3.2. Starting the virtual machine using Run Once

3.2.1. Installing Windows on VirtIO-optimized hardware

Install VirtIO-optimized disk and network device drivers during your Windows installation by attaching the virtio-win_version.iso file to your virtual machine. These drivers provide a performance improvement over emulated device drivers.

Use the Run Once option to attach the virtio-win_version.iso file in a one-off boot different from the Boot Options defined in the New Virtual Machine window.

Prerequisites

The following items were added to the virtual machine:

  • A Red Hat VirtIO network interface
  • A disk that uses the VirtIO interface

You can upload virtio-win_version.iso to a data storage domain.

Note

Red Hat recommends uploading ISO images to the data domain with the Administration Portal or with the REST API. For more information, see Uploading Images to a Data Storage Domain in the Administration Guide.

If necessary, you can upload the virtio-win ISO file to an ISO storage domain that is hosted on the Manager. The ISO storage domain type is deprecated. For more information, see Uploading images to an ISO domain in the Administration Guide.

Procedure

To install the virtio-win drivers when installing Windows, complete the following steps:

  1. Click Compute → Virtual Machines and select a virtual machine.
  2. Click Run → Run Once.
  3. Expand the Boot Options menu.
  4. Select the Attach CD check box, and select a Windows ISO from the drop-down list.
  5. Select the Attach Windows guest tools CD check box.
  6. Move CD-ROM to the top of the Boot Sequence field.
  7. Configure other Run Once options as required. See Virtual Machine Run Once settings explained for more details.

  8. Click OK. The status of the virtual machine changes to Up, and the operating system installation begins.

    Open a console to the virtual machine if one does not open automatically during the Windows installation.

  9. When prompted to select a drive onto which you want to install Windows, click Load driver and OK.
  10. Under Select the driver to install, select the appropriate driver for the version of Windows. For example, for Windows Server 2019, select Red Hat VirtIO SCSI controller (E:\amd64\2k19\viostor.inf)
  11. Click Next.

The rest of the installation proceeds as normal.

3.2.2. Opening a console to a virtual machine

Use Remote Viewer to connect to a virtual machine.

Note

To allow other users to connect to the VM, make sure you shutdown and restart the virtual machine when you are finished using the console. Alternatively, the administrator can Disable strict user checking to eliminate the need for reboot between users. See Virtual Machine Console Settings Explained for more information.

Procedure

  1. Install Remote Viewer if it is not already installed. See Installing Console Components.
  2. Click Compute → Virtual Machines and select a virtual machine.
  3. Click Console. By default, the browser prompts you to download a file named console.vv. When you click to open the file, a console window opens for the virtual machine. You can configure your browser to automatically open these files, such that clicking Console simply opens the console.
Note

console.vv expires after 120 seconds. If more than 120 seconds elapse between the time the file is downloaded and the time that you open the file, click Console again.

Additional resources