Modifying your VM Template
Prerequisites
- You've installed the Anka Virtualization package
- You've got an active license
- You've created your first VM Template
The rest of this Getting Started guide focuses heavily on the Anka Virtualization CLI (Command-Line Interface). These will be performed from within your macOS Terminal. For all available CLI commands, flags, and options, see the Command Reference.
> sudo anka modify --help
Usage: anka modify [OPTIONS] VM_ID COMMAND [ARGS]...
Modify a VM's configuration
Options:
--help Display usage information
Commands:
add
delete
set
show
> sudo anka modify 11.1.0 set --help
Usage: anka modify set [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...
Options:
--help Display usage information
Commands:
cpu Set number of cpu cores and frequency
custom-variable Set custom nvram & smb variables (Example: .
description Set description of the VM
display Configure displays
hard-drive Modify hard drive settings
name Set new template name for the VM
nested Enable nested virtualization
network-card Modify network card settings
policy Enable VM access management
ram Set RAM size and parameters
Increase your VM's disk space with hard-drive
Change the disk space on an existing VM with the following commands:
anka modify {vmNameOrUUID} set hard-drive --size 100GB
anka run --no-volume {vmNameOrUUID} diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk1 0
It's currently impossible to downsize a VM's hard-drive. We suggest creating your initial VM Template with a smaller amount of available disk and then increase in subsequent Tags.
Changing your VM's network configuration with network-card
Depending on your network topology, there are instances where you might need to use a bridge mode and assign your VM a unique IP address instead of the default shared IP of the host:
> sudo anka modify 11.1.0 set network-card --help
Usage: anka modify set network-card [OPTIONS] [INDEX]...
Modify network card settings
Options:
-t, --type [shared|host|bridge|disconnected]
-b, --bridge TEXT host interface name to bridge with
-m, --mac TEXT specify fixed MAC address
-n, --no-mac deassign fixed MAC address
-v, --vlan INTEGER assign VLAN ID
-c, --controller [anet|virtio-net]
set controller
--help Display usage information
WiFi interfaces are not supported yet
❯ anka describe 11.0.1
. . .
network_cards
+------------+--------+--------+-----------+
| pci_slot | type | mode | pci_id |
+============+========+========+===========+
| 28 | anet | shared | 538975646 |
+------------+--------+--------+-----------+
. . .
❯ anka modify 11.0.1 set network-card 0 -t bridge
❯ anka describe 11.0.1
. . .
network_cards
+------------+--------+--------+-----------+
| pci_slot | type | mode | pci_id |
+============+========+========+===========+
| 28 | anet | bridge | 538975646 |
+------------+--------+--------+-----------+
. . .
Set up your VM for external access with port-forwarding
If you wish for the VM to be accessible to other machines on your network, and are using a Shared network mode (the default), you will need to setup port forwarding:
❯ sudo anka modify 10.15.4 add port-forwarding --guest-port 22 ssh
❯ sudo anka describe 10.15.4
. . .
port_forwarding_rules
+------------+--------------+-------------+------------+-----------+-------------+
| net_card | guest_port | rule_name | protocol | host_ip | host_port |
+============+==============+=============+============+===========+=============+
| 0 | 22 | ssh | tcp | 0 | 0 |
+------------+--------------+-------------+------------+-----------+-------------+
❯ sudo anka start 10.15.4
. . .
port_forwarding
+--------------+-------------+------------+--------+-----------+
| guest_port | host_port | protocol | name | host_ip |
+==============+=============+============+========+===========+
| 22 | 10000 | tcp | ssh | 0.0.0.0 |
+--------------+-------------+------------+--------+-----------+
❯ ssh anka@localhost -p 10000
Password:
Last login: Mon Apr 6 12:45:50 2020
Mac-mini:~ anka
The VM can then be accessed using: ssh anka@{theHostRunningTheVMsIP} -p {host_port}
Unless you customize the host_port (with
anka config portfwd_base), we default to using the 10000-10XXX port range. If you start a VM it will get 10000 unless a VM already exist. The existing VM using the 10000 port will cause an automatic assignment of 10001 to the newly started VM. Ensure that both the Controller server and any CI servers (where you host Jenkins for example) can reach the Node's ports in your firewall rules.
Modify the hardware UUID and Serial with custom-variable
At times you might need to modify the hardware serial or UUID to run proper builds/tests that require specific hardware to function properly:
> sudo anka modify 11.1.0 set custom-variable --help
Usage: anka modify set custom-variable [OPTIONS] KEY VALUE
Set custom nvram & smb variables (Example: . . . set custom-variable hw.serial "<SERIAL>"
Options:
--help Display usage information
sudo anka modify {vmNameOrUUID} set custom-variable hw.UUID "GUID"
sudo anka modify {vmNameOrUUID} set custom-variable hw.serial 'MySerial'
Feedback
Was this page helpful?
Glad to hear it! Please tell us how we can improve.
Sorry to hear that. Please tell us how we can improve.