Ubuntu Manpage: virt-install - provision new virtual machines

NAME

       virt-install - provision new virtual machines

SYNOPSIS

       virt-install [OPTION]...

DESCRIPTION

virt-install is a command line tool for creating new KVM, Xen, or Linux container guests
using the libvirt hypervisor management library. See the EXAMPLES section at the end of
this document to quickly get started.

virt-install tool supports graphical installations using (for example) VNC or SPICE, as
well as text mode installs over serial console. The guest can be configured to use one or
more virtual disks, network interfaces, audio devices, physical USB or PCI devices, among
others.

The installation media can be local ISO or CDROM media, or a distro install tree hosted
remotely over HTTP, FTP, or in a local directory. In the install tree case virt-install
will fetch the minimal files necessary to kick off the installation process, allowing the
guest to fetch the rest of the OS distribution as needed. PXE booting, and importing an
existing disk image (thus skipping the install phase) are also supported.

Given suitable command line arguments, virt-install is capable of running completely
unattended, with the guest 'kickstarting' itself too. This allows for easy automation of
guest installs. This can be done manually, or more simply with the --unattended option.

Many arguments have sub options, specified like opt1=foo,opt2=bar, etc. Try --option=? to
see a complete list of sub options associated with that argument, example: virt-install
--disk=?

Most options are not required. If a suitable --osinfo value is specified or detected, all
defaults will be filled in and reported in the terminal output. Otherwise, minimum
required options are --memory, guest storage (--disk or --filesystem), and an install
method choice.

CONNECTING TO LIBVIRT

   --connect
       Syntax: --connect URI

       Connect  to a non-default hypervisor. If this isn't specified, libvirt will try and choose
       the most suitable default.

       Some valid options here are:

       qemu:///system
              For creating KVM and QEMU guests to be run by the system libvirtd  instance.   This
              is the default mode that virt-manager uses, and what most KVM users want.

       qemu:///session
              For creating KVM and QEMU guests for libvirtd running as the regular user.

       xen:///
              For connecting to Xen.

       lxc:///
              For creating linux containers

GENERAL OPTIONS

General configuration parameters that apply to all types of guest installs.

-n, --name
Syntax: -n, --name NAME

Name of the new guest virtual machine instance. This must be unique amongst all guests
known to the hypervisor on the connection, including those not currently active. To
re-define an existing guest, use the virsh(1) tool to shut it down ('virsh shutdown') &
delete ('virsh undefine') it prior to running virt-install.

--memory
Syntax: --memory OPTIONS

Memory to allocate for the guest, in MiB. This deprecates the -r/--ram option. Sub
options are available, like 'memory', 'currentMemory', 'maxMemory' and 'maxMemory.slots',
which all map to the identically named XML values.

Back compat values 'memory' maps to the <currentMemory> element, and maxmemory maps to the
<memory> element.

To configure memory modules which can be hotunplugged see --memdev description.

Use --memory=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsMemoryAllocation

--memorybacking
Syntax: --memorybacking OPTIONS

This option will influence how virtual memory pages are backed by host pages.

Use --memorybacking=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsMemoryBacking

--arch
Syntax: --arch ARCH

Request a non-native CPU architecture for the guest virtual machine. If omitted, the host
CPU architecture will be used in the guest.

--machine
Syntax: --machine MACHINE

The machine type to emulate. This will typically not need to be specified for Xen or KVM,
but is useful for choosing machine types of more exotic architectures.

--metadata
Syntax: --metadata OPT=VAL,[...]

Specify metadata values for the guest. Possible options include name, uuid, title, and
description. This option deprecates -u/--uuid and --description.

Use --metadata=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsMetadata

--events
Syntax: --events OPT=VAL,[...]

Specify events values for the guest. Possible options include on_poweroff, on_reboot, and
on_crash.

Use --events=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsEvents

--resource
Syntax: --resource OPT=VAL,[...]

Specify resource partitioning for the guest.

Use --resource=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#resPartition

--sysinfo
Syntax: --sysinfo OPT=VAL,[...]

Configure sysinfo/SMBIOS values exposed to the VM OS. Examples:

--sysinfo host
Special type that exposes the host's SMBIOS info into the VM.

--sysinfo emulate
Special type where hypervisor will generate SMBIOS info into the VM.

--sysinfo bios.vendor=custom or --sysinfo smbios,bios.vendor=custom
The default type is smbios and allows users to specify SMBIOS info manually.

Use --sysinfo=? to see a list of all available sub options.

Complete details at https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsSysinfo and
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsOSBIOS for smbios XML element.

--xml
Syntax: --xml ARGS

Make direct edits to the generated XML using XPath syntax. Take an example like

virt-install --xml ./@foo=bar --xml ./newelement/subelement=1

This will alter the generated XML to contain:

The --xml option has 4 sub options:

--xml xpath.set=XPATH[=VALUE]
The default behavior if no explicit suboption is set. Takes the form XPATH=VALUE
unless paired with xpath.value . See below for how value is interpreted.

--xml xpath.value=VALUE
xpath.set will be interpreted only as the XPath string, and xpath.value will be
used as the value to set. May help sidestep problems if the string you need to set
contains a '=' equals sign.

If value is empty, it's treated as unsetting that particular node.

--xml xpath.create=XPATH
Create the node as an empty element. Needed for boolean elements like <readonly/>

--xml xpath.delete=XPATH
Delete the entire node specified by the xpath, and all its children

xpath subarguments
Similar to the --xml option, most top level options have xpath.* suboptions. For example,
--disk xpath1.set=./@foo=bar,xpath2.create=./newelement would generate XML alterations
like

This is useful for setting XML options per device, when virt-install does not support
those options yet.

--qemu-commandline
Syntax: --qemu-commandline ARGS

Pass options directly to the qemu emulator. Only works for the libvirt qemu driver. The
option can take a string of arguments, for example:

--qemu-commandline="-display gtk,gl=on"

Environment variables are specified with 'env', for example:

--qemu-commandline=env=DISPLAY=:0.1

Complete details about the libvirt feature: https://libvirt.org/drvqemu.html#qemucommand

--vcpus
Syntax: --vcpus OPTIONS

Number of virtual cpus to configure for the guest. If 'maxvcpus' is specified, the guest
will be able to hotplug up to MAX vcpus while the guest is running, but will startup with
VCPUS.

CPU topology can additionally be specified with sockets, dies, cores, and threads. If
values are omitted, the rest will be autofilled preferring cores over sockets over
threads. Cores are preferred because this matches the characteristics of modern real world
silicon and thus a better fit for what guest OS will be expecting to deal with.

