NAME

ks-libvirt - Take a Fedora/CentOS/RHEL kickstart file and make a VM

SYNOPSIS

ks-libvirt [options] kickstart-file

At the end of install, if the VM is not shut down with --off and the guest agent is not excluded with --noaddga, the script waits until the VM is up and an IPv4 address is configured; it will clean any previous SSH host keys for that IP and then print the IP, so if you have an SSH key defined, you can do:

ssh -l root $(ks-libvirt kickstart-file)

OPTIONS

• --addga | -a

  Add qemu-guest-agent to %packages; default is to do this, use --noaddga to disable. Without the agent, the hypvervisor cannot get the IP of the VM (or do other VM management).

• --anaconda | -A arguments

  Additional anaconda boot arguments

• --arch architecture

  Use an alternate CPU architecture (this usually will require additional qemu-system-<arch> to be installed); this probably doesn't work with secureboot

• --config | -C config

  Config file for defaults; default is $HOME/.virtinst.cf

• --cpu | -c count

  VM CPU cores; default is 1

• --disk | -d GB

  VM disk size in gigabytes; default is 6

• --disk2 GB

  VM second disk size in gigabytes; default is to not use a second disk (this is mostly just useful for testing kickstart RAID handling)

• --dns DNS-IPs

  Set the DNS server(s) (can be specified more than once for multiple servers); default: copy host DNS config when IPv4 address is set

• --dumpks | -D

  Generate a modified kickstart file and dump to standard out (don't build VM)

• --gw IPv4-gateway

  Set the IPv4 gateway

• --hostname | -h FQDN

  Set the hostname; default is to not set unless network is set, then use the VM name

• --ip IPv4-address/mask

  Set the IPv4 address and netmask (in bits, e.g. 10.0.0.1/24); default is to try DHCP (if network needed)

• --iso | -i ISO

  ISO to boot from; default is pulled from KS or to use URL instead. Handles a local ISO file (will be uploaded to same pool as VM storage if needed), or pool/volume for an ISO already in a storage pool.

• --libvirt | -l URL

  Connection to libvirt; default is $VIRTSH_DEFAULT_CONNECT_UID or qemu:///system

• --machine machine

  Use an alternate machine type rather than the default (e.g. q35 for x86_64)

• --mapfile | -m file

  URL map file to use different source repos. The format of the file is one entry per line with a pair of URLs separated by a space. The first URL is the original (which can be a mirrorlist or metalink) followed by a target URL to replace it with (mirrorlist/metalink are turned into direct url entries). The default is $HOME/.virtinst-map

• --name | -n name

  VM name; default is KS file name minus any leading "ks-"

• --net | -N interface

  Bridge network interface to attach to; default is interface with default route

• --off | -O

  Leave the VM off at the end of install

• --pool | -p pool

  Storage pool name; use pool default by default

• --os | -o OS

  OS name, used to set VM hardware config; default is autodetect

• --quiet | -q

  Be very quiet - only show errors and IP at end

• --ram | -r MB

  VM RAM size in megabytes; default is 2048 unless specified in the KS

• --screen | -s

  Open the VM console screen during install

• --secureboot | -B

  Enable Secure Boot (implies UEFI).

• --securepath [path]

  Specify the path to the Secure Boot loader/NVRAM files (default is /usr/share/edk2/ovmf)

• --serial | -S

  Add a serial console; default is to do this, use --noserial to disable

• --ssh

  Add found SSH key(s) to the installed system; default is to do this, use --nossh to disable

• --tpm

  Add TPM device

• --uefi | -u

  Use UEFI boot instead of BIOS

• --vdelete

  Delete an existing VM with the same name before creating new (NOTE: will not ask for confirmation!)

• --verbose | -v

  Be more verbose

• --virtinst | -V arguments

  Additional virt-install arguments (can be used more than once)

SPECIAL KICKSTART FILE LINES

The KS file is parsed for lines that look like #<tag>:<value>. #include pulls in additional files, while the other options set default values (that can still be overridden on the command line).

Supported tags:

• #include:file

  Include another file - this can be a full path or relative to the kickstart file itself. HTTP/HTTPS URLs are also supported. Includes can appear more than once, including in included files.

• #CPU:cores

  Number of CPU cores

• #RAM:MB

  RAM size in megabytes

• #DISK:GB

  Disk size in gigabytes

• #DISK2:GB

  Second disk size in gigabytes

• #ISO:[pool/]file

  ISO file/volume to use for install

• #OS:OS string

  Operating system (only needed if not autodetected)

• #(NO)SSH:1

  Add/don't add SSH keys

• #(NO)TPM:1

  Add/don't add TPM device

• #(NO)UEFI:1

  Use/don't use UEFI boot

AUTHOR

Written by Chris Adams

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2022 Chris Adams. License: GPLv3