gistfile1.md

There are a lot of ways to create a virtual machine using kvm in linux. I will introduce the one I think is the most convenient.

Assumptions:

1. Ubuntu 14.04 or later.
2. Native system (physical machine).

Step by Step:

1. install qemu-kvm, libvirt-bin and check if hardware supports the necessary virtualization extesions for KVM.

   sudo apt install qemu-kvm libvirt-bin
   kvm-ok

2. install uvtool and uvtool-libvirt

   sudo apt -y install uvtool

3. synchronize one specific cloud-image. Use xenial(16.04) for example here.

   uvt-simplestreams-libvirt sync release=xenial arch=amd64

4. create ssh key if you don't have one.

   ssh-keygen

5. create a new virtual machine

   uvt-kvm create firsttest release=xenial

6. connect to the running VM

   uvt-kvm ssh firsttest --insecure

Reference:

https://help.ubuntu.com/lts/serverguide/virtualization.html

Other options:

1. qemu-kvm: directly using qemu-kvm gives you flexibility, but you need setup everything yourself.
2. virt-manager: a gui-based tool, very intuitive to use, but you need GUI somewhere.
3. ...