'cpuset' sets which physical cpus the guest can use. CPUSET is a comma separated list of
numbers, which can also be specified in ranges or cpus to exclude. Example:

0,2,3,5 : Use processors 0,2,3 and 5
1-5,^3,8 : Use processors 1,2,4,5 and 8

If the value 'auto' is passed, virt-install attempts to automatically determine an optimal
cpu pinning using NUMA data, if available.

Use --vcpus=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsCPUAllocation

--numatune
Syntax: --numatune OPTIONS

Tune NUMA policy for the domain process. Example invocations

--numatune 1,2,3,4-7
--numatune 1-3,5,memory.mode=preferred

Specifies the numa nodes to allocate memory from. This has the same syntax as --vcpus
cpuset= option. mode can be one of 'interleave', 'preferred', or 'strict' (the default).
See 'man 8 numactl' for information about each mode.

Use --numatune=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsNUMATuning

--memtune
Syntax: --memtune OPTIONS

Tune memory policy for the domain process. Example invocations

--memtune 1000
--memtune hard_limit=100,soft_limit=60,swap_hard_limit=150,min_guarantee=80

Use --memtune=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsMemoryTuning

--blkiotune
Syntax: --blkiotune OPTIONS

Tune blkio policy for the domain process. Example invocations

--blkiotune 100
--blkiotune weight=100,device.path=/dev/sdc,device.weight=200

Use --blkiotune=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsBlockTuning

--cpu
Syntax: --cpu MODEL[,+feature][,-feature][,match=MATCH][,vendor=VENDOR],...

Configure the CPU model and CPU features exposed to the guest. The only required value is
MODEL, which is a valid CPU model as known to libvirt.

Libvirt's feature policy values force, require, optional, disable, or forbid, or with the
shorthand '+feature' and '-feature', which equal 'force=feature' and 'disable=feature'
respectively.

If exact CPU model is specified virt-install will automatically copy CPU features
available on the host to mitigate recent CPU speculative execution side channel and
Microarchitectural Store Buffer Data security vulnerabilities. This however will have
some impact on performance and will break migration to hosts without security patches. In
order to control this behavior there is a secure parameter. Possible values are on and
off, with on as the default. It is highly recommended to leave this enabled and ensure all
virtualization hosts have fully up to date microcode, kernel & virtualization software
installed.

Some examples:

--cpu core2duo,+x2apic,disable=vmx
Expose the core2duo CPU model, force enable x2apic, but do not expose vmx

--cpu host
Expose the host CPUs configuration to the guest. This enables the guest to take
advantage of many of the host CPUs features (better performance), but may cause
issues if migrating the guest to a host without an identical CPU.

--cpu
numa.cell0.memory=1234,numa.cell0.cpus=0-3,numa.cell1.memory=5678,numa.cell1.cpus=4-7
Example of specifying two NUMA cells. This will generate XML like:

--cpu host-passthrough,cache.mode=passthrough
Example of passing through the host cpu's cache information.

Use --cpu=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsCPU

--cputune
Syntax: --cputune OPTIONS

Tune CPU parameters for the guest.

Configure which of the host's physical CPUs the domain VCPU will be pinned to. Example
invocation

--cputune vcpupin0.vcpu=0,vcpupin0.cpuset=0-3,vcpupin1.vcpu=1,vcpupin1.cpuset=4-7

Use --cputune=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsCPUTuning

--security, --seclabel
Syntax: --security, --seclabel type=TYPE[,label=LABEL][,relabel=yes|no],...

Configure domain seclabel domain settings. Type can be either 'static' or 'dynamic'.
'static' configuration requires a security LABEL. Specifying LABEL without TYPE implies
static configuration.

Use --security=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#seclabel

--keywrap
Syntax: --keywrap OPTIONS

Specify domain <keywrap> XML, used for S390 cryptographic key management operations.

Use --keywrap=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#keywrap

--iothreads
Syntax: --iothreads OPTIONS

Specify domain <iothreads> and/or <iothreadids> XML. For example, to configure
<iothreads>4</iothreads>, use --iothreads 4

Use --iothreads=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsIOThreadsAllocation

--features
Syntax: --features FEAT=on|off,...

Set elements in the guests <features> XML on or off. Examples include acpi, apic, eoi,
privnet, and hyperv features. Some examples:

--features apic.eoi=on
Enable APIC PV EOI

--features hyperv.vapic.state=on,hyperv.spinlocks.state=off
Enable hyperv VAPIC, but disable spinlocks

--features kvm.hidden.state=on
Allow the KVM hypervisor signature to be hidden from the guest

--features pvspinlock=on
Notify the guest that the host supports paravirtual spinlocks for example by
exposing the pvticketlocks mechanism.

--features gic.version=2
This is relevant only for ARM architectures. Possible values are "host" or version
number.

--features smm.state=on
This enables System Management Mode of hypervisor. Some UEFI firmwares may require
this feature to be present. (QEMU supports SMM only with q35 machine type.)

Use --features=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsFeatures

--clock
Syntax: --clock offset=OFFSET,TIMER_OPT=VAL,...

Configure the guest's <clock> XML. Some supported options:

--clock offset=OFFSET
Set the clock offset, ex. 'utc' or 'localtime'

--clock TIMER_present=no
Disable a boolean timer. TIMER here might be hpet, kvmclock, etc.

--clock TIMER_tickpolicy=VAL
Set a timer's tickpolicy value. TIMER here might be rtc, pit, etc. VAL might be
catchup, delay, etc. Refer to the libvirt docs for all values.

Use --clock=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsTime

--pm
Syntax: --pm OPTIONS

Configure guest power management features. Example:

--pm suspend_to_memi.enabled=on,suspend_to_disk.enabled=off

Use --pm=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsPowerManagement

--launchSecurity
Syntax: --launchSecurity TYPE[,OPTS]

Enable launch security for the guest, e.g. AMD SEV. Example invocations:

# This will use a default policy 0x03
# No dhCert provided, so no data can be exchanged with the SEV firmware
--launchSecurity sev

# Explicit policy 0x01 - disables debugging, allows guest key sharing
--launchSecurity sev,policy=0x01

# Provide the session blob obtained from the SEV firmware
# Provide dhCert to open a secure communication channel with SEV firmware
--launchSecurity sev,session=BASE64SESSIONSTRING,dhCert=BASE64DHCERTSTRING

SEV has further implications on usage of virtio devices, so refer to EXAMPLES section to
see a full invocation of virt-install with --launchSecurity.

Use --launchSecurity=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#launchSecurity

INSTALLATION OPTIONS

-c, --cdrom
Syntax: --cdrom PATH

ISO file or CDROM device to use for VM install media. After install, the virtual CDROM
device will remain attached to the VM, but with the ISO or host path media ejected.

