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10.2. Installing the Drivers on an Installed Windows Guest Virtual Machine

This procedure covers installing the virtio drivers with a virtualized CD-ROM after Windows is installed.
Follow this procedure to add a CD-ROM image with virt-manager and then install the drivers.

Procedure 10.1. Installing from the driver CD-ROM image with virt-manager

  1. Open virt-manager and the guest virtual machine

    Open virt-manager, then open the guest virtual machine from the list by double-clicking the guest name.
  2. Open the hardware window

    Click the lightbulb icon on the toolbar at the top of the window to view virtual hardware details.
    The Show virtual hardware details button.

    Figure 10.1. The virtual hardware details button

    Then click the Add Hardware button at the bottom of the new view that appears. This opens a wizard for adding the new device.
  3. Select the device type — for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 versions prior to 6.2

    Skip this step if you are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2 or later.
    On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 versions prior to version 6.2, you must select the type of device you wish to add. In this case, select Storage from the drop-down menu.
    The Add new virtual hardware wizard window in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 with Storage selected as the hardware type.

    Figure 10.2. The Add new virtual hardware wizard in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1

    Click the Finish button to proceed.
  4. Select the ISO file

    Ensure that the Select managed or other existing storage radio button is selected, and browse to the virtio driver's .iso image file. The default location for the latest version of the drivers is /usr/share/virtio-win/virtio-win.iso.
    Change the Device type to IDE cdrom and click the Forward button to proceed.
    Selecting the ISO file in the Add new virtual hardware wizard window.

    Figure 10.3. The Add new virtual hardware wizard

  5. Finish adding virtual hardware — for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 versions prior to 6.2

    If you are using Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.2 or later, skip this step.
    On Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 versions prior to version 6.2, click on the Finish button to finish adding the virtual hardware and close the wizard.
    The final screen of the Add new virtual hardware wizard in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1.

    Figure 10.4. The Add new virtual hardware wizard in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1

  6. Reboot

    Reboot or start the virtual machine to begin using the driver disc. Virtualized IDE devices require a restart to for the virtual machine to recognize the new device.
Once the CD-ROM with the drivers is attached and the virtual machine has started, proceed with Procedure 10.2, “Windows installation on a Windows 7 virtual machine”.

Procedure 10.2. Windows installation on a Windows 7 virtual machine

This procedure installs the drivers on a Windows 7 virtual machine as an example. Adapt the Windows installation instructions to your guest's version of Windows.
  1. Open the Computer Management window

    On the desktop of the Windows virtual machine, click the Windows icon at the bottom corner of the screen to open the Start menu.
    Right-click on Computer and select Manage from the pop-up menu.
    A menu window opens on the Computer Management window when right-clicking the My Computer icon on the desktop.

    Figure 10.5. The Computer Management window

  2. Open the Device Manager

    Select the Device Manager from the left-most pane. This can be found under Computer Management > System Tools.
    Opening the Device Manager on the right hand side of the Computer Management window.

    Figure 10.6. The Computer Management window

  3. Start the driver update wizard

    1. View available system devices

      Expand System devices by clicking on the arrow to its left.
      Detail of viewing available system devices from the Computer Management window.

      Figure 10.7. Viewing available system devices in the Computer Management window

    2. Locate the appropriate device

      There are up to four drivers available: the balloon driver, the serial driver, the network driver, and the block driver.
      • Balloon, the balloon driver, affects the PCI standard RAM Controller in the System devices group.
      • vioserial, the serial driver, affects the PCI Simple Communication Controller in the System devices group.
      • NetKVM, the network driver, affects the Network adapters group. This driver is only available if a virtio NIC is configured. Configurable parameters for this driver are documented in Appendix A, NetKVM Driver Parameters.
      • viostor, the block driver, affects the Disk drives group. This driver is only available if a virtio disk is configured.
      Right-click on the device whose driver you wish to update, and select Update Driver... from the pop-up menu.
      This example installs the balloon driver, so right-click on PCI standard RAM Controller.
      Locate the appropriate device under the expanded System Devices entry in the Computer Management window.

      Figure 10.8. The Computer Management window

    3. Open the driver update wizard

      From the drop-down menu, select Update Driver Software... to access the driver update wizard.
      Open the driver update wizard by right-clicking the device to be updated and selecting the first menu option, Update Driver Software, in the Computer Management window.

      Figure 10.9. Opening the driver update wizard

  4. Specify how to find the driver

    The first page of the driver update wizard asks how you want to search for driver software. Click on the second option, Browse my computer for driver software.
    The driver update wizard provides two options for searching for driver software.

    Figure 10.10. The driver update wizard

  5. Select the driver to install

    1. Open a file browser

      Click on Browse...
      The driver update wizard.

      Figure 10.11. The driver update wizard

    2. Browse to the location of the driver

      A separate driver is provided for each of the various combinations of operating system and architecture. The drivers are arranged hierarchically according to their driver type, the operating system, and the architecture on which they will be installed: driver_type/os/arch/. For example, the Balloon driver for a Windows 7 operating system with an x86 (32-bit) architecture, resides in the Balloon/w7/x86 directory.
      The Browse For Folder window, which pops up after choosing "Browse" to search for driver software on your computer. Select the folder that contains drivers for your hardware from this window.

      Figure 10.12. The Browse for driver software pop-up window

      Once you have navigated to the correct location, click OK.
    3. Click Next to continue

      The Update Driver Software wizard, with the specified location to search for driver software selected, with the Browse button on the right, and the Next and Cancel buttons at the bottom right of the window.

      Figure 10.13. The Update Driver Software wizard

      The following screen is displayed while the driver installs:
      As the driver software installs, a flashing bar in the Update Driver Software wizard window shows the system is busy.

      Figure 10.14. The Update Driver Software wizard

  6. Close the installer

    The following screen is displayed when installation is complete:
    After the driver software installs, the Update Driver Software wizard window read "Windows has successfully updated your driver software".

    Figure 10.15. The Update Driver Software wizard

    Click Close to close the installer.
  7. Reboot

    Reboot the virtual machine to complete the driver installation.