Creating a virtual machine

This guide creates a virtual machine and starts it, ready for you to install an operating system inside it.

Before you begin

• The installation image (.iso) for the operating system you want to install must already be uploaded. If it is not, follow Uploading an ISO image first.
• Decide how much processing power, memory and disk space the virtual machine needs.

1. Sign in and start the wizard

1. Open a web browser and go to https://<server IP address>:8006
2. Sign in as root with the administrator password.
3. Click Create VM at the top right.

2. General — name the virtual machine

1. Check that Node shows your server.
2. Leave VM ID as it is, unless you use your own numbering.
3. In Name, type a name for the virtual machine, for example demo-vm.
4. Click Next.

Note

The name may contain letters, numbers and hyphens.

3. OS — choose the installation image

1. Leave Use CD/DVD disc image file (iso) selected.
2. In Storage, select local.
3. In ISO image, select the image you want to install.
4. Under Guest OS, set Type and Version to match the operating system you are installing.
5. Click Next.

4. System — leave the defaults

The default settings suit most operating systems.

1. Click Next.

Note

Change BIOS to OVMF (UEFI) only if the operating system you are installing requires UEFI. If you do, also tick Add EFI Disk.

5. Disks — set the disk size

1. Leave Bus/Device as SCSI.
2. In Storage, select local-zfs.
3. In Disk size (GiB), type the size you need, for example 32.
4. Click Next.

Note

Virtual machine disks are stored on local-zfs. Installation images stay on local.

6. CPU — set the processor cores

1. In Cores, type the number of processor cores the virtual machine needs.
2. Click Next.

7. Memory — set the memory size

1. In Memory (MiB), type the memory size in MiB. For example, type 4096 for 4 GB.
2. Click Next.

8. Network — leave the defaults

1. Check that Bridge shows vmbr0.
2. Click Next.

Note

If your network team has given you a VLAN number for virtual machines, type it in VLAN Tag.

9. Confirm and create

1. Check the summary. It lists everything you chose.
2. Tick Start after created if you want the virtual machine to start straight away.
3. Click Finish.

The new virtual machine appears in the Server View panel on the left, under your server.

10. Start the virtual machine and install the operating system

1. Click the new virtual machine in the Server View panel.
2. Click Start at the top right.
3. Click Console to open the screen of the virtual machine.
4. The virtual machine starts from the installation image. Complete the operating system installation in the console window as you would on a physical server.

Remove the installation media afterwards

Once the operating system is installed, select the virtual machine, open Hardware, select the CD/DVD Drive, click Edit, and choose Do not use any media.

If something goes wrong

What you see	What to do
The ISO image list is empty	Set Storage to local on the OS tab. If it is still empty, upload the image first.
Next is greyed out on the OS tab	No installation image is selected. Select one from the ISO image list.
The virtual machine does not start	Check the Tasks list at the bottom of the screen for the reason.
The console stays black	Give the virtual machine a few seconds to start, then click inside the console window.
The virtual machine has no network	Check that Bridge is vmbr0, and confirm the VLAN number with your network team.

Still stuck? Contact VM2Cloud support.