Anyone here use oVirt? How well does it work with hosting non-RedHat-based guests that don't have an ovirt-agent for it (i.e. FreeBSD, Void Linux, etc.)?
oVirt?
- Thread starter Blue)(Fusion
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I saw the reqs for it: JVM and a db just to manage it and said f that. I stick to KVM and call it a day. Have you looked at proxmox?
oVirt is not a hypervisor, it is an KVM manager interface.
so anything you can host on KVM should be fine except you will have to manage it directly not through oVirt.
also there is a client for many non red hat distros and I do believe even for freeBSD as well.
but setup is complex and cumbersome. you need 2 machines one is the actual host where you will run all VMs and what ever, and second is where the managing engine is run , that is where all the webUI staff lives.
you can run the hosting engine and managing engine on the same host (a self hosted engine as they call it.) but the setup is crazy. I have never manage to actually make it work.
if it is for your home needs, check out Proxmox.
so anything you can host on KVM should be fine except you will have to manage it directly not through oVirt.
also there is a client for many non red hat distros and I do believe even for freeBSD as well.
but setup is complex and cumbersome. you need 2 machines one is the actual host where you will run all VMs and what ever, and second is where the managing engine is run , that is where all the webUI staff lives.
you can run the hosting engine and managing engine on the same host (a self hosted engine as they call it.) but the setup is crazy. I have never manage to actually make it work.
if it is for your home needs, check out Proxmox.
I like the new user interface in oVirt 4.2 (ALPHA currently). But, yes it does seem cumbersome...
I'll watch some videos on Proxmox. Maybe wait until oVirt irons out some more kinks.
I'll watch some videos on Proxmox. Maybe wait until oVirt irons out some more kinks.
I installed oVirt a couple years back and had no issues w/ install, forget if I broke it out to mgmt and compute or did an all in one though, I do recall I really had no 'snags' on install and I had several KVM guest instances up (lin/win). Did all that nested...still a vSphere man at heart.
I wouldn't hold my breath for it.
I have been checking on it for the last 6 years.
yes the interface is getting better and over all system support is better,
but major quirks are still there. especially in setup and configuration.
I also tried oVirt once, it is a nice project, but it seems they are targeting larger installations, the resulting architecture is a bit overly complicated even if they do have the "self hosted engine".
There is a project called Kimchi that is sort of related to oVirt, which I believe is positioned to be more suitable for smaller installations.
I suppose Proxmox is a little easier to use compared to oVirt, I am not too fond of their policy of how to get updates (paid or "testing" quality if free - as I recall).
Though I personally prefer using KVM more or less straight up with virt-manager, that way I don't have to source any weird packages from third party (relative to OS) sources (like Proxmox and oVirt), downside is you probably have to add a couple of scripts here and there to suit your needs.
There is a project called Kimchi that is sort of related to oVirt, which I believe is positioned to be more suitable for smaller installations.
I suppose Proxmox is a little easier to use compared to oVirt, I am not too fond of their policy of how to get updates (paid or "testing" quality if free - as I recall).
Though I personally prefer using KVM more or less straight up with virt-manager, that way I don't have to source any weird packages from third party (relative to OS) sources (like Proxmox and oVirt), downside is you probably have to add a couple of scripts here and there to suit your needs.
Hi RTM 
the thing is Kimchi is just a GUI for KVM nothing more, nothing less.
projects like oVirt, Proxmox are much more than a simple GUI so they have/need more dependencies and support.
my issue with oVirt is very much the same as with VMware too high entry costs and free setup is overly complicated, although vmware got a lot better in the last 6 years compared to oVirt
here is laydown for me:
I started to look for a good free hypervisor setup to use on my home server about 6-7 years ago.
I have tried bunch of things with no avail. I am not a PRO in Linux, I also hate command line. so my requirements were and still are
#1. a nice GUI, preferably WebGUI to be run on the main host itself.
#2. a Free option or a pay once option. not subscription based.
#3. at some time I want to use BTRFS for my data store so a BTRFS support was essential.
right now I am ok with ZFS so that makes it easier.
#4. in addition to #3 I need to use local storage. I only have one server, so it needs to be a virtualization server AND a File server.
I do not want to virtualize my data store. ( as in , create VM for file server and use virtual disks files to store my data. I want my data to be accessible by actual hardware disks. so I can pull the disk(s) out of my server and access my data on other machine if need be. )
so , at the time, VMware ESXi was no an option as free setup was limited and did not have a good webui. you needed a separate workstation to run the management console. also no support for BTRFS natively. in fact no support for ZFS either. no support for local storage in the way I want it to use it.
Xen/XenServer is in the same boat as vmware.
don't get me wrong they are both good systems just not working for me.
oVirt ?!?!? well I have tried to set it up numerous time. none had worked. every time, the setup would crush at one point or another and that would be it. in-fact I had tried the new version last night. a no-go. I need a hosted engine setup because I have only one server. and it would no install at all.
now Proxmox works. even the free version. it works, it gives me what I need and what I want for the most part.
is it perfect?
No.
but it works.
the thing is Kimchi is just a GUI for KVM nothing more, nothing less.
projects like oVirt, Proxmox are much more than a simple GUI so they have/need more dependencies and support.
my issue with oVirt is very much the same as with VMware too high entry costs and free setup is overly complicated, although vmware got a lot better in the last 6 years compared to oVirt
here is laydown for me:
I started to look for a good free hypervisor setup to use on my home server about 6-7 years ago.
I have tried bunch of things with no avail. I am not a PRO in Linux, I also hate command line. so my requirements were and still are
#1. a nice GUI, preferably WebGUI to be run on the main host itself.
#2. a Free option or a pay once option. not subscription based.
#3. at some time I want to use BTRFS for my data store so a BTRFS support was essential.
right now I am ok with ZFS so that makes it easier.
#4. in addition to #3 I need to use local storage. I only have one server, so it needs to be a virtualization server AND a File server.
I do not want to virtualize my data store. ( as in , create VM for file server and use virtual disks files to store my data. I want my data to be accessible by actual hardware disks. so I can pull the disk(s) out of my server and access my data on other machine if need be. )
so , at the time, VMware ESXi was no an option as free setup was limited and did not have a good webui. you needed a separate workstation to run the management console. also no support for BTRFS natively. in fact no support for ZFS either. no support for local storage in the way I want it to use it.
Xen/XenServer is in the same boat as vmware.
don't get me wrong they are both good systems just not working for me.
oVirt ?!?!? well I have tried to set it up numerous time. none had worked. every time, the setup would crush at one point or another and that would be it. in-fact I had tried the new version last night. a no-go. I need a hosted engine setup because I have only one server. and it would no install at all.
now Proxmox works. even the free version. it works, it gives me what I need and what I want for the most part.
is it perfect?
No.
but it works.
I have spun up Proxmox 5 yesterday. I'm actually pretty impressed with it thus far. The one thing I have yet to figure out is how I can migrate my root LVM (on /dev/sda) to encryption. Is there a way to move LVM from one drive to another on a live system like I can with `btrfs dev replace dev1 dev2 /`?