Knowledge Base
Virtual Machines
VM Drives
8 min
add a drive to a vm from the top menu , click virtual machines > list select the desired vm from the left menu, click view from the left menu, click drives from the left menu, click new set name to the desired name when name is not specified, the system will automatically name drives in the order they are created (e g drive x ) where x is an integer starting at 0 for drives that will be used as a "golden image", it's recommended to give the drive a name for easier selection when creating non persistent drives the read only option can be useful for a drive that should not be modified, such as on a vm restore that is used to recovery data select media type disk (default) empty disk; emulates typical ssd/hdd device cd rom emulates cd rom device; read only; associated iso file simulates inserted cd media; typically used for installing os or other software clone disk create a duplicate of an existing disk from the same cluster efi disk this drive type is auto generated and handled by the system; there should never be a need to manually create a drive of this type import disk allows selection of a standard format disk file (e g raw, vmdk, qcow, vhd(x), etc ) non persistent allows for a drive that does not maintain changes between boots; each time the vm is started, the non persistent drive reverts back to the raw file image (an existing disk drive in the cluster) to which it is referenced a typical use for the non persistent drive would be maintaining a "golden image" os install where all updates and modifications can be made centrally; this is particularly useful for solutions, such as vdi, where a consistent installation needs to be maintained for many virtual machines select interface virtio scsi (recommended) (recommended) provides a para virtualized scsi device; with high performance, while still maintaining standard command set, device passthrough, and device naming within guest os there is built in support in most linux distros, but not standard in default windows installations virtio (legacy) it can be used for good i/o performance with the tradeoff being that some native scsi features, such as trim are not supported virtio scsi (dedicated controller) provides a para virtualized scsi device with its own controller this option is not typically needed due to korgrid's 100% nvme architecture lsi lsi, native vmware options provided for compatibility, where needed sata (ahci) option only applies to vms with a q35 machine type ide option only applies to vms with a pc (i440fx) machine type set disk size ℹ️ this option only applies when media type is disk select media file ℹ️ this option only applies when media type is cd rom , clone disk , import disk , or non persistent for cd rom select iso file from the dropdown list for clone disk select raw file from the dropdown list for import disk select disk image from the dropdown list supported file types are raw, qcow, qcow2, vhd, vhdx, and vmdk for non persistent disk select raw file from the dropdown list displaying all existing korgrid drives in the cluster see docid\ kzqrdvzyaduuymfuxi2qi for instructions on uploading iso files and/or disk images to the vsan set description ℹ️ optional, but recommended when there will be more than one drive the asset field can be used to define a unique identifier for the drive (e g os, data drive, etc ) the discard option is enabled by default, and is typically recommended to keep enabled, as it allows storage space to be recovered from deleted files select optimize for general usage (default) 64 kb chunks, with read ahead large files (recommended) (recommended) up to 1 mb chunks click submit remove a drive from a vm a drive must be offline before it can be deleted drives can be taken offline by powering off the virtual machine or using hotplug (when enabled) from the top menu , click virtual machines > vm drives select the desired drive from the left menu, click hotplug click yes to confirm select the desired drive from the left menu, click delete click yes to confirm from the top menu , click virtual machines > list select the desired vm from the left menu, click power off click yes to confirm select the desired vm from the left menu, click view from the left menu, click drives select the desired drive from the left menu, click delete click yes to confirm modify a vm drive once a drive has been created, the media type can't be modified drives can't be reduced in size, only increased modifications involving the drives size or interface type will likely require corresponding modifications within the guest os from the top menu , click virtual machines > vm drives select the desired drive from the left menu, click edit modify fields as desired click submit erase data on a drive caution should be used when erasing a drive erasing a crucial drive can render a vm unusable take special care to ensure an erase operation is being applied to the intended drive on the intended vm a temporary vm snapshot should be taken prior to erasing the drive, to allow a fallback if needed the virtual machine must be powered off before a drive can be erased from the top menu , click virtual machines > vm drives select the desired drive from the left menu, click erase click yes to confirm