Debian 6 (Squeeze) KVM Virtualization Howto

• Contents
• Introduction and Prerequisites
• Install Debian 6 (Squeeze) on the Server
• Install and Configure KVM on the Server
• Install VirtualBox on the Management Workstation
• Install a Debian 6 Desktop System in VirtualBox
• Install and Configure virt-manager on the Workstation
• Deploy Your First KVM Virtual Machine
• Final Notes and Tips

Install and Configure virt-manager on the Workstation

After your Debian 6 VM reboots in VirtualBox, you'll be greeted with the initial boot screen.

Log into the user account you created during the install.

Launch the "Synaptic" package manager from the "System" menu.

Click the "Search" button, enter "virt-manager" into the search field, and select the virt-manager package for installation.

Perform another search for the "ssh-askpass" package, and select it for installation as well.

Click the "Apply" button to start the installation process and confirm your requested packages.

Within a few minutes, your requested packages will be downloaded and installed.

From the "System" menu, click "Administration" followed by "Users and Groups" to open the user and group management tool.

In the dialog that appears, click the "Manage Groups" button.

A list of groups will be displayed. Select the "libvirt" group and click the "Properties" button.

Check the box next to your user account in the "Group Members" list shown in the properties dialog box, and click "OK" to proceed.

From the "System" menu, select the option to reboot the system. Click "Restart" in the dialog that appears.

Once the system has rebooted, log back into your user account and select the "Terminal" program from the "Accessories" menu.

In the terminal window that appears, issue the following commands to edit your workstation's "/etc/hosts" file. As with all operations requiring administrative privileges, you will be prompted to enter your workstation's root password.

su - root
nano /etc/hosts

Add an entry for your KVM server as follows, replacing "192.168.2.10" with its IP address, "socrates" with its hostname, and "palegray" with your local domain name.

File: /etc/hosts

127.0.0.1        localhost.localdomain        localhost
192.168.2.10     socrates.palegray            socrates

Issue the key combination "Ctrl+x" to exit the editor. You will be prompted to save your changes before the editor returns you to the shell prompt. Next, issue the following command to generate an SSH keypair. You may accept all defaults when prompted.

ssh-keygen -t rsa

Issue the following commands to copy your workstation's public SSH key to the KVM server's "authorized_keys2" file. Substitute your KVM server's IP address for "192.168.2.10" in these commands.

scp ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub root@192.168.2.10:/root/workstation-key.pub
ssh root@192.168.2.10 "cat ~/workstation-key.pub >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys2"

This concludes the initial setup steps for your KVM management workstation. Next, you'll deploy your first virtual machine.

Continue: Deploy Your First KVM Virtual Machine
Previous: Install a Debian 6 Desktop System in VirtualBox