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Graphical utilities, text-based commands, and modified configuration files are methods you can choose from to manage your virtualization environment.Virtual Machine Manager is a graphical utility available in YaST that can be launched from the virtual machine Domain0.
From a command line interface on the virtual machine host, you can use the vm-install program and xm commands to create and manage virtual machines. You can also edit configuration files to change the settings of the virtual machine host or a virtual machine.
From the desktop of the management virtual machine, the YaST Virtual Machine Manager provides a graphical user interface you can use to create and manage virtual machines.
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Close Virtual Machine Manager if you are not actively using it and restart it when needed. Closing Virtual Machine Manager does not affect the state of virtual machines. |
Selecting a virtual machine and clicking
displays the virtual machine window showing the virtual machine’s current state.Clicking
on the virtual machine window boots the virtual machine and displays the user interface or text console running on the virtual machine.Selecting a virtual machine and clicking
lets you view performance and configure hardware details associated with the virtual machine.The xend is a key component of Xen virtualization. It performs management functions and stores settings that relate to the host environment and each virtual machine. You can customize xend to meet your specific configuration requirements.
To specify xend operating parameters, edit the
/etc/xen/xend-config.sxp
file. The settings take
effect the next time xend starts.
# -*- sh -*- # # Xend configuration file. # # This example configuration is appropriate for an installation that # utilizes a bridged network configuration. Access to xend via http # is disabled. # Commented out entries show the default for that entry, unless otherwise # specified. #(logfile /var/log/xen/xend.log) #(loglevel DEBUG) # The Xen-API server configuration. # # This value configures the ports, interfaces, and access controls for the # Xen-API server. Each entry in the list starts with either unix, or a port
To start the xend daemon, enter rcxend start.
To stop the xend daemon, enter rcxend stop.
To restart the xend daemon, enter rcxend restart.
To check the status of the xend daemon, enter rcxend status.
The parameters in the xend-config.sxp
file can be
customized to meet your requirements for virtualization. For a
full list of all available options, read the manual page of
xend-config.sxp
.
The machine settings of each virtual guest are stored in an internal database managed by xend. You can change a virtual machine’s settings by modifying the settings stored in xend. This process requires you to export a virtual machine’s settings from the xend database to a text file, edit the settings in the file to meet your configuration requirements, import the file back into xend, and restart the virtual machine.
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It is no longer recommended that you edit the initial startup files
stored in |
To modify a virtual machine’s settings that is administrated with the virtual machine manager:
At Domain0, enter
xm list -l vm_name
> filename
where vm_name
is the
name of the virtual machine you want to modify and
filename
is whatever you want to
name the text file.
Use a text editor to make and save any desired changes.
(domain (domid 1) (on_crash destroy) (memory 384) (uuid 4fbcb943-871c-9a51-3a48-3ad99d933841) (bootloader_args '- -entry=xvda2:/boot/vmlinuz-xen,/boot/initrd-xen') (name SLES10withOES2) (maxmem 512) (on_reboot restart) (on_poweroff destroy) (vcpus 1) (bootloader /usr/lib/xen/boot/domUloader.py) (shadow_memory 0) (cpu_weight 256) (cpu_cap 0) (features ) (on_xend_start ignore) (on_xend_stop ignore) (start_time 1178219902.47) (cpu_time 4574.26779201) (online_vcpus 1) (image (linux (kernel /var/lib/xen/tmp/kernel.Bg0o6h) (ramdisk /var/lib/xen/tmp/ramdisk.Bch8YM) (args 'TERM=xterm ') ) ) (status 2) ....
Delete the existing configuration from xenstore with the command
xm del vm_name
Enter xm new -F filename
to import the virtual machine’s new settings into xend.
Enter xm start vm_name
to start the virtual machine with its new settings.
You should repeat the entire process of exporting the file each time you want to make changes to a virtual machine’s settings.
The xm command provides a command line interface for managing virtual machines. It can be used to create, pause, and shut down virtual machines. It can also be used to list the current domains, enable or pin virtual CPUs, and attach or detach block devices. For example, the xm list command displays the status of all virtual machines.
# xm list Name ID Mem VCPUs State Time(s) Domain-0 0 457 2 r----- 2712.9 OES 7 512 1 -b---- 16.3 SLES10 512 1 12.9
The syntax of the xm command usually follows the format:
xm <subcommand> [domain-id] [OPTIONS]
where subcommand is the xm command to run, domain-id is the ID number assigned to a domain or the name of the virtual machine, and OPTIONS indicates subcommand-specific options.
Other useful xm commands include:
xm start starts a virtual machine
xm reboot reboots a virtual machine
xm destroy immediately terminates a virtual machine
xm block-list displays all virtual block devices attached to a virtual machine
All xm operations require that the Xen control daemon, xend, be running. For this reason, you should make sure xend starts whenever the host boots.
Most xm commands require root privileges to allow interaction with the Xen hypervisor. Entering the xm command when you are not logged in as root returns an error.
Some xm commands return no information even though the action is completed. In some instances, for example, when shutting down a virtual machine, the action can take several seconds to complete. To verify that the action has completed, you might need to view its status another way, such as, using the xm list command.
For a complete list of xm command parameters, enter xm help at the command line or read the manual page of xm.