Editing VMs

Powering machines on and off, opening the console and using the Actions menu.

Every virtual machine has its own page showing usage graphs, hardware, snapshots and backups. Everything you can do to a machine sits behind the Actions menu on that page.

How to open a virtual machine

• Open the Virtual Data Center the machine belongs to

• Stay on the Virtual Machines tab and use the search box if the list is long

• Click the name of the machine

What is on the machine page

• The panel on the left shows the power state, CPU, memory and disk, and which tenant and Virtual Data Center the machine belongs to

• Usage shows CPU and memory graphs for the machine

• Hardware lists the disks, network adapters and CD/DVD drives

• Snapshots lists any point in time snapshots taken of the machine

• Backups lists the restore points held in the backup repository

• The coloured badges tell you the power state and whether the QEMU guest agent is enabled and running

The Actions menu

• Start or Stop powers the machine on or off

• Clone VM makes a copy of the machine, optionally into a different Virtual Data Center

• Rename changes the display name shown in the portal

• Edit Hardware changes CPU, memory, disks, adapters and BIOS settings

• Set Boot Order changes which device the machine boots from

• Create Snapshot takes a point in time snapshot before you make a risky change

• Convert to Template turns the machine into a reusable template

• Delete removes the machine

• The Console button next to Actions opens a browser based console so you can work on the machine directly

Things worth knowing

• Install the QEMU guest agent in the guest operating system. Without it the portal cannot shut the machine down cleanly or report its IP address

• Some hardware changes need the machine powered off first

• Delete cannot be undone. Check there is a recent backup before you remove anything