-l, --location
Syntax: -l, --location OPTIONS

Distribution tree installation source. virt-install can recognize certain distribution
trees and fetches a bootable kernel/initrd pair to launch the install.

--location allows things like --extra-args for kernel arguments, and using
--initrd-inject. If you want to use those options with CDROM media, you can pass the ISO
to --location as well which works for some, but not all, CDROM media.

The LOCATION can take one of the following forms:

https://host/path
An HTTP server location containing an installable distribution image.

ftp://host/path
An FTP server location containing an installable distribution image.

ISO Extract files directly from the ISO path

DIRECTORY
Path to a local directory containing an installable distribution image. Note that
the directory will not be accessible by the guest after initial boot, so the OS
installer will need another way to access the rest of the install media.

Some distro specific url samples:

Fedora/Red Hat Based
https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/29/Server/x86_64/os

Debian https://debian.osuosl.org/debian/dists/stable/main/installer-amd64/

Ubuntu https://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/wily/main/installer-amd64/

Suse https://download.opensuse.org/pub/opensuse/distribution/leap/42.3/repo/oss/

Additionally, --location can take 'kernel' and 'initrd' sub options. These paths relative
to the specified location URL/ISO that allow selecting specific files for kernel/initrd
within the install tree. This can be useful if virt-install/ libosinfo doesn't know where
to find the kernel in the specified --location.

For example, if you have an ISO that libosinfo doesn't know about called my-unknown.iso,
with a kernel at 'kernel/fookernel' and initrd at 'kernel/fooinitrd', you can make this
work with:

--location my-unknown.iso,kernel=kernel/fookernel,initrd=kernel/fooinitrd

--pxe
Install from PXE. This just tells the VM to boot off the network for the first boot.

--import
Skip the OS installation process, and build a guest around an existing disk image. The
device used for booting is the first device specified via --disk or --filesystem.

-x, --extra-args
Syntax: -x, --extra-args KERNELARGS

Additional kernel command line arguments to pass to the installer when performing a guest
install from --location. One common usage is specifying an anaconda kickstart file for
automated installs, such as --extra-args "ks=https://myserver/my.ks"

--initrd-inject
Syntax: --initrd-inject PATH

Add PATH to the root of the initrd fetched with --location. This can be used to run an
automated install without requiring a network hosted kickstart file:
--initrd-inject=/path/to/my.ks --extra-args "ks=file:/my.ks"

--install
This is a larger entry point for various types of install operations. The command has
multiple subarguments, similar to --disk and friends. This option is strictly for VM
install operations, essentially configuring the first boot.

The simplest usage to ex: install fedora29 is:

--install fedora29

And virt-install will fetch a --location URL from libosinfo, and populate defaults from
there.

Available suboptions:

os= This is os install option described above. The explicit way to specify that would
be --install os=fedora29 . os= is the default option if none is specified

kernel=, initrd=
Specify a kernel and initrd pair to use as install media. They are copied into a
temporary location before booting the VM, so they can be combined with
--initrd-inject and your source media will not be altered. Media will be uploaded
to a remote connection if required.

Example case using local filesystem paths: --install
kernel=/path/to/kernel,initrd=/path/to/initrd

Example using network paths. Kernel/initrd will be downloaded locally first, then
passed to the VM as local filesystem paths: --install
kernel=https://127.0.0.1/tree/kernel,initrd=https://127.0.0.1/tree/initrd

Note, these are just for install time booting. If you want to set the kernel used
for permanent VM booting, use the --boot option.

kernel_args=, kernel_args_overwrite=yes|no
Specify install time kernel arguments (libvirt <cmdline> XML). These can be combine
with ex: kernel/initrd options, or --location media. By default, kernel_args is
just like --extra-args, and will _append_ to the arguments that virt-install will
try to set by default for most --location installs. If you want to override the
virt-install default, additionally specify kernel_args_overwrite=yes

bootdev=
Specify the install bootdev (hd, cdrom, floppy, network) to boot off of for the
install phase. This maps to libvirt <os><boot dev=X> XML.

If you want to install off a cdrom or network, it's probably simpler and more
backwards compatible to just use --cdrom or --pxe , but this options gives fine
grained control over the install process if needed.

no_install=yes|no
Tell virt-install that there isn't actually any install happening, and you just
want to create the VM. --import is just an alias for this, as is specifying --boot
without any other install options. The deprecated --live option is the same as
'--cdrom $ISO --install no_install=yes'

--reinstall DOMAIN
Reinstall an existing VM. DOMAIN can be a VM name, UUID, or ID number. virt-install will
fetch the domain XML from libvirt, apply the specified install config changes, boot the VM
for the install process, and then revert to roughly the same starting XML.

Only install related options are processed, all other VM configuration options like
--name, --disk, etc. are completely ignored.

If --reinstall is used with --cdrom, an existing CDROM attached to the VM will be used if
one is available, otherwise a permanent CDROM device will be added.

--unattended
Syntax: --unattended [OPTIONS]

Perform an unattended install using libosinfo's install script support. This is
essentially a database of auto install scripts for various distros: Red Hat kickstarts,
Debian installer scripting, Windows unattended installs, and potentially others. The
simplest invocation is to combine it with --install like:

--install fedora29 --unattended

A Windows install will look like

--cdrom /path/to/my/windows.iso --unattended

Sub options are:

profile=
Choose which libosinfo unattended profile to use. Most distros have a 'desktop' and
a 'jeos' profile. virt-install will default to 'desktop' if this is unspecified.

admin-password-file=
A file used to set the VM OS admin/root password from. This option can be used
either as "admin-password-file=/path/to/password-file" or as
"admin-password-file=/dev/fd/n", being n the file descriptor of the password-file.
Note that only the first line of the file will be considered, including any
whitespace characters and excluding new-line.

user-login=
The user login name to be used in th VM. virt-install will default to your current
host username if this is unspecified. Note that when running virt-install as
"root", this option must be specified.

user-password-file=
A file used to set the VM user password. This option can be used either as
"user-password-file=/path/to/password-file" or as "user-password-file=/dev/fd/n",
being n the file descriptor of the password-file. The username is either the
user-login specified or your current host username. Note that only the first line
of the file will be considered, including any whitespace characters and excluding
new-line.

product-key=
Set a Windows product key

--cloud-init
Pass cloud-init metadata to the VM. A cloud-init NoCloud ISO file is generated, and
attached to the VM as a CDROM device. The device is only attached for the first boot. This
option is particularly useful for distro cloud images, which have locked login accounts by
default; --cloud-init provides the means to initialize those login accounts, like setting
a root password.

