KVM Desktop Setup Ideas
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@Emad-R said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
AMD Ryzen and disable SMT, get something with NVMe M2 storage, buy cheapest m2 storage, install OS there, make RAID on the SATA disks, or something else, and use those as VM storage
Why? Your OS gets loaded to memory having it on an SSD when your actual workloads aren't doesn't make a lot of sense.
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@coliver said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
@Emad-R said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
AMD Ryzen and disable SMT, get something with NVMe M2 storage, buy cheapest m2 storage, install OS there, make RAID on the SATA disks, or something else, and use those as VM storage
Why? Your OS gets loaded to memory having it on an SSD when your actual workloads aren't doesn't make a lot of sense.
Exactly - this is the same reasoning that you don't install ESX-I or Hyper-V on it's own drives - it's a waste of IOPs. Instead give those IOPs to the workload - i.e. just make OBR10, not a smaller RAID 1 for hypervisor and OBR10
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So to continue this conversation.
If you have the space and available hardware, install Fedora Server 29, the KVM role (headless virtualization) and use Cockpit to manage the machine from a remote system.
You could, and is the recommended approach would use Virt-Manager (from a Fedora Workstation) to connect to this KVM hypervisor remotely and manage your VMs and Hypervisor with that. Rather than just using Cockpit.
While Cockpit is a great tool it isn't at all like what many of the other tools you may be familiar with are like.
Virt-Manager would be like XenCenter, where Cockpit would be like XO.
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Going down the rabbit hole of how and where to install Fedora (to SSD, winchester, SD card, an array) all comes back to best practice and what you have at your disposal.
If you have a hardware raid card that would be a good solution to use, as most commodity servers will come with this type of functionality and setup function.
I create my array and then I install my OS (or hypervisor)
If you don't have hardware raid and are wanting to not spend any additional money on this unit, just install Fedora Server with the KVM role directly with how the system assigns the storage. No changes need to be changed. Especially since it appears you're just wanting to learn how to use and manage KVM
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If you do have additional disk space in this tower, and the disks to use. You can add them to the tower and exclude 1 of them (assuming 5 disks) and use the other 4 to create a software RAID 10.
Use the new array as the target for your VMs to be live and run from and go from there.
This would also be a valid and great option, but is similar to splitting the array as we often discuss.
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Setting up a software array during installation isn't an option (when using all disks) because of the file structure. So you are required to either install to a separate medium (stand alone disk) or something like SD card and use the remaining disks to create your array from.
This is where hardware raid has a benefit because you're able to provide all of the IOPS to the hypervisor (and VMs) and have nothing split up.
Of course the hypervisor itself doesn't require much in terms of IOPS performance. But it's the most "simple" way to deal with it and provide a level of protect to the entire environment.
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@DustinB3403 said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
Setting up a software array during installation isn't an option (when using all disks) because of the file structure. So you are required to either install to a separate medium (stand alone disk) or something like SD card and use the remaining disks to create your array from.
Software raid during installation is possible. Just have to choose Advanced Custom (Blivet-GUI) when choosing storage configuration.
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@black3dynamite said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
Software raid during installation is possible. Just have to choose Advanced Custom (Blivet-GUI) when choosing storage configuration.
Interesting. . I had always encountered issues with the file system that was created.
That's good to know.
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@Dashrender I do this also. kvm on top, fedora, suse, win10 enterprise vm's
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So,
I've install Fedora 29 min as i don't need the desktop.
Updated
Installed Cockpit-machines
so when i log into http:server:9090 i can mange the server and create VM'sThat's as far as it goes today (been on a store visit today so this is all i've had time to do :))
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@hobbit666 said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
I've install Fedora 29 min as i don't need the desktop.
No.
Just download Fedora Server > Custom installation > Headless Virtualization
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@hobbit666 said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
So,
I've install Fedora 29 min as i don't need the desktop.
Updated
Installed Cockpit-machines
so when i log into http:server:9090 i can mange the server and create VM'sThat's as far as it goes today (been on a store visit today so this is all i've had time to do :))
Also Cockpit is fine for the basic tasks you'll deal with on a VM. Like forced restarts.
