Virtual Machine Manual Migration¶
If you have several Ravada servers you may want to copy a virtual machine from one to another.
Warning
The easiest way to migrte Virtual Machines is using the new Backup Virtual Machines tool added in release 1.5.
In this example we use the old manual procedure to copy the base for a virtual machine called Lubuntu-1704.
Check the storage pools directories¶
If the filesystem layout of both servers is different, the migration can be complicated. You have to bear in mind the disk volumes may have backing files in a different location and you need to rebase it.
Check first the directory where the volumes are stored, if you can’t have them in both servers you have to create a clone, spin if off and migrate it to the new server.
In this example we inspect first the full path of the volumes.
root@origin:~# virsh dumpxml Lubuntu1704 | grep "source file"
<source file='/var/lib/libvirt/images/lubuntu-vda-k1dj.qcow2'/>
For each source file, check its backing file:
root@origin:~# qemu-img info /var/lib/libvirt/images/lubuntu-vda-k1dj.qcow2 | grep "backing file"
backing file: /var/lib/libvirt/images.2/lubuntu-vda.ro.qcow2
So we now know we have to move one file to _/var/lib/libvirt/images/_ and another one to _/var/lib/libvirt/images.2/_ . Check if the new server has these directories in storage pools.
root@destionation:~# virsh pool-list
Name State Autostart
-----------------------------------
default active yes
root@destination:~# virsh pool-dumpxml default | grep path
<path>/var/lib/libvirt/images</path>
In this case migrate the virtual machine as it is will be difficult. We have to rebase the volumes. The easiest way would be to create a clone, spin off the volumes from the web frontend administration and migrate it then.
Temporary space in destination¶
At the destination server, create a temporary directory so you can store the volumes when you copy them. This directory must belong to a user that can do ssh from origin to destination:
root@destination:~# mkdir /var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp
root@destination:~# chown frankie /var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp
Import the Base¶
Copy the Base definition¶
First copy the base definition file from server origin to destination. You need an user in the destination machine and ssh connection from each other.
root@origin:~# virsh dumpxml Lubuntu1704 > Lubuntu1704.xml
root@origin:~# scp Lubuntu1704.xml frankie@dst.domain:
Copy the volumes¶
The volumes have a backing file, you must find out what it is so you can copy to destination.
root@origin:~# grep source Lubuntu1704.xml
<source file='/var/lib/libvirt/images/Lubuntu1704-vda-X18J.img'/>
root@origin:~# qemu-img info /var/lib/libvirt/images/base-vda-X18J.img | grep -i backing
backing file: /var/lib/libvirt/images/Lubuntu1704-vda-X18J.ro.qcow2
root@origin:~# rsync -avPS /var/lib/libvirt/images/base-vda-X18J.ro.qcow2 frankie@dst.domain:/var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp
root@origin:~# rsync -avPS /var/lib/libvirt/images/Lubuntu1704-vda-X18J.img frankie@dst.domain:/var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp
Move the volumes on destination¶
You just copied the data on a temporary directory available to the user. That must be copied to the actual storage pool as root. Make sure you don’t have similar volumes there because that procedure will overwrite them:
root@dst:/home/frankie# cd /var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp
root@dst:/var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp# mv Lubuntu1704-* ../
root@dst:/var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp# chown root ../Lubuntu1704-*
Define the base on destination¶
Go to the destination server and define the virtual machine base with the XML config you copied before
root@dst:~# cd ~frankie/
root@dst:/home/frankie# virsh define Lubuntu1704.xml
Domain base defined from Lubuntu1704.xml
Import the base to Ravada on destination¶
Run this command and you should see the base on the Ravada web admin page.
root@dst:~# rvd_back --import-domain Lubuntu1704
This virtual machine has 3 backing files. Do you want to import it as a base ? Please answer y/n [yes]:
Importing clones¶
Now if you want to import a clone too, first you have to ask the clone owner to start and stop the machine on destination. Then you have to copy the volumes from origin and overwrite what has just been created on destination.
Create a clone¶
The owner of the original clone must create a clone in destination using Ravada. That will create a basic virtual machine with the same name owned by the correct user. Stop the domain on destination:
root@dst:~# virsh shutdown Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon
Make sure it is stopped
root@dst:~# virsh dominfo Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon
Copy the clone volumes¶
Find out what are the clone volume files, and copy them to the temporary space in destination:
root@origin:~# virsh dumpxml Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon | grep "source file" | grep -v ".ro."
<source file='/var/lib/libvirt/images/Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon-vda-kg.qcow2'/>
root@origin:~# rsync -av /var/lib/libvirt/images/Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon-vda-kg.qcow2 frankie@dst:/var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp/
Start the clone on destination¶
First move the volumes to the right place, notice in destination the volumes have different names.
root@dst:~# virsh dumpxml Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon | grep source
<source file='/var/lib/libvirt/images.2/Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon-vda-nz.qcow2'/>
root@dst:~# cd /var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp/
root@dst:/var/lib/libvirt/images/tmp# mv Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon-vda-jz.qcow2 ../Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon-vda-nz.qcow2
root@dst:~# chown root /var/lib/libvirt/images/Lubuntu1704-juan-ramon-*
Hopefully then you can start the clone. It is a delicate procedure that must be followed carefully, please consider helping with this document if you have any suggestions.