The simplest invocation is just plain --cloud-init with no suboptions; this maps to
--cloud-init root-password-generate=on,disable=on. See those suboptions for explanation of
how they work.

Use --cloud-init=? to see a list of all available sub options.

Sub options are:

root-password-generate=on
Generate a new root password for the VM. When used, virt-install will print the
generated password to the console, and pause for 10 seconds to give the user a
chance to notice it and copy it.

disable=on
Disable cloud-init in the VM for subsequent boots. Without this, cloud-init may
reset auth on each boot.

root-password-file=
A file used to set the VM root password from. This option can be used either as
"root-password-file=/path/to/password-file" or as "root-password-file=/dev/fd/n",
being n the file descriptor of the password-file. Note that only the first line of
the file will be considered, including any whitespace characters and excluding
new-line.

meta-data=
Specify a cloud-init meta-data file to add directly to the iso. All other meta-data
configuration options on the --cloud-init command line are ignored.

user-data=
Specify a cloud-init user-data file to add directly to the iso. All other user-data
configuration options on the --cloud-init command line are ignored.

root-ssh-key=
Specify a public key to inject into the guest, providing ssh access to the root
account. Example: root-ssh-key=/home/user/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

clouduser-ssh-key
Specify a public key to inject into the guest, providing ssh access to the default
cloud-init user account. The account name is different per distro cloud image. Some
common ones are documented here:
https://docs.openstack.org/image-guide/obtain-images.html

network-config=
Specify a cloud-init network-config file to add directly to the iso.

--boot
Syntax: --boot BOOTOPTS

Optionally specify the post-install VM boot configuration. This option allows specifying a
boot device order, permanently booting off kernel/initrd with option kernel arguments, and
enabling a BIOS boot menu (requires libvirt 0.8.3 or later)

--boot can be specified in addition to other install options (such as --location, --cdrom,
etc.) or can be specified on its own. In the latter case, behavior is similar to the
--import install option: there is no 'install' phase, the guest is just created and
launched as specified.

Some examples:

--boot cdrom,fd,hd,network
Set the boot device priority as first cdrom, first floppy, first harddisk, network
PXE boot.

--boot kernel=KERNEL,initrd=INITRD,kernel_args="console=/dev/ttyS0"
Have guest permanently boot off a local kernel/initrd pair, with the specified
kernel options.

--boot kernel=KERNEL,initrd=INITRD,dtb=DTB
Have guest permanently boot off a local kernel/initrd pair with an external device
tree binary. DTB can be required for some non-x86 configurations like ARM or PPC

--boot loader=BIOSPATH
Use BIOSPATH as the virtual machine BIOS.

--boot bootmenu.enable=on,bios.useserial=on
Enable the bios boot menu, and enable sending bios text output over serial console.

--boot init=INITPATH
Path to a binary that the container guest will init. If a root --filesystem has
been specified, virt-install will default to /sbin/init, otherwise will default to
/bin/sh.

--boot uefi
Configure the VM to boot from UEFI. In order for virt-install to know the correct
UEFI parameters, libvirt needs to be advertising known UEFI binaries via
domcapabilities XML, so this will likely only work if using properly configured
distro packages.

--boot
loader=/.../OVMF_CODE.fd,loader.readonly=yes,loader.type=pflash,nvram.template=/.../OVMF_VARS.fd,loader_secure=no
Specify that the virtual machine use the custom OVMF binary as boot firmware,
mapped as a virtual flash chip. In addition, request that libvirt instantiate the
VM-specific UEFI varstore from the custom "/.../OVMF_VARS.fd" varstore template.
This is the recommended UEFI setup, and should be used if --boot uefi doesn't know
about your UEFI binaries. If your UEFI firmware supports Secure boot feature you
can enable it via loader_secure.

Use --boot=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsOS

--idmap
Syntax: --idmap OPTIONS

If the guest configuration declares a UID or GID mapping, the 'user' namespace will be
enabled to apply these. A suitably configured UID/GID mapping is a pre-requisite to make
containers secure, in the absence of sVirt confinement.

--idmap can be specified to enable user namespace for LXC containers. Example:

--idmap uid.start=0,uid.target=1000,uid.count=10,gid.start=0,gid.target=1000,gid.count=10

Use --idmap=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsOSContainer

GUEST OS OPTIONS

--os-variant, --osinfo
Syntax: --osinfo [OSNAME|OPT1=VAL1,...]

Optimize the guest configuration for a specific operating system. For most cases, an OS
must be specified or detected from the install media so performance critical features like
virtio can be enabled.

The simplest usage is --os-variant OSNAME or --osinfo OSNAME, for example --osinfo
fedora32. The supported suboptions are:

name=, short-id=
The OS name/short-id from libosinfo. Examples: fedora32, win10

id= The full URL style libosinfo ID. For example, name=win10 is the same as
id=http://microsoft.com/win/10

detect=on|off
Whether virt-install should attempt OS detection from the specified install media.
Detection is presently only attempted for URL and CDROM installs, and is not 100%
reliable.

require=on|off
If on, virt-install errors if no OS value is set or detected.

Some interesting examples:

--osinfo detect=on,require=on
This tells virt-install to attempt detection from install media, but explicitly
fail if that does not succeed. This will ensure your virt-install invocations don't
fallback to a poorly performing config

--osinfo detect=on,name=OSNAME
Attempt OS detection from install media, but if that fails, use OSNAME as a
fallback.

If any manual --osinfo value is specified, the default is all other settings off or unset.

By default, virt-install will always attempt --osinfo detect=on for appropriate install
media. If no OS is detected, we will fail in most common cases. This fatal error was added
in 2022. You can work around this by using the fallback example above, or disabling the
require option. If you just need to get back to the old non-fatal behavior ASAP, set the
environment variable VIRTINSTALL_OSINFO_DISABLE_REQUIRE=1.

Use the command virt-install --osinfo list to get the list of the accepted OS variants.
See osinfo-query os for even more output.

Note: --os-variant and --osinfo are aliases for one another. --osinfo is the preferred
new style naming.

STORAGE OPTIONS

--disk
Syntax: --disk OPTIONS

Specifies media to use as storage for the guest, with various options. The general format
of a disk string is

--disk opt1=val1,opt2=val2,...

The simplest invocation to create a new 10G disk image and associated disk device:

--disk size=10

virt-install will generate a path name, and place it in the default image location for the
hypervisor. To specify media, the command can either be:

--disk /some/storage/path[,opt1=val1]...

or explicitly specify one of the following arguments:

path A path to some storage media to use, existing or not. Existing media can be a file
or block device.

Specifying a non-existent path implies attempting to create the new storage, and
will require specifying a 'size' value. Even for remote hosts, virt-install will
try to use libvirt storage APIs to automatically create the given path.

