23.7. Creating Virtual Machines

After installing the Xen software packages and booting the computer as a VM Server, virtual machines can now be created to run on the VM Server. A virtual machine is defined by its mode, disk drives, network cards, and other virtual resources that the operating system recognizes during installation and when booting.

  1. Boot the VM Server.

  2. On the VM Server desktop, click System > Virtual Machine Installation (Xen).

  3. Click Change to edit the virtual machine definitions.

  4. Click Virtualization Mode to define which mode the virtual machine will run.

  5. Click Options to define virtual memory, boot parameters, and other options.

  6. Click Disks to define the number and size of the virtual disks.

  7. Click Network to define the virtual network card.

  8. Click Operating System, then specify the location of the operating system’s installation program or an already-installed kernel.

  9. Follow the on-screen instructions to save the VM definitions to a configuration file.

    The definitions are automatically saved in the /etc/xen/vm/vm_name configuration file.

  10. (Optional) To customize or verify that definitions were correctly recorded and saved, compare them to definitions in the example files located in /etc/xen/examples.

  11. (Conditional) Depending on the installation method you select, the operating system’s installation program might start. If so, complete the installation program as prompted.

The virtual machine is now defined and its operating system installed. Proceed to Section 23.8, “Managing Virtual Machines” for instructions on how to start and manage virtual machines.