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CLI tools to create KVM Guests, Containers and NetNS(ip netns,vrf) on Linux

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tcler/kiss-vm-ns

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kiss-vm

Summary

Here we provide three CLI tools vm, ns, netns that used to auto create KVM Guests, Containers and "net ns" on Linux hosts. //The prefix kiss is taken from the KISS principle

Requirements/Dependencies

kiss-vm: #'sudo vm prepare' will install all dependencies
  bash-completion libvirt libvirt-client virt-install virt-viewer qemu-kvm qemu-img
  expect nmap-ncat tmux libguestfs-tools-c libvirt-nss dialog udisks2 genisoimage
  iptables-nft bind-utils netpbm gocr vncdotool(pip3)
  swtpm-tools edk2-ovmf virtio-win python3-qemu-qmp
  qemu-system-{aarch64,s390x,ppc,riscv}

kiss-netns:
  iproute tmux

kiss-ns:
  systemd-nspawn tmux

Install

curl -Lks https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tcler/kiss-vm-ns/master/utils/kiss-update.sh|sudo bash && sudo vm prepare
#or
curl -Lks https://github.com/tcler/kiss-vm-ns/archive/refs/heads/master.tar.gz | tar zxf - &&
    sudo gmake -C kiss-vm-ns-master && sudo vm prepare

FAQ & Examples

Q: how to create a CentOS/RockyLinux/Fedora KVM Guest from location(see also: virt-install --location option)?
A: vm create $distro [-n $vmname] [-L[=$localtion_url]] #if there's url in default distro.db, just use -L

vm create CentOS-9-stream -n centos9s -L=http://mirror.stream.centos.org/9-stream/BaseOS/$(uname -m)/os/

Q: how to create a Linux KVM Guest from qcow image(see also: virt-install --import option)?
A: vm create $distro [-n $vmname] [-I[=$image_url]] #if there's url in default distro.db, just use -I

vm create openSUSE-leap-15.3

Q: how to get the distro list in default distro.db?
A: vm create <tab><tab> #bash completion will show avalible distro list in distro.db

$ vm create #<tab><tab>
#<Enter>               CentOS-8-stream        RHEL-6%                Windows-10             Windows-server-2019    debian-9               fedora-33              openSUSE-leap-15.3
#<aDistroFamilyName>   CentOS-9-stream        RHEL-7%                Windows-11             Windows-server-2022    debian-testing         fedora-34              
CentOS-6               FreeBSD-12.3           RHEL-8%                Windows-7              archlinux              fedora-30              fedora-35              
CentOS-7               FreeBSD-13.0           RHEL-9%                Windows-server-2012r2  debian-10              fedora-31              fedora-rawhide         
CentOS-8               FreeBSD-14.0           Rocky-8                Windows-server-2016    debian-11              fedora-32              openSUSE-leap-15.2

Q: does kiss-vm support auto create FreeBSD Guest with sshd enabled?
A: yes, it does (by using vncdotool)

vm create FreeBSD-13.0 --msize 4096 --dsize 120G 

Q: does kiss-vm support auto Windows/Windows-server Guest installing?
A: yes, it does since kiss-vm v2.0.0 (by using answer-file-generator.sh), and like Linux/FreeBSD it enable sshd by default on Windows Guest and support ssh login without password

vm create Windows-10 -C ~/Downloads/Win10-Evaluation.iso -f
vm create Windows-11 -C ~/Downloads/Win11-Evaluation.iso -f

Q: does kiss-vm support auto installing other systems besides linux/freebsd/windows?
A: not yet, but it support maually install other systems from iso/localtion/image/pxe ...

vm create OI -C ~/Downloads/OI-hipster-gui-20211031.iso
vm create Fedora-35 --pxe [--net=$pxenet] [--diskless]

Q: How does kiss-vm realize automatic installation?
A: We mainly achieve the goal of automation by implementing Redhat based kickstart file generator, cloud-init generator, windows answerfile generator; then in some special scenarios, we use OCR technology and VNC CLI client to solve the problem.
[2022-10] just found a website: Windows Answer File Generator, paste here for people want to customize answerfile interactively

$ vm vnc jiyin-opensuse-leap-153 --get
[vncget@jiyin-opensuse-leap-153]:
jiyin-opensuse-leap-153:~ # exit
logout
jiyin-opensuse-leap-153 login: _
$ vm vnc jiyin-opensuse-leap-153 --putln=root --putln=redhat
[vncput@jiyin-opensuse-leap-153]> root key:enter redhat key:enter
$ vm vnc jiyin-opensuse-leap-153 --get
[vncget@jiyin-opensuse-leap-153]:
jiyin-opensuse-leap-153:~ # exit
logout
jiyin-opensuse-leap-153 login: root
Password:
Last login: Fri Apr 29 03:14:03 on tty1
openSUSE Leap 15.3 x86_64 (64-bit)
As "root" use the:
- zypper command for package management
- yast command for configuration management
Have a lot of fun...
jiyin-opensuse-leap-153:~ #

Q: does kiss-vm support boot from emulated nvme device?
A: yes, it does since kiss-vm v2.3.0, by adding --nvmeboot|--NB option.
BTW: the nvme driver has not been enabled on qemu-kvm in RHEL, it's only enabled on Fedora release.

Q: Does kiss-vm support creating aarch64,s390x Guest on x86_64 host
A: Yes, since kiss-vm v2.1.0. and it requires qemu-system-$arch has been installed on your x86_64 linux Host. now we only verified by creating s390x,aarch64,ppc64le RHEL-8/RHEL-9/c8s/c9s Guest on x86_64 Fedora-35/Fedora-36 Host.
Update: Verified Guest list:

vm create --arch aarch64 CentOS-8-stream
vm create --arch ppc64le CentOS-8-stream

vm create --arch s390x   CentOS-9-stream
vm create --arch aarch64 CentOS-9-stream
vm create --arch ppc64le CentOS-9-stream

vm create --arch aarch64 fedora-36

vm create --arch aarch64 openSUSE-leap-15.3

vm create --arch aarch64 debian-12
vm create --arch ppc64   debian-12

vm create --arch aarch64 debian-11
vm create --arch ppc64   debian-11

vm create --arch aarch64 FreeBSD-13.1

Update[2023-06-06] now also support creating x86_64 Guest on aarch64 host(Fedora Linux Asahi Remix/M2)

Q: What other functions or usages does kiss-vm support?
A: just run: 'vm help' to get more usage/examples info; and there are some useful scirpts under the utils dir.

Q: ssh login to VM Guest fail with "Permission denied (publickey,gssapi-keyex,gssapi-with-mic)", why?
A: try add -o "HostKeyAlgorithms ssh-rsa" option to ssh command; see also ssh -Q key, ssh -Q help

example: https://github.com/tcler/linux-network-filesystems/blob/master/testcases/nfs/multipath-and-nconnect/main-netns.sh#L26

[me@ws ~]$ netns -h  #get usage/help info

example: https://github.com/tcler/linux-network-filesystems/blob/master/testcases/nfs/multipath-and-nconnect/main-ns.sh#L26

[me@ws ~]$ ns -h  #get usage/help info