kcli-vm-operations

name	kcli-vm-operations
description	Guides VM lifecycle operations with kcli. Use when creating, managing, or troubleshooting virtual machines across providers.

Important: Before creating a VM, always run kcli create vm -h to check the latest available flags and examples.

kcli VM Operations

VM Lifecycle Commands

Create VM

# From image
kcli create vm -i fedora40 myvm

# With parameters
kcli create vm -i centos9stream -P memory=4096 -P numcpus=4 -P disks=[20,50] myvm

# From profile
kcli create vm -p myprofile myvm

# Create multiple VMs at once with -c (count)
kcli create vm -c 3 myvm

# Create 3 VMs to emulate baremetal
kcli create vm -P start=false -P memory=20480 -P numcpus=16 -P disks=[200] -P uefi=true -P nets=[default] -c 3 myvm

# Create a VM with a static IP
kcli create vm -i centos9stream -P nets=['{"name":"default","ip":"192.168.122.250","netmask":"24","gateway":"192.168.122.1"}'] myvm

# Create a VM with a DNS reservation
kcli create vm -i centos9stream -P nets=['{"name":"default","reservedns":"true"}'] myvm

# Create a VM with a DHCP reservation
kcli create vm -i centos9stream -P nets=['{"name":"default","ip":"192.168.122.250","reserveip":"true"}'] myvm

List VMs

kcli list vm                    # All VMs
kcli list vm -o yaml            # YAML output
kcli list vm -o json            # JSON output

VM Info

kcli info vm myvm               # Full info
kcli info vm myvm -f ip         # Specific field
kcli info vm myvm -o yaml       # YAML format

Start/Stop/Restart

kcli start vm myvm
kcli stop vm myvm
kcli restart vm myvm

Delete VM

kcli delete vm myvm             # With confirmation
kcli delete vm myvm --yes       # Skip confirmation
kcli delete vm myvm --snapshots # Delete snapshots too

SSH Access

kcli ssh myvm                   # SSH as default user
kcli ssh -u root myvm           # SSH as specific user
kcli ssh -l myvm                # List SSH command only

Console Access

kcli console myvm               # Graphical console (VNC/SPICE)
kcli console myvm --serial      # Serial console

Disk Operations

# Add disk
kcli create disk -s 20 -p default myvm  # 20GB disk
kcli create disk -s 50 --thin myvm      # Thin provisioned

# Delete disk
kcli delete disk myvm-disk1 myvm

# List disks
kcli list disk

NIC Operations

# Add NIC
kcli create nic -n mynetwork myvm

# Delete NIC
kcli delete nic eth1 myvm

# Update NIC
kcli update nic -n newnetwork myvm --index 0

Snapshots

# Create snapshot
kcli create snapshot myvm mysnapshot

# List snapshots
kcli list snapshot myvm

# Revert to snapshot
kcli revert snapshot myvm mysnapshot

# Delete snapshot
kcli delete snapshot myvm mysnapshot

VM Configuration

Configuration Hierarchy

Parameters are resolved in order (later overrides earlier):

1. kvirt/defaults.py - Built-in defaults
2. ~/.kcli/config.yml default section
3. Provider-specific section in config.yml
4. Profile definition (~/.kcli/profiles.yml)
5. Plan file parameters
6. Command-line -P overrides

Common Parameters

# Compute
numcpus: 2                      # CPU count
memory: 512                     # Memory in MB
cpumodel: host-model            # CPU model

# Storage
pool: default                   # Storage pool
disks:                          # Disk configuration
  - size: 20                    # Size in GB
  - size: 50
    pool: otherpool
    thin: true

# Network
nets:                           # Network configuration
  - default                     # Simple: network name only
  - name: mynet                 # Advanced: with options
    ip: 192.168.1.10
    netmask: 255.255.255.0
    gateway: 192.168.1.1
    mac: aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff

# OS Customization
image: fedora40                 # Base image
cloudinit: true                 # Enable cloud-init
keys:                           # SSH public keys
  - ssh-rsa AAAA... user@host
cmds:                           # Post-boot commands
  - dnf -y update
  - systemctl enable nginx
files:                          # Files to inject
  - path: /etc/myconfig
    content: |
      key=value

Images

# List available images
kcli list image

# Download image
kcli download image fedora40
kcli download image centos9stream -p mypool

# Delete image
kcli delete image fedora40

# List all available images (from kcli catalog)
kcli list available-images

Profiles

Profiles in ~/.kcli/profiles.yml:

small:
  numcpus: 1
  memory: 1024
  disks:
    - size: 10

medium:
  numcpus: 2
  memory: 2048
  disks:
    - size: 20

webserver:
  image: centos9stream
  numcpus: 2
  memory: 4096
  nets:
    - default
  cmds:
    - dnf -y install nginx
    - systemctl enable --now nginx

Usage:

kcli create vm -p webserver myweb

Update Operations

# Update memory
kcli update vm myvm -P memory=8192

# Update CPUs
kcli update vm myvm -P numcpus=4

# Update metadata
kcli update vm myvm -P information="Production server"

Clone VM

kcli clone vm myvm myclone
kcli clone vm myvm myclone --full  # Full clone (not linked)

Export VM

kcli export vm myvm                 # Export to image
kcli export vm myvm --image myimage # Custom image name

Troubleshooting

VM Won't Start

kcli -d start vm myvm              # Debug output
sudo virsh list --all               # Check libvirt state
sudo virsh start myvm               # Try direct start

No IP Address

# Check DHCP is enabled on network
kcli info network default

# Check cloud-init completed
kcli ssh myvm
cat /var/log/cloud-init.log

SSH Connection Issues

# Get SSH command details
kcli ssh -l myvm

# Check VM has IP
kcli info vm myvm -f ip

# Try direct SSH
ssh -i ~/.kcli/id_rsa user@<ip>