KVM Setup¶

Install Virtualization Packages¶

sudo apt install -y \
    qemu-kvm \
    libvirt-daemon-system \
    libvirt-clients \
    bridge-utils \
    virtinst \
    ovmf

Verify KVM Support¶

# Check CPU virtualization
egrep -c '(vmx|svm)' /proc/cpuinfo

# Verify KVM modules
lsmod | grep kvm

Configure libvirt¶

Add User to Groups¶

sudo usermod -aG libvirt $USER
sudo usermod -aG kvm $USER

Log out and back in for group changes.

Enable libvirt¶

sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd

Verify¶

virsh list --all

Storage Pool¶

Create a ZFS-backed storage pool:

virsh pool-define-as vm-pool dir - - - - /mnt/tank/vm
virsh pool-start vm-pool
virsh pool-autostart vm-pool

Network Configuration¶

Default NAT Network¶

libvirt creates a default NAT network. Verify:

virsh net-list --all

Bridge Network (Optional)¶

For VMs on the same network as the host:

# /etc/netplan/00-installer-config.yaml
network:
  version: 2
  renderer: networkd
  ethernets:
    enp5s0:
      dhcp4: no
  bridges:
    br0:
      interfaces: [enp5s0]
      dhcp4: true

Remote Management¶

virt-manager over SSH¶

From your workstation:

virt-manager -c qemu+ssh://user@ms-s1-max/system

Enable SSH X11 Forwarding¶

On the server, edit /etc/ssh/sshd_config:

X11Forwarding yes

VM Best Practices¶

Setting	Value	Reason
Chipset	Q35	Modern, PCIe support
Firmware	UEFI (OVMF)	Required for GPU passthrough
CPU	host-passthrough	Full CPU features
Disk	virtio	Best performance
Network	virtio	Best performance