VM Creation & Lifecycle
Create and manage virtual machines in VergeOS -- from blank custom VMs and clones to drives, NICs, hot-plug operations, and day-to-day lifecycle management.
Overview
Virtual machines are the primary workload unit in VergeOS. The VergeOS UI provides a streamlined workflow for creating VMs, attaching storage and networking, and managing the full lifecycle -- from first boot through snapshots, clones, and live migration. Whether you are building a single test server or deploying hundreds of production workloads, the process follows the same consistent pattern.
VergeOS offers four methods for creating a VM:
Custom VM
Blank VM with no drives or NICs -- you configure everything
Full control over hardware configuration
Recipe
Pre-built golden-image template with guided questions
Standardized, repeatable deployments
Clone
Copy of an existing VM with new MAC addresses
Quick duplication of running workloads
Import
From OVF/OVA, VMX, VMDK, VHDX, or QCOW2 files
Migration from VMware, Hyper-V, or other platforms
Creating a Custom VM
A custom VM is created as a blank shell -- no drives, no NICs, no OS. This gives you full control over every aspect of the hardware configuration before installing a guest operating system.
Walkthrough
From the Cloud Dashboard, click Machines > Virtual Machines.
Click New from the left menu.
Select -- Custom -- from the options list.
Click Next and configure the VM fields (see the field reference below).
Click Submit to create the VM.
Add drives and NICs from the VM dashboard (detailed in the sections below).
Power on the VM and install a guest OS from an ISO or import disk.
Getting Started Quickly
If you just want a working VM fast, use a Recipe instead of Custom. Recipes include pre-configured drives, NICs, and an OS image -- you just answer a few questions (cores, RAM, network, storage tier) and the VM is ready to boot.
VM Field Reference
When creating or editing a VM, the following fields control its hardware configuration:
Name
Unique identifier for the VM
Use descriptive, consistent naming
CPU Cores
Number of virtual CPU cores
Start conservatively; increase as needed
RAM (MB)
Memory allocation in megabytes
Start conservatively with RAM allocation and scale based on monitoring
OS Family
Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, or Other
Affects QEMU flags and performance optimization
Machine Type
Q35 (modern) or i440FX (legacy)
Q35 is recommended for all new VMs
UEFI
Enable UEFI boot firmware
Required for Secure Boot and modern OS features
Secure Boot
Validates boot chain signatures
Enable for Windows Server 2016+ and hardened Linux
QEMU Guest Agent
Host-to-guest communication channel
Always enable -- required for quiesced snapshots
Video
Display adapter (std, cirrus, vmware, qxl, virtio)
Standard VESA 2.0 default; choose QXL when using SPICE console; choose VirtIO only when the physical node has a capable GPU (e.g. VDI)
Console
VNC, SPICE, or Serial
SPICE for desktop; VNC for general use
Boot Order
Priority of boot devices
Set OS drive to order 0
HA Group
High-availability placement group; group name keeps VMs on separate nodes (negative affinity), and a +name prefix co-locates them (positive affinity)
Keeps related VMs on separate nodes
Preferred Node
Pin VM to a specific node
Use sparingly -- limits failover flexibility
Snapshot Profile
Automated snapshot schedule
Assign for per-VM backup beyond system snapshots
RTC Base
UTC or Local Time
UTC for Linux; configure Windows to use UTC or set to Local Time
Allow Hotplug
Enable drive/NIC hot-plug
Enabled by default -- leave on
Adding Drives
Drives are added to the VM after creation. From the VM Dashboard, click Drives > New (or use the New Drive shortcut on the left menu).
Drive Media Types
Disk
Empty virtual disk (thin-provisioned)
CD-ROM
Read-only ISO media for OS installation
Clone Disk
Duplicate of an existing .raw disk in the same cloud
Import Disk
Create from uploaded disk images (.vmdk, .qcow2, .vhd, .vhdx, .raw)
Non-Persistent
Reverts to a golden image on every boot (ideal for VDI)
EFI Disk
Auto-generated UEFI firmware disk (system-managed)
Drive Interface Types
Virtio-SCSI
Excellent
Recommended for all new VMs. Supports hot-plug, TRIM/discard, and online resize. Linux includes drivers natively; Windows requires VirtIO driver ISO.
Virtio-SCSI (Dedicated Controller)
Excellent
Use when mixing drives across different storage tiers within the same VM.
Virtio (Legacy)
Maximum I/O
Highest raw throughput but lacks SCSI features like TRIM.
SATA (AHCI)
Good
Q35 machine type only. Broad guest OS compatibility.
IDE
Basic
i440FX machine type only. Legacy compatibility.
LSI
Good
VMware compatibility mode.
Preferred Tier
Every disk drive is assigned a preferred tier that determines which vSAN storage tier holds its data. Select based on your workload requirements:
Tier 1 (NVMe) -- Highest performance for databases and latency-sensitive workloads
Tier 2 (SSD) -- Good balance of performance and capacity
Tier 3 (SSD/HDD) -- General-purpose storage
Tier 4–5 (HDD/Archive) -- Capacity-optimized for cold data
VergeOS uses thin provisioning -- allocating a generous disk size does not consume space until the guest actually writes data. It is often better to over-allocate initially rather than needing to expand later.
Adding NICs
From the VM Dashboard, click NICs > New to add a network interface.
NIC Configuration Fields
Name
Optional label (recommended if multiple NICs)
Interface
Virtio (recommended), Intel E1000, AMD PCnet, Realtek 8139. Imported VMware/Hyper-V VMs may also surface e1000e, vmxnet3, or igb (Intel 82576).
