Virsh
virsh
[1][2] is a command line utility for managing virsh guest domains/virtual machines and the hypervisor[3]. Can be used to operate vm like create, list, start, shutdown or suspend and to manage storage, snapshots and checkpoints[4] among other actions. virt-manager
is a graphical alternative to virsh. It supports Xen, QEMU, KVM, LXC, OpenVZ, VirtualBox and VMware ESX.
virsh
is include in libvirt-client
package in RHEL and Ubuntu and uses libvirt management API. Binaries included:
Contents
Basic Commands
virsh
virsh -r
All Commands
virsh --connect
virsh -c qemu:///system list
virsh attach-device
virsh autostart VM_NAME
orvirsh autostart VM_NAME --disable
(Related:virsh start
andvirsh pool-autostart
)virsh blockcommit
. Allows Live-disk-backup-with-active-blockcommit [5]virsh blockcopy
virsh blockjob
virsh blockresize
virsh change-media
virsh create /MY_XML_VM_DEFINITION.XML/
virsh define /MY_XML_VM_DEFINITION.XML/
(define machine but do not start it)virsh define xmlfile.xml --validate
virsh destroy VM_MACHINE_NAME
(Ungraceful Shutdown but do not destroy data or VM but you can corrupt guest file systems)virsh destroy VM_MACHINE_NAME --graceful
virsh domblklist VMNAME
virsh domblklist --details VM_MACHINE_NAME
virsh domblkstat VMNAME
virsh domblkinfo VMNAME BLOCK_DEVICE
(BLOCK_DEVICE from virsh domblklist command)virsh domdisplay
virsh domfsfreeze
Quiesces the guest filesystem in isolation[6]virsh domfsthaw
Quiesces the guest filesystem in isolation[7]virsh domid
virsh dominfo VMNAME_OR_ID
Guess virtual machine information such us state and autostart configuration.virsh dommemstat
virsh domname
virsh dump --memory-only --verbose
virsh dumpxml VMNAME
- domain information in XML (Can be used to move VMs between hosts [8])virsh edit VMNAME
virsh list
virsh list --name
virsh memtune
virsh migrate
virsh pool-autostart
virsh pool-build
virsh pool-create
create temporary storage pools from command linevirsh pool-create-as
create temporary storage pools from XML filevirsh pool-define
(create persistent storage from options from XML file)[9]virsh pool-define-as
(create persistent storage from options from command line)[10]virsh pool-event
virsh reboot
virsh restore
virsh resume
virsh save
virsh set-lifecycle-action
. Added in November 2017 (v.3.9.0)[11]virsh setmaxmem
virsh setmem
virsh setmem —-config
virsh setvcpus
virsh snapshot-create-as
virsh start
virsh suspend
virsh save
virsh shutdown
virsh undefine
virsh update-device
virsh vcpuinfo
virsh vncdisplay
Getting Information
- List Running Virtual Machines:
virsh list
[12][13]virsh list --name
virsh list --all
virsh dominfo MY_VM_NAME
Guess virtual machine information such us state and autostart configuration.
virsh domstats
(show all VMs)virsh domstats --list-persistent
virsh domstats MY_VM_MACHINE
virsh domstats MY_VM_MACHINE --state
- --no-wait option https://libvirt.org/news.html
- View configuration:
virsh dumpxml {guest-id, VM_NAME or uuid}
> yourfilename.xml[14]- Virtual interfaces:
virsh domiflist VM_NAME
Network info:
Storage info:
virsh pool-list
virsh pool-info <pool>
virsh vol-list <pool>
(Displays Name and Path)virsh vol-list --details <pool>
(Includes also Capacity and Allocation)
virsh vol-info <vol>
virsh vncdisplay VM_NAME
virsh domdisplay VM_NAME
Guest info:
virsh guestinfo
v5.7.0 (2019-09-03)[15] (Libvirt Release notes)
virhostuptime
(Since August 2019) https://github.com/libvirt/libvirt/commit/8b802f13cb47817706cba101f5d52e2c8957698d#diff-8d027e5576f9d83750bb73c63b12a6e3
Operations
Changing VM running status operations:
- Start VM:
virsh start VM_MACHINE_NAME
- Shutdown VM:
virsh shutdown
(stop) Gracefully VM - Reboot VM:
virsh reboot
Restart VM - Reset VM:
virsh reset
emulates the power reset button on a machine - Resume VM:
virsh resume
- Destroy VM:
virsh destroy VM_NAME
(Ungraceful Shutdown/stop VM. Actually do not destroy data or VM but you can corrupt guest file systems)virsh destroy VM_MACHINE_NAME --graceful
virsh suspend
- Create:
virsh define
virsh undefine
virsh console VM_MACHINE_NAME
Snapshots:
virsh snapshot-create
virsh snapshot-create
--validate (08/2019) [16]
Migrations:
virsh migrate --live GuestName DestinationURL
virsh migrate --offline
[17] (copying non-shared storage or other file based storages (e.g. UEFI variable storage) is not supported during offline migration)
Configuration:
virsh autostart VM_MACHINE_NAME
Virsh Storage commands
Virsh Storage Information
virsh domblklist VMNAME
virsh domblkinfo
virsh pool-list
virsh pool-list --all --details
virsh pool-info <pool>
virsh vol-info <vol>
virsh vol-list <pool>
(Displays Name and Path)virsh vol-list --details <pool>
(Includes also Capacity and Allocation)
All Storage commands
virsh domblklist VMNAME
virsh domblkinfo
virsh pool-autostart
virsh pool-build
virsh pool-create
create temporary storage pools from command linevirsh pool-create-as
create temporary storage pools from XML filevirsh pool-define
(create persistent storage from options from XML file)[18]virsh pool-define-as
(create persistent storage from options from command line)[19]virsh pool-event
virsh pool-event --list
virsh pool-event --event lifecycle
virsh pool-event --event refresh
virsh pool-list
virsh pool-info <pool>
virsh pool-start <pool>
virsh vol-clone
virsh vol-create-as
virsh vol-info --pool POOL_NAME VOL_NAME
virsh vol-list <pool>
Virsh Snapshots
virsh snapshot-create
Create a snapshot from XML. See also:qemu-img
