How to create a KVM virtual machineHere's the command you need to create a new KVM virtuak machine.
Assuming you are running a CentOS host and you have installed KVM via yum you can create a CentOS guest using the following command:
virt-install --name newsdesk --ram 4096 --disk path=/path/to/your/guest.img,size=500 --network network:default --vnc --vnclisten 0.0.0.0 -k en-us--os-variant rhel5.4 --cdrom /backup/CentOS-5.7-x86_64-bin-1of8.iso
An explanation of the parameters as follows:
--ram is the amount of Guest RAM in MB
--disk path=/path/to/your/guest.img,size=500 Specifies the path to the Guest Machines disk and sets the size to 500GB
--network network:default Enables default networking capability
--vnc allows you to connect to the VM over VNC
--vnclisten 0.0.0.0 makes the VM listen on all interfaces rather than just the local interface (Needed for remote installation)
-k en-us Sets the language of the VM (Required for VNC)
--os-variant rhel5.4 tells KVM that the machine is Redhat Enterprise 5.4 or higher
--cdrom /backup/CentOS-5.7-x86_64-bin-1of8.iso is the path to the CentOS iso that you want to install.
Once running you should be able to connect to the host machine via VNC and follow the installation procedure.