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How would you set the boot order on KVM when using libvirt/virsh? (Either via config or command)

Bravo Delta
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2 Answers2

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Please take a look at the section Operation System booting.

The most common option is the BIOS bootloader where it allows you specifying boot order via changing domain XML. try command virsh edit <your-domain-name> then adjust the boot order with this example (copied from libvirt.org):

<os>
  <type>hvm</type>
  <loader>/usr/lib/xen/boot/hvmloader</loader>
  <boot dev='network'/>
  <boot dev='cdrom'/>
  <boot dev='hd'/>
  <bootmenu enable='yes'/>
</os>

Which means the boot order is:

  1. boot from network like PXE boot
  2. boot from CD-ROM if no PXE boot
  3. boot from local hard disk if no PXE boot nor bootable CD
shawnzhu
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    So technically yes this is the answer... however editing the config directly and restarting the container will fix it more permanently. I figured this out after a few weeks of toying around with it. Anyway I'll give you the points since you did have the answer. – Bravo Delta Mar 04 '14 at 05:10
  • I found that `virsh dumpxml` followed by `virsh define` did the trick. (I didn't want to be doing this in an editor.) – mpontillo May 21 '15 at 05:53
  • I found it can specify boot order via virtual machine manager as well. see step 4 of this link: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA:Testcase_Boot_Methods_Pxeboot – shawnzhu May 21 '15 at 20:47
  • Thanks. I am still confused. see https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/505554/how-shall-i-change-boot-sequenct-of-a-virtual-machine-in-kvm – Tim Mar 11 '19 at 02:46
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If you have multiple hard disks a better solution is to use

<boot order='1'/>

for the first device you want to boot and

<boot order='2'/>

for the 2nd etc

For more information see https://libvirt.org/formatdomain.html#elementsDisks

zymhan
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Ronald Duncan
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