virt-install Command Reference¶

Here you will find description of the arguments used on the virt-install command in the Creating a KVM Virtual Machine section.

Arguments	Argument options	Description	Recommendation
`--name=`		The name of your virtual machine. Later on, this name will also be used as a virtual machine identifier.	Use a simple name, without spaces or special characters, as this name will be needed in scripts and other settings/selections.
`--description=`		A human-readable textual description of your VM.	Useful when having more than one guest and/or multiple system administrators.
`--memory=`		RAM in MB.	Check the Recommended KVM Virtual Machine Settings for your version of OpenVMS.
`--vcpus=`		Number of virtual cores.	Check the Recommended KVM Virtual Machine Settings for your version of OpenVMS. If more granularity is needed, it is also possible to specify the number of sockets and cores per socket. For example: `--vcpus=4,sockets=4,` `cores=1`.
`--cpu`	`host-model`	The CPU model to be used by the guest.
`--controller`	`type=` `model=`	Adds a virtual controller to the virtual machine configuration.
`--disk`	`device=cdrom`		Used for loading ISO media (i.e. the operating environment (OE) image).
	`path=`		Absolute path for disk images.
	`bus=sata` `bus=scsi`		OpenVMS on KVM supports only Virtio-SCSI and SATA controllers. Virtio-SCSI controllers provide better I⁠/⁠O performance and lesser CPU load. The lsilogic controller and various types of lsisas are not supported (see VSI OpenVMS x86-64 E9.2-4 Release Notes).
	`boot_order=`		The order in which the device will boot.
	`size=`		The disk size in GB. If you are creating a new disk, this parameter is required. If you are going to use an existing disk, this parameter is optional. Refer to the Recommended Virtual Machine Settings for minimum disk size for your VSI OpenVMS version.
	`cache=writethrough`		This is the one mode supported by OpenVMS, do not change it. If you do not specify a cache mode, `writeback` will be used by default, which is not supported and may lead to data loss.
	`sparse=no`		This option will create thick-provisioned disks, which is a requirement. Thin-provisioned disks are not supported on OpenVMS.
`--network=`	`bridge=`		The name of the bridge will depend on your host settings: `virbr0`, `br0`, `bridge0`, etc.
	`model=e1000` `model=e1000e` `model=virtio-net`		The following network devices are supported: virtio-net (does not support Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) interfaces, refer to Advanced Virtio-net Devices Configuration for more details.) e1000e e1000 Refer to the Recommended Virtual Machine Settings section for more details.
	`mac=your-mac-address`		Replace with the MAC address of your Ethernet device that you wish to pass through to your VM.
	`type=direct` `source=iface` `source_mode=mode`		This specifies the network pass-through device and the macvtap mode. More details about different modes can be found in the Setting the NIC model article. If you require multiple virtual machines to communicate using a single network card, this method is not applicable.
`--graphics`	`none` `vnc` `sdl` `spice`	Graphical console mode.	Use `none` if you are not using the Guest Console. If you are going to use the Guest Console or other graphical software, such as DECwindows, select the appropriate option or omit the argument and let `virsh` set the default.
`--os-variant`	`none`	Disables OS auto-detection.
`--machine`	`q35`	Chipset selection.	Essential for UEFI mode. If you have configured this incorrectly the first time, the only way to correct it is via editing the XML file.
`--boot`	`loader=/path/loader.fd` `loader.readonly=yes` `loader.type=pflash` `loader.secure=yes` `nvram.template=template.fd`		This is specific to the Linux distribution. Not only the path, but also the file name can be different. For Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Oracle Linux, see examples in Creating a KVM VM.
`--boot`	`fd`	Floppy disk boot device.	Specifying a floppy disk as the default boot device ensures that the user-defined boot order persists across VM reboots. See Non-Persistent Device Boot Order for more information.
`--features`	`vmport.state=off` `smm.state=on`		This is necessary for UEFI.
`--serial`	`pty`		This option creates a local serial connection to your virtual machine.
`--serial`	`tcp` `host=0.0.0.0:port` `mode=bind` `protocol=telnet`		This option creates a Telnet TCP/IP-accessible port into your OPA0: terminal. Note that this traffic is not password-protected or encrypted and requires opening the corresponding port in the Linux firewall settings.
`--watchdog`	`model=itco` `action=none`	Watchdog is an agent that monitors the host for a hang or crash and takes an action specified.	This is automatically applied to every virtual machine created in KVM, and while it has no effect on OpenVMS, the `none` action is specified to ensure it will not take any action.
`--noreboot`			This stops the VM from automatically being rebooted on updates to the configuration from either the GUI, CLI, or XML.
`--autostart`		Automatically boots the guest VM once the host has booted and KVM core has started.	This option is not the same as the `AUTOACTION BOOT` command within the OpenVMS Boot Manager. VSI recommends that you leave this on, unless you want your VM to be enabled but switched off after initialization.