I use KVM for the hypervisor. The XML files are the libvirt storage XML files. Using libvirt I should theoretically be able to migrate between hypervisors with relative ease. Unfortunately not all backends support all features so this is not as easy as it sounds. As for URL I do mean an RPM repository, something like:<br>
<a href="http://mirrors.loosefoot.com/centos/6.2/os/x86_64/">http://mirrors.loosefoot.com/centos/6.2/os/x86_64/</a><br><br>I also specify the kickstart file at the same time. I have a very long history of kickstart files I use in various situations. RedHat really went in whole hog with libvirt and KVM and their efforts paid off if you learn the tools. I won't say it is easy to start out with, there is a bit of a learning curve (setting up defaults in libvirt isn't really documented well and took me a day of tinkering to get right). We have local repository mirrors at work so the initial base VM takes about 10 minutes to install. At this point I dump two XML files from the virsh command line (the storage XML and the domain XML), make quick modifications, make the previously mentioned network edits and I am on my way. <br>
<br>You have asked which VM platforms I use and it is mostly libvirt on top of KVM. However I have experience with Xen, VMWare Workstation, MS VirtualPC and Oracle VirtualBox. The tight integration of KVM and libvirt and the plethora of command line tools makes it very simple for me to script almost everything I need to get these things setup quickly. I can even use libvirt tools across the network (and do so at work as I don't have a beefy workstation to run these VMs in my office) to do everything I have described here. Heck, we use some Dell Equalogics as an iSCSI backing store. libvirt will actually take that, slice it up and give a whole partition to your VM image. <br>
<br>Dan<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 8:51 PM, David L. Anselmi <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:anselmi@anselmi.us" target="_blank">anselmi@anselmi.us</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div class="im">Dan Kulinski wrote:<br>
><br>
> I use libvirt. I simply run virt-install, point it at a fedora or centos<br>
> URL and instant VM.<br>
<br>
</div>By URL I assume you mean an rpm repository with a kickstart file?<br>
<div class="im"><br>
> With a little bit of XML editing I can create another image that uses that new image as a backing<br>
> store.<br>
<br>
</div>What's in the XML file? Config for ...<br>
<br>
I appreciate the description. I've read others that are similar with different tools (Debian has<br>
had image builders longer than there have been VMs, they built them around chroots instead).<br>
<br>
You didn't say what kind of VM you use. Any? All?<br>
<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
Thanks!<br>
Dave<br>
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