13.6. Managing virtual optical drives

When using a virtual machine (VM), you can access information stored in an ISO image on the host. To do so, attach the ISO image to the VM as a virtual optical drive, such as a CD drive or a DVD drive.

The following sections provide information about using the command line to:

13.6.1. Attaching optical drives to virtual machines

To attach an ISO image as a virtual optical drive, edit the XML configuration file of the virtual machine (VM) and add the new drive.

Conditions préalables

  • You must store the ISO image on the local host.
  • You must know the path to the ISO image.

Procédure

  • Use the virt-xml utility with the --add-device argument.

    For example, the following command attaches the Doc10 ISO image, stored in the /MC/tank/ directory, to the DN1 VM. 

    # virt-xml DN1 --add-device --disk /MC/tank/Doc10.iso,device=cdrom
Domain 'DN1' defined successfully.

Vérification

  • Run the VM and test if the device is present and works as expected.

Ressources supplémentaires

13.6.2. Replacing ISO images in virtual optical drives

To replace an ISO image attached as a virtual optical drive to a virtual machine (VM), edit the XML configuration file of the VM and specify the replacement.

Conditions préalables

  • You must store the ISO image on the local host.
  • You must know the path to the ISO image.

Procédure

  1. Locate the target device where the CD-ROM is attached to the VM. You can find this information in the VM’s XML configuration file.

    For example, the following command displays the DN1 VM’s XML configuration file, where the target device for CD-ROM is sda. 

    # virsh dumpxml DN1
...
<disk>
  ...
  <source file='/MC/tank/Doc10.iso'/>
  <target dev='sda' bus='sata'/>
  ...
</disk>
...

  2. Use the virt-xml utility with the --edit argument.

    For example, the following command replaces the Doc10 ISO image, attached to the DN1 VM at target sda, with the DrDN ISO image stored in the /Dvrs/current/ directory. 

    # virt-xml DN1 --edit target=sda --disk /Dvrs/current/DrDN.iso
Domain 'DN1' defined successfully.

Vérification

  • Run the VM and test if the device is replaced and works as expected.

Ressources supplémentaires

  • The man virt-xml command

13.6.3. Removing ISO images from virtual optical drives

To remove an ISO image from a virtual optical drive attached to a virtual machine (VM), edit the XML configuration file of the VM.

Procédure

  1. Locate the target device where the CD-ROM is attached to the VM. You can find this information in the VM’s XML configuration file.

    For example, the following command displays the DN1 VM’s XML configuration file, where the target device for CD-ROM is sda. 

    # virsh dumpxml DN1
...
<disk>
  ...
  <source file='/Dvrs/current/DrDN'/>
  <target dev='sda' bus='sata'/>
  ...
</disk>
...

  2. Use the virt-xml utility with the --edit argument.

    For example, the following command removes the DrDN ISO image from the CD drive attached to the DN1 VM. 

    # virt-xml DN1 --edit target=sda --disk path=
Domain 'DN1' defined successfully.

Vérification

  • Run the VM and check that image is no longer available.

Ressources supplémentaires

  • The man virt-xml command

13.6.4. Removing optical drives from virtual machines

To remove an optical drive attached to a virtual machine (VM), edit the XML configuration file of the VM.

Procédure

  1. Locate the target device where the CD-ROM is attached to the VM. You can find this information in the VM’s XML configuration file.

    For example, the following command displays the DN1 VM’s XML configuration file, where the target device for CD-ROM is sda. 

    # virsh dumpxml DN1
...
<disk type='file' device='cdrom'>
  <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>
  <target dev='sda' bus='sata'/>
  ...
</disk>
...

  2. Use the virt-xml utility with the --remove-device argument.

    For example, the following command removes the optical drive attached as target sda from the DN1 VM. 

    # virt-xml DN1 --remove-device --disk target=sda
Domain 'DN1' defined successfully.

Vérification

  • Confirm that the device is no longer listed in the XML configuration file of the VM.

Ressources supplémentaires

  • The man virt-xml command