qvm/README.md

# qvm

Trivial management of 64 bit virtual machines with qemu.

## What this script will do

It can handle:

- Virtual hard disk creation, backup and deletion.
- Basic network management: two ports are exposed to the host
  machine (but you can add as many as you want). One of these 
  two ports is SSH (so admin gets simpler).
- Connection via SSH.
- Shared directory between host and guest.
- Last, but not least, running the virtual machine with all
  these options.

## Setup information and usage

- You need a 64 bit machine with virtualization technology and more than 4 GB 
  of RAM.

- Modify `configvmrc` based on your needs.
  Variables are self-explanatory and I have kept mine 
  as an example.

- Install the following dependencies
  - [GNU Bash](http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/bash.html)
    - Scipting language interpreter
  - [GNU Core Utilities](https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/)
    - Basic software like `ls`, `cat`, etc...
  - [QEMU](https://www.qemu.org/)
    - The machine emulator
  - [TigerVNC](http://www.tigervnc.org)
    - If you need to use the vm remotely from a coumputer which does not 
      support virtualization.

- Create a new VHD and complete the OS installation:

        $ ./qvm -c
        $ ./qvm -i

- Optionally enable the SSH daemon on the guest machine.

- Optionally create a new backup VHD:

        $ ./qvm -b

- Now you can run the virtual machine either using the original or the backup 
  VHD. By deault if you run `./qvm` the virtual machine will run in graphics 
  mode using the backup hard disk.

- Optionally add the following in the gues machine's `/etc/fstab`, to enable 
  the shared directory automatically (no mount commands of any
  sort).

        host_share   /home/vm/shared    9p      noauto,x-systemd.automount,trans=virtio,version=9p2000.L   0 0

## VNC options

The VNC options in this script allow you to connect to a remote instance of 
QEMU. This is particularly useful, for example, if your local machine 
processor does not support virtualization. The only thing to do is to make 
the server's port (`5900`) reachable from the clients.

You must then run QVM with one of the VNC options on the server side.
On the client side you must simply edit the `host_ip_address` and 
`host_username` variables in the configuration file.

For example, on the server side we could install the virtual machine remotely 
like this:

    $ ./qvm --install-vnc

And on the client side:

    $ ./qvm -r

At this point you should see your virtual machine running in a TigerVNC window.

Note: the VNC traffic goes through SSH TCP forwarding, so it is encrypted.

## Help

    Usage: qvm [OPTION]
    Trivial management of 64 bit virtual machines with qemu.

    Options:
        -a, --attach                connect via SSH
        -b, --backup                backup vhd
        -c, --create                create new vhd
        -d, --delete                delete vhd backup
            --delete-orig           delete original vhd
        -h, --help                  print this help
        -i, --install               install img on vhd
            --install-vnc           install img on vhd via vnc
        -n, --run-nox               run vm without opening a graphical window
                                    (useful for background jobs like SSH)
            --run-nox-orig          run-orig and run-nox combined
        -s, --mkdir-shared          create shared directory
        -r, --remote                connect to a vnc instance via ssh
        -x, --run                   run vm
            --run-vnc               run vm with vnc
            --run-orig              run from original vhd
            --run-orig-vnc          run from original vhd with vnc


    Only a single option is accepted.
    By default, the backup vhd is run.

    CC0
    Written in 2016 by Franco Masotti/frnmst <franco.masotti@student.unife.it>

## License

CC0.