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 qemu:

    # pacman -S qemu
  

• 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
  

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
    -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
    -x, --run                   run vm
        --run-orig              run from original vhd


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.