¶ About Importing KVM Templates
Have you decided to transition to our IaaS Cloud but still have KVM instances running on other platforms? No worries! Our seamless importing process makes it easy to move your virtual machines from your current setup to our IaaS Cloud. By following these straightforward steps, you can import your KVM templates in just minutes and immediately start enjoying the full benefits of our cloud services without any downtime.
Let’s dive into the importing process and unlock the advantages of our IaaS Cloud today!
¶ Before you Start
To complete the actions below, you must have:
- Your VM templates from your current KVM platform available, preferably in QCOW2 format.
- An IaaS Cloud account registered. For more information, skip to our Registration tutorial.
- A user with the permissions to create new resources. For more information, read our Accounts chapter.
¶ Getting Started
¶ Uploading the Root Disk File
We'll begin by uploading the root disk file, which contains the operating system of your VM. Any additional disks can be set aside for now; they can be attached later. Once the root-disk.qcow2 file is ready, you can proceed with the importing by uploading the VM to your IaaS Cloud. Start by logging into your admin account, and then follow these steps:
-
Navigate to Images → Templates on the left navigation bar.
-
Click on the Register template from URL button in the top row:
If your disk file is relatively small (less than 1 GB), you can use the Upload Template from Local button for a quicker and simpler workflow.
- Then you have to specify the following parameters:
- URL where the disk file is hosted.
- Name for the template.
- Short Description of the template.
- Zone where the template will be hosted.
The template and your instance later must be in the same zone, so choose the zone where you plan to deploy your VM.
- KVM as the Hypervisor.
- QCOW2 as the Format.
- OS type of your initial VM.
- Optionally, you can define Userdata and other options.
- Click on OK to register and create the template.
¶ Create new VM from Template
Once the template is created and ready, you can create your new VM from it. Follow these steps to proceed:
-
Navigate to Compute → Instances on the left navigation bar.
-
Click on the Add instance button in the top row:
-
First, select the same deployment Zone as the one used for your newly created template in the previous step.
-
Next, navigate to the My Templates tab and select your imported template from the list.
-
Now, select a compute offering that meets your needs. If possible, choose one with specifications similar to your previous VM. You can find more information about that in our service offerings.
You always have the option to adjust your service offering later on, easily increasing or decreasing your instance's performance. For a detailed step-by-step guide, skip to the Changing Service Offerings chapter.
-
Now, you need to select or create a new Network.
-
You can select an SSH key pair, which you must create beforehand. This step is optional, but we highly recommend SSH key pairs for added security and ease of access.
-
Click on Advanced mode if you want configure User Data and Affinity Groups.
-
Finally, you can configure some last details and give your instance a Name and Group. You can also decide whether your instance should start right after creation or not.
-
Click on Launch instance to create your instance.
The instance should be marked as Stopped. If you selected Start instance in the previous step, the virtual machine should shortly switch from Starting to Running. For more information, skip to the chapter Starting & Stopping Instances.
¶ Adding additional Disks
If your KVM instance has additional disks besides the already imported root disk, you can upload and attach these disks to the running instance. To do so, follow these steps:
-
Navigate to Storage → Volumes on the left navigation bar.
-
Click on the Upload volume from URL button in the top row:
If your disk file is relatively small (less than 1 GB), you can use the Upload volume from local button for a quicker and simpler workflow.
- Then you have to specify the following parameters:
- URL where the disk file is hosted.
- Name for the volume.
- Short Description of the volume.
- Zone where the volume will be hosted.
- QCOW2 as the Format.
- Appropriate Disk offering.
- Optionally, the volume can be assigned to a specific Domain and Account.
-
Click on OK to upload and create the volume.
-
Once the volume is uploaded and in the Allocated state, select it from the list view.
-
Click on Attach disk in the top right action block:
- First, choose the instance you want to attach the volume to by selecting the VM ID.
You need to launch the machine at least once before attaching any additional volumes.
-
Optionally, assign a Device ID to map the volume to the guest OS. If no Device ID is informed, the next available ID will be chosen.
-
Finally, click on OK to attach the volume to the instance.
¶ Conclusion
Congratulations on importing your first KVM templates to our IaaS Cloud platform! In this tutorial, you successfully uploaded your VM disk file to the cloud, created a new VM instance from a template, and added additional storage volumes to your instance.
These initial steps open the door to harnessing the powerful capabilities of our cloud infrastructure. While this tutorial is a great starting point, there's so much more to discover. We encourage you to explore our other Tutorials or dive into specific chapters from our comprehensive Overview to deepen your cloud experience.
If you have any questions or run into any issues, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team. We're here to assist you every step of the way. Enjoy your journey with our IaaS Cloud, and make the most of its robust features!