Error: Permission Denied when Using 'sudo virt-install' with qcow2 disk

Creating a QCOW2 Disk Using QEMU-IMG

In this article, we will discuss how to create a QCOW2 disk using QEMU-IMG and how to use it to create a virtual machine using virt-install. QEMU (Quick Emulator) is a full system emulator that can run operating systems and programs meant for another CPU or architecture. QEMU-IMG is a command-line tool that allows you to create, convert, and modify virtual disk images in various formats.

What is a QCOW2 Disk?

QCOW2 (QEMU Copy On Write version 2) is a disk image format that is commonly used in virtualization. It is a flexible and efficient format that allows for the creation of dynamically-allocated virtual disks. QCOW2 images can also be used as a base image for creating multiple virtual machines, which can save disk space and reduce image management overhead.

Creating a QCOW2 Disk Using QEMU-IMG

To create a QCOW2 disk using QEMU-IMG, you can use the following command:

This command creates a new QCOW2 disk image named ex-os.img with a size of 10 gigabytes. The -b option specifies the base image, which is used as a template for the new image. In this case, we are using a pre-existing Ubuntu Server cloud image as the base image.

Creating a Virtual Machine Using virt-install

Once you have created the QCOW2 disk, you can use it to create a virtual machine using virt-install. The virt-install command allows you to create a new virtual machine and install an operating system on it. Here is an example command:

This command creates a new virtual machine named ex-os with 2 gigabytes of RAM and 2 virtual CPUs. It also specifies the operating system type and variant, the disk image, the graphics settings, the installation media, the network settings, and whether or not to automatically open a console window.

• QEMU-IMG is a command-line tool that allows you to create, convert, and modify virtual disk images in various formats.
• QCOW2 is a disk image format that is commonly used in virtualization. It is a flexible and efficient format that allows for the creation of dynamically-allocated virtual disks.
• To create a QCOW2 disk using QEMU-IMG, you can use the qemu-img create command.
• To create a virtual machine using virt-install, you can use the virt-install command and specify the disk image using the --disk option.

References

• QEMU-IMG Manual
• virt-install Manual