tag
libvirt
6 posts
Reading a libvirt Domain XML: The 20 Lines That Are Actually Your Decisions
virsh dumpxml prints 180 lines for one small VM. About twenty of them record choices you made; the rest are defaults. Here is how to tell which is which.
Why a VM Needs Two Firmware Files: AAVMF and OVMF Explained
A VM has no motherboard, so its UEFI firmware comes as files: one program shared by every VM, and one settings file per VM. Mix them up and a VM stops booting.
What a libvirt VM Really Is: The XML File Behind Every Tool
Behind virt-install, virsh and virt-manager, a libvirt VM is one XML document that points to its disk and firmware files. Here is what that means.
virt-install Explained: Every Flag for an arm64 Guest
The command that builds a Debian guest on a Raspberry Pi 5 has 14 options, answering seven questions. Learn the questions, and write the next command yourself.
Fixing virt-install on arm64: Security Violation, dnsmasq Port 53, and the qemu:///session Trap
The virt-install command in most ARM64 guides is correct, and it still fails, for four reasons that come from defaults rather than the command. Here is each.
Installing the KVM Stack on Raspberry Pi OS: What Each Package Does
Nine packages, three layers. Then virt-host-validate reports four warnings and three failures on a healthy system. Here is how to read every line.