If the hypervisor supports it, path can also be a network URL, like
https://example.com/some-disk.img . For network paths, they hypervisor will
directly access the storage, nothing is downloaded locally.

pool An existing libvirt storage pool name to create new storage on. Requires specifying
a 'size' value.

vol An existing libvirt storage volume to use. This is specified as 'poolname/volname'.

Options that apply to storage creation:

size size (in GiB) to use if creating new storage

sparse whether to skip fully allocating newly created storage. Value is 'yes' or 'no'.
Default is 'yes' (do not fully allocate) unless it isn't supported by the
underlying storage type.

The initial time taken to fully-allocate the guest virtual disk (sparse=no) will be
usually balanced by faster install times inside the guest. Thus use of this option
is recommended to ensure consistently high performance and to avoid I/O errors in
the guest should the host filesystem fill up.

format Disk image format. For file volumes, this can be 'raw', 'qcow2', 'vmdk', etc. See
format types in https://libvirt.org/storage.html for possible values. This is
often mapped to the driver_type value as well.

If not specified when creating file images, this will default to 'qcow2'.

If creating storage, this will be the format of the new image. If using an
existing image, this overrides libvirt's format auto-detection.

backing_store
Path to a disk to use as the backing store for the newly created image.

backing_format
Disk image format of backing_store

Some example device configuration suboptions:

device Disk device type. Example values are be 'cdrom', 'disk', 'lun' or 'floppy'. The
default is 'disk'.

boot.order
Guest installation with multiple disks will need this parameter to boot correctly
after being installed. A boot.order parameter will take values 1,2,3,... Devices
with lower value has higher priority. This option applies to other bootable device
types as well.

target.bus** or *bus
Disk bus type. Example values are be 'ide', 'sata', 'scsi', 'usb', 'virtio' or
'xen'. The default is hypervisor dependent since not all hypervisors support all
bus types.

readonly
Set drive as readonly (takes 'on' or 'off')

shareable
Set drive as shareable (takes 'on' or 'off')

cache The cache mode to be used. The host pagecache provides cache memory. The cache
value can be 'none', 'writethrough', 'directsync', 'unsafe' or 'writeback'.
'writethrough' provides read caching. 'writeback' provides read and write caching.
'directsync' bypasses the host page cache. 'unsafe' may cache all content and
ignore flush requests from the guest.

driver.discard
Whether discard (also known as "trim" or "unmap") requests are ignored or passed to
the filesystem. The value can be either "unmap" (allow the discard request to be
passed) or "ignore" (ignore the discard request). Since 1.0.6 (QEMU and KVM only)

driver.name
Driver name the hypervisor should use when accessing the specified storage.
Typically does not need to be set by the user.

driver.type
Driver format/type the hypervisor should use when accessing the specified storage.
Typically does not need to be set by the user.

driver.io
Disk IO backend. Can be either "threads", "native" or "io_uring".

driver.error_policy
How guest should react if a write error is encountered. Can be one of "stop",
"ignore", or "enospace"

serial Serial number of the emulated disk device. This is used in linux guests to set
/dev/disk/by-id symlinks. An example serial number might be: WD-WMAP9A966149

source.startupPolicy
It defines what to do with the disk if the source file is not accessible.

snapshot
Defines default behavior of the disk during disk snapshots.

See the examples section for some uses. This option deprecates -f/--file, -s/--file-size,
--nonsparse, and --nodisks.

Use --disk=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsDisks

--filesystem
Specifies a directory on the host to export to the guest. The most simple invocation is:

--filesystem /source/on/host,/target/point/in/guest

Which will work for recent QEMU and linux guest OS or LXC containers. For QEMU, the target
point is just a mounting hint in sysfs, so will not be automatically mounted.

Some example suboptions:

type The type or the source directory. Valid values are 'mount' (the default) or
'template' for OpenVZ templates.

accessmode or mode
The access mode for the source directory from the guest OS. Only used with QEMU and
type=mount. Valid modes are 'mapped' (the default), 'passthrough', or 'squash'. See
libvirt domain XML documentation for more info.

source The directory on the host to share.

target The mount location to use in the guest.

Use --filesystem=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsFilesystems

NETWORKING OPTIONS

-w, --network
Syntax: -w, --network OPTIONS

Connect the guest to the host network. Examples for specifying the network type:

bridge=BRIDGE
Connect to a bridge device in the host called BRIDGE. Use this option if the host
has static networking config & the guest requires full outbound and inbound
connectivity to/from the LAN. Also use this if live migration will be used with
this guest.

network=NAME
Connect to a virtual network in the host called NAME. Virtual networks can be
listed, created, deleted using the virsh command line tool. In an unmodified
install of libvirt there is usually a virtual network with a name of default. Use a
virtual network if the host has dynamic networking (e.g. NetworkManager), or using
wireless. The guest will be NATed to the LAN by whichever connection is active.

type=direct,source=IFACE[,source.mode=MODE]
Direct connect to host interface IFACE using macvtap.

user Connect to the LAN using SLIRP. Only use this if running a QEMU guest as an
unprivileged user. This provides a very limited form of NAT.

none Tell virt-install not to add any default network interface.

If --network is omitted a single NIC will be created in the guest. If there is a bridge
device in the host with a physical interface attached, that will be used for connectivity.
Failing that, the virtual network called default will be used. This option can be
specified multiple times to setup more than one NIC.

Some example suboptions:

model.type or model
Network device model as seen by the guest. Value can be any nic model supported by
the hypervisor, e.g.: 'e1000', 'rtl8139', 'virtio', ...

mac.address or mac
Fixed MAC address for the guest; If this parameter is omitted, or the value RANDOM
is specified a suitable address will be randomly generated. For Xen virtual
machines it is required that the first 3 pairs in the MAC address be the sequence
'00:16:3e', while for QEMU or KVM virtual machines it must be '52:54:00'.

filterref.filter
Controlling firewall and network filtering in libvirt. Value can be any nwfilter
defined by the virsh 'nwfilter' subcommands. Available filters can be listed by
running 'virsh nwfilter-list', e.g.: 'clean-traffic', 'no-mac-spoofing', ...

virtualport.* options
Configure the device virtual port profile. This is used for 802.Qbg, 802.Qbh,
midonet, and openvswitch config.

Use --network=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsNICS

This option deprecates -m/--mac, -b/--bridge, and --nonetworks

GRAPHICS OPTIONS

If no graphics option is specified, virt-install will try to select the appropriate
graphics if the DISPLAY environment variable is set, otherwise '--graphics none' is used.

--graphics
Syntax: --graphics TYPE,opt1=arg1,opt2=arg2,...

