virt-install commands
Jul 16, 2015

Here’s a few commands I usually use when creating new KVM virtual machines from the command line. Requires the virtinst package. You can also use Virtual Machine Manager to easily create VMs without the command line.

Debian 8

virt-install --name=debian8 \
--arch=x86_64 \
--vcpus=4 \
--ram=4096 \
--os-type=linux \
--os-variant=debianwheezy \
--hvm \
--network bridge:br0,model=virtio \
--cdrom=/path/to/iso \
--disk path=/path/to/disk,size=20,cache=none,bus=virtio \
--accelerate \
--graphics vnc \
--noautoconsole \
--connect=qemu:///system

Windows Server 2008 R2

virt-install --name=server2008r2 \
--arch=x86_64 \
--vcpus=4 \
--ram=4096 \
--cdrom=/path/to/iso \
--disk path=/path/to/disk,size=80,cache=none,bus=virtio \
--disk path=/path/to/virtio/drivers,device=cdrom,perms=ro \
--network=bridge:br0,model=virtio \
--vnc \
--accelerate \
--noautoconsole \
--os-type=windows \
--os-variant=win2k8 \
--hvm \
--connect qemu:///system

PXE Boot

virt-install --name=pxe \
--arch=x86_64 \
--vcpus=4 \
--ram=4096 \
--os-type=linux \
--os-variant=debianwheezy \
--hvm \
--network bridge:br0,model=virtio \
--disk path=/path/to/disk,size=20,cache=none,bus=virtio \
--accelerate \
--vnc \
--noautoconsole \
--pxe \
--connect=qemu:///system
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