diff --git a/qm.adoc b/qm.adoc index 9c54903..0d9c10e 100644 --- a/qm.adoc +++ b/qm.adoc @@ -917,6 +917,63 @@ start after those where the parameter is set. Further, this parameter can only be enforced between virtual machines running on the same host, not cluster-wide. + +[[qm_qemu_agent]] +Qemu Guest Agent +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + +The Qemu Guest Agent is a service which runs inside the VM, providing a +communication channel between the host and the guest. It is used to exchange +information and allows the host to issue commands to the guest. + +For example, the IP addresses in the VM summary panel are fetched via the guest +agent. + +Or when starting a backup, the guest is told via the guest agent to sync +outstanding writes via the 'fs-freeze' and 'fs-thaw' commands. + +For the guest agent to work properly the following steps must be taken: + +* install the agent in the guest and make sure it is running +* enable the communication via the agent in {pve} + +Install Guest Agent +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +For most Linux distributions, the guest agent is available. The package is +usually named `qemu-guest-agent`. + +For Windows, it can be installed from the +https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/stable-virtio/virtio-win.iso[Fedora +VirtIO driver ISO]. + +Enable Guest Agent Communication +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +Communication from {pve} with the guest agent can be enabled in the VM's +*Options* panel. A fresh start of the VM is necessary for the changes to take +effect. + +It is possible to enable the 'Run guest-trim' option. With this enabled, +{pve} will issue a trim command to the guest after the following +operations that have the potential to write out zeros to the storage: + +* moving a disk to another storage +* live migrating a VM to another node with local storage + +On a thin provisioned storage, this can help to free up unused space. + +Troubleshooting +^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ + +.VM does not shut down + +Make sure the guest agent is installed and running. + +Once the guest agent is enabled, {pve} will send power commands like +'shutdown' via the guest agent. If the guest agent is not running, commands +cannot get executed properly and the shutdown command will run into a timeout. + [[qm_spice_enhancements]] SPICE Enhancements ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~