Libvirt Realms
The tiCrypt backend will support image uploading through the tiCrypt frontend. Currently, you can transfer the image to the distributed file system that stores the Libvirt pools and to activate the image manually.
Performing these operations requires root access to all the VM hosts.
Listing the existing pools
#Execute on one of the VM Hosts
#
virsh pool-list
The result should look like this:
| Name | State | Autostart |
|---|---|---|
default | active | yes |
ticrypt-bricks | active | yes |
ticrypt-vm | active | yes |
ticrypt-vm-drives | active | yes |
ticrypt-vm-uploaded-images | active | yes |
The ticrypt-vm-uploaded-images pool is reserved for future use. The pool where the new image needs to be placed is ticrypt-bricks.
Finding the location of ticrypt-bricks pool
virsh pool-dumpxml ticrypt-bricks |grep -i path
The result should look like this:
<path>/ticrypt/libvirt/pools/ticrypt-bricks</path>
The path will of course differ depending on your setup. For the rest of this section, we will use this path but you have to replace it with yours.
Placing and activating the new VM image
# Place the image in the pool
cp MyImage.qcow2 /ticrypt/libvirt/pools/ticrypt-bricks
# Refresh the pool so Libvirt knows about it
virsh pool-refresh ticrypt-bricks
# List the images in the pool and find ours
virsh vol-list ticrypt-bricks | grep MyImage
If you want to list all the images, run the last command without grep:
# List all the images
virsh vol-list ticrypt-bricks
Integration with tiCrypt backend
Once you added an image, navigate to the tab in tiCrypt frontend, and under Libvirt Volumes ensure that the new image is visible to tiCrypt (refresh the list if it is not).
Under the section, add a new image and point it to the new Libvirt Volume corresponding to your image. Provide the required information, especially the OS.
Only VM Images are visible to the VM Bricks, not Libvirt Volumes. If you do not define a VM Image, you cannot use it to build or update a VM Brick.
Nutanix Realms
In Nutanix, the VM Image can only be added through the PRISM interface.
You must have access to PRISM and sufficient credentials to be able to perform this operation.
Nutanix will convert your image from any of the supported formats into the correct type.
Carefully name your image since you have to remember the name when creating the VM Brick in tiCrypt.
Once the image is transferred, it will be visible within tiCrypt in the tab, section.
Building VM Bricks in tiCrypt
Once a VM Image is built based on your new disk image, the process is the same for both Libvirt and Nutanix realm types. The VM Image becomes available as a choice of image for the construction of a new or an existing updating VM Brick.
Updating an existing VM Brick does not affect any running VMs based on that brick until the VM reboots.