Edit a Virtual Machine

Once a VM is created, it has various properties that can be expanded, edited, and/or deleted. Many items will be dependent on the state of the VM, which is either powered on or powered off.

When editing a VM, keep the current maximums in mind. Find the latest supported configurations in Appendix C: System Limits.

Change a VM Name

A VM name can be changed at any time, whether the VM is powered on or off.

  1. Select the Edit VM (wrench) icon from the Summary screen of the VM card.
  2. Change the Name box. A VM name must be unique.
  3. Click Update to save and apply the change.

Change a VM Description

A VM description can be changed at any time, whether the VM is powered on or off.

  1. Select the Edit VM (wrench) icon from the Summary screen of the VM card.
  2. Change the Description box for the VM.
  3. Click Update to save and apply the change.

Edit CPU Allocation

CPU can only be edited while the VM is powered off.

  1. Select the Edit VM (wrench) icon from the Summary screen.
  2. Click the CPUs field and select the desired amount from the dropdown menu.
  3. Click Update to save and apply the change.

Edit RAM Allocation

RAM can only be edited while the VM is powered off.

  1. Select the Edit VM (wrench) icon from the Summary screen.
  2. Click the Memory field and enter the amount of RAM to allocate.
  3. Click Update to save and apply the change.

Mount or Unmount ISO Files

ISO files can be mounted or unmounted at any time, whether the VM is powered on or off. Ensure the ISO is not in use on the VM before unmounting.

  1. Open the Devices screen of the VM card.
  2. Identify the ISO file in the available virtual CD trays.

Unmount: Click eject next to the ISO file.

Mount:

  1. Click insert next to the virtual CD tray.
  2. Select the ISO file from the dropdown menu.
  3. Click Insert to confirm.

Manage Virtual Machine Devices

Disks, NICs, and boot order are all managed from the Devices screen of the VM card. Review the Appendix if you are unfamiliar with the VM icons or cues mentioned below.

Upload & Mount Virtual Disks

Virtual disks in a variety of formats can be uploaded to a cluster running SC//HyperCore™ HyperVisor via the Media tab in the Control Center, and then mounted to powered-off SC//HyperCore VMs. SC//HyperCore version 9.4.5 and later supports uploading compressed virtual disks. Supported formats:

  • .vmdk
  • .qcow2
  • .img
  • .vhd
  • .vhdx
  • .vdi

Prior to version 9.4.5, the SC//HyperCore software only supported uploading uncompressed virtual drive files, so make sure the file is decompressed before attempting to upload. Public images downloaded from online sources are often compressed by default.

Steps to upload and mount a virtual disk:

  1. Navigate to the Media tab in the Control Center.
  2. Click +Virtual Disk and a file upload prompt will appear.
  3. Select the virtual drive file to be imported. The virtual drive will then upload to the cluster.

Do not navigate away from the Media page during an active upload, because this will cause the upload to interrupt and fail.

  1. Wait for the upload to finish. The drive then appears under the Uploaded Virtual Disks heading in the Media section.
  2. Navigate to a VM.
  3. Select the Add Drive icon.
  4. In the Source dropdown, select Uploaded to view uploaded virtual drives.
  5. Select the uploaded virtual drive to mount on the VM.

Live Add, Live Delete, Offline Edit, or Clone Virtual Disks

Adding, deleting, and cloning virtual disks can be done when the VM is powered on or off. Editing the disk type requires the VM to be powered off, and deleting a virtual disk is permanent.

In-guest disk details (such as Current Mount Point(s) and Allocation) are only available on VIRTIO disk types and with supported operating systems per Supported Guest Operating Systems. IDE virtual disk types are NOT compatible. The Scale Computing Guest Agent Tools must be installed for these features to function correctly. Windows dynamic disk types are unsupported for this feature at this time.

It is possible to see individual virtual disk type, assigned disk letter, creation date, allocated and total possible capacity, the first 8 characters of the serial number for the SC//HyperCore virtual disk, and the current HEAT priority from the ‘more’ view of the virtual disk. This requires a guest OS complete power cycle (power off and power back on, not a reboot) after updating to SC//HyperCore v8.1+.