Specifies the graphical display configuration. This does not configure any virtual
hardware, just how the guest's graphical display can be accessed. Typically the user does
not need to specify this option, virt-install will try and choose a useful default, and
launch a suitable connection.

General format of a graphical string is

--graphics TYPE,opt1=arg1,opt2=arg2,...

For example:

--graphics vnc,password=foobar

Some supported TYPE values:

vnc Setup a virtual console in the guest and export it as a VNC server in the host.
Unless the port parameter is also provided, the VNC server will run on the first
free port number at 5900 or above. The actual VNC display allocated can be obtained
using the vncdisplay command to virsh (or virt-viewer(1) can be used which handles
this detail for the use).

spice Export the guest's console using the Spice protocol. Spice allows advanced features
like audio and USB device streaming, as well as improved graphical performance.

Using spice graphic type will work as if those arguments were given:

--video qxl --channel spicevmc

none No graphical console will be allocated for the guest. Guests will likely need to
have a text console configured on the first serial port in the guest (this can be
done via the --extra-args option). The command 'virsh console NAME' can be used to
connect to the serial device.

Some supported suboptions:

port Request a permanent, statically assigned port number for the guest console. This is
used by 'vnc' and 'spice'

tlsPort
Specify the spice tlsport.

websocket
Request a VNC WebSocket port for the guest console.

If -1 is specified, the WebSocket port is auto-allocated.

This is used by 'vnc' and 'spice'

listen Address to listen on for VNC/Spice connections. Default is typically 127.0.0.1
(localhost only), but some hypervisors allow changing this globally (for example,
the qemu driver default can be changed in /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf). Use 0.0.0.0 to
allow access from other machines.

Use 'none' to specify that the display server should not listen on any port. The
display server can be accessed only locally through libvirt unix socket
(virt-viewer with --attach for instance).

Use 'socket' to have the VM listen on a libvirt generated unix socket path on the
host filesystem.

This is used by 'vnc' and 'spice'

password
Request a console password, required at connection time. Beware, this info may end
up in virt-install log files, so don't use an important password. This is used by
'vnc' and 'spice'

gl.enable
Whether to use OpenGL accelerated rendering. Value is 'yes' or 'no'. This is used
by 'spice'.

gl.rendernode
DRM render node path to use. This is used when 'gl' is enabled.

Use --graphics=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsGraphics

This deprecates the following options: --vnc, --vncport, --vnclisten, -k/--keymap, --sdl,
--nographics

--autoconsole
Syntax: --autoconsole OPTIONS

Configure what interactive console virt-install will launch for the VM. This option is not
required; the default behavior is adaptive and dependent on how the VM is configured. But
you can use this option to override the default choice.

--autoconsole graphical
Use the graphical virt-viewer(1) as the interactive console

--autoconsole text
Use the text mode virsh console as the interactive console.

--autoconsole none
This is the same as --noautoconsole

--noautoconsole
Don't automatically try to connect to the guest console. Same as --autoconsole none

Note, virt-install exits quickly when this option is specified. If your command requested
a multistep install, like --cdrom or --location, after the install phase is complete the
VM will be shutoff, regardless of whether a reboot was requested in the VM. If you want
the VM to be rebooted, virt-install must remain running. You can use '--wait' to keep
virt-install alive even if --noautoconsole is specified.

VIRTUALIZATION OPTIONS

       Options to override the default virtualization type choices.

   -v, --hvm
       Request  the  use of full virtualization, if both para & full virtualization are available
       on the host. This parameter may not be available if connecting to a Xen  hypervisor  on  a
       machine  without  hardware virtualization support. This parameter is implied if connecting
       to a QEMU based hypervisor.

   -p, --paravirt
       This guest should be a paravirtualized guest. If  the  host  supports  both  para  &  full
       virtualization,  and  neither  this  parameter  nor  the --hvm are specified, this will be
       assumed.

   --container
       This guest should be a  container  type  guest.  This  option  is  only  required  if  the
       hypervisor  supports  other guest types as well (so for example this option is the default
       behavior for LXC and OpenVZ, but is provided for completeness).

   --virt-type
       The hypervisor to install on. Example choices are kvm, qemu, or  xen.   Available  options
       are listed via 'virsh capabilities' in the <domain> tags.

       This  deprecates the --accelerate option, which is now the default behavior.  To install a
       plain QEMU guest, use '--virt-type qemu'

DEVICE OPTIONS

All devices have a set of address.* options for configuring the particulars of the
device's address on its parent controller or bus. See
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsAddress for details.

--controller
Syntax: --controller OPTIONS

Attach a controller device to the guest.

Some example invocations:

--controller usb2
Add a full USB2 controller setup

--controller usb3
Add a USB3 controller

--controller type=usb,model=none
Disable USB entirely

--controller type=scsi,model=virtio-scsi
Add a VirtIO SCSI controller

--controller num_pcie_root_ports=NUM
Control the number of default pcie-root-port controller devices we add to the new
VM by default, if the VM will use PCIe by default.

Use --controller=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsControllers

--input
Syntax: --input OPTIONS

Attach an input device to the guest. Example input device types are mouse, tablet, or
keyboard.

Use --input=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsInput

--hostdev, --host-device
Syntax: --hostdev, --host-device OPTIONS

Attach a physical host device to the guest. Some example values for HOSTDEV:

--hostdev pci_0000_00_1b_0
A node device name via libvirt, as shown by 'virsh nodedev-list'

--hostdev 001.003
USB by bus, device (via lsusb).

--hostdev 0x1234:0x5678
USB by vendor, product (via lsusb).

--hostdev 1f.01.02
PCI device (via lspci).

--hostdev wlan0,type=net
Network device (in LXC container).

--hostdev /dev/net/tun,type=misc
Character device (in LXC container).

--hostdev /dev/sdf,type=storage
Block device (in LXC container).

Use --hostdev=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsHostDev

--sound
Syntax: --sound MODEL

Attach a virtual audio device to the guest. MODEL specifies the emulated sound card model.
Possible values are ich6, ich9, ac97, es1370, sb16, pcspk, or default. 'default' will try
to pick the best model that the specified OS supports.

This deprecates the old --soundhw option. Use --sound=? to see a list of all available
sub options. Complete details at https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsSound

--audio
Configure host audio output for the guest's --sound hardware.

