How to create VM using the qcow2 image file in KVM

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Here are the general steps to create a virtual machine (VM) using a qcow2 image file in KVM:

  1. Install KVM on your system if it is not already installed.
sudo apt-get install qemu-kvm libvirt-bin
  1. Create a new virtual machine using the virt-install command. This command is used to create new virtual machines from the command line.
virt-install --name vm-name --memory 2048 --vcpus 2 --disk path/to/image.qcow2,format=qcow2 --network bridge=br0 --graphics vnc,listen=0.0.0.0 --noautoconsole

Note: You need to replace vm-name with the desired name of your virtual machine, 2048 with the amount of memory you want to assign to the virtual machine, 2 with the number of virtual CPUs you want to assign, path/to/image.qcow2 with the path to the qcow2 image file you want to use, and br0 with the name of the network bridge you want to connect the virtual machine to. Also, you can use options like --cdrom or --disk to specify other boot options.

  1. Connect to the virtual machine’s console using the virsh command-line tool.
virsh console vm-name
  1. Verify that the virtual machine is running and operational by checking the output of the virsh list command.
virsh list --all
  1. Once the virtual machine is up and running, you can use the virsh command-line tool to manage the virtual machine, such as to start, stop, reboot, or delete it.

Note: You may also use graphical tools like Virt-manager to create and manage KVM VMs

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