Struggling to get qcow2 option

[mason64]

Hello everyone

I have looked online but cant seem to find any where to get the option for qcow2. i can't change the format on my vm's when selecting the format option on the disks page on creating a vm.

I have read online (maybe totally wrong) that i need to change my disk to File based storage? Once i have done that i will have the option to select qcow2.

The reason for this as again i have read online that for me to make snapshots of my linux servers the vm disk format should be qcow2 is that correct?

at the moment the option is greyed out and is on raw (see image)


I currently have a spare hard drive in my server doing nothing ready to do this but i cant find any guides. Could anyone offer me any help or point me in the correct location for the help on this subject.

Thanks in advance

 

[alexskysilk]

i can't change the format on my vm's when selecting the format option on the disks page on creating a vm.

the "format" your vm's will be written as is a consequence of the store type. Post the content of /etc/pve/storage.cfg to get specific feedback.

 

[leesteken]

I have read online (maybe totally wrong) that i need to change my disk to File based storage? Once i have done that i will have the option to select qcow2.

Yes, the file format requires a flle-based storage.

The reason for this as again i have read online that for me to make snapshots of my linux servers the vm disk format should be qcow2 is that correct?

No, some other storage types also support snapshots (even some block-based ones)

Maybe have a look at the manual about storage types and snapshot support: https://pve.proxmox.com/pve-docs/pve-admin-guide.html#chapter_storage

 

[mason64]

the "format" your vm's will be written as is a consequence of the store type. Post the content of /etc/pve/storage.cfg to get specific feedback.

root@sun:/mnt/wd480# cat /etc/pve/storage.cfg
dir: local
path /var/lib/vz
content backup,vztmpl,iso

lvmthin: local-lvm
thinpool data
vgname pve
content images,rootdir

lvm: WD_480_Green
vgname WD_480_Green
content images,rootdir
nodes sun
shared 0

root@sun:/mnt/wd480#

 

[alexskysilk]

lvm: WD_480_Green

WD_480 is of type lvm. as mentioned above, qcow is only an option for fileshare types. see https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Storage for more information.

 

[mason64]

Thank you! i will read up on this today.

 

[Impact]

If the storage is unused I'd recommend you delete the storage in the place you created it and format it with LVM-Thin instead. That's the same as local-lvm and supports snapshots as well. Alternatively you can create the thin pool on top of the current LVM yourself but that's harder and comes with variables. Using file based disks is usually slower and has few benefits I can think of.