Network
Target virtual network (internal or external)
MAC Address
Auto-generated or manually specified
Enabled
Toggle NIC on/off without deleting
Asset
Unique identifier for use in recipes
Virtio provides the best network performance. Linux includes VirtIO drivers natively. For Windows, install drivers from the VirtIO driver ISO or use the VergeOS custom Windows ISOs which bundle them.
Hot-Plug Capabilities
VergeOS supports modifying certain VM hardware while the VM is running, controlled by the Allow Hotplug setting (enabled by default).
What Can Be Hot-Plugged
Drives
Yes
Guest OS must support hot-add; Virtio-SCSI recommended
NICs
Yes
Widely supported by modern guest operating systems
Drive Resize
Yes
Virtio-SCSI drives can be expanded without power cycle
What Requires a Power Cycle
RAM
Memory changes always require VM power off and on
CPU Cores
Core count changes always require a power cycle
Console Type
VNC/SPICE/Serial changes take effect on next power on
Video Card
Video adapter changes require power cycle
Machine Type
Chipset changes require power cycle
UEFI/BIOS
Boot mode changes require power cycle
Creating a VM from a Clone
Cloning creates a new VM instance as a copy of an existing VM. This is useful for quickly duplicating workloads, creating test environments, or scaling out identical servers.
Clone Options
VM Name
<original>clone
Rename as desired
Preserve MAC Addresses
Off
Creates new MACs (safe for same-network operation)
Preserve Device UUIDs
Off
Creates new UUIDs (enable only if application requires it)
Quiesce File System
Off
Freezes filesystem and flushes buffers for application-consistent clone (requires Guest Agent)
Clone Walkthrough
Navigate to Machines > Virtual Machines > New.
Select --Clone-- from the options list.
Select the source VM from the available list.
Click Next, configure clone options, and click Submit.
Running a clone on the same network as the original with Preserve MAC Addresses enabled will cause network conflicts. Always verify that MAC addresses and IP configurations are unique before powering on the clone.
Lifecycle Operations
Once a VM is created and configured, the following operations are available from the VM Dashboard:
Power On
Start the VM
Power Off
Immediate power cut (use Shutdown for graceful stop)
Shutdown
ACPI-initiated graceful shutdown via guest OS
Restart
Graceful reboot
Hibernate
Save VM state to disk and stop (resume to same state)
Snapshot
Create a point-in-time backup (manual or scheduled)
Clone
Create a copy of the VM
Live Migrate
Move a running VM to another node with zero downtime
Snapshot Methods
VergeOS provides three levels of VM snapshot protection:
Full System Snapshot
All VMs, tenants, settings
No
System-wide DR recovery points
Partial System Snapshot
Tagged VMs/tenants only
Yes (by tag)
Higher frequency for selected workloads
Individual VM Snapshot
Single VM
Yes (if selected)
Per-VM protection, pre-maintenance backups
Quiesced snapshots freeze the guest filesystem and flush write buffers before capture, providing application-consistent backups. On Windows VMs, VSS writers are invoked for VSS-aware applications. The Guest Agent must be installed and registered for quiesced snapshots to work.
Live Migration
Live migration moves a running VM from one physical node to another with no downtime. This is essential for:
Planned maintenance -- Evacuate VMs before taking a node offline
Load balancing -- Redistribute workloads across the cluster
Hardware upgrades -- Move VMs off a node before replacing components
VergeOS handles live migration automatically during maintenance operations, or you can trigger it manually from the VM Dashboard.
Guest Agent
The QEMU Guest Agent is a lightweight service installed inside the guest OS that enables host-to-guest communication. It is critical for production VMs.
Guest Agent Benefits
Quiesced snapshots -- Application-consistent backups with filesystem freeze
IP address reporting -- Guest IP and hostname visible on VM dashboard
Graceful shutdown -- Reliable power-off without ACPI dependency
VSS integration -- Windows Volume Shadow Copy for database-consistent snapshots
Installation
Debian/Ubuntu
apt-get install qemu-guest-agent
RHEL/CentOS
yum install qemu-guest-agent
Windows
Install virtio-win-guest-tools.exe from the VirtIO driver package
After installation, verify the agent is connected by checking the Guest Agent checkbox on the VM Dashboard -- a version number will appear next to it when successfully connected.
Best Practices
Right-Size RAM
Start conservatively with RAM allocation and scale up based on actual workload monitoring.
Use Virtio Everywhere
Select Virtio-SCSI for drives and Virtio for NICs. These para-virtualized drivers deliver near-native performance. Install VirtIO drivers on Windows before switching interfaces.
Always Enable Guest Agent
The Guest Agent enables quiesced snapshots, IP reporting, and graceful shutdown. Install it on every production VM immediately after OS setup.
Disable Power Saving in Guest
Guest OS power-saving features provide no benefit in a virtual environment and can cause performance issues. Use a Performance power profile within the guest.
Getting Started Path
Create a custom VM with 2 cores, 4 GB RAM, Q35 machine type, UEFI enabled, Guest Agent enabled
Add a Virtio-SCSI disk (50 GB on your preferred tier) and a CD-ROM with an OS ISO
Add a Virtio NIC connected to your internal network
Power on and install the guest OS
Install the Guest Agent inside the guest
Take a snapshot as your first recovery point
Test lifecycle operations -- restart, clone, and migrate the VM
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