Chapter 28. Managing virtual machines in the web console

To manage virtual machines in a graphical interface on a RHEL 8 host, you can use the Virtual Machines pane in the RHEL 8 web console.

Image displaying the virtual machine tab of the web console.

28.1. Overview of virtual machine management by using the web console

The RHEL 8 web console is a web-based interface for system administration. As one of its features, the web console provides a graphical view of virtual machines (VMs) on the host system, and makes it possible to create, access, and configure these VMs.

Note that to use the web console to manage your VMs on RHEL 8, you must first install a web console plug-in for virtualization.

Next steps

28.2. Setting up the web console to manage virtual machines

Before using the RHEL 8 web console to manage virtual machines (VMs), you must install the web console virtual machine plug-in on the host.

Prerequisites

  • Ensure that the web console is installed and enabled on your machine.

    # systemctl status cockpit.socket
    cockpit.socket - Cockpit Web Service Socket
    Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/cockpit.socket
    [...]

    If this command returns Unit cockpit.socket could not be found, follow the Installing the web console document to enable the web console.

Procedure

  • Install the cockpit-machines plug-in.

    # yum install cockpit-machines

Verification

  1. Access the web console, for example by entering the https://localhost:9090 address in your browser.
  2. Log in.
  3. If the installation was successful, Virtual Machines appears in the web console side menu.

    Image displaying the virtual machine tab of the web console.

28.3. Renaming virtual machines by using the web console

You might require renaming an existing virtual machine (VM) to avoid naming conflicts or assign a new unique name based on your use case. To rename the VM, you can use the RHEL web console.

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. In the Virtual Machines interface, click the Menu button of the VM that you want to rename.

    A drop-down menu appears with controls for various VM operations.

  2. Click Rename.

    The Rename a VM dialog appears.

    Image displaying the rename a VM dialog box.
  3. In the New name field, enter a name for the VM.
  4. Click Rename.

Verification

  • Check that the new VM name has appeared in the Virtual Machines interface.

28.4. Virtual machine management features available in the web console

By using the RHEL 8 web console, you can perform the following actions to manage the virtual machines (VMs) on your system.

Table 28.1. VM tasks that can be performed in the RHEL 8 web console

TaskFor details, see:

Create a VM and install it with a guest operating system

Creating virtual machines and installing guest operating systems by using the web console

Delete a VM.

Deleting virtual machines by using the web console.

Start, shut down, and restart the VM

Starting virtual machines by using the web console and Shutting down and restarting virtual machines by using the web console

Connect to and interact with a VM using a variety of consoles

Interacting with virtual machines by using the web console

View a variety of information about the VM

Viewing virtual machine information by using the web console

Adjust the host memory allocated to a VM

Adding and removing virtual machine memory by using the web console

Manage network connections for the VM

Using the web console for managing virtual machine network interfaces

Manage the VM storage available on the host and attach virtual disks to the VM

Managing storage for virtual machines

Configure the virtual CPU settings of the VM

Managing virtual CPUs by using the web console

Live migrate a VM

Live migrating a virtual machine by using the web console

Rename a VM

Renaming virtual machines by using the web console

Share files between the host and the VM

Sharing files between the host and its virtual machines

Manage host devices

Managing virtual devices by using the web console

Manage virtual optical drives

Managing virtual optical drives

Attach watchdog device

Attaching a watchdog device to a virtual machine by using the web console

28.5. Differences between virtualization features in Virtual Machine Manager and the web console

The Virtual Machine Manager (virt-manager) application is supported in RHEL 8, but has been deprecated. The web console is intended to become its replacement in a subsequent major release. It is, therefore, recommended that you get familiar with the web console for managing virtualization in a GUI.

However, in RHEL 8, some VM management tasks can only be performed in virt-manager or the command line. The following table highlights the features that are available in virt-manager but not available in the RHEL 8.0 web console.

If a feature is available in a later minor version of RHEL 8, the minimum RHEL 8 version appears in the Support in web console introduced column.

Table 28.2. VM managemennt tasks that cannot be performed using the web console in RHEL 8.0

TaskSupport in web console introducedAlternative method by using CLI

Setting a virtual machine to start when the host boots

RHEL 8.1

virsh autostart

Suspending a virtual machine

RHEL 8.1

virsh suspend

Resuming a suspended virtual machine

RHEL 8.1

virsh resume

Creating file-system directory storage pools

RHEL 8.1

virsh pool-define-as

Creating NFS storage pools

RHEL 8.1

virsh pool-define-as

Creating physical disk device storage pools

RHEL 8.1

virsh pool-define-as

Creating LVM volume group storage pools

RHEL 8.1

virsh pool-define-as

Creating partition-based storage pools

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

virsh pool-define-as

Creating GlusterFS-based storage pools

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

virsh pool-define-as

Creating vHBA-based storage pools with SCSI devices

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

virsh pool-define-as

Creating Multipath-based storage pools

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

virsh pool-define-as

Creating RBD-based storage pools

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

virsh pool-define-as

Creating a new storage volume

RHEL 8.1

virsh vol-create

Adding a new virtual network

RHEL 8.1

virsh net-create or virsh net-define

Deleting a virtual network

RHEL 8.1

virsh net-undefine

Creating a bridge from a host machine’s interface to a virtual machine

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

virsh iface-bridge

Creating a snapshot

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

virsh snapshot-create-as

Reverting to a snapshot

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

virsh snapshot-revert

Deleting a snapshot

CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

virsh snapshot-delete

Cloning a virtual machine

RHEL 8.4

virt-clone

Migrating a virtual machine to another host machine

RHEL 8.5

virsh migrate

Attaching a host device to a VM

RHEL 8.5

virt-xml --add-device

Removing a host device from a VM

RHEL 8.5

virt-xml --remove-device