Using virt-install to mount multiple cdrom drives/images

I would like to create a windows xp guest from the windows xp upgrade cd I have, along with one of a few full versions I have around. However, when I reach the stage in the installer where I am prompted to insert a full version cd, the installer can't find it (update: I checked that this works for a normal install), i.e.:

Setup could not read the CD you inserted, or the CD is not a valid Windows CD..

Is there a work-around for this so I can mount both cd's, or mount a new cd during the install process?

I've tried various combinations of mounting .iso files and specifying disks, such as:

$sudo virt-install --accelerate --connect qemu:///system -n xpsp1 -r 2048 
--disk ./vm/winxp_sp1.iso,device=cdrom  --disk ./vm/windows.qcow2,size=12 
--vnc --noautoconsole --os-type windows --os-variant winxp --vcpus 2 -c /dev/cdrom 
--check-cpu

If I try to specify multiple cdrom drives, I receive an error:

virt-install --accelerate --connect qemu:///system -n xpsp1 -r 2048 
--disk ./vm/winxp_sp1.iso,device=cdrom --disk /dev/cdrom,device=cdrom 
--disk ./vm/windows.qcow2,size=12 --vnc --noautoconsole --os-type windows 
--os-variant winxp --vcpus 2 --check-cpu

Starting install...
ERROR    IDE CDROM must use 'hdc', but target in use.

Dana the Sane

Posted 2010-05-31T22:46:16.120

Reputation: 536

in the second command, is there already a mounted disk in /dev/cdrom perhaps? – quack quixote – 2010-05-31T23:05:15.793

Probably, that was my attempt to mount two drives at once. I only have one physical cdrom drive, I'm not sure if I can mount the 2nd on at hdd etc. – Dana the Sane – 2010-05-31T23:22:51.447

so you have the Windows installer CD saved on your system as two iso files?? this is not good news.... Can you merge these two iso's into one iso... there is hope for that if you know what your doing... otherwise I think Microsoft has you beat; they don't get Junior high students to do their programing any more :) – Iceking007 – 2011-03-07T23:23:34.683

I don't own the full install disk for XP, just the upgrade. You can in stall from an upgrade cd, if you have a full install cd from a previous windows version, which is what I was attempting. – Dana the Sane – 2011-03-08T15:42:50.300

Answers

virt-install does not appear to support multiple CD ROMs natively. Fortunately, there is a fairly direct way to get it to do so:

Use virt-install to create the virtual machine with the first CD-ROM, in your case named xpsp1. Behind the scenes, libvirt will create an XML configuration file. Turn off the machine now (virsh destroy xpsp1); you were only interested in the XML file.
Open the XML file, which is located in /etc/libvirt/qemu/ (e.g. /etc/libvirt/qemu/xpsp1.xml). Probably.

Search for the string cdrom. This should lead you to a chunk with these values:

<disk type='file' device='cdrom'>
  <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>
  <source file='/path/to/vm/winxp_sp1.iso'/>
  <target dev='hdc' bus='ide'/>
  <readonly/>
  <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='1' target='0' unit='0'/>
</disk>

Copy paste this block and change the settings for your second CD-ROM. Namely, you will need to change <source file=...> (path of your other file), <target dev=...> (to, e.g., hdd) and <address unit=... (to, e.g., 1)
Restart the machine (virsh create /etc/libvirt/qemu/xpsp1.xml) and the two CDs should be recognized.

Edward Z. Yang

Posted 2010-05-31T22:46:16.120

Reputation: 755

2Instead of creating and destroying a VM, you could also use the --print-xml option for virt-install to obtain the configuration it would have generated. – Dan – 2015-01-07T20:35:03.930

Sounds promising. The project I was working on is long gone but I'll keep this in mind. – Dana the Sane – 2013-11-19T15:23:46.910

Because you can't use --cdrom twice, you can you --disk ...,device=cdrom,bus=ide instead.

It works for me:

virt-install \
--virt-type=kvm \
--name=win10 \
--ram=4096 \
--cpu=host \
--vcpus=2 \
--os-type=windows \
--os-variant=win10 \
--disk /var/lib/libvirt/boot/win10.iso,device=cdrom,bus=ide \
--disk /var/lib/libvirt/boot/virtio-win.iso,device=cdrom,bus=ide \
--disk /var/lib/libvirt/images/win10.qcow2,size=40,bus=virtio,format=qcow2 \
--network=bridge=br0,model=virtio \
--graphics vnc

Toanalien

Posted 2010-05-31T22:46:16.120

Reputation: 101