Virt-Manager is much more fleshed out and is the better option to use.
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@DustinB3403 said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
Virt-Manager is much more fleshed out and is the better option to use.
Can Virt-Manager be used remotely ? As when looking I thought this was a local gui thing not a web based management for example.
Also yeah I installed server the 2nd time round with headless virt option
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What you'll likely have to do is
copy-ssh-idfor your server to make administration easier. but Virt-Manager absolutely can remotely administer a KVM server or fleet of them. -
@scottalanmiller said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
@DustinB3403 said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@DustinB3403 said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
@dafyre said in What Are You Doing Right Now:
KVM is also nice because you can continue using that machine as a regular desktop as well, if you need to do so. (Can't do that with VMware, Hyper-V or XenServer).
No one expects to use their Type 1 hypervisor as a desktop.
What? Tons do. Both KVM and Hyper-V are very popular for exactly this.
No. . . very few people say "I'm going to install Hyper-V and use it as my daily driver on my Dell Server" no one does that.
Actually a HUGE number do. It's insanely common for developers especially and IT folk. It's hard to state how common this is.
Have you never heard of the desktop virtualization market? This is a totally normal thing. Nearly everyone I know does this, both IT and dev and loads that are neither.
The only reason I don't use Hyper-V for testing is because we get VMware Workstation for free as a partner; I used VirtualBox for a long time when Hyper-V on Windows 7 couldn't create virtual machines, just to test out a few things or use it as a place to keep up-to-date images which I could capture later for deployment without using any additional server resources.
Type 1 definitely runs better as it doesn't stack the hypervisor on top of the OS, but I definitely don't see VMware Workstation going away.
I can see a couple niche things about VMware Workstation though; of course, there is more to add to the list. 1) Many that don't use it to push new configs to their VMware environment; if it's just being used as stand alone for some VMs, you could use literally anything else (and many are free obviously). 2) Nested virtualization to test clustering, site replication, etc while not needing to buy really expensive hardware.
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OK so i've added the 2nd hard drive to Fedora, formatted and mounted.
I'm now struggling on how to manage the system and VM's.
I'm using Cockpit and it's ok for basic maintenance. But can't get it create the VM on the 2nd drive.I've installed virt-manager but not sure how to "connect" to it from my machine.
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@hobbit666 said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
OK so i've added the 2nd hard drive to Fedora, formatted and mounted.
I'm now struggling on how to manage the system and VM's.
I'm using Cockpit and it's ok for basic maintenance. But can't get it create the VM on the 2nd drive.I've installed virt-manager but not sure how to "connect" to it from my machine.
Using Virt-Manager you need to create a storage pool.
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@hobbit666 said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
OK so i've added the 2nd hard drive to Fedora, formatted and mounted.
I'm now struggling on how to manage the system and VM's.
I'm using Cockpit and it's ok for basic maintenance. But can't get it create the VM on the 2nd drive.I've installed virt-manager but not sure how to "connect" to it from my machine.
Where did you install virt-manager? I think that has to be on the machine you are working from, not on the KVM machine.
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@Dashrender said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
@hobbit666 said in KVM Desktop Setup Ideas:
OK so i've added the 2nd hard drive to Fedora, formatted and mounted.
I'm now struggling on how to manage the system and VM's.
I'm using Cockpit and it's ok for basic maintenance. But can't get it create the VM on the 2nd drive.I've installed virt-manager but not sure how to "connect" to it from my machine.
Where did you install virt-manager? I think that has to be on the machine you are working from, not on the KVM machine.
It can be on both, if the KVM Hypervisor has a desktop that can be operated from.
Otherwise, yes it would need to be installed on a management pc(running linux of course). (Think of it a lot like Hyper-V with Windows 10 Hyper-V Manager)
Last edit for clarity: Virt-Manager can and often does come preinstalled with the KVM role and automatically manages itself. Wanting to use this host in a headless state would require remote management tools to be installed on a laptop or desktop running Linux (likely Fedora Workstation).
