Snapshots working with virt-manager externally

[Cobra]

I have been on a quest to get a working snapshot solution via a GUI as this is the last feature I really needed that is not currently available.

 

I have been successful in getting an external connection to the host via virt-manager on a  Linux Mint 17.2 machine. I have tested snapshots and all seems to be working. Is anyone aware of any potential limitations in this scenario? So far this solution seems fast and very pleased with managing VM's in this way. I wonder if leveraging this somehow in the system is possible, maybe a docker of this with vnc connection to it preconfigured.

 

If you simply try to add virt-manager via the software manager the current version is at 0.9 in Mint, this version does not have support for snapshots.

I have followed these steps to install the latest 1.2.1 version which does contain support for snapshots. http://virt-manager.org

 

$ wget -q -O - http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key | sudo apt-key add -
$ sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu trusty-getdeb apps" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/getdeb.list'
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install virt-manager

 

Adding the Connection:

Use Method TCP

 

Main screen that shows all VM's (I only currently have 1)

 

Snapshots (far right button visible with updated virt-manager)

[jonp]

Have you tested rolling between snapshots to make sure everything is working for you?

 

This should work fine.  You can actually modify a .conf file for libvirt to make it externally manageable through virt-manager.  We're just not big fans of the virt-manager tool itself as it's a bit more complex than we'd like and you need a Linux desktop to use it.

[Cobra]

Have you tested rolling between snapshots to make sure everything is working for you?

 

This should work fine.  You can actually modify a .conf file for libvirt to make it externally manageable through virt-manager.  We're just not big fans of the virt-manager tool itself as it's a bit more complex than we'd like and you need a Linux desktop to use it.

 

Yes, I have tested going back and forth between snapshots. Everything appears to be working fine.

I see your point how it would probably be a struggle to get something comparable in the native GUI.  Half of the battle is just getting it updated to correct version and setup with this. That is why I thought a decent workaround would be a docker to manage it though VNC with a GUI.  An example that I have seen would be the Filebot-GUI docker which does something similar and provides a GUI to that app.

 

Maybe someday I will do this, I am still learning and a noob in that regard to creating dockers. It is certainly fun learning it though.

 

[jonp]

Have you tested rolling between snapshots to make sure everything is working for you?

 

This should work fine.  You can actually modify a .conf file for libvirt to make it externally manageable through virt-manager.  We're just not big fans of the virt-manager tool itself as it's a bit more complex than we'd like and you need a Linux desktop to use it.

 

Yes, I have tested going back and forth between snapshots. Everything appears to be working fine.

I see your point how it would probably be a struggle to get something comparable in the native GUI.  Half of the battle is just getting it updated to correct version and setup with this. That is why I thought a decent workaround would be a docker to manage it though VNC with a GUI.  An example that I have seen would be the Filebot-GUI docker which does something similar and provides a GUI to that app.

 

Maybe someday I will do this, I am still learning and a noob in that regard to creating dockers. It is certainly fun learning it though.

 

I actually have an Ubuntu VM I setup where I installed the virt-manager client and then used VNC to get into it.  It "worked" but because we don't adopt all of libvirt's management capabilities, it's kind of a half-baked solution.

 

Snapshot support is on the roadmap for future inclusion.  It's definitely not been forgotten.  If snapshots are a must-have right now, this is an acceptable workaround.

 

Doing it in a Docker container should be totally possible.  Could even use an RDP method to accessing the container as opposed to VNC to improve performance.  Might look into this ourselves to provide as well, but again, a little further down the road.