Chapter 2. Managing virtual machines
Chapter 2. Managing virtual machines You can perform common virtual machine management tasks in the virtual machines pane: Start a virtual machine by clicking the Run button ( ). It is available when the virtual machine is suspended or stopped. Access the console of a virtual machine by clicking the Console button ( ). It is available when the virtual machine is running. Temporarily stop a virtual machine by selecting Suspend from the drop-down menu. It is available when the virtual machine is running. Stop a virtual machine by selecting Shutdown from the drop-down menu. It is available when the virtual machine is running. Restart a virtual machine by selecting Reboot from the drop-down menu. It is available when the virtual machine is running. 2.1. Viewing virtual machine details Viewing a virtual machine's details Click the virtual machine's name in the virtual machines pane to view details of the virtual machine. The details are displayed in individual cards: Virtual Machine Description and Status Operating System Name State - For example, Running , Off , Asleep Description Details Host IP Address FQDN - Virtual machine's FQDN. The guest agent must be installed on the virtual machine to retrieve this value. Cluster Data Center Template CD Cloud-Init ( Sysprep on Windows virtual machines) status - On / Off Boot Menu status - On / Off Console Optimized for - Desktop / Server / High Performance CPUs Memory Utilization Displays utilization statistics for CPU , Memory , Networking , and Disk usage (CPU, Memory, and Networking only display values when the virtual machine is running). The Disk usage display may differ when the guest agent is installed on the virtual machine. Snapshots Displays a list of snapshots that have been saved. Network Interfaces Displays a list of network interfaces defined for this virtual machine. Disks Displays a list of disks defined for this virtual machine. 2.2. Editing virtual machines Note Your user role must have permission to edit a virtual machine. You can edit a virtual machine's disks and network interfaces in the virtual machine's details view. See Viewing virtual machine details . Editing a virtual machine In the virtual machines pane, click the card of the virtual machine that you want to edit. The Virtual machine dashboard is displayed, which contains the following fields, organized in individual cards. Click the Edit icon ( ) in the appropriate card to edit the values in that card: Virtual Machine name and description Name - The virtual machine name may contain only upper- or lower-case letters, numbers, underscores, hyphens, or periods. Special characters and spaces are not allowed. Description - Enter a description of this virtual machine (optional). Details Template - Displays the name of the template used to create this virtual machine. Change CD - Allows you to select an ISO file that is accessible to the virtual machine as a CD. CPUs - Allows you to configure the number of virtual CPUs available to the virtual machine. Memory - Allows you to configure the virtual memory available to the virtual machine. Details - Advanced Options Cloud-Init - The cloud-init tool allows you to automate the deployment of virtual machines. When this is set to ON , the Hostname and SSH Authorized Keys fields are displayed. See Explanation of Settings in the New Virtual Machine and Edit Virtual Machine Windows in the Virtual Machine Management Guide for details. Operating System - Allows you to select the operating system installed on this virtual machine. Boot Menu - When set to ON , the Boot menu appears in the console, enabling you to select a bootable device. Boot Order First Device - The first device to be checked for booting. Second Device - The second device to be checked for booting. Snapshots Displays a list of snapshots that have been saved. Click the Edit icon ( ) to display the Create Snapshot button for creating a new snapshot. See Explanation of Settings in the New Network Interface and Edit Network Interface Windows in the Virtual Machine Management Guide for details. Click the information , restore , or delete icon to view details, restore a snapshot, or delete a snapshot. Network Interfaces Displays a list of network interfaces defined for this virtual machine. Click the Edit icon ( ) to display the Create NIC button for creating a new network interface entry. See Explanation of Settings in the New Network Interface and Edit Network Interface Windows in the Virtual Machine Management Guide for details. Click the Edit or Delete icon to edit or delete a network interface. Disks Displays a list of disks that are defined for this virtual machine. Click the Edit icon ( ) to display the Create Disk button for creating a new disk entry. Click the Edit or Delete icon to edit or delete the disk. See Explanation of Settings in the New Virtual Machine and Edit Virtual Machine Windows in the Virtual Machine Management Guide for details. 2.3. Creating virtual machines from the VM Portal You can create virtual machines from the VM Portel or from the Administration Portal . For information of creating virtual machines from the Administration Portal , see Creating a virtual machine in the Virtual Machine Management Guide . Procedure Click Create Virtual Machine in the toolbar. Fill in the required information in the Create Virtual Machine wizard. There are four screens to complete: Basic Settings screen Name of the virtual machine. The virtual machine name may contain only upper- or lower-case letters, numbers, underscores ( _ ), hyphens ( - ), or periods ( . ). Special characters and spaces are not permitted. Description (optional) Cluster Provision Source Template Operating System Memory (MiB) Total Virtual CPUs Optimized For Start virtual machine on creation Enable Cloud-init/Sysprep Advanced CPU Topology Options Virtual Sockets Cores per Virtual Socket Threads per Core Networking screen NIC Name vNIC Profile Device Type Storage screen Disk Name Bootable Storage Domain Disk Type Review screen See Explanation of Settings in the New Virtual Machine and Edit Virtual Machine Windows in the Virtual Machine Management Guide for details. If everything in the Review screen is correct, click Create Virtual Machine to complete the operation. 2.4. Connecting to virtual machines Procedure In the virtual machines pane, click Run in a virtual machine's card to start that virtual machine. Click Console to connect to the virtual machine. You will be asked to download a .vv file. Open the file with remote-viewer . A console window is displayed. You can now use the virtual machine in the same way you would use a physical desktop. Note To allow other users to connect to the VM, make sure you shutdown and restart the virtual machine when you are finished using the console. Alternatively, the administrator can Disable strict user checking to eliminate the need for reboot between users. See Virtual Machine Console Settings Explained in the Virtual Machine Management Guide for more information.