Creating virtual machines

Use one of these procedures to create a virtual machine:

• Quick Start guided tour

• Running the wizard

• Pasting a pre-configured YAML file with the virtual machine wizard

• Using the CLI

When you create virtual machines from the web console, select a virtual machine template that is configured with a boot source. Virtual machine templates with a boot source are labeled as Available boot source or they display a customized label text. Using templates with an available boot source expedites the process of creating virtual machines.

Templates without a boot source are labeled as Boot source required. You can use these templates if you complete the steps for adding a boot source to the virtual machine.

Using a Quick Start to create a virtual machine

The web console provides Quick Starts with instructional guided tours for creating virtual machines. You can access the Quick Starts catalog by selecting the Help menu in the Administrator perspective to view the Quick Starts catalog. When you click on a Quick Start tile and begin the tour, the system guides you through the process.

Tasks in a Quick Start begin with selecting a Red Hat template. Then, you can add a boot source and import the operating system image. Finally, you can save the custom template and use it to create a virtual machine.

Quick Start tours for creating virtual machines include the following:

• Creating a Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtual machine

• Creating a Windows 10 virtual machine

• Importing a VMWare virtual machine

Prerequisites

• Access to the website where you can download the URL link for the operating system image.

Procedure

1. In the web console, select Quick Starts from the Help menu.

2. Click on a tile in the Quick Starts catalog. For example: Creating a Red Hat Linux Enterprise Linux virtual machine.

3. Follow the instructions in the guided tour and complete the tasks for importing an operating system image and creating a virtual machine. The Virtual Machines tab displays the virtual machine.

Running the virtual machine wizard to create a virtual machine

The web console features a wizard that guides you through the process of selecting a virtual machine template and creating a virtual machine. Red Hat virtual machine templates are preconfigured with an operating system image, default settings for the operating system, flavor (CPU and memory), and workload type (server). When templates are configured with a boot source, they are labeled with a customized label text or the default label text Available boot source. These templates are then ready to be used for creating virtual machines.

You can select a template from the list of preconfigured templates, review the settings, and create a virtual machine in the Create virtual machine from template wizard. If you choose to customize your virtual machine, the wizard guides you through the General, Networking, Storage, Advanced, and Review steps. All required fields displayed by the wizard are marked by a *.

Create network interface controllers (NICs) and storage disks later and attach them to virtual machines.

Procedure

1. Click Workloads → Virtualization from the side menu.

2. From the Virtual Machines tab or the Templates tab, click Create and select Virtual Machine with Wizard.

3. Select a template that is configured with a boot source.

4. Click Next to go to the Review and create step.

5. Clear the Start this virtual machine after creation checkbox if you do not want to start the virtual machine now.

6. Click Create virtual machine and exit the wizard or continue with the wizard to customize the virtual machine.

7. Click Customize virtual machine to go to the General step.

   1. Optional: Edit the Name field to specify a custom name for the virtual machine.

   2. Optional: In the Description field, add a description.

8. Click Next to go to the Networking step. A nic0 NIC is attached by default.

   1. Optional: Click Add Network Interface to create additional NICs.

   2. Optional: You can remove any or all NICs by clicking the Options menu and selecting Delete. A virtual machine does not need a NIC attached to be created. You can create NICs after the virtual machine has been created.

9. Click Next to go to the Storage step.

   1. Optional: Click Add Disk to create additional disks. These disks can be removed by clicking the Options menu and selecting Delete.

   2. Optional: Click the Options menu to edit the disk and save your changes.

10. Click Next to go to the Advanced step and choose one of the following options:

    1. If you selected a Linux template to create the VM, review the details for Cloud-init and configure SSH access.

       Statically inject an SSH key by using the custom script in cloud-init or in the wizard. This allows you to securely and remotely manage virtual machines and manage and transfer information. This step is strongly recommended to secure your VM.

