advanced

#llm.claude-opus-4 (Private)

VM Management and Advanced Features

Managing Your Ubuntu VM

Basic VM Operations

Starting and Stopping

Start: Click on the VM in GNOME Boxes main window
Pause: Click pause button while VM is running (saves current state)
Shutdown: Click power button → "Shut Down" (graceful shutdown)
Force Shutdown: Right-click VM → "Force Shutdown" (like pulling power)

Keyboard Shortcuts in VM Window

Ctrl+Alt: Release mouse from VM window
F11: Toggle fullscreen
Ctrl+Alt+F: Toggle fullscreen (alternative)
Ctrl+Alt+Q: Quit VM window (VM keeps running)

Snapshots

Snapshots save the complete VM state at a point in time, perfect for:

Before system updates
Before installing new software
Creating restore points for testing

Creating Snapshots

Right-click VM → Properties
Go to Snapshots tab
Click "+" button
Name it descriptively:
- "Fresh Install - Ubuntu 24.04"
- "Before Development Setup"
- "Clean State - 2024-01-15"

Managing Snapshots

# From command line (advanced)
# List snapshots
virsh snapshot-list "Ubuntu-VM-Name"

# Create snapshot
virsh snapshot-create-as "Ubuntu-VM-Name" "Snapshot-Name" "Description"

# Revert to snapshot
virsh snapshot-revert "Ubuntu-VM-Name" "Snapshot-Name"

# Delete snapshot
virsh snapshot-delete "Ubuntu-VM-Name" "Snapshot-Name"

Snapshot Best Practices

Take snapshots when VM is shut down for consistency
Delete old snapshots to save disk space
Name snapshots descriptively
Don't rely on snapshots as backups

Cloning VMs

Cloning creates an exact copy of your VM:

Via GNOME Boxes

Ensure source VM is shut down
Right-click VM → Clone
Enter new name
Wait for cloning to complete

Via Command Line

# Full clone (independent copy)
virt-clone --original "Ubuntu-VM" --name "Ubuntu-Clone" --auto-clone

# Check the clone
virsh list --all

VM Import/Export

Exporting a VM

# Find VM storage location
virsh domblklist "Ubuntu-VM"

# Export VM definition
virsh dumpxml "Ubuntu-VM" > ubuntu-vm.xml

# Copy disk image (usually in)
cp /var/lib/libvirt/images/ubuntu-vm.qcow2 ~/backup/

Importing a VM

# Define VM from XML
virsh define ubuntu-vm.xml

# Copy disk image to correct location
sudo cp ~/backup/ubuntu-vm.qcow2 /var/lib/libvirt/images/

# Start the imported VM
virsh start "Ubuntu-VM"

Advanced Features

USB Device Passthrough

To use USB devices in your VM:

Insert USB device into host
In GNOME Boxes, while VM is running:
- Click the "..." menu in VM window
- Select "Preferences"
- Go to "Devices & Shares"
- Toggle on the USB device

Troubleshooting USB

# In VM, check if device is detected
lsusb

# If not showing, install utilities
sudo apt install usb-utils

# Check permissions
sudo usermod -aG plugdev $USER

Network Configuration

Default NAT Network

VM gets IP like 192.168.122.x
Can access internet
Host can't directly access VM
VM can't be accessed from network

Viewing Network Info

# In VM
ip addr show
ip route show

# On host
virsh net-list --all
virsh net-info default

Port Forwarding (NAT)

# Example: Forward host port 8080 to VM port 80
# Edit network configuration
virsh net-edit default

# Add inside <network> tags:
<forward mode='nat'>
  <nat>
    <port start='8080' end='8080'>
      <to addr='192.168.122.100' port='80'/>
    </port>
  </nat>
</forward>

# Restart network
virsh net-destroy default
virsh net-start default

Resource Hot-Adding

Some resources can be changed while VM is running:

Add/Remove CPUs

# Check current CPUs
virsh vcpucount "Ubuntu-VM"

# Set CPU count (VM must support hotplug)
virsh setvcpus "Ubuntu-VM" 4 --live

Memory Ballooning

# Check current memory
virsh dommemstat "Ubuntu-VM"

# Adjust memory (in KB)
virsh setmem "Ubuntu-VM" 4194304 --live  # 4GB

Disk Management

Expand Virtual Disk

# Check current disk size
qemu-img info /var/lib/libvirt/images/ubuntu-vm.qcow2

# Expand disk (VM must be off)
qemu-img resize /var/lib/libvirt/images/ubuntu-vm.qcow2 +10G

# In VM, expand partition
sudo growpart /dev/sda 1
sudo resize2fs /dev/sda1

Add Additional Disk

In GNOME Boxes: Properties → Add Hardware → Storage
Create new disk image
In VM, format and mount:

# Find new disk
lsblk

# Format (assuming /dev/sdb)
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb

# Mount
sudo mkdir /mnt/data
sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt/data

# Make permanent
echo '/dev/sdb /mnt/data ext4 defaults 0 2' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Backup Strategies

Method 1: Snapshot-Based Backup

# Create snapshot
virsh snapshot-create-as "Ubuntu-VM" backup-$(date +%Y%m%d)

# Export snapshot
virsh snapshot-dumpxml "Ubuntu-VM" backup-$(date +%Y%m%d) > backup.xml

# Copy disk image while VM runs
cp /var/lib/libvirt/images/ubuntu-vm.qcow2 ~/backup/

Method 2: Live Backup with Virsh

# Backup running VM
virsh backup-begin "Ubuntu-VM" backup.xml

# Check backup progress
virsh domjobinfo "Ubuntu-VM"

Method 3: Inside VM Backup

# Use standard Linux backup tools
sudo apt install timeshift
# Or
sudo apt install deja-dup

Performance Monitoring

Host-Side Monitoring

# Monitor VM resource usage
virt-top

# Detailed VM stats
virsh domstats "Ubuntu-VM"

# Real-time performance
virsh dommemstat "Ubuntu-VM" --period 1

Guest-Side Monitoring

# Install monitoring stack
sudo apt install prometheus-node-exporter
sudo apt install netdata

# Access Netdata dashboard
# http://localhost:19999

Automation with Virsh

Create Start/Stop Scripts

#!/bin/bash
# start-vm.sh
virsh start "Ubuntu-VM"
virt-viewer "Ubuntu-VM" &

# stop-vm.sh
virsh shutdown "Ubuntu-VM"

Autostart VM on Boot

# Enable autostart
virsh autostart "Ubuntu-VM"

# Disable autostart
virsh autostart --disable "Ubuntu-VM"

Security Hardening

Enable AppArmor/SELinux for VMs

# Check security driver
virsh capabilities | grep secmodel

# Enable AppArmor profile
sudo aa-enforce /etc/apparmor.d/libvirt/libvirt-*

Limit VM Resources

# Set CPU quota (50% of one CPU)
virsh schedinfo "Ubuntu-VM" --set vcpu_quota=50000

# Set I/O limits
virsh blkdeviotune "Ubuntu-VM" sda --total-bytes-sec=10485760

These management features give you professional-level control over your Ubuntu VM while keeping the simplicity of GNOME Boxes for day-to-day use.

Backlinks

GNOME-Boxes