Create Virtual Machine from a template

Introduction

This is not a deep dive in to ansible or similar but a simple quick and dirty guide to creating a new VM from a template and configuring some of the networking with cloud init.

Using qm clone

To create a new host from your template with the specified IP address, gateway, DNS server, and search domain, you can use the Proxmox command-line interface (CLI) with the `qm clone` command and appropriate Cloud-Init parameters.

Here's how you can do it:

Using the `qm clone` Command

qm clone <template_vmid> <new_vmid> --name <new_hostname> --ipconfig0 "ip=192.168.100.26/24,gw=192.168.100.1" --nameserver 192.168.110.11 --searchdomain seaoffate.local

Explanation

• `qm clone <template_vmid> <new_vmid>`:

   * This is the base command to clone a VM.
   * Replace `<template_vmid>` with the ID of your template VM.
   * Replace `<new_vmid>` with the desired ID for the new VM.

• `--name <new_hostname>`:

   * Replace `<new_hostname>` with the desired hostname for the new VM.

• `--ipconfig0 "ip=192.168.100.26/24,gw=192.168.100.1"`:

   * This sets the IPv4 configuration for the first network interface (`eth0` or similar).
   * `ip=192.168.100.26/24` sets the IP address and netmask.
   * `gw=192.168.100.1` sets the gateway address.

• `--nameserver 192.168.110.11`:

   * This sets the DNS server address.

• `--searchdomain seaoffate.local`:

   * This sets the search domain.

Example

If your template VM ID is 100, and you want to create a new VM with ID 101 and hostname "newhost," the command would be:

qm clone 100 101 --name newhost --ipconfig0 "ip=192.168.100.26/24,gw=192.168.100.1" --nameserver 192.168.110.11 --searchdomain seaoffate.local

Important Notes

• Cloud-Init: This command assumes that your template VM has Cloud-Init installed and configured.
• Network Interface Name: The network interface name might vary. If your VM uses a different interface name (e.g., `ens3`), you might need to adjust the Cloud-Init configuration accordingly.
• Testing: After creating the new VM, verify that the IP address, gateway, DNS server, and search domain are correctly configured.
• Proxmox User Permissions: The user running this command must have sufficient permissions to create VMs.
• Firewall: Ensure that your firewall allows network traffic to and from the new VM.
• DHCP: Make sure that the IP address does not conflict with any IP addresses assigned by a DHCP server.

By using this command, you can easily create new VMs from your template with the desired network configuration.