libvirt: how can I make a domain start when the host starts?

Question

I would like some of my domains to start automatically when my host starts (I'm using libvirt+KVM on ubuntu). I guess I could put some "virsh start..." statements in rc.local, but is there a way to configure this within libvirt/virsh?

Solution 1

Looking at the output of "help":

virsh # help autostart
  NAME
    autostart - autostart a domain

  SYNOPSIS
    autostart <domain> [--disable]

  DESCRIPTION
    Configure a domain to be automatically started at boot.

  OPTIONS
    [--domain] <string>  domain name, id or uuid
    --disable        disable autostarting

This requires that you defined the domain from a file (i.e., that the domain is persistent rather than transient).

Solution 2

If you get the response:

    virsh autostart domainname
    "cannot set autostart for transient domain"

then

    virsh shutdown domainname
    virsh define xmlfile
    virsh start domainname
    virsh autostart domainname

In my experience on Ubuntu 12.04, this only happens if a virsh undefine has been run. Domains created with virsh create usually allow setting the autostart immediately after creation.

Comments

[Faraj Farook]

This can also happen if you create a domain using an xml file (virsh create <somevm>.xml), without defining it (virsh define <somevm>.xml)