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tiCrypt 2.18.1

Service VMs

Prerequisites

User Role:

Sub-admin, Admin, Super-admin (Super-admin for most actions)

Permission Requirements

None. The Service VMs table has no permission check of its own: everyone who can open Management sees it, and Open VNC terminal and Bulk email are available to all of them. Create new service VM, Edit, Power up, Boot from ISO, Libvirt XML description, Shut down and Delete appear only for Super-admins.

A service VM is an administrator-managed VM that boots from a VM image on a separate, unrestricted network with general internet access. Service VMs are used for image preparation, software installation, and package updates. They operate outside the secure enclave and are managed through a VNC terminal rather than the standard tiCrypt proxy channel. A service VM is not a running VM started from a VM configuration: it has no configuration and no drives, only an image, hardware resources, and devices.

Service VMs table columns​

The following table describes the columns of the Service VMs table.

ColumnDescription
NameThe name of the service VM. Click it to open the service VM's details pane.
OwnerThe user who created the service VM.
ActiveWhether the service VM is powered up.
ImageThe VM image the service VM boots.
CoresThe number of cores of the service VM.
MemoryThe memory of the service VM.
Host ServerThe Libvirt host the service VM runs on, with a copy button.
IDThe service VM's ID, with a copy button.
MAC AddressThe service VM's MAC address, with a copy button.
StateThe state of the service VM.

A row is red when its image no longer exists or has clones. Such a service VM cannot be powered up.

Access Service VMs in Management​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.

View the Details of a Service VM​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM to view.
  5. Click the View button in the top right panel, or click the service VM's name.
  6. In the left panel, review the Service VM details pane.

The following table describes the cards of the service VM details pane.

CardContents
DescriptionThe description of the service VM. The card appears only when a description is set.
Basic infoState, Active, Owner, Realm, Host server, IP address, MAC address, and ID.
SpecificationImage, Cores, Memory, and Boot ISO. Boot ISO appears only when the service VM was booted from an ISO.
DevicesThe devices attached to the service VM, or "No devices are attached to this service VM."

The pane offers the same actions as the table.

Result: The details pane shows the service VM's state, placement, image, and devices.

Create a New Service VM​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Click the Create new service VM button in the top right panel.
  5. In the Create new service VM pop-up, under 1 Image & Hardware, select the image. The realm of the service VM is the realm of the image you select.
  6. Under Hardware settings, enter the Cores and Max Memory, and under Devices, add the devices to attach.
  7. Under 2 Metadata, enter the Name and an optional Description (optional).
  8. Click Accept.

The following table describes the fields of the Create new service VM dialog.

FieldDescription
ImageRequired. The list shows Libvirt images whose volume is available and that no running VM or powered-up service VM uses. Images with clones cannot be selected.
CoresThe number of cores. The default is 4.
Max MemoryThe memory of the service VM. The default is 8 GB.
DevicesThe number of each device type to attach. Use the plus and minus buttons next to each device type.
NameRequired, up to 80 characters. Must be unique among service VMs.
Description (optional)Up to 250 characters.
Result: The service VM appears in the Service VMs table, stopped.

Open VNC Terminal of a Service VM​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM whose VNC terminal you want to open.
  5. Click the Open VNC terminal button in the top right panel.
  6. In the new window, use the VNC terminal.

Power Up Service VM(s)​

bulk-action

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM(s) to power up.
  5. Click the Power up button in the top right panel.

Power up appears only when every selected service VM is stopped and its image has no clones. The VNC terminal of each service VM opens automatically once it powers up.

Boot a Service VM from an ISO​

Booting from an ISO starts a stopped service VM with an ISO image attached, for example to install an operating system on a blank image. For a full walkthrough, see Windows Images.

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select one stopped service VM.
  5. Click the Open full menu button in the top right panel.
  6. Select Boot from ISO.
  7. In the pop-up, under ISO image, select a bootable ISO from the service VM's realm.
  8. Optionally, under Additional ISO images, select more ISOs to attach, such as a driver ISO.
  9. Review the Selected ISO card, which shows the ISO's name, realm, and whether it is bootable.
  10. Click Boot.
Result: The service VM starts from the selected ISO and its VNC terminal opens automatically.
note

If no ISO in the service VM's realm is marked bootable, Boot from ISO shows "Cannot boot from ISO. None of the ISOs is marked bootable." and no pop-up opens.

Edit the Image of a Service VM​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM whose image you want to edit.
  5. Click the Open full menu button in the top right panel.
  6. Select Edit.
  7. In the pop-up, under 1 Image & Hardware, select the new image from the image list.
  8. Click Accept.
note
  • You may only switch to an image from the same realm. Images that a running VM or a powered-up service VM uses are not listed, and images with clones cannot be selected.
  • Changing the image does not delete the previous image from the system.

Edit the Cores and Memory of a Service VM​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM whose cores and memory you want to edit.
  5. Click the Open full menu button in the top right panel.
  6. Select Edit.
  7. In the pop-up, under the Hardware settings subsection, enter the new Cores and Max Memory.
  8. Click Accept.

Edit the Devices of a Service VM​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM whose devices you want to edit.
  5. Click the Open full menu button in the top right panel.
  6. Select Edit.
  7. In the pop-up, under the Devices subsection, click the Plus button next to the appropriate device.
  8. Click Accept.
note

To remove an incorrect device, click the Minus button under the same settings.

Edit the Metadata of a Service VM​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM whose metadata you want to edit.
  5. Click the Open full menu button in the top right panel.
  6. Select Edit.
  7. In the pop-up, scroll down to the 2 Metadata subsection.
  8. Enter a new name and description for the service VM.
  9. Click Accept.

View the Libvirt XML Description of a Service VM​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM whose Libvirt XML description you want to view.
  5. Click the Open full menu button in the top right panel.
  6. Select Libvirt XML description.
  7. In the pop-up, view the XML description.
  8. Once done, click Close.

Copy or Download the Libvirt XML Description of a Service VM​

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM whose Libvirt XML description you want to copy or download.
  5. Click the Open full menu button in the top right panel.
  6. Select Libvirt XML description.
  7. In the pop-up, click Copy to copy the Libvirt XML description or click Download to download it.
  8. Once done, click Close.

Bulk Email the Owners of Service VM(s)​

bulk-action

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM(s) whose owners you want to email in bulk.
  5. Click the Open full menu button in the top right panel.
  6. Select Bulk email.
  7. In the pop-up, click Copy to copy the emails or click Download to download the emails.
  8. Once done, click Close.
note
  • The list contains the owners of the selected service VMs.
  • The Prefer contact email? checkbox is ticked by default, and the list uses each user's contact email, or the login email for users without one. Untick it to use the login email of every user.

Shut Down Service VM(s)​

bulk-action

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the running service VM(s) to shut down.
  5. Click the Shut down button in the top right panel.

Shut down appears only when every selected service VM is powered up.

Delete Service VM(s)​

bulk-action

  1. Go to the Management icon in the top left taskbar.
  2. Navigate to the Virtual Machines section.
  3. Click Service VMs in the left panel.
  4. Select the service VM(s) to delete.
  5. Click the Open full menu button in the top right panel.
  6. Click Delete.
  7. In the prompt, click Delete followed by the service VM name, or by the number of service VMs.
info

Deleting a service VM will remove it from the pre-setup VMs. It will not delete the image.