Use --audio=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#audio-backends

--watchdog
Syntax: --watchdog MODEL[,action=ACTION]

Attach a virtual hardware watchdog device to the guest. This requires a daemon and device
driver in the guest. The watchdog fires a signal when the virtual machine appears to hung.
ACTION specifies what libvirt will do when the watchdog fires. Values are

reset Forcefully reset the guest (the default)

poweroff
Forcefully power off the guest

pause Pause the guest

none Do nothing

shutdown
Gracefully shutdown the guest (not recommended, since a hung guest probably won't
respond to a graceful shutdown)

MODEL is the emulated device model: either i6300esb (the default) or ib700. Some
examples:

--watchdog default
Use the recommended settings

--watchdog i6300esb,action=poweroff
Use the i6300esb with the 'poweroff' action

Use --watchdog=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsWatchdog

--serial
Syntax: --serial OPTIONS

Specifies a serial device to attach to the guest, with various options. The general format
of a serial string is

--serial type,opt1=val1,opt2=val2,...

--serial and --parallel devices share all the same options, unless otherwise noted. Some
of the types of character device redirection are:

--serial pty
Pseudo TTY. The allocated pty will be listed in the running guests XML description.

--serial dev,path=HOSTPATH
Host device. For serial devices, this could be /dev/ttyS0. For parallel devices,
this could be /dev/parport0.

--serial file,path=FILENAME
Write output to FILENAME.

--serial tcp,host=HOST:PORT,source.mode=MODE,protocol.type=PROTOCOL
TCP net console. MODE is either 'bind' (wait for connections on HOST:PORT) or
'connect' (send output to HOST:PORT), default is 'bind'. HOST defaults to
'127.0.0.1', but PORT is required. PROTOCOL can be either 'raw' or 'telnet'
(default 'raw'). If 'telnet', the port acts like a telnet server or client. Some
examples:

Wait for connections on any address, port 4567:

--serial tcp,host=0.0.0.0:4567

Connect to localhost, port 1234:

--serial tcp,host=:1234,source.mode=connect

Wait for telnet connection on localhost, port 2222. The user could then connect
interactively to this console via 'telnet localhost 2222':

--serial tcp,host=:2222,source.mode=bind,source.protocol=telnet

--serial udp,host=CONNECT_HOST:PORT,bind_host=BIND_HOST:BIND_PORT
UDP net console. HOST:PORT is the destination to send output to (default HOST is
'127.0.0.1', PORT is required). BIND_HOST:BIND_PORT is the optional local address
to bind to (default BIND_HOST is 127.0.0.1, but is only set if BIND_PORT is
specified). Some examples:

Send output to default syslog port (may need to edit /etc/rsyslog.conf
accordingly):

--serial udp,host=:514

Send output to remote host 192.168.10.20, port 4444 (this output can be read on the
remote host using 'nc -u -l 4444'):

--serial udp,host=192.168.10.20:4444

--serial unix,path=UNIXPATH,mode=MODE
Unix socket, see unix(7). MODE has similar behavior and defaults as --serial
tcp,mode=MODE

Use --serial=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsCharSerial

--parallel
Syntax: --parallel OPTIONS

Specify a parallel device. The format and options are largely identical to serial

Use --parallel=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsCharParallel

--channel
Specifies a communication channel device to connect the guest and host machine. This
option uses the same options as --serial and --parallel for specifying the host/source end
of the channel. Extra 'target' options are used to specify how the guest machine sees the
channel.

Some of the types of character device redirection are:

--channel SOURCE,target.type=guestfwd,target.address=HOST:PORT
Communication channel using QEMU usermode networking stack. The guest can connect
to the channel using the specified HOST:PORT combination.

--channel SOURCE,target.type=virtio[,target.name=NAME]
Communication channel using virtio serial (requires 2.6.34 or later host and
guest). Each instance of a virtio --channel line is exposed in the guest as
/dev/vport0p1, /dev/vport0p2, etc. NAME is optional metadata, and can be any
string, such as org.linux-kvm.virtioport1. If specified, this will be exposed in
the guest at /sys/class/virtio-ports/vport0p1/NAME

--channel spicevmc,target.type=virtio[,target.name=NAME]
Communication channel for QEMU spice agent, using virtio serial (requires 2.6.34 or
later host and guest). NAME is optional metadata, and can be any string, such as
the default com.redhat.spice.0 that specifies how the guest will see the channel.

Use --channel=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsCharChannel

--console
Connect a text console between the guest and host. Certain guest and hypervisor
combinations can automatically set up a getty in the guest, so an out of the box text
login can be provided (target_type=xen for xen paravirt guests, and possibly
target_type=virtio in the future).

Example:

--console pty,target.type=virtio
Connect a virtio console to the guest, redirected to a PTY on the host. For
supported guests, this exposes /dev/hvc0 in the guest. See
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/VirtioSerial for more info. virtio console
requires libvirt 0.8.3 or later.

Use --console=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsCharConsole

--video
Syntax: --video OPTIONS

Specify what video device model will be attached to the guest. Valid values for VIDEO are
hypervisor specific, but some options for recent kvm are cirrus, vga, qxl, virtio, or
vmvga (vmware). Use --video=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete
details at https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsVideo

--smartcard
Syntax: --smartcard MODE[,OPTIONS]

Configure a virtual smartcard device.

Example MODE values are host, host-certificates, or passthrough. Example suboptions
include:

type Character device type to connect to on the host. This is only applicable for
passthrough mode.

An example invocation:

--smartcard passthrough,type=spicevmc
Use the smartcard channel of a SPICE graphics device to pass smartcard info to the
guest

Use --smartcard=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsSmartcard

--redirdev
Syntax: --redirdev BUS[,OPTIONS]

Add a redirected device. Example suboptions:

type The redirection type, currently supported is tcp or spicevmc .

server The TCP server connection details, of the form 'server:port'.

Examples invocations:

--redirdev usb,type=tcp,server=localhost:4000
Add a USB redirected device provided by the TCP server on 'localhost' port 4000.

--redirdev usb,type=spicevmc
Add a USB device redirected via a dedicated Spice channel.

Use --redirdev=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsRedir

--memballoon
Syntax: --memballoon MODEL[,OPTIONS]

Attach a virtual memory balloon device to the guest. If the memballoon device needs to be
explicitly disabled, MODEL='none' is used.

MODEL is the type of memballoon device provided. The value can be 'virtio', 'xen' or
'none'. Some examples:

--memballoon virtio
Explicitly create a 'virtio' memballoon device

--memballoon none
Disable the memballoon device

Use --memballoon=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsMemBalloon

--tpm
Syntax: --tpm TYPE[,OPTIONS]

Configure a virtual TPM device. Examples:

--tpm /dev/tpm
Convenience option for passing through the hosts TPM.

--tpm emulator
Request an emulated TPM device.

--tpm default
Request virt-install to fill in a modern recommended default

Use --tpm=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsTpm

--rng
Syntax: --rng TYPE[,OPTIONS]

Configure a virtual RNG device.

