[et-mgmt-tools] RFC: virt-manager: Redesigned 'New VM' wizard

[Cole Robinson]

Subhendu Ghosh wrote:
> Radek Hladik wrote:
>> Cole Robinson napsal(a):
>>> Subhendu Ghosh wrote:
>>>> Bryan Kearney wrote:
>>>>> Cole Robinson wrote:
>>>>>> Bryan Kearney wrote:
>>>>>>> Cole Robinson wrote:
>>>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>>> Also the wizard should support multiple NICs and disks - perhaps from
>>>> step 5 -  be able to launch sub-wizards to add nic and add disk?
>>>>
>>>
>>> I think such a process would add non-trivial complication to the UI for
>>> a rather niche case. For a user wanting a multi nic or disk configured
>>> VM, I would point them at virt-install which easily scales in this
>>> respect. Extra NICs could also be added post install, since I would
>>> think only one would be required for the install process.
>>>
>> My opinion is that this can be solved by some sort of "do not start
>> the VM and open VM details for fine tuning" option. I am not sure
>> where I've seen this (VMWare ESX maybe?) but the last page of the
>> wizard contained checkboxes like "start machine now" and "edit VM
>> details after closing the wizard". With reasonable default values you
>> can satisfy both advanced user and a "just to be done" user in a
>> straight-forward way.
>> Radek
>>
> 
> Radek's option seems to make good sense. It also has the added benefit
> of being able to create a VM but not starting it and containing the
> complexity of the wizard.
> 

I agree. Offering to just define the domain and launch the details
wizard for extra tweaking should address anyone with specific
requirements. We would certainly need to fix up things a bit in the
backend to make it work though, so this won't happen for this initial push.

> This actually leads to another question:
> If we select PXE, do subsequent reboots also enable PXE? or is PXE only
> enable for the install?
> 
> Can we have systems that will always run PXE? eg, stateless/diskless VMs?
> 

If you do a PXE install and skip adding storage (there is a checkbox to
that effect) the VM will boot PXE on every subsequent reboot. If you do
add storage, it will fall back to a HD boot (as though you simply
installed from PXE) but that is a simple change in the VM Details section.

Thanks,
Cole