Install Virtualization Packages

The following information describes how to install the virtualization packages on an Oracle Linux 8 system.

What Do You Need?

  • Administrator privileges.
  • To install the Oracle KVM Stack, the following requirements must be met:
    • The ol8_kvm_appstream yum repository must be enabled. See Enable Yum Repositories for instructions.

      Note:

      To install the Default KVM Stack, you don't need to enable any additional repositories.
    • The host system must be running the latest UEK R6 or UEK R7.

Steps

Follow these steps to install the virtualization packages on an Oracle Linux 8 system.

  1. Log in to the Oracle Linux 8 system.
  2. Ensure that the latest packages are installed on the system: 
    sudo dnf update
  3. Install the KVM virtualization stack and other utilities:
    • To install the Default KVM Stack:
      sudo dnf module install virt
sudo dnf install virt-install virt-viewer

    • To install the Oracle KVM Stack, first remove any existing virtualization packages and then install the module stream that you want to use. For example, to install the latest stream:

      sudo dnf remove libvirt qemu-kvm edk2-ovmf
sudo dnf module install virt:kvm_utils3
sudo dnf install virt-install virt-viewer
    • To install the Default KVM Stack:
      sudo dnf module install virt
sudo dnf install virt-install virt-viewer

    • To install the Oracle KVM Stack, first remove any existing virtualization packages and then install the module stream that you want to use. For example, to install the latest stream:

      sudo dnf remove libvirt qemu-kvm edk2-aarch64
sudo dnf module install virt:kvm_utils3
sudo dnf install virt-install virt-viewer
  4. (Recommended) Reboot the system to ensure that the virtualization packages and utilities were updated.

    Note:

    After performing a system update, reboot the system to ensure that the system restarts with the latest packages.
  5. Start, enable, or check the service of the libvirtd service. See Manage the libvirtd Service for instructions.

    Note:

    Before you can create and manage KVM instances, the libvirtd service must be started and enabled.
  6. Verify that the system can act as act as a virtual host. See Validate Host System for instructions.
  7. After verifying that the system can act as a virtual host, proceed to KVM Instances: Create and Manage.