Scale Computing recommends taking a snapshot before performing any VM tasks below. Scale Computing does not support live add or live delete of boot disks. A full VM clone should be performed if a bootable disk is required.

Live Add (VM can be powered on or off):

  1. Open the Devices screen of the VM card.
  2. Click the Add Disk (plus and disk) icon.
  3. Assign the disk Capacity and Type.
  4. Click Create to save and create the new disk.

Additional tasks and/or a complete power cycle may be required depending on the VM OS.

Live Delete (VM can be powered on or off):

  1. Open the Devices screen of the VM card.
  2. Click more next to the virtual disk you would like to remove.
  3. Click Delete, then click Delete Device to confirm.

Deleting a virtual disk is permanent, and all data will be erased. Live delete is not supported on IDE disk types. Virtual disks should be offlined and/or unmounted in the guest OS before being removed.

Offline Edit (VM must be powered off):

  1. Open the Devices screen of the VM card.
  2. Click more next to the virtual disk you would like to modify.
  3. Click the Type field and select the disk type from the dropdown menu.
  4. Adjust the HEAT Priority if desired.
  5. Click Update to save and apply the change.

Clone Virtual Disks (VM can be powered on or off):

  1. Open the Snapshots screen of the VM card containing the disk you wish to clone.
  2. Click Snapshots to open the list of VM snapshots.
  3. Use the dropdown arrow to the left of the desired snapshot to expand its image options.
  4. Find the appropriate virtual disk from the list.

The Device ID is the first 8 characters of the SC//HyperCore virtual disk ID. Current Mount Point(s) shows disk letters currently assigned. Allocation is the current consumed capacity. Capacity is the total possible size. The Clone and Mount to VM dropdown allows a virtual disk to be live added to any VM, provided the guest OS supports this feature.

  1. Select the VM you wish to clone the virtual disk to from the corresponding dropdown list.
  2. Click the Mount Device to the Selected VM icon (disk with + icon). The virtual disk will then immediately be cloned to the selected VM.

Additional tasks and/or a complete power cycle may be required depending on the VM OS.

Edit Virtual Machine Boot Devices and Priority

Virtual device boot priority can only be altered when the VM is powered off.

  1. Open the Devices screen of the VM card.
  2. Click the Boot Order (up and down arrow) icon, which opens a popup dialog.
  3. Drag and drop devices between the Boot Order and Don’t Boot sections to define boot priority. Only devices in the Boot Order section will be used to attempt to boot.
  4. Click Modify to save the changes.

Expand Virtual Disk Capacity

Virtual disks can be expanded while the VM is powered on or off.

  1. Open the Devices screen of the VM card.
  2. Click more next to the virtual disk to be expanded.
  3. Enter the desired value in the Expand to: field.

Virtual disks can ONLY be expanded, so the dialog will not allow a smaller-than-current value. MBR disks have a 2 TB size limit. Refer to Appendix C: System Limits for additional tested system limits.

  1. Click Update. The additional capacity will be immediately available to the guest.

Some guest operating systems may require a reboot to recognize the new virtual disk capacity.

Edit, Add or Remove NICs

Virtual NICs can only be edited, added, or removed when the VM is powered off.

  1. Open the Devices screen of the VM card.

Add:

  1. Click the Add NIC icon.
  2. Assign the NIC VLAN (leave blank for default), Type, and MAC Address (leave blank to auto-generate).
  3. Click Create to save and create the new NIC.

Edit:

  1. Click more next to the virtual NIC you would like to modify.
  2. Edit the MAC Address, VLAN, or Type fields.
  3. Click Update to save and apply the change.

Delete:

  1. Click more next to the virtual NIC you would like to remove.
  2. Click Delete, then click Delete Device to confirm.

Connect or Disconnect NICs

Virtual NICs can be connected or disconnected at any time, whether the VM is powered on or off.

  1. Open the Devices screen of the VM card.
  2. Identify the NIC to connect or disconnect.

Disconnect: Click disconnect next to the NIC.

Connect: Click connect next to the NIC.