Create and manage virtual machines

This page covers the VM lifecycle in the QvDC dashboard: create, power, console, snapshots, clones, migration, disks, and deletion. A standalone host offers the same basics in its Host UI under Virtual Machines.

Prerequisites

• At least one host in the Ready state in a cluster (see Add hosts to QvDC).
• A storage pool (see Storage pools).
• A virtual network (see Networking), unless the VM needs no network.
• Installation media: a downloaded cloud image, an ISO or an OVA template in the Image Library.

Create a VM

1. Go to Inventory → VM List and click New VM.
2. Basics
   • Virtual Machine Name — 3 to 63 characters, letters, digits and dashes; it cannot start with a digit or start or end with a dash.
   • Architecture and Guest Operating System. Choosing Windows switches the boot method to an ISO.
   • VM Folder — where the VM appears in Folder View (+ New Folder creates one).
   • Optionally, under Organization & Metadata: department, cost center, tags and notes.
3. Placement — choose the Cluster, then Automatic Placement (recommended — Quantix picks the host with the most free resources) or Manual Selection of a host.
4. Boot & OS — choose the Provisioning Method:
   • Cloud Image (recommended) — pick a downloaded image (if it shows Download required, click Download and wait for Ready). Under Access Configuration, set the Username and a Password (at least 8 characters) and/or add an SSH key. See Templates and cloud-init;
   • ISO Image — boot an installer ISO;
   • OVA Template — deploy an imported appliance;
   • None — create an empty VM and attach media or network boot later.
5. OS Customization — keep Install Quantix Agent ticked (cloud images only) and set the guest Hostname. For ISO installs, install the guest agent after the operating system.
6. Hardware
   • Cores per Socket and Sockets, and the RAM Size.
   • CPU Configuration: Quantix Flexible (recommended — allows live migration, memory snapshots and high availability) or Quantix Performance (full host CPU features, but the VM cannot be live-migrated and cannot take memory snapshots).
   • Trusted Platform Module (TPM 2.0) — on by default for Windows 10/11 and Windows Server. It cannot be added or removed after creation.
7. Networking — choose a Network for each adapter, or remove the adapter.
8. Storage — choose Thin ("allocate on demand") or Thick ("reserve space now") provisioning, the Storage Pool, and the disk sizes. The default boot disk is 50 GiB.
9. Review — tick Start VM immediately after creation if wanted, and Start VM automatically when its host boots for VMs that must come back after a host reboot on their own. Click Create VM.

Expected result: the VM appears in the VM list as Provisioning, then Stopped or Running. With the guest agent installed, its IP address appears within a minute or two of boot.

Power operations

From the VM's header, its Actions tab, or its right-click menu:

Action	What it does
Power On	Starts the VM.
Shutdown (Graceful) / Reboot (Graceful)	Asks the guest operating system to shut down or restart cleanly. Needs the guest agent.
Power Off	Cuts power immediately, like pulling the plug. Unsaved data in the guest is lost.
Reset	Hard restart, like pressing the reset button.
Pause / Resume	Freezes the VM in memory and continues it.
Suspend to Disk	Saves the VM's memory to disk and stops it; Power On resumes where it left off.

Prefer Shutdown (Graceful) over Power Off.

Open the console

Click Console on a running VM. In Console Access choose:

• Web Console — opens in the browser (Open in Modal or Open in New Tab). The toolbar offers Ctrl+Alt+Del, Paste, CD-ROM → Mount ISO..., Quality settings, and Fullscreen.
• QvMC Native Client — the desktop console app, with better performance and USB passthrough. Click Open in QvMC, or download it for Windows, macOS or Linux from the same dialog. After installing it, launch QvMC once so your browser can open it.

Snapshots

A snapshot saves the VM's disks (and optionally its memory) so you can return to that point later — for example before an upgrade.

1. Open the VM's Snapshots tab and click Create Snapshot.
2. Enter a Snapshot Name (for example before-update) and an optional Description.
3. For a running VM, tick Include memory state to capture running programs too, and Quiesce filesystem (needs the guest agent) for a consistent file system.
4. Click Create Snapshot.

To go back, choose Revert on a snapshot and confirm Revert to this snapshot? A memory snapshot resumes running; a disk-only snapshot is reverted with the VM stopped and leaves it stopped. To remove a snapshot, choose Delete — delete its child snapshots first.

Snapshots are not backups: they live on the same storage as the VM.

Clone a VM

1. From the VM's menu choose Clone (or Actions → Clone).
2. Enter the New VM Name and choose the Clone Type:
   • Linked Clone — ready in about a second and uses little space, but the source VM cannot be deleted while linked clones exist. The source must be powered off;
   • Full Clone — an independent copy. A running source can be cloned while running (optionally quiescing the guest first) or powered off first.
3. Choose the destination cluster and host (or automatic placement), and whether to Start VM after cloning. Click Clone VM.

Migrate a VM

1. Choose Migrate... from the VM's menu.
2. Choose the type:
   • Compute Migration — move the VM to another host; its disks stay on shared storage. Running VMs move live without downtime;
   • Host + Disk Migration — move a running VM and its disks to another host;
   • Storage vMotion — move a disk to another storage pool on the same host.
3. Choose the Target Host. The Compatibility panel shows whether the move can be live or needs a shutdown.
4. Click Start Migration.

VMs using Quantix Performance CPU or local storage cannot be live-migrated.

Disks and CD-ROMs

On the VM's Storage tab:

• Add Disk adds a new virtual disk.
• Resize grows a disk (disks cannot shrink). Then extend the partition and file system inside the guest — for example growpart and resize2fs on Linux, or Disk Management → Extend Volume on Windows.
• Detach removes a disk from a stopped VM. The boot disk cannot be detached.
• CD-ROM Devices → Mount ISO / Eject attaches or removes an ISO. Add CD-ROM adds a drive.

Change settings

• Edit Settings — name, notes, icon and labels.
• Edit Resources — CPU and memory. For a running VM, the change applies at the next restart.

Organize VMs

Inventory → Folder View shows VMs in folders. Right-click a folder for New Virtual Machine..., New Folder..., Rename..., Move To... and Remove Folder (only empty folders can be removed). Move a VM with Move to Folder... from its menu, or drag it.

Delete a VM

Choose Delete and pick:

• Delete from Disk — removes the VM and its disks permanently. Type the VM name to confirm and click Delete Permanently. This cannot be undone.
• Remove from Inventory — removes the VM from Quantix but keeps its disk files, so it can be registered again later with Import from datastore on the VM list.

A running VM is powered off first.