VIRT-V2V-OUTPUT-OPENSTACK(1)

📦
version 2.13.8 · 14 versions
, in centos-stream 10

💅 virt-v2v-output-openstack

okay bestie, so this is a manual page — virt-v2v-output-openstack(1) — and it's literally all about using virt-v2v to convert guests so they can run on OpenStack. no cap. let's get into it 🫶

✨ NAME ✨

virt-v2v-output-openstack — using virt-v2v to convert guests to OpenStack 🌈

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

virt-v2v [-i* options] -o openstack
                       -oo server-id=SERVER
                       [-oo guest-id=GUEST]
                       [-oo verify-server-certificate=false]
                       [-oo os-username=admin] [-oo os-*=*]

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

This page is your lil guide to using virt-v2v(1) to convert guests so they can run on OpenStack. that's the whole vibe 💖

-o openstack -oo server-id=SERVER [...]

Full description lives down in "OUTPUT TO OPENSTACK" 👇

This is the modern method for uploading to OpenStack via the REST API, bestie. guests can be directly converted into Cinder volumes. iconic. 🔥

👑 OUTPUT TO OPENSTACK 👑

To output to OpenStack, you use the -o openstack option. periodt.

🧚 OpenStack: Setting up a conversion appliance

When virt-v2v is converting to OpenStack, it's kind of unusual in that virt-v2v must be running inside a virtual machine running on top of the OpenStack overcloud. This virtual machine is called the "conversion appliance". ⭐

heads up: this virtual machine is unrelated to the guest which is being converted. don't confuse them, bestie 💀

The reason for this is because to create Cinder volumes that will contain the guest data (for the converted guest) we must attach those Cinder volumes to an OpenStack virtual machine.

The openstack command must be installed in the appliance. we use it for communicating with OpenStack 🫶

When virt-v2v is running in the conversion appliance, you must supply the name or UUID of the conversion appliance to virt-v2v, eg:

$ openstack server list
+--------------------------------------+-----------+--------+
| ID                                   | Name      | Status |
+--------------------------------------+-----------+--------+
| bbb0147a-44b9-4d19-9a9d-10ca9a984744 | test1     | ACTIVE |
+--------------------------------------+-----------+--------+

# virt-v2v [...] \
      -o openstack -oo server-id=bbb0147a-44b9-4d19-9a9d-10ca9a984744

or:

# virt-v2v [...] -o openstack -oo server-id=test1

You can run many parallel conversions inside a single conversion appliance if you want — subject to having enough resources available. but bestie, OpenStack itself imposes a limit you should be aware of:

OpenStack cannot attach more than around 25 disks [the exact number varies with configuration] to a single appliance, and that limits the number of guests which can be converted in parallel, because each guest's disk must be attached to the appliance while being copied. 😭

🔐 OpenStack: Authentication

Converting to OpenStack requires access to the tenant (non-admin) API endpoints. You'll need to either set up your $OS_* environment variables or use output options on the virt-v2v command line to authenticate with OpenStack.

For example:

export OS_USERNAME=admin

or:

virt-v2v [...] -o openstack -oo os-username=admin

are equivalent, and have the same effect as using --os-username on the command line of OpenStack tools. slay ✨

Normally there's a file called overcloudrc or keystonerc_admin which you can simply "source" to set everything up. 🌸

If you need to copy overcloudrc to another machine, check if it references the OS_CLOUD environment variable. If so, you may have to copy the clouds.yaml file from /etc/openstack/ or $HOME/.config/openstack/ to the other machine as well. see the section "CLOUD CONFIGURATION" in the openstack CLI manual. iykyk 💅

🧑‍💻 OpenStack: Running as root

Because virt-v2v must access Cinder volumes which are presented as /dev devices to the conversion appliance, virt-v2v must usually run as root in -o openstack mode.

If you use sudo to start virt-v2v and you're using environment variables for authentication, remember to use the sudo -E option to preserve the environment. no cap, this one gets people 🙈

🏷️ OpenStack: Guest ID

virt-v2v [...] -o openstack -oo guest-id=123-456-7890

You may optionally specify -oo guest-id=... on the command line. The ID (which can be any string) is saved on each Cinder volume in the virt_v2v_guest_id volume property. 💖

This can be used to find disks associated with a guest, or to associate which disks are related to which guests when converting many guests. super useful fr fr.

🛡️ OpenStack: Ignore server certificate

Using -oo verify-server-certificate=false you can tell the openstack client to ignore the server certificate when connecting to the OpenStack API endpoints. This has the same effect as passing the --insecure option to the openstack command. 🔥

🚀 OpenStack: Converting a guest

The final command to convert the guest, running as root, will be:

# virt-v2v [-i options ...] \
      -o openstack -oo server-id=NAME|UUID [-oo guest-id=ID]

If you include authentication options on the command line then:

# virt-v2v [-i options ...] \
      -o openstack -oo server-id=NAME|UUID -oo os-username=admin [etc]

🌟 OpenStack: Booting the guest

Guests are converted as Cinder volume(s) — one volume per disk in the original guest. To boot them use the openstack server create --volume option:

$ openstack volume list
+--------------------------------------+---------------+-----------+
| ID                                   | Name          | Status    |
+--------------------------------------+---------------+-----------+
| c4d06d15-22ef-462e-9eff-ab54ab285a1f | fedora-27-sda | available |
+--------------------------------------+---------------+-----------+
$ openstack server create \
      --flavor x1.small \
      --volume c4d06d15-22ef-462e-9eff-ab54ab285a1f \
      myguest
$ openstack console url show myguest

ate. 👑

🍓 OpenStack: Other conversion options

To specify the Cinder volume type, use -os. If not specified then no Cinder volume type is used. 🎀

⚠️ the following options are not supported with OpenStack: -oa, -of. just so you know bestie 💀

🔗 SEE ALSO 🔗

🫶 AUTHOR 🫶

Richard W.M. Jones 💜

Copyright (C) 2009-2025 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, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

🐛 BUGS 🐛

To get a list of bugs against libguestfs, 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 libguestfs.
  • Where you got libguestfs (eg. which Linux distro, compiled from source, etc)
  • Describe the bug accurately and give a way to reproduce it.
  • Run libguestfs-test-tool(1) and paste the complete, unedited output into the bug report. no editing bestie, they need the whole thing 🙈
💫 and that's the whole page! this one's from virt-v2v-2.13.8, dated 2026-10-05 — the virt-v2v-output-openstack(1) manual. go convert some guests, you absolute icon 💅✨🎀
📦 where this page comes from