Use KVM with SPICE for remote access
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Last edited: $Date: 2016/05/17 14:24:21 $


## KVM: the hypervisor that is build into the Linux kernel

KVM is a great hypervisor. It is build right into your Linux kernel
and offers great, near native performance.

A great start to learn more about KVM is http://www.linux-kvm.org.

## SPICE: the open source VDI solution

The SPICE project aims to provide a complete open source solution for
remote access to virtual machines in a seamless way (thus says the
website of spice :).

Read more about SPICE on http://www.spice-space.org/faq.html

SPICE gives you a great remote desktop experience. It is much faster
and better then VNC or RPD. SPICE is nice for the CPU on the server.
So you can use it as a good VDI method.

I use SPICE as a way to have graphical access to my virtual machines
on my local LAN at home for some time now.

## Start KVM with SPICE for remote access

On my Debian box I start a virtual machine like this:

    
    
    kvm \
    -cpu host \
    -net nic,model=rtl8139,vlan=0 \
    -net tap,ifname=tap2,script=/etc/qemu-ifup-br0 \
    -m 2048 \
    -drive file=<imagefile>,if=virtio \
    -boot c \
    -vga qxl \
    -spice port=5900,addr=<ip-address>,disable-ticketing
    

where <imagefile> is the filename of the kvm virtual machine image and
<ip-address> is the ip-address of the KVM server.

## Start SPICE Client on Debian

On your laptop you start the SPICE Client with:

    
    
    spicec -h <ip-address> -p 5900
    

## Start SPICE Client on OpenBSD

On OpenBSD, install the spice client with:

    
    
    pgk_add spice-gtk
    

You can run the client with:

    
    
    spicy -h <ip-address> -p 5900
    

BTW: You can release the mouse cursor with Shift-F12.


$Id: kvmspice.txt,v 1.2 2016/05/17 14:24:21 matto Exp $