VM Copy/Clone and DHCP

[gerryw]

Hello All,

I have a couple of suggestions for new features that I think would really be convenient.

1. It would be very nice to have a VM copy/clone feature that would simply copy from a source image/server to a destination image/server. It would be even nicer to be able to do several destination VMs in one go (ie: one source and multiple targets). It would be up to the user to handle the SID issue in windoze of course.

2. It would be nice to have a DHCP server option that could be run on the primary cluster machine. It would also be very cool if there were an option when creating a kvm vm that would take a specified host/ip and add a static DHCP entry to the DHCP server config file.

I know both of these topics have been discussed before, but I just wanted to add my .02. I use Proxmox PVE to run an XP desktop farm and these features would be awesome. Unless I'm missing something neither one of these items would be terribly difficult to implement.

BTW: I love Proxmox PVE. I very much appreciate all of the folks that have done this great work. Thanks!

Thanks for your time,
Gerry

 

[dietmar]

1. It would be very nice to have a VM copy/clone feature that would simply copy from a source image/server to a destination image/server. It would be even nicer to be able to do several destination VMs in one go (ie: one source and multiple targets). It would be up to the user to handle the SID issue in windoze of course.

The problem is that this approch has 1000 other issues (there is not only the SID, instead there are plenty of other setting which has to be VM specific).

2. It would be nice to have a DHCP server option that could be run on the primary cluster machine. It would also be very cool if there were an option when creating a kvm vm that would take a specified host/ip and add a static DHCP entry to the DHCP server config file.

I Agree, that would be nice.

 

[gerryw]

Hi,

I am not sure I understand the complexity of a VM copy/clone. I used KVM for over a year with some scripts that I wrote prior to finding Proxmox PVE. One of the scripts would do what I suggested. It would create a new vm config file, assign a new vmid and mac address, and copy the disk image. The disk image file was named based on the vmid simailar to what Proxmox PVE does. All of the other config options such as; memory size, cpus, devices, etc. was identical. I continue to do the same thing now using a modified version of the original script on Proxmox PVE. It would just be very nice to have the option to do this through the web interface, without the need to ssh into the server. The only config file options that really need to change are the vmid, mac address, and image file name. The rest of the vm settings could be modified through the web gui after the copy. I'm sorry if my previous description was unclear.

Thanks,
Gerry

 

[dietmar]

Just an example: So all cloned VMs has the same SSH private key?

 

[dietmar]

Anyway, we plan to add KVM templates - this is not cloning, but something similar (you need to prepare a template first).

 

[gerryw]

Hi,

Actually, I have just thought of another approach to the copy/clone function. What about user defined actions. An action would be defined by a name, an executable file, and the necessary command line parameters. A facility for uploading files and synchronizing actions between servers would also be nice. It would also be powerful to have the vm parameters represented as variables that could be referenced in the command line (ie; ${VMID}. ${MACADDR}, etc.. This would allow Proxmox PVE users to create their own custom stuff that could be managed through the web gui. The ability to schedule actions would also be cool. There may even be some potential for folks to share their actions on the wiki if they wish. I hope this makes sense.

Thanks,
Gerry

 

[gerryw]

Hi,

Would the templates support using a base image? For example, a disk file from another vm?

I guess I should have mentioned that I was only thinking of the copy/clone for kvm. I understand your issues now. Sorry.

Thanks,
Gerry

 

[dietmar]

Would the templates support using a base image?

No, the template is the base image.

 

[dietmar]

I guess I should have mentioned that I was only thinking of the copy/clone for kvm. I understand your issues now.

I also talk about KVM.

 

[gerryw]

Hi,

Ok. Point taken. It was just a suggestion. No worries. Thanks for your time.

Thanks,
Gerry