getting started with a VM

getting started with a VM

[Myles English]

Hello,

I have been using Guix as a package manager for a while and would like
to try GuixSD as a VM.  I am having trouble getting started and have a
few questions if you don't mind.

What needs to be considered when choosing whether to install on a VM
from the USB image[1] or using the pre-built VM image[2]?

After starting a VM from the pre-built image, as per the manual:

qemu-system-x86_64 \
   -net user -net nic,model=virtio \
   -enable-kvm -m 256 guixsd-vm-image-0.13.0.x86_64-linux

how would I ssh into it?  The docs[2] say "to get network access from
within the vm add the (dhcp-client-service) to your system
definition...", where is the system definition of the pre-built image?

Thanks,
Myles


[2] https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/html_node/Running-GuixSD-in-a-VM.html#Running-GuixSD-in-a-VM
[1] https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/html_node/Installing-GuixSD-in-a-VM.html#Installing-GuixSD-in-a-VM

Re: getting started with a VM

[Leo Famulari]

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On Mon, Jun 19, 2017 at 02:23:33PM +0100, Myles English wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I have been using Guix as a package manager for a while and would like
> to try GuixSD as a VM.  I am having trouble getting started and have a
> few questions if you don't mind.
> 
> What needs to be considered when choosing whether to install on a VM
> from the USB image[1] or using the pre-built VM image[2]?

If you simply want to use GuixSD, rather than test the GuixSD
installation procedure, I recommend creating a VM to your
specifications, for example:

$ guix build vm-image --image-size=100G /path/to/config.scm

If you want to try the installation procedure, use the USB installer and
following the instructions from Installing GuixSD in a VM.

I created the pre-built VM image so that we could offer an "officially"
signed and released VM image for VPS hosters to offer their customers.

> After starting a VM from the pre-built image, as per the manual:
> 
> qemu-system-x86_64 \
>    -net user -net nic,model=virtio \
>    -enable-kvm -m 256 guixsd-vm-image-0.13.0.x86_64-linux
> 
> how would I ssh into it?  The docs[2] say "to get network access from
> within the vm add the (dhcp-client-service) to your system
> definition...", where is the system definition of the pre-built image?

The system declaration is found at 'gnu/system/examples/vm-image.tmpl'.
As I said above, I recommend creating your own VM image from the latest
Guix Git commit. There are many fixed security bugs since the 0.13.0
release.

As for SSH into the VM, you'll need to learn a bit about QEMU
networking. As the manual says in Running GuixSD in a Virtual Machine,
'-net user' does not allow the host to access the guest system.

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