doc: Show how to boot result of 'vm-image'.

* doc/guix.texi (Running GuixSD in a VM): New node.
(Invoking guix system): Add reference to 'Running GuixSD in a VM'.
master
Leo Famulari 2016-01-24 16:04:35 -05:00
parent 61eecd71cc
commit 97d76250e1
1 changed files with 57 additions and 3 deletions

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@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ Copyright @copyright{} 2013, 2014 Andreas Enge@*
Copyright @copyright{} 2013 Nikita Karetnikov@*
Copyright @copyright{} 2015 Mathieu Lirzin@*
Copyright @copyright{} 2014 Pierre-Antoine Rault@*
Copyright @copyright{} 2015 Taylan Ulrich Bayırlı/Kammer
Copyright @copyright{} 2015 Leo Famulari
Copyright @copyright{} 2015 Taylan Ulrich Bayırlı/Kammer@*
Copyright @copyright{} 2015, 2016 Leo Famulari
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ System Configuration
* Initial RAM Disk:: Linux-Libre bootstrapping.
* GRUB Configuration:: Configuring the boot loader.
* Invoking guix system:: Instantiating a system configuration.
* Running GuixSD in a VM:: How to run GuixSD in a virtual machine.
* Defining Services:: Adding new service definitions.
Services
@ -5694,6 +5695,7 @@ instance to support new system services.
* Initial RAM Disk:: Linux-Libre bootstrapping.
* GRUB Configuration:: Configuring the boot loader.
* Invoking guix system:: Instantiating a system configuration.
* Running GuixSD in a VM:: How to run GuixSD in a virtual machine.
* Defining Services:: Adding new service definitions.
@end menu
@ -9195,7 +9197,8 @@ in @var{file} that stands alone. Use the @option{--image-size} option
to specify the size of the image.
When using @code{vm-image}, the returned image is in qcow2 format, which
the QEMU emulator can efficiently use.
the QEMU emulator can efficiently use. @xref{Running GuixSD in a VM},
for more information on how to run the image in a virtual machine.
When using @code{disk-image}, a raw disk image is produced; it can be
copied as is to a USB stick, for instance. Assuming @code{/dev/sdc} is
@ -9334,6 +9337,57 @@ graph} of dmd services of the operating system defined in @var{file}.
@end table
@node Running GuixSD in a VM
@subsection Running GuixSD in a virtual machine
One way to run GuixSD in a virtual machine (VM) is to build a GuixSD
virtual machine image using @command{guix system vm-image}
(@pxref{Invoking guix system}). The returned image is in qcow2 format,
which the @uref{http://qemu.org/, QEMU emulator} can efficiently use.
To run the image in QEMU, copy it out of the store (@pxref{The Store})
and give yourself permission to write to the copy. When invoking QEMU,
you must choose a system emulator that is suitable for your hardware
platform. Here is a minimal QEMU invocation that will boot the result
of @command{guix system vm-image} on x86_64 hardware:
@example
$ qemu-system-x86_64 \
-net user -net nic,model=virtio \
-enable-kvm -m 256 /tmp/qemu-image
@end example
Here is what each of these options means:
@table @code
@item qemu-system-x86_64
This specifies the hardware platform to emulate. This should match the
host.
@item -net user
Enable the unprivileged user-mode network stack. The guest OS can
access the host but not vice versa. This is the simplest way to get the
guest OS online. If you don't choose a network stack, the boot will
fail.
@item -net nic,model=virtio
You must create a network interface of a given model. If you don't
create a NIC, the boot will fail. Assuming your hardware platform is
x86_64, you can get a list of available NIC models by running
@command{qemu-system-x86_64 -net nic,model=help}.
@item -enable-kvm
If your system has hardware virtualization extensions, enabling the
Linux kernel's virtual machine support (KVM) will make things run
faster.
@item -m 256
RAM available to the guest OS, in mebibytes. Defaults to 128@tie{}MiB,
which may be insufficent for some operations.
@item /tmp/qemu-image
The file name of the qcow2 image.
@end table
@node Defining Services
@subsection Defining Services