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 a Debian 6 Desktop System in VirtualBox

Upon launching VirtualBox, you'll be greeted with a welcome message. Click the "New" icon to continue.

Enter a descriptive name for your Debian 6 workstation VM, select "Linux" for the operating system, select "Debian" for the version, and click "Continue" to proceed.

Assign a reasonable amount of memory to your VM. For a basic, light-duty workstation environment, 512 MB should be sufficient.

Create a new hard disk for your VM, specifying fixed-size storage and allocating approximately 5 GB of space to it.

Once your new VM has been created, you'll be presented with an overview page describing its initial settings. Click the "Settings" icon to customize it further.

On the "Display" tab, adjust the virtual graphics card to use 32 MB of memory.

On the "Storage" tab, attach your previously downloaded Debian 6 ISO image to the CD/DVD drive device.

On the "Audio" tab, you may disable the audio device, as it won't be required for VM management.

On the "Network" tab, you may select either "NAT" or "Bridged networking" for network communications. NAT will create a virtual network local to your host workstation operating system, and the bridged option will make your VM appear as if it is a separate computer on your local network (by "piggybacking" on your workstation's wired or wireless network interface). If you're in doubt, the "NAT" option is perfectly fine for the purposes of this tutorial.

Once you've finalized all settings, boot your new VM up. You'll be greeted with the Debian 6 installer splash screen. With "Install" selected, press "Enter" to continue.

Select a sensible hostname for this system ("kvm-management" is used in this example).

For disk partitioning, select the "Guided" option, choose your virtual disk, specify that all files should be stored in one partition, and confirm your choices.

The base system will take a few minutes to install; prepare yourself a nice cup of your favorite beverage.

When asked about software to install, select the "Graphical desktop environment," "SSH server," and "Standard system utilities" package groups.

The system will take another few minutes to retrieve and install your requested packages. This is a good time to grab a tasty snack to go with your beverage.

Instruct the installer to install grub to your virtual hard disk's master boot record.

This concludes the base system installation for your KVM management workstation environment. At the end of the installation process, your VM will be rebooted.

Continue: Install and Configure virt-manager on the Workstation
Previous: Install VirtualBox on the Management Workstation