'org.libvirt.unix.manage'</code>
+<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
+virtualisation.libvirtd = {
+  enable = true;
+  qemu.vhostUserPackages = with pkgs; [ virtiofsd ];
+};
+</syntaxhighlight>
-To resolve, We would have to add user in the <code>libvirtd</code> group.
+===Windows Guest===
+See [https://github.com/virtio-win/virtio-win-guest-tools-installer Virtio-win guest tools] for additional drivers for both paravirtual and emulated hardware
+===Guest Agent===
+When running NixOS as a guest, enable the [https://wiki.qemu.org/Features/GuestAgent QEMU guest agent] with:
 <syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
 {
-users.users.<myuser>.extraGroups = [ "libvirtd" ];
+  services.qemuGuest.enable = true;
+  services.spice-vdagentd.enable = true;  # enable copy and paste between host and guest
 }
 </syntaxhighlight>
-You will only need to do this once
+The host must [https://wiki.libvirt.org/Qemu_guest_agent.html#setting-qemu-ga-up provide the needed virtio serial port] under the special name <code>org.qemu.guest_agent.0</code>.
+=== Wayland ===
+In order to run on Wayland, virt-manager must be ran under XWayland with `$ GDK_BACKEND=x11 virt-manager` or a gdk cursor must be set. An example of setting a gdk cursor with home-manager is as follows:
+  home.pointerCursor = {
+     gtk.enable = true;
+     package = pkgs.vanilla-dmz;
+     name = "Vanilla-DMZ";
+  };
+== Troubleshooting ==
+=== Unable to find 'efi' firmware ===
+The following guide is to fix the following error which will occur when starting a virtual machine after NixOS upgrade:
+<code>Error:  Error starting domain: operation failed: Unable to find 'efi' firmware that is compatible with the current configuration</code>
+Solution:
+# Delete old generations:  <code>nix-collect-garbage -d</code>
+# Find where the EFI boot loaded file is located:  <code>find /nix/store/ -maxdepth 1 -type d -name "*qemu*"  |  xargs -I {} find "{}" -type f -name "edk2-x86_64-secure-code.fd"</code>  Find the dir holding the latest qemu.  The directory should be something like: <code>xbfjilai721rzd9rf9dhhpv03xza4xp4-qemu-9.1.3</code>.  Take a note of this directory name.
+# Open VM in virt-manager, go to XML and within the <code><os ...></code> tag:
+## Edit <code><loader ...></code> with the above directory name
+## Edit <code><nvram ...></code> with the above directory name.
 [[Category:Virtualization]]