    2. If you selected a Windows template to create the VM, use the SysPrep section to upload answer files in XML format for automated Windows setup.

11. Click Next to go to the Review step and review the settings for the virtual machine.

12. Click Create Virtual Machine.

13. Click See virtual machine details to view the Overview for this virtual machine.

    The virtual machine is listed in the Virtual Machines tab.

Refer to the virtual machine wizard fields section when running the web console wizard.

Virtual machine wizard fields

Enable the CPU Manager to use the high-performance workload profile.

Networking fields

Storage fields

Advanced storage settings

Cloud-init fields

To configure storage class defaults, use storage profiles. For more information, see Customizing the storage profile.

Pasting in a pre-configured YAML file to create a virtual machine

Create a virtual machine by writing or pasting a YAML configuration file. A valid example virtual machine configuration is provided by default whenever you open the YAML edit screen.

If your YAML configuration is invalid when you click Create, an error message indicates the parameter in which the error occurs. Only one error is shown at a time.

Procedure

1. Click Workloads → Virtualization from the side menu.

2. Click the Virtual Machines tab.

3. Click Create and select Virtual Machine With YAML.

4. Write or paste your virtual machine configuration in the editable window.

   1. Alternatively, use the example virtual machine provided by default in the YAML screen.

5. Optional: Click Download to download the YAML configuration file in its present state.

6. Click Create to create the virtual machine.

The virtual machine is listed in the Virtual Machines tab.

Using the CLI to create a virtual machine

Procedure

The spec object of the virtual machine configuration file references the virtual machine settings, such as the number of cores and the amount of memory, the disk type, and the volumes to use.

1. Attach the virtual machine disk to the virtual machine by referencing the relevant PVC claimName as a volume.

2. To create a virtual machine with the OKD client, run this command:

   $ oc create -f <vm.yaml>

3. Since virtual machines are created in a Stopped state, run a virtual machine instance by starting it.

Virtual machine storage volume types

About RunStrategies for virtual machines

A RunStrategy for virtual machines determines a virtual machine instance’s (VMI) behavior, depending on a series of conditions. The spec.runStrategy setting exists in the virtual machine configuration process as an alternative to the spec.running setting. The spec.runStrategy setting allows greater flexibility for how VMIs are created and managed, in contrast to the spec.running setting with only true or false responses. However, the two settings are mutually exclusive. Only either spec.running or spec.runStrategy can be used. An error occurs if both are used.

There are four defined RunStrategies.

Always

A VMI is always present when a virtual machine is created. A new VMI is created if the original stops for any reason, which is the same behavior as spec.running: true.

RerunOnFailure

A VMI is re-created if the previous instance fails due to an error. The instance is not re-created if the virtual machine stops successfully, such as when it shuts down.

Manual

The start, stop, and restart virtctl client commands can be used to control the VMI’s state and existence.

Halted

No VMI is present when a virtual machine is created, which is the same behavior as spec.running: false.

Different combinations of the start, stop and restart virtctl commands affect which RunStrategy is used.

The following table follows a VM’s transition from different states. The first column shows the VM’s initial RunStrategy. Each additional column shows a virtctl command and the new RunStrategy after that command is run.

apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1
kind: VirtualMachine
spec:
  RunStrategy: Always (1)
  template:
...

Additional resources

• The VirtualMachineSpec definition in the KubeVirt v0.49.0 API Reference provides broader context for the parameters and hierarchy of the virtual machine specification.

  The KubeVirt API Reference is the upstream project reference and might contain parameters that are not supported in OKD Virtualization.

• See Prepare a container disk before adding it to a virtual machine as a containerDisk volume.

• See Deploying machine health checks for further details on deploying and enabling machine health checks.

• See Installer-provisioned infrastructure overview for further details on installer-provisioned infrastructure.

• See Configuring the SR-IOV Network Operator for further details on the SR-IOV Network Operator.

• Customizing the storage profile