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Version: v4 (current)

Linux (Live-ISO)

Live-ISO installers usually contain the full set of requirements for installing an operating system as well as extra content for optional features. These images are much heavier than cloud-images and are generally 2-8Gb in size. Unlike cloud-images, Live-ISO installers can also be used to image physical machines and are suited for use in long-lived virtual-private servers.

Download or create an ISO file:​

  • For Ubuntu images, tools like Cubic or PXEless can be used to create customized ISO installers.

  • When using Debian 12 as the source image, you may need to manually add a boot-entry to the virtual-machine bios after installation. That process is shown in-detail here: proxmox.com/wiki/OVMF/UEFI_Boot_Entries

  • Official Ubuntu and Debian images can be downloaded from:

    Ubuntu:
      - https://mirror.mijn.host/ubuntu-releases/22.04.3/ubuntu-22.04.3-live-server-amd64.iso
    Debian12:
      - https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-dvd/debian-12.1.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso

  • Download the ISO file

    export IMAGE_URL="https://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-dvd/debian-12.1.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso"
    export IMAGE_NAME=$(basename -- "$IMAGE_URL")
    wget -c -O "$IMAGE_NAME" "$IMAGE_URL" -q --show-progress

VM Setup​

  • Configure the Virtual Machine options

    # The name of the Virtual Machine
    export VM_NAME="gameci"

    # Number of physical CPU cores to allocate to the VM
    export PHYSICAL_CORES="2"

    # Number of threads per core.
    # Set this to `1` for CPUs that do not support hyper-threading
    export THREADS="1"
    export SMP=$(( $PHYSICAL_CORES * $THREADS ))

    # Amount of Disk Space to allocate to the VM.
    # Cannot exceed available on host.
    export DISK_SIZE="32G"

    # Amount of RAM to allocate to the VM.
    # Cannot exceed available RAM on host.
    export MEMORY="8G"

    # IP address where host may be reached. Do not use `localhost`.
    export HOST_ADDRESS="SOME IP HERE"

    # Port used by SSH on the host
    export HOST_SSH_PORT="22"

    # Port to use when forwarding SSH to the VM
    export VM_SSH_PORT="1234"

    # Port number to expose on the host for VNC
    export VNC_PORT="0"

  • Create an empty disk where the OS will be installed.

    qemu-img create -f qcow2 disk.qcow2 $DISK_SIZE &>/dev/null

Create the VM​

  • Create new guest:

    sudo qemu-system-x86_64 \
      -machine accel=kvm,type=q35 \
      -cpu host,kvm="off",hv_vendor_id="null" \
      -smp $SMP,sockets=1,cores="$PHYSICAL_CORES",threads="$THREADS",maxcpus=$SMP \
      -m "$MEMORY" \
      -cdrom $IMAGE_NAME \
      -object iothread,id=io \
      -device virtio-blk-pci,drive=disk,iothread=io \
      -drive if=none,id=disk,cache=none,format=qcow2,aio=threads,file=disk.qcow2 \
      -device intel-hda \
      -device hda-duplex \
      -serial stdio -vga virtio -parallel none \
      -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=network \
      -netdev user,id=network,hostfwd=tcp::"${VM_SSH_PORT}"-:"${HOST_SSH_PORT}" \
      -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd \
      -usbdevice tablet \
      -vnc "$HOST_ADDRESS":"$VNC_PORT"

  • Boot existing guest:

    sudo qemu-system-x86_64 \
      -machine accel=kvm,type=q35 \
      -cpu host,kvm="off",hv_vendor_id="null" \
      -smp $SMP,sockets=1,cores="$PHYSICAL_CORES",threads="$THREADS",maxcpus=$SMP \
      -m "$MEMORY" \
      -object iothread,id=io \
      -device virtio-blk-pci,drive=disk,iothread=io \
      -drive if=none,id=disk,cache=none,format=qcow2,aio=threads,file=disk.qcow2 \
      -device intel-hda \
      -device hda-duplex \
      -serial stdio -vga virtio -parallel none \
      -device virtio-net-pci,netdev=network \
      -netdev user,id=network,hostfwd=tcp::"${VM_SSH_PORT}"-:"${HOST_SSH_PORT}" \
      -bios /usr/share/ovmf/OVMF.fd \
      -usbdevice tablet \
      -vnc "$HOST_ADDRESS":"$VNC_PORT"

Connect via VNC​

  • In your VNC software, use the address format $HOST_ADDRESS:$VNC_PORT to connect to the VM.



  • Complete the installation

    Follow the instructions for Debian/Ubuntu installation using the guides in the Bare-Metal section.