Example TYPE values include random, egd or builtin.

Example invocations:

--rng /dev/urandom
Use the /dev/urandom device to get entropy data, this form implicitly uses the
"random" model.

--rng builtin
Use the builtin rng device to get entropy data.

--rng egd,backend.source.host=localhost,backend.source.service=8000,backend.type=tcp
Connect to localhost to the TCP port 8000 to get entropy data.

Use --rng=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsRng

--panic
Syntax: --panic MODEL[,OPTS]

Attach a panic notifier device to the guest. For the recommended settings, use: --panic
default

Use --panic=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsPanic

--shmem
Syntax: --shmem NAME[,OPTS]

Attach a shared memory device to the guest. The name must not contain / and must not be
directory-specific to . or ..

Use --shmem=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#shared-memory-device

--memdev
Syntax: --memdev OPTS

Add a memory module to a guest which can be hotunplugged. To add a memdev you need to
configure hotplugmemory and NUMA for a guest.

Use --memdev=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsMemory.

--vsock
Syntax: --vsock OPTS

Configure a vsock host/guest interface. A typical configuration would be

--vsock cid.auto=yes

Use --vsock=? to see a list of all available sub options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#vsock.

--iommu
Syntax: --iommu MODEL[,OPTS]

Add an IOMMU device to the guest.

Use --iommu=? to see a list of all available options. Complete details at
https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsIommu.

MISCELLANEOUS OPTIONS

-h, --help
Show the help message and exit

--version
Show program's version number and exit

--autostart
Set the autostart flag for a domain. This causes the domain to be started on host boot up.

--transient
Use --import or --boot and --transient if you want a transient libvirt VM. These VMs
exist only until the domain is shut down or the host server is restarted. Libvirt forgets
the XML configuration of the VM after either of these events. Note that the VM's disks
will not be deleted. See:
https://wiki.libvirt.org/page/VM_lifecycle#Transient_guest_domains_vs_Persistent_guest_domains

--destroy-on-exit
When the VM console window is exited, destroy (force poweroff) the VM. If you combine
this with --transient, this makes the virt-install command work similar to qemu, where the
VM is shutdown when the console window is closed by the user.

--print-xml
Syntax: --print-xml [STEP]

Print the generated XML of the guest, instead of defining it. By default this WILL do
storage creation (can be disabled with --dry-run). This option implies --quiet.

If the VM install has multiple phases, by default this will print all generated XML. If
you want to print a particular step, use --print-xml 2 (for the second phase XML).

--noreboot
Prevent the domain from automatically rebooting after the install has completed.

--wait
Syntax: --wait WAIT

Configure how virt-install will wait for the install to complete. Without this option,
virt-install will wait for the console to close (not necessarily indicating the guest has
shutdown), or in the case of --noautoconsole, simply kick off the install and exit.

Bare '--wait' or any negative value will make virt-install wait indefinitely. Any
positive number is the number of minutes virt-install will wait. If the time limit is
exceeded, virt-install simply exits, leaving the virtual machine in its current state.

--dry-run
Proceed through the guest creation process, but do NOT create storage devices, change host
device configuration, or actually teach libvirt about the guest. virt-install may still
fetch install media, since this is required to properly detect the OS to install.

--check
Enable or disable some validation checks. Some examples are warning about using a disk
that's already assigned to another VM (--check path_in_use=on|off), or warning about
potentially running out of space during disk allocation (--check disk_size=on|off). Most
checks are performed by default.

-q, --quiet
Only print fatal error messages.

-d, --debug
Print debugging information to the terminal when running the install process. The
debugging information is also stored in ~/.cache/virt-manager/virt-install.log even if
this parameter is omitted.

EXAMPLES

       The simplest invocation to interactively install a  Fedora  29  KVM  VM  with  recommended
       defaults. virt-viewer(1) will be launched to graphically interact with the VM install

          # sudo virt-install --install fedora29

       Similar,  but  use libosinfo's unattended install support, which will perform the fedora29
       install automatically without user intervention:

          # sudo virt-install --install fedora29 --unattended

       Install a Windows 10 VM, using 40GiB storage in the default location and 4096MiB  of  ram,
       and ensure we are connecting to the system libvirtd instance:

          # virt-install \
             --connect qemu:///system \
             --name my-win10-vm \
             --memory 4096 \
             --disk size=40 \
             --osinfo win10 \
             --cdrom /path/to/my/win10.iso

       Install  a  CentOS 7 KVM from a URL, with recommended device defaults and default required
       storage, but specifically request VNC graphics instead of the default SPICE, and request 8
       virtual CPUs and 8192 MiB of memory:

          # virt-install \
              --connect qemu:///system \
              --memory 8192 \
              --vcpus 8 \
              --graphics vnc \
              --osinfo centos7.0 \
              --location http://mirror.centos.org/centos-7/7/os/x86_64/

       Create a VM around an existing debian9 disk image:

          # virt-install \
              --import \
              --memory 512 \
              --disk /home/user/VMs/my-debian9.img \
              --osinfo debian9

       Start serial QEMU ARM VM, which requires specifying a manual kernel.

          # virt-install \
              --name armtest \
              --memory 1024 \
              --arch armv7l --machine vexpress-a9 \
              --disk /home/user/VMs/myarmdisk.img \
              --boot kernel=/tmp/my-arm-kernel,initrd=/tmp/my-arm-initrd,dtb=/tmp/my-arm-dtb,kernel_args="console=ttyAMA0 rw root=/dev/mmcblk0p3" \
              --graphics none

       Start  an  SEV launch security VM with 4GB RAM, 4GB+256MiB of hard_limit, with a couple of
       virtio devices:

       Note: The IOMMU flag needs to be turned on with driver.iommu for virtio devices. Usage  of
       --memtune  is  currently  required because of SEV limitations, refer to libvirt docs for a
       detailed explanation.

          # virt-install \
              --name foo \
              --memory 4096 \
              --boot uefi \
              --machine q35 \
              --memtune hard_limit=4563402 \
              --disk size=15,target.bus=scsi \
              --import \
              --controller type=scsi,model=virtio-scsi,driver.iommu=on \
              --controller type=virtio-serial,driver.iommu=on \
              --network network=default,model=virtio,driver.iommu=on \
              --rng /dev/random,driver.iommu=on \
              --memballoon driver.iommu=on \
              --launchSecurity sev

BUGS

       Please see https://virt-manager.org/bugs

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) Red Hat, Inc, and various contributors.  This  is  free  software.  You  may
       redistribute   copies   of   it  under  the  terms  of  the  GNU  General  Public  License
       https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html. There is NO WARRANTY, to the  extent  permitted  by
       law.