How to delete KVM VM guest using virsh command

I

am a new Linux and KVM user. How do I delete a VM guest with virsh command line on Linux operating system? How do I delete a virtual machine called vps42 on Ubuntu or CentOS Linux server?

 

 

Deleting a VM Guest removes its XML configuration by default stored in /etc/ directory. You may also delete a guest’s storage files to completely erase the guest. In this quick tutorial you will learn how to delete a VM guest with virsh on Debian/Ubuntu/RHEL/CentOS Linux servers.

To Delete a KVM Guest Using Virsh:

First, list all running KVM guests using “virsh list” command.

Next, you need to shut down a guest virtual machine using the “virsh shutdown VM” command.

Finally, delete a VM Guest with “virsh undefine VM” command.

Let us see steps in details.

Step 1: List all a VM guests

Type the following command:

# virsh list

 

Sample outputs:

Fig.01: Virsh list a KVM vm

 

To see info about domain called openbsd, enter:

# virsh dumpxml VM_NAME

# virsh dumpxml –domain VM_NAME

# virsh dumpxml –domain openbsd

 

Note down a guest’s storage files

# virsh dumpxml –domain openbsd | grep  source file

<source file= /nfswheel/kvm/openbsd.qcow2 />

Step 2: Shutdown the guest

Type the following command to shutdown the vm called openbsd:

# virsh shutdown VM_NAME

# virsh shutdown –domain VM_NAME

# virsh shutdown –domain openbsd

 

You can force a guest virtual machine to stop with the virsh destroy command:

# virsh destroy VM_NAME

# virsh destroy –domain VM_NAME

# virsh destroy –domain openbsd

Step 3: Deleting a virtual machine

To delete a VM Guest with virsh run

# virsh undefine VM_NAME

# virsh undefine –domain VM_NAME

# virsh undefine –domain openbsd

 

Sample outputs:

Domain openbsd has been undefined

There is no option to automatically delete the attached storage file called /nfswheel/kvm/openbsd.qcow2. To delete it, enter:

# rm -rf /nfswheel/kvm/openbsd.qcow2

A note about error: “cannot delete inactive domain with snapshots”

You cannot delete a VM with snapshots. For example:

# virsh undefine –domain openbsd

 

Sample outputs:

error: Failed to undefine domain openbsd

error: Requested operation is not valid: cannot delete inactive domain with 2 snapshots

To list snapshots, enter:

# virsh snapshot-list –domain VM_NAME

# virsh snapshot-list –domain openbsd

 

Sample outputs:

Name                 Creation Time             State

---

3sep2016             2016-09-02 13:38:18 -0500 shutoff

3sep2016u1           2016-09-02 15:04:50 -0500 shutoff

The syntax is as follows to delete snapshot:

# virsh snapshot-delete –domain VM_NAME –snapshotname SNAPSHOT_NAME

 

To delete both snapshots, enter:

# virsh snapshot-delete –domain openbsd –snapshotname 3sep2016

Domain snapshot 3sep2016 deleted

 

# virsh snapshot-delete –domain openbsd –snapshotname 3sep2016u1

Domain snapshot 3sep2016u1 deleted

 

Verify it:

# virsh snapshot-list –domain openbsd

Name Creation Time State

---

 

Now delete the vm:

# virsh undefine –domain openbsd

Domain openbsd has been undefined

# rm -f /nfswheel/kvm/openbsd.qcow2