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kdt
Asked: 2011-07-14 08:24:49 +0800 CST

libvirt: how can I make a domain start when the host starts?

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I would like some of my domains to start automatically when my host starts (I'm using libvirt+KVM on ubuntu). I guess I could put some "virsh start..." statements in rc.local, but is there a way to configure this within libvirt/virsh?

virtualization linux kvm-virtualization libvirt

3 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Looking at the output of "help":

    virsh # help autostart
  NAME
    autostart - autostart a domain

  SYNOPSIS
    autostart <domain> [--disable]

  DESCRIPTION
    Configure a domain to be automatically started at boot.

  OPTIONS
    [--domain] <string>  domain name, id or uuid
    --disable        disable autostarting

    This requires that you defined the domain from a file (i.e., that the domain is persistent rather than transient).

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  2. If you get the response:

        virsh autostart domainname
    "cannot set autostart for transient domain"

    then

        virsh shutdown domainname
    virsh define xmlfile
    virsh start domainname
    virsh autostart domainname

    In my experience on Ubuntu 12.04, this only happens if a virsh undefine has been run. Domains created with virsh create usually allow setting the autostart immediately after creation.

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  3. I've also seen this happen when you use "create" instead of "define" for a domain.

    For example:

    virsh --connect qemu:///system create mytest-vm-20130715.xml

    virsh --connect qemu:///system autostart mytest-vm

    error: Failed to mark domain mytest-vm as autostarted

    error: Requested operation is not valid: cannot set autostart for transient domain

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