virt-install

Create virtual machines with libvirt and begin OS installation. More information: https://virt-manager.org/.

• Create a virtual machine with 1 GB RAM and 12 GB storage and start a Debian installation:

virt-install --name vm_name --memory 1024 --disk path=path/to/image.qcow2,size=12 --cdrom path/to/debian.iso

• Create a x86-64, KVM-accelerated, UEFI-based virtual machine with the Q35 chipset, 4 GiB RAM, 16 GiB RAW storage, and start a Fedora installation:

virt-install --name vm_name --arch x86_64 --virt-type kvm --machine q35 --boot uefi --memory 4096 --disk path=path/to/image.raw,size=16 --cdrom path/to/fedora.iso

• Create a diskless live virtual machine without an emulated sound device or a USB controller. Don't start an installation and don't autoconnect to console but attach a cdrom to it (might be useful for when using a live CD like tails):

virt-install --name vm_name --memory 512 --disk none --controller type=usb,model=none --sound none --autoconsole none --install no_install=yes --cdrom path/to/tails.iso

• Create a virtual machine with 16 GiB RAM, 250 GiB storage, 8 cores with hyperthreading, a specific CPU topology, and a CPU model that shares most features with the host CPU:

virt-install --name vm_name --cpu host-model,topology.sockets=1,topology.cores=4,topology.threads=2 --memory 16384 --disk path=path/to/image.qcow2,size=250 --cdrom path/to/debian.iso

• Create a virtual machine and kickstart an automated deployment based on Fedora 35 using only remote resources (no ISO required):

virt-install --name vm_name --memory 2048 --disk path=path/to/image.qcow2,size=20 --location=https://download.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/35/Everything/x86_64/os/ --extra-args="inst.ks=https://path/to/valid/kickstart.org"