Using virt-manager from other machines

[Ceej]

Newbie here, back to trying Proxmox again after an aborted attempt earlier. It seems like the best solution for running both container-based and KVM-based VMs on the same hardware.

However, I don't particularly care for the web interface, in particular the console. I've gotten it working from my Ubuntu laptop by installing Sun Java, but it's slow and I don't like having to have to surf to a page to bring it up. Also, it seems to only work for KVM-based VMs anyway (bringing up the console to a CT VM just shows a black screen with a cursor; I can type but nothing happens).

I'd prefer if possible to manage my VMs using standard KVM tooling, but I can't seem to get that working. I've seen several places that I should not install virt-manager on the HN itself, but I'm happy enough to run virt-manager remotely. But, I can't seem to get it working; at best, it just gets to "Connecting..." and no further. By manually installing netcat-openbsd on the HN, I could at least get connected, but it didn't show me any of my configured VMs, so I'm guessing it's not seeing the same configuration.

What if any packages can I install on the HN to make this work? Bonus points if I can still use the Proxmox web interface for monitoring the machines that are running, but if I can't, that's fine too; I'm happy to go to strictly virt-manager.

 

[tom]

Newbie here, back to trying Proxmox again after an aborted attempt earlier. It seems like the best solution for running both container-based and KVM-based VMs on the same hardware.

However, I don't particularly care for the web interface, in particular the console. I've gotten it working from my Ubuntu laptop by installing Sun Java, but it's slow and I don't like having to have to surf to a page to bring it up. Also, it seems to only work for KVM-based VMs anyway (bringing up the console to a CT VM just shows a black screen with a cursor; I can type but nothing happens).

What do you mean with slow? Its fast for me, depends on your network connection. For OpenVZ console, see http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/OpenVZ_Console

I'd prefer if possible to manage my VMs using standard KVM tooling, but I can't seem to get that working. I've seen several places that I should not install virt-manager on the HN itself, but I'm happy enough to run virt-manager remotely. But, I can't seem to get it working; at best, it just gets to "Connecting..." and no further. By manually installing netcat-openbsd on the HN, I could at least get connected, but it didn't show me any of my configured VMs, so I'm guessing it's not seeing the same configuration.

What if any packages can I install on the HN to make this work? Bonus points if I can still use the Proxmox web interface for monitoring the machines that are running, but if I can't, that's fine too; I'm happy to go to strictly virt-manager.

Proxmox VE does no work with libvirt or virtmanager.

 

[dietmar]

Why don't you use the PVE command line tools (qm)?

 

[Ceej]

What do you mean with slow? Its fast for me, depends on your network connection. For OpenVZ console, see http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/OpenVZ_Console

I'm on gigabit ethernet; it just feels a little stuttery or laggy. I've had better luck in general with RDP than VNC, so maybe I'm just not used to VNC anymore. Still, I guess the console isn't something I'll need to use terribly often, so perhaps it's not a big deal.

Thanks for that link - it did let me get the console working with CT VMs as well, at least!

Proxmox VE does no work with libvirt or virtmanager.

Why is that? Is there a technical reason, or is it just that it seems redundant with the Proxmox web interface? If I installed libvirt and so on, would I break anything other than the web interface for KVM VMs? (Genuine curiosity here, I'm not trying to make any value judgments about one vs. the other or anything like that.)

Thanks for the quick response!

 

[Ceej]

Why don't you use the PVE command line tools (qm)?

No reason - I just haven't tried them yet. I'm pretty new across the board when it comes to KVM, but I had more or less figured out how to do what I wanted with virt-manager. So, when I installed Proxmox, that's the tool I went to try first. I also wanted to get that working since I knew the virt-manager console worked, and I couldn't get the Proxmox console working for quite a while. That's less critical now.

To me, the big win of Proxmox is having a stable environment where both OpenVZ and KVM are functional, since I'd tried a number of other approaches and couldn't get them working together satisfactorily. I don't mean to say anything negative about the web interface, but it simply isn't necessary for me. That being the case, ideally I'd prefer to work with native OpenVZ and KVM tooling, so my experience can translate to non-Proxmox environments.

Thanks,
Ceej

 

[Ceej]

What do you mean with slow? Its fast for me, depends on your network connection. For OpenVZ console, see http://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/OpenVZ_Console

I'd typed out a reply to this, but for some reason it seems to have vanished... weird. Let me try again.

I'm on gigabit ethernet to the HN. The slowness is in startup (Java still is just slow in that regard) as well as some stuttering in use. I've used RDP a lot more than VNC lately, so maybe I'm just not used to VNC. Anyway, I probably don't need to use the console that often, so it's probably not a big deal.

Thanks for the link above, though; it helped me get the console working for CT VMs too, at least!

Proxmox VE does no work with libvirt or virtmanager.

Why is that? Is there a technical reason, or did it just seem redundant with the Proxmox web interface? If I installed libvirt and friends on the HN, would it "work" (in the same way that a native normal KVM installation would work)? Would I break anything, other than not being able to use the web interface to manage KVM-based VMs?

Genuine curiosity here, I'm not trying to make any value judgments about one solution vs. the other. The more I learn and understand about the environments here, the better I'll be able to administer them.

Thanks for the quick reply!
Ceej

 

[dietmar]

Why is that? Is there a technical reason, or is it just that it seems redundant with the Proxmox web interface?

Yes, there are many reasons.

If I installed libvirt and so on, would I break anything.

Yes, you can't do that.