virt-p2v-make-disk(1)

📦
version 1.42.4 · 11 versions
, in centos-stream 9

💅 virt-p2v-make-disk — like, the manual page, but make it make sense

okay so bestie, this is the virt-p2v-make-disk(1) page from the Virtualization Support section of the manual. It's a whole vibe, and honestly? It's the tool that builds you a cute little bootable virt-p2v disk. Let's get into it ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

virt-p2v-make-disk — literally builds the virt-p2v disk, using virt-builder

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

virt-p2v-make-disk -o /dev/sdX [os-version]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So virt-p2v(1) is the icon that converts a physical machine into a virtualized one running on KVM, managed by libvirt, OpenStack, oVirt, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualisation (RHEV), or any of the other targets that virt-v2v(1) supports. main character energy fr fr.

And virt-p2v-make-disk? It's the script that creates a bootable disk image or USB key containing virt-p2v. It uses virt-builder(1) to do it, and ngl it's just a small shell script wrapped around virt-builder. lowkey adorable.

The required -o parameter is where you say the output should go, like to a USB key (eg. -o /dev/sdX) or to a file. ⚠️ and if you pass a device name, the existing contents of that device get erased, so like… be so careful bestie.

The root user on the disk image uses p2v as its initial password. iykyk 🔑

🎀 the os-version parameter 🎀

The optional os-version parameter is the base Linux distro to use for the operating system on the ISO. If you don't set it, the script tries to pick a suitable default for you. Most users should not use the os-version parameter — it's giving "leave it to the professionals" 💅

Heads up: the base OS you pick for virt-p2v is not related in any way to the OS of the physical machine you're trying to convert. They're strangers, they don't know each other.

To list possible os-version combinations, do this:

virt-builder -l

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

Write a virt-p2v bootable USB key on /dev/sdX (any existing content on /dev/sdX is erased — no cap, it's gone):

virt-p2v-make-disk -o /dev/sdX

Write a virt-p2v bootable virtual disk image, and boot it under qemu:

virt-p2v-make-disk -o /var/tmp/p2v.img
qemu-kvm -m 1024 -boot c \
  -drive file=/var/tmp/p2v.img,if=virtio,index=0 \
  -drive file=/var/tmp/guest.img,if=virtio,index=1

where /var/tmp/guest.img would be the disk image of some guest that you want to convert (for testing only — testing era only 🧪).

🦋 ADDING EXTRA PACKAGES 🦋

You can install extra packages using the --install option. This is lowkey useful for making a more fully-featured virt-p2v disk with extra tools for debugging and troubleshooting. Give a list of packages, separated by commas. Like so:

virt-p2v-make-disk -o /var/tmp/p2v.img --install tcpdump,traceroute

🔐 ADDING AN SSH IDENTITY 🔐

You can inject an SSH identity (private key) file to the image using the --inject-ssh-identity option. slay.

First create a key pair. It must have an empty passphrase:

ssh-keygen -t rsa -N '' -f id_rsa

This creates a private key (id_rsa) and a public key (id_rsa.pub) pair. The public key should be appended to the authorized_keys file on the virt-v2v conversion server (usually to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys).

The private key should be injected into the disk image and then discarded — truly the "you don't need him girl" of key management:

virt-p2v-make-disk [...] --inject-ssh-identity id_rsa
rm id_rsa

When booting virt-p2v, specify the URL of the injected file like this:

│         User name: [root_____________________________] │
│                                                        │
│          Password: [    <leave this field blank>     ] │
│                                                        │
│  SSH Identity URL: [file:///var/tmp/id_rsa___________] │

or if you're using the kernel command line, add:

p2v.identity=file:///var/tmp/id_rsa

For more info, see SSH IDENTITIES in virt-p2v(1). 🫶

⭐ 32 BIT VIRT-P2V ⭐

For improved compatibility with older hardware, virt-p2v-make-disk has an --arch option. The most useful setting (on x86-64 hosts) is --arch i686, which builds a 32 bit virt-p2v environment that will work on older hardware. And the plot twist? 32 bit virt-p2v can convert 64 bit physical machines and can interoperate with 64 bit virt-v2v and 64 bit hypervisors. ate and left no crumbs.

This option requires that you have built virt-p2v.$arch (ie. usually virt-p2v.i686) by some means, and that you install it next to the ordinary virt-p2v binary (eg. in $libdir/virt-p2v/ or $VIRT_V2V_DATA_DIR). That's outside the scope of this manual page, but you can find some tips in BUILDING i686 32 BIT VIRT-P2V in p2v-building(1).

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • --help — Display help. that's it, that's the whole vibe.
  • --arch ARCH — Set the architecture of the virt-p2v ISO. See 32 BIT VIRT-P2V above. If this option is not supplied, then the default is to use the same architecture as the host that is running virt-p2v-make-disk.
  • --inject-ssh-identity id_rsa — Add an SSH identity (private key) file into the image. See ADDING AN SSH IDENTITY above.
  • --install pkg,pkg,... — Add extra packages to the image. See ADDING EXTRA PACKAGES above.
  • --no-warn-if-partition — Normally you should not write to a partition on a USB drive (ie. don't use -o /dev/sdX1, use -o /dev/sdX to make a bootable USB drive). If you do this, virt-builder prints a warning. This option suppresses that warning. 🙈
  • -o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT — Write output to OUTPUT, which can be a local file or block device. ⚠️ The existing contents of the device will be erased.
  • -v, --verbose — Enable verbose output. Use this if you need to debug problems with the script or if you are filing a bug. detective era 🔍
  • -V, --version — Display version number and exit.

🎀 FILES 🎀

  • $libdir/virt-p2v/virt-p2v.xz — The virt-p2v(1) binary which is copied into the bootable disk image. The location of the binary can be changed by setting the VIRT_P2V_DATA_DIR environment variable.
  • $datadir/virt-p2v/issue, $datadir/virt-p2v/launch-virt-p2v.in, $datadir/virt-p2v/p2v.service — Various data files that are copied into the bootable disk image. The location of these files can be changed by setting the VIRT_P2V_DATA_DIR environment variable.

🌸 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 🌸

  • VIRT_P2V_DATA_DIR — The directory where virt-p2v-make-disk looks for data files (see FILES above). If not set, a compiled-in location is used.

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

virt-p2v(1), virt-p2v-make-kickstart(1), virt-p2v-make-kiwi(1), virt-v2v(1), http://libguestfs.org/.

🫶 AUTHORS 🫶

Richard W.M. Jones http://people.redhat.com/~rjones/

Copyright (C) 2009-2019 Red Hat Inc.

📜 LICENSE 📜

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

💀 BUGS 💀

To get a list of bugs against libguestfs (which include virt-p2v), use this link: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/buglist.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools

To report a new bug against libguestfs, use this link: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/enter_bug.cgi?component=libguestfs&product=Virtualization+Tools

When reporting a bug, please supply:

  • The version of virt-p2v.
  • Where you got virt-p2v (eg. which Linux distro, compiled from source, etc)
  • Describe the bug accurately and give a way to reproduce it.

okay that's the whole page bestie, hope it slayed 💖 this was virt-p2v-1.42.4, dated 2024-11-05, and that's the virt-p2v-make-disk(1) manual page — periodt. 🎀✨

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