andqemu-img info
virsh snapshot-create-as
Create a snapshot from a set of args.virsh snapshot-current
Get or set the current snapshotvirsh snapshot-dumpxml VM_MACHINE_NAME SNAPSHOT_NAME
Dump XML for a domain snapshotvirsh snapshot-edit
edit XML for a snapshotvirsh snapshot-info
snapshot information. (virsh snapshot-info --domain DOMAIN_NAME --snapshotname SNAPSHOT_NAME)virsh snapshot-list VM_MACHINE_NAME
List snapshots for a domainvirsh snapshot-parent
Get the name of the parent of a snapshotvirsh snapshot-revert
(Destructive action) revert a domain to a snapshotvirsh snapshot-delete
Delete a domain snapshot
Virsh CPU Commands
virsh cpu-models x86_64
virsh setvcpus
Virsh Memory Commands
virsh Memory Commands: virsh setmaxmem
, virsh setmem
, virsh dommemstat
QEMU
virsh qemu-attach
QEMU Attachvirsh qemu-monitor-command
QEMU Monitor Commandvirsh qemu-monitor-event
QEMU Monitor Eventsvirsh qemu-monitor-event VM_MACHINE_NAME
virsh qemu-agent-command
QEMU Guest Agent Command
Networking
virsh domifaddr
virsh domiflist
virsh net-autostart
autostart a networkvirsh net-create
create a network from an XML filevirsh net-define
define an inactive persistent virtual network or modify an existing persistent one from an XML filevirsh net-destroy
destroy (stop) a networkvirsh net-dhcp-leases
print DHCP lease info for a given networkvirsh net-dumpxml
NET_NAME network information in XMLvirsh net-edit
edit XML configuration for a networkvirsh net-event
Network Eventsvirsh net-info
network informationvirsh net-list
list networksvirsh net-name
convert a network UUID to network namevirsh net-start
start a (previously defined) inactive networkvirsh net-undefine
undefine a persistent networkvirsh net-update
update parts of an existing network's configurationvirsh net-uuid
convert a network name to network UUID
Activities
- Review virsh command cheatsheet https://computingforgeeks.com/virsh-commands-cheatsheet/
- Read https://github.com/libvirt/libvirt/blob/master/tools/virsh.c source code.
- Enable access to your VM Machines via virsh console command
- Learn difference between
virsh define
andvirsh create
- Create Live backups with active virsh blockcommit[20]
- Offline Migrate or move a virtual machine between two KVM servers without shared storage[21]:
virsh dumpxml
andvirsh define
See also
virtinst
package[22], includes following python binaries:virt-clone
,virt-convert
,virt-install
[23]- virt-top 'top'-like utility for virtualization stats
- ovirt-RHV module
- KVM and libvirt
- virt-admin
virsh
: Storage information, Connecting, Operations, Memory, Snapshots, Networking, CPU, release notes,virsh nodedev-list
References
- ↑ http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/xenial/man1/virsh.1.html
- ↑ https://github.com/libvirt/libvirt/blob/master/tools/virsh.c
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/5/html/virtualization/chap-virtualization-managing_guests_with_virsh
- ↑ https://github.com/libvirt/libvirt/commit/689beaa47c51fb49fafa992dd468116b8f6b0782#diff-f41fa7374ab97c527387ea4ce48fd04e
- ↑ https://wiki.libvirt.org/page/Live-disk-backup-with-active-blockcommit
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/virtualization_deployment_and_administration_guide/sect-using_the_qemu_guest_virtual_machine_agent_protocol_cli-libvirt_commands
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/virtualization_deployment_and_administration_guide/sect-using_the_qemu_guest_virtual_machine_agent_protocol_cli-libvirt_commands
- ↑ https://serverfault.com/questions/434064/correct-way-to-move-kvm-vm
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html-single/configuring_and_managing_virtualization/index#creating-storage-for-virtual-machines-using-the-cli_managing-storage-for-virtual-machines-using-the-cli
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html-single/configuring_and_managing_virtualization/index#creating-storage-for-virtual-machines-using-the-cli_managing-storage-for-virtual-machines-using-the-cli
- ↑ https://libvirt.org/news.html
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/5/html/virtualization/chap-virtualization-managing_guests_with_virsh
- ↑ https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM/Managing
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/virtualization_deployment_and_administration_guide/sect-domain_commands-creating_a_virtual_machine_xml_dump_configuration_file
- ↑ https://fossies.org/linux/libvirt/NEWS
- ↑ https://libvirt.org/news.html
- ↑ https://libvirt.org/migration.html#offline
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html-single/configuring_and_managing_virtualization/index#creating-storage-for-virtual-machines-using-the-cli_managing-storage-for-virtual-machines-using-the-cli
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html-single/configuring_and_managing_virtualization/index#creating-storage-for-virtual-machines-using-the-cli_managing-storage-for-virtual-machines-using-the-cli
- ↑ https://wiki.libvirt.org/page/Live-disk-backup-with-active-blockcommit
- ↑ https://serverfault.com/questions/434064/correct-way-to-move-kvm-vm
- ↑ https://github.com/virt-manager/virt-manager/tree/master/virtinst
- ↑ https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8/html/configuring_and_managing_virtualization/getting-started-with-virtualization-in-rhel-8_configuring-and-managing-virtualization
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