scottslowe-learning-tools/kvm/kvm-generic

Virtualization with KVM

These files were created to allow users to use Vagrant (http://www.vagrantup.com) and Ansible (http://www.ansible.com) to quickly and relatively easily experiment with KVM on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. This configuration was tested using Vagrant, VMware Fusion with the Vagrant VMware plugin, KVM/Libvirt with the Libvirt provider, and Ansible.

Note that this environment does not work with VirtualBox, as it relies on support for nested virtualization (which VirtualBox does not support).

Contents

• ansible.cfg: This Ansible configuration file instructs Ansible to use the Vagrant-provided inventory, to use the default vagrant user (vagrant) and default insecure Vagrant SSH private key, and to use the Vagrant-generated Ansible inventory file (found, by default, in ./.vagrant/provisioners/inventory/vagrant_ansible_inventory).

• machines.yml: This YAML file contains a list of VM definitions and associated configuration data. It is referenced by Vagrantfile when Vagrant instantiates the VMs.

• provision.yml: This YAML file is an Ansible playbook that configures the VMs created by Vagrant when they are first provisioned. Ansible is called automatically by Vagrant; you do not need to invoke Ansible separately. No changes are needed to this file.

• README.md: The file you're currently reading.

• Vagrantfile: This file is used by Vagrant to spin up the virtual machines. This file is fairly extensively commented to help explain what's happening. You should be able to use this file unchanged; all the VM configuration options are stored in machines.yml.

Instructions

These instructions assume you've already installed Vagrant, the virtualizatoin provider (VMware Fusion or Libvirt), the necessary Vagrant plugin, and Ansible. Please refer to the documentation for those products for more information on installation or configuration.

1. Use vagrant box add to install an Ubuntu 16.04 x64 box for VMware Fusion or Libvirt. The machines.yml file contains some suggested boxes. If you download a box other than one of the ones listed in machines.yml, be sure to edit machines.yml appropriately.

2. Copy the files from the kvm-generic directory of this repository (the "learning-tools" repository) to a directory on your system. You can clone the entire "learning-tools" repository (using git clone), or just download the specific files from the kvm-generic directory.

3. From a terminal window, change into the directory where the files from this directory are stored and run vagrant up to bring up the VMs according to the instructions in machines.yml and Vagrantfile. (By default, it will create and power on only a single VM.)

4. Once Vagrant has finished creating, booting, and provisioning the VM (note you'll need Internet access for this step), log into the VM (named "kvm-01" by default) using vagrant ssh.

You can now use this VM to do any testing or experimentation with KVM and Libvirt.