Chapter 8. Shutting down and restarting virtual machines

Procedure

1. To shut down a responsive VM, do one of the following:

   • If you are connected to the guest, use a shutdown command or a GUI element appropriate to the guest operating system.

     Note

     In some environments, such as in Linux guests that use the GNOME Desktop, using the GUI power button for suspending or hibernating the guest might instead shut down the VM.

   • Alternatively, use the virsh shutdown command on the host:

     • If the VM is on a local host:

       # virsh shutdown <demo-guest1>

       Successful output:

       Domain 'demo-guest1' is being shutdown

     • If the VM is on a remote host (in this example 192.0.2.1):

       # virsh -c qemu+ssh://root@192.0.2.1/system shutdown <demo-guest1>

       Successful output:

       root@192.0.2.1's password:
       Domain 'demo-guest1' is being shutdown

2. If the VM is not responding, you can force it to shut down. To do this, use the virsh destroy command on the host:

   # virsh destroy <demo-guest1>

   Successful output:

   Domain 'demo-guest1' destroyed

   Important

   The virsh destroy command does not actually delete or remove the VM configuration or disk images. It only terminates the running instance of the VM, similarly to pulling the power cord from a physical machine.

   However, in rare cases, virsh destroy may cause corruption of the VM’s file system, so use this command only if all other shutdown methods have failed.

Procedure

1. In the Virtual Machines interface, find the row of the VM you want to shut down.

2. On the right side of the row, click Shut Down.

   The VM shuts down.

Procedure

1. To restart a responsive VM, do one of the following:

   • If you are connected to the guest, use a restart command or a GUI element appropriate to the guest operating system.

   • Alternatively, use the virsh reboot command on the host:

     • If the VM is on a local host:

       # virsh reboot demo-guest1

       Successful output:

       Domain 'demo-guest1' is being rebooted

     • If the VM is on a remote host (in this example 192.0.2.1):

       # virsh -c qemu+ssh://root@192.0.2.1/system reboot demo-guest1

       Successful output:

       root@192.0.2.1's password:
       Domain 'demo-guest1' is being rebooted

2. If the VM is not responding, you can force it to shut down, and then start it:

   1. Force a VM to shut down.

      # virsh destroy demo-guest1

      Successful output:

      Domain 'demo-guest1' destroyed

      Important

      The virsh destroy command does not actually delete or remove the VM configuration or disk images. It only terminates the running instance of the VM, similarly to pulling the power cord from a physical machine.

      However, in rare cases, virsh destroy may cause corruption of the VM’s file system, so use this command only if all other shutdown methods have failed.

   2. Start the VM again.

      # virsh start demo-guest1

      Successful output:

      Domain 'demo-guest1' started

Procedure

1. In the Virtual Machines interface, find the row of the VM you want to restart.

2. On the right side of the row, click the Menu button ⋮.

   A drop-down menu of actions appears.

3. In the drop-down menu, click Reboot.

   The VM shuts down and restarts.