How to set boot order on KVM (libvirt/virsh)?

Question

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

Computation

Answer 1

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

Holle

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. – Computation

I found that virsh dumpxml followed by virsh define did the trick. (I didn't want to be doing this in an editor.) – Kathrynkathryne

I found it can specify boot order via virtual machine manager as well. see step 4 of this link: fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA:Testcase_Boot_Methods_Pxeboot – Holle

Thanks. I am still confused. see unix.stackexchange.com/questions/505554/… – Lag

Answer 2

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

Gabbi