KVM Install

Links

• https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM/Installation Ubuntu, KVM Installation

• DistroTube, Virt-Manager Is The Better Way To Manage VMs

Note

Use a 64 bit kernel (if possible)

To serve more than 2GB of RAM for your VMs, you must use a 64-bit kernel On a 32-bit kernel install, you’ll be limited to 2GB RAM at maximum for a given VM. Also, a 64-bit system can host both 32-bit and 64-bit guests. A 32-bit system can only host 32-bit guests.

To see if your processor supports hardware virtualization:

egrep -c '(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo

• If 0 is printed, it means that your CPU is not 64-bit.

• If 1 or higher, it supports virtualization.

Check to see if hardware acceleration is enabled:

kvm-ok

INFO: /dev/kvm exists
KVM acceleration can be used

Now see if your running kernel is 64-bit, just issue the following command:

uname -m

• x86_64 indicates a running 64-bit kernel. If you use see i386, i486, i586 or i686, you’re running a 32-bit kernel (x86_64 is synonymous with amd64).

Install

Install:

sudo apt install qemu-kvm libvirt-daemon-system libvirt-clients bridge-utils

If you are working on a desktop computer you might want to install a GUI tool to manage virtual machines:

sudo apt install virt-manager

Add your user name to the libvirt and kvm groups:

sudo adduser `id -un` libvirt
sudo adduser `id -un` kvm

Tip

logout and login so your user becomes an effective member of kvm and libvirt user groups.

Test (no need for sudo because members of the kvm/libvirt groups can run virtual machines):

virsh list --all

Id Name                 State
-----------------------------

Note

If you get an error message, then there is a problem which needs to be fixed.

Guest

Follow the KVM Guest instructions for creating a guest…