Create a new virtual machine in CentOS

The Virtual Machine Manager (virt-manager) is the desktop application that manages virtual machines.

You can use Red Hat's Virtual Machine Manager to:

• Create new domains.

• Configure or adjust a domain's resource allocation and virtual hardware.

• Summarize running domains with live performance and resource utilization statistics.

• Display graphs that show performance and resource utilization over time.

• Use the embedded VNC client viewer which presents a full graphical console to the guest domain.

 

Note:

You must install Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0, virt-manager, and the kernel packages on all systems that require virtualization. All systems then must be booted and running the Red Hat Virtualization kernel.

These are the steps required to install a guest operating system on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 using the Virtual Machine Monitor:

Procedure 18.1. Creating a Guest Operating System

1. From the Applications menu, select System Tools and then Virtual Machine Manager.

   The Virtual Machine Manager main window appears.

   

   Figure 18.6. Virtual Machine Manager window

2. From the File menu, select New machine.

   

   Figure 18.7. Selecting a New Machine

   The Creating a new virtual system wizard appears.

3. Click Forward.

   

   Figure 18.8. Creating a New Virtual System Wizard

4. Enter the name of the new virtual system and then click Forward.

   

   Figure 18.9. Naming the Virtual System

5. Enter the location of your install media. Location of the kickstart file is optional. Then clickForward .

   

   Figure 18.10. Locating the Installation Media

6. Install either to a physical disk partition or install to a virtual file system within a file.

   Note

   This example installs a virtual system within a file.

   Open a terminal and create the /xen directory and set the SELinux policy with the commandrestorecon -v /xen. Specify your location and the size of the virtual disk, then click Forward.

   

   Figure 18.11. Assigning the Storage Space

7. Select memory to allocate the guest and the number of virtual CPUs then click Forward.

   

   Figure 18.12. Allocating Memory and CPU

8. Select Forward to open a console and the files start to install.

   

   Figure 18.13. Allocating Memory and CPU

9. Complete your installation in the window provided.

   

   Figure 18.14. Installation Begins...

10. Type xm create -c xen-guest to start the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 guest. Right click on the guest in the Virtual Machine Manager and choose Open to open a virtual console.

    

    Figure 18.15. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.0 (guest)

11. Enter user name and password to continue using the Virtual Machine Manager.