Virtual Machine Setup

This page describes how to build QEMU, prepare VM images, and manage VM lifecycle with ramryder_cli.

Build QEMU

If you already cloned the RamRyder repository without --recurse-submodules, run following command to get QEMU submodule:

git submodule update --init --recursive

From the RamRyder directory:

cd qemu
mkdir -p build
cd build
../configure --enable-kvm --target-list=x86_64-softmmu --enable-slirp
make -j$(nproc)
cd ../..

Get VM Image

We provide a clean Ubuntu VM image. You can use this image (download link) or use your own image.

tar -xf nvcloud-image-clean.tar.xz

Then refer to readme.txt inside the package for login information.

Manage VM

All VM operations are managed by admin/ramryder_cli. You can use ramryder_cli to query resource allocations, allocate resources, and create VMs.

cd /path/to/ramryder
./admin/ramryder_cli --help

1) Query resource status

Memory pool:

./admin/ramryder_cli query --type mempool

VM allocation status:

./admin/ramryder_cli query --type vm

2) Create VM

Create a VM with local memory (DIMM):

./admin/ramryder_cli create-vm \
  --cpu-set 0-9,20-29 \
  --memory 150G \
  --channels 6

Create a VM with DIMM + CXL memory:

./admin/ramryder_cli create-vm \
  --cpu-set 0-9,20-29 \
  --memory 100G \
  --channels 4 \
  --cxl-memory 50G \
  --cxl-channels 2

Note:

--channels: number of local-memory channels (DIMM, tier 0) assigned to the VM. Use this together with --memory when you want to attach local memory.
--cxl-channels: number of CXL-memory channels (tier 1) assigned to the VM. Use this together with --cxl-memory.
--memory is optional for attach-mem (default 0M), so CXL-only attach is supported.
More channels can provide higher bandwidth potential, but also consume more channel resources in the pool.
--memory/--channels are for local memory (DIMM, tier 0).
--cxl-memory/--cxl-channels are for CXL memory (tier 1).
memory size supports M or G units (for example 1024M, 150G).
default SSH forwarding port is 2806 + VMID.
if that port is occupied, CLI chooses another available port.
vCPU pinning is enabled by default; disable with --disable-vcpu-pin.

Dry-run example:

--dry-run is used to validate a VM plan before actual launch. It runs through resource-allocation and command-construction logic so you can verify settings and resource availability, then exits without keeping a running VM.

./admin/ramryder_cli create-vm \
  --cpu-set 0-9,20-29 \
  --memory 150G \
  --channels 6 \
  --dry-run

3) Dynamically add memory to a running VM

Add DIMM memory from new channels:

./admin/ramryder_cli attach-mem \
  --vmid 0 \
  --memory 20G \
  --channels 2

Add DIMM memory only from channels already allocated to this VM (i.g., no extra channels):

./admin/ramryder_cli attach-mem \
  --vmid 0 \
  --memory 10G \
  --channels 0

Add CXL memory from new channels:

./admin/ramryder_cli attach-mem \
  --vmid 0 \
  --cxl-memory 20G \
  --cxl-channels 2

attach-mem prints allocated memid values. Keep them for detach operations.

4) Dynamically remove memory

./admin/ramryder_cli detach-mem --vmid 0 --memid 3

5) Destroy VM

./admin/ramryder_cli destroy-vm --vmid 0

This command kills the VM process and releases all resource-manager allocations.

Update Guest Kernel

After VM is ready, log into VM and then follow Kernel Installation to update guest kernel.

Build QEMU​

Get VM Image​

Manage VM​

1) Query resource status​

2) Create VM​

3) Dynamically add memory to a running VM​

4) Dynamically remove memory​

5) Destroy VM​

Update Guest Kernel​