Creating Virtual machines and Containers

This section explains how to create new Parallels virtual machines and Containers. The options you should pass to this command differ depending on whether you want to create a virtual machine or Container.

Creating a Container

To create a Container, use the prlctl create command as follows:

# prlctl create 101 --vmtype ct

Parallels Cloud Server will create a new Container with the name of 101 using the default parameters from the global configuration file /etc/vz/vz.conf , including the operating system that will be installed in the Container. All Container contents will be stored in this Container's private area. To find out where the private area is located, use the prlctl list command as follows:

# prlctl list 101 -i | grep "Home"

Home: /vz/private/101

Notes :

1. The first time you install an operating system in a Container, its cache is created. To create a cache, you need to have an active Internet connection to access repositories that contain packages for the respective operating system. You can also set up a local package repository and use this repository to provide packages for your operating system. A local package repository is also required for some commercial distributions (e.g., for Red Hat Enterprise Linux). For details on setting up and managing package repositories, see Setting Up Repositories and Proxy Servers for EZ Templates in the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Templates Management Guide .

2. For more information on options you can pass to prlctl create when creating Containers, see the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Command Line Reference Guide .

3. For information on creating Containers with preinstalled applications, see Using OS Template Caches with Preinstalled Applications .

Creating a Virtual Machine

The process of creating a new virtual machine includes the following steps:

1. Creating a virtual machine configuration.
2. Installing an operating system in the virtual machine.
3. Installing Parallels Tools in the virtual machine, a set of special utilities that facilitate your work with virtual machines.

   Note: You can install Parallels Tools on any guest OS supported by Parallels Cloud Server 6.0. For more details, see Supported Guest Operating Systems .

The example below shows you how to make a new virtual machine configuration using the prlctl create command:

# prlctl create MyVM --distribution win-2008 --vmtype vm

This creates a virtual machine with the name of MyVM , adjusts its configuration for installing the Windows Server 2008 operating system in it, and places all virtual machine-related files in the /var/parallels directory.

Once the virtual machine configuration is ready, you can install Windows Server 2008 and Parallels Tools in it. To do this, you can

• Use Parallels Virtual Automation. For details on using this application, consult the Parallels Virtual Automation Administrator's Guide .
• Enable VNC support in the virtual machine configuration and install the operating system and Parallels Tools using your favorite VNC client. For information, on configuring VNC support in virtual machines, see Enabling VNC Access to Virtual Machines and Containers .

Note : For more information on options you can pass to p rlctl create when creating virtual machines, see the Parallels Cloud Server 6.0 Command Line Reference Guide .