KubeVirt VM Management

Virtual machine management with KubeVirt on Kubernetes. Use when creating, managing, or troubleshooting VMs running on Kubernetes clusters.

Manage virtual machines on Kubernetes using kubectl-mcp-server's KubeVirt tools (13 tools).

Requires the kubevirt toolset: start kubectl-mcp-server with --toolsets default,kubevirt (or MCP_TOOLSETS=default,kubevirt).

When to Apply

Use this skill when:

• User mentions: "KubeVirt", "virtual machine", "VM", "VirtualMachineInstance", "VMI"
• Operations: starting/stopping VMs, live migration, managing VM lifecycle
• Keywords: "VM on Kubernetes", "virtualization", "data volume", "instance type"

Priority Rules

Priority	Rule	Impact	Tools
1	Detect KubeVirt installation first	CRITICAL	detect_ecosystem
2	Check VM status before operations	HIGH	kubevirt_vm_get
3	List VMIs for running VMs	HIGH	kubevirt_vmis_list
4	Use instance types for consistency	MEDIUM	kubevirt_instancetypes_list

Quick Reference

Task	Tool	Example
Detect KubeVirt	detect_ecosystem	detect_ecosystem()
List VMs	kubevirt_vms_list	kubevirt_vms_list(namespace)
Start VM	kubevirt_vm_start	kubevirt_vm_start(name, namespace)
Live migrate VM	kubevirt_vm_migrate	kubevirt_vm_migrate(name, namespace)

Check Installation

python

detect_ecosystem()

List VMs

python

# List VirtualMachines
kubevirt_vms_list(namespace="default")

# List VirtualMachineInstances (running VMs)
kubevirt_vmis_list(namespace="default")

Get VM Details

python

# Get VM definition
kubevirt_vm_get(name="my-vm", namespace="default")

# Shows:
# - Spec (CPU, memory, disks)
# - Running status
# - Conditions

VM Lifecycle

Start VM

python

kubevirt_vm_start(name="my-vm", namespace="default")

Stop VM

python

kubevirt_vm_stop(name="my-vm", namespace="default")

Restart VM

python

kubevirt_vm_restart(name="my-vm", namespace="default")

Pause/Unpause VM

python

# Pause (freeze CPU)
kubevirt_vm_pause(name="my-vm", namespace="default")

# Unpause
kubevirt_vm_unpause(name="my-vm", namespace="default")

Live Migration

python

# Migrate VM to another node
kubevirt_vm_migrate(name="my-vm", namespace="default")

# Check migration status
kubevirt_vmis_list(namespace="default")
# Look for: migrationState

Instance Types

python

# List available instance types
kubevirt_instancetypes_list()

# Instance types define:
# - CPU count
# - Memory size
# - GPU allocation

Data Volumes

python

# List data volumes (persistent VM disks)
kubevirt_datavolumes_list(namespace="default")

# List data sources (golden images)
kubevirt_datasources_list(namespace="default")

Create VM

python

kubectl_apply(manifest="""
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1
kind: VirtualMachine
metadata:
  name: my-vm
  namespace: default
spec:
  running: true
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        kubevirt.io/vm: my-vm
    spec:
      domain:
        cpu:
          cores: 2
        memory:
          guest: 4Gi
        devices:
          disks:
          - name: rootdisk
            disk:
              bus: virtio
          - name: cloudinitdisk
            disk:
              bus: virtio
      volumes:
      - name: rootdisk
        containerDisk:
          image: quay.io/kubevirt/fedora-cloud-container-disk-demo
      - name: cloudinitdisk
        cloudInitNoCloud:
          userData: |
            #cloud-config
            password: fedora
            chpasswd: { expire: False }
""")

Create VM with DataVolume

python

kubectl_apply(manifest="""
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1
kind: VirtualMachine
metadata:
  name: vm-with-pvc
  namespace: default
spec:
  running: true
  dataVolumeTemplates:
  - metadata:
      name: vm-with-pvc-disk
    spec:
      source:
        http:
          url: https://cloud.centos.org/centos/7/images/CentOS-7-x86_64-GenericCloud.qcow2
      storage:
        accessModes:
        - ReadWriteOnce
        resources:
          requests:
            storage: 10Gi
  template:
    spec:
      domain:
        cpu:
          cores: 2
        memory:
          guest: 4Gi
        devices:
          disks:
          - name: rootdisk
            disk:
              bus: virtio
      volumes:
      - name: rootdisk
        dataVolume:
          name: vm-with-pvc-disk
""")

Troubleshooting

VM Not Starting

python

1. kubevirt_vm_get(name, namespace)  # Check status/conditions
2. kubevirt_vmis_list(namespace)  # Check VMI exists
3. kubectl_get(resource_type="events", namespace)  # Check events
4. kubectl_get(resource_type="pods", namespace, label_selector="kubevirt.io/vm=<name>")  # Check virt-launcher

Migration Failed

python

1. kubevirt_vmis_list(namespace)  # Check migrationState
2. kubectl_get(resource_type="events", namespace)  # Check events
3. # Common issues:
   # - No suitable target node
   # - Insufficient resources
   # - Shared storage required

Related Skills

• k8s-storage - Persistent storage
• k8s-operations - kubectl operations