Build a Virtual Disk Image

A simple virtual disk image is a compressed system disk with additional metadata useful for cloud frameworks like Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine, or Microsoft Azure. It is used as the native disk of a system, and it does not require an additional installation workflow or a complex first boot setup procedure.

To enable KIWI NG to build a simple disk image, add a type element with image="oem" in config.xml, where the oem-resize option disabled. An example configuration for a 42 GB large VMDK image with 512 MB RAM, an IDE controller and a bridged network interface is shown below:

<image schemaversion="8.0" name="Tumbleweed_appliance">
  <!-- snip -->
  <preferences>
    <type image="oem" filesystem="ext4" format="vmdk">
      <bootloader name="grub2" timeout="0"/>
      <size unit="G">42</size>
      <oemconfig>
          <oem-resize>false</oem-resize>
      </oemconfig>
      <machine memory="512" guestOS="suse" HWversion="4">
        <vmdisk id="0" controller="ide"/>
        <vmnic driver="e1000" interface="0" mode="bridged"/>
      </machine>
    </type>
    <!-- additional preferences -->
  </preferences>
  <!-- snip -->
</image>

The following attributes of the type element are deserve attention when building simple disk images:

  • format: Specifies the format of the virtual disk, possible values are: gce, ova, qcow2, vagrant, vmdk, vdi, vhd, vhdx and vhd-fixed.

  • formatoptions: Specifies additional format options passed to qemu-img. formatoptions is a comma-separated list of format specific options in a name=value format as expected by qemu-img. KIWI NG forwards the settings from the attribute as a parameter to the -o option in the qemu-img call.

The bootloader, size and machine child-elements of type can be used to customize the virtual machine image. These elements are described in the following sections: Setting up the Bootloader in the Image, Modifying the Size of the Image and Customizing the Virtual Machine

Once your image description is finished , you can build the image using the following KIWI NG command:

$ sudo kiwi-ng system build \
     --description kiwi/build-tests/x86/leap/test-image-disk-simple \
     --set-repo https://download.opensuse.org/distribution/leap/15.6/repo/oss \
     --target-dir /tmp/myimage

The resulting .raw image is stored in /tmp/myimage.

You can test the image using QEMU:

$ sudo qemu \
    -drive file=kiwi-test-image-disk-simple.x86_64-1.15.6.raw,format=raw,if=virtio \
    -m 4096

For further information on how to configure the image to work within a cloud framework see:

For information on how to setup a Vagrant system, see: Image Description for Vagrant.

Setting up the Bootloader in the Image

<preferences>
  <type>
     <bootloader name="grub2"/>
  </type>
</preferences>

The bootloader element defines which bootloader to use in the image, and the element offers several options for customizing its configuration.

For details, see: <preferences><type><bootloader>

Modifying the Size of the Image

The size child element of type specifies the size of the resulting disk image. The following example shows an image description, where 20 GB are added to the virtual machine image, of which 5 GB are left unpartitioned:

<preferences>
  <type image="oem" format="vmdk">
    <size unit="G" additive="true" unpartitioned="5">20</size>
    <oemconfig>
        <oem-resize>false</oem-resize>
    </oemconfig>
  </type>
</preferences>

The following optional attributes can be used to futher customize the image size:

  • unit: Defines the unit used for the provided numerical value, possible values are M for megabytes and G for gigabytes. The default unit is megabytes.

  • additive: Boolean value that determines whether the provided value is added to the current image size (additive="true") or whether it is the total size (additive="false"). The default value is false.

  • unpartitioned: Specifies the image space in the image that is not partitioned. The attribute uses either the same unit as defined in the attribute unit or the default value.

Customizing the Virtual Machine

The machine child element of type can be used to customize the virtual machine configuration, including the number of CPUs and the connected network interfaces.

The following attributes are supported by the machine element:

  • ovftype: The OVF configuration type. The Open Virtualization Format is a standard for describing virtual appliances and distribute them in an archive called Open Virtual Appliance (OVA). The standard describes the major components associated with a disk image. The exact specification depends on the product using the format. Supported values are zvm, powervm, xen and vmware.

  • HWversion: The virtual machine’s hardware version (vmdk and ova formats only), refer to VMware documentation for further information on the supported values.

