VMmanager 5 KVM: Administrator guide

Create a virtual machine template

Virtual machines are created on cluster nodes based on pre-defined templates of virtual machines (VM templates).

To create a VM template navigate to Cluster settings→ VM templates→ Add

  • Name — enter the name for the template;
  • CPU emulation mode — the default values are set according to the selected VM template (Do not change this mode unless necessary!):
    • Default — virtual QEMU CPU is emulated;
    • Host—model — uses CPU description defined by libvirt, based on a cluster node processor;
    • Host—passthrough — fully emulates CPU of the cluster node;
    • Custom:
  • CPU model — e.g. "pentium3", "core2duo". The models are listed in the /usr/share/libvirt/cpu_map.xml file on the cluster node. You can add models corresponding to their vendor, architecture and CPU features;
  • CPU features — CPU features that should be activated. Execute the virsh capabilities command on the cluster node to list all the CPU features.
  • Resources that will be allocated to a virtual machine created from this template:
    • Main disk size, RAM, CPU — set resources for the virtual machines;
  • Limits that will be applied to a virtual machine created from this template:
    • CPU weight — enter the cgroups weight for CPU;
    • I/O usage weight — cgroup weight on group operations;
    • Incoming traffic, Outgoing traffic — traffic limits;
    • Snapshots — the maximum number of snapshots that a user can create for this virtual machine.
  • Storage template — select a template where the VM disk will be located. You can set up storages in Cluster settings → Storage templates;
  • Network that the virtual machine will be connected to. Networks can be configured in Cluster settings→ Networks;
  • Network card model — a list of models of the virtual network card. The default value is “The model is specified in the template”, so the card model will be selected according to OS template;
  • Incoming traffic, KiB/sec — the maximum amount of incoming traffic;
  • Outgoing traffic, KiB/sec — the maximum amount of outgoing traffic;
  • Snapshots limit —  the maximum amount of snapshots.