  • arch: the VM architecture (vmdk format only). Valid values are ix86 (= i585 and i686) and x86_64.

  • xen_loader: the Xen target loader which is expected to load the guest. Valid values are: hvmloader, pygrub and pvgrub.

  • guestOS: The virtual guest OS’ identification string for the VM (only applicable for vmdk and ova formats. Note that the name designation is different for the two formats). Note: For vmware ovftools, guestOS is a VMX GuestOS, but not VIM GuestOS. For instance, correct value for Ubuntu 64 bit is “ubuntu-64”, but not “ubuntu64Guest”. See GUEST_OS_KEY_MAP in guest_os_tables.h at https://github.com/vmware/open-vm-tools for another guestOS values.

  • min_memory: The virtual machine’s minimum memory in MB (ova format only).

  • max_memory: The virtual machine’s maximum memory in MB (ova format only).

  • min_cpu: The virtual machine’s minimum CPU count (ova format only).

  • max_cpu: The virtual machine’s maximum CPU count (ova format only).

  • memory: The virtual machine’s memory in MB (all formats).

  • ncpus: The number of virtual CPUs available to the virtual machine (all formats).

machine also supports additional child elements that are covered in the following subsections.

Modifying the VM Configuration Directly

The vmconfig-entry element is used to add entries directly into the virtual machine’s configuration file. This is currently only supported for the vmdk format where the provided strings are directly pasted into the .vmx file.

The vmconfig-entry element has no attributes and can appear multiple times. The entries are added to the configuration file in the provided order. Note that KIWI NG does not check the entries for correctness.

The following example adds the two entries numvcpus = "4" and cpuid.coresPerSocket = "2" into the VM configuration file:

<preferences>
  <type image="oem" filesystem="ext4" format="vmdk">
    <machine memory="512" guestOS="suse" HWversion="4">
      <vmconfig-entry>numvcpus = "4"</vmconfig-entry>
      <vmconfig-entry>cpuid.coresPerSocket = "2"</vmconfig-entry>
    </machine>
  </type>
</preferences>

Adding Network Interfaces to the VM

Network interfaces can be explicitly specified for the VM when required via the vmnic element. This makes is possible to add another bridged interface or to specify the driver wto be used.

Note that this element is used for the vmdk image format only.

The following example adds a bridged network interface that uses the e1000 driver:

<preferences>
  <type image="oem" filesystem="ext4" format="vmdk">
    <machine memory="4096" guestOS="suse" HWversion="4">
      <vmnic driver="e1000" interface="0" mode="bridged"/>
    </machine>
  </type>
</preferences>

The vmnic element supports the following attributes:

  • interface: Mandatory interface ID for the VM’s network interface.

  • driver: An optional driver.

  • mac: The MAC address of the specified interface.

  • mode: The mode of the interface.

Note that KIWI NG doesn not verify the values of the attributes, it only inserts them into the appropriate configuration files.

Specifying Disks and Disk Controllers

The vmdisk element can be used to customize the disks and disk controllers for the virtual machine. This element can be specified for each disk or disk controller present.

Note that this element is used for vmdk and ova image formats only.

The following example adds a disk with the ID 0 that uses an IDE controller:

<preferences>
  <type image="oem" filesystem="ext4" format="vmdk">
    <machine memory="512" guestOS="suse" HWversion="4">
      <vmdisk id="0" controller="ide"/>
    </machine>
  </type>
</preferences>

Each vmdisk element can be further customized using optional attributes:

Adding CD/DVD Drives

KIWI NG supports adding IDE and SCSCI CD/DVD drives to the virtual machine using the vmdvd element for the vmdk image format. The following example adds two drives: one with a SCSCI and another with a IDE controller:

<preferences>
  <type image="oem" filesystem="ext4">
    <machine memory="512" xen_loader="hvmloader">
      <vmdvd id="0" controller="scsi"/>
      <vmdvd id="1" controller="ide"/>
    </machine>
  </type>
</preferences>

The vmdvd element features two mandatory attributes:

  • id: The CD/DVD ID of the drive.

  • controller: The CD/DVD controller used for the VM guest. Valid values are ide and scsi.