// Module included in the following assemblies:
//
// * virt/creating_vms_advanced/creating_vms_cli/virt-creating-vms-from-cli.adoc

:_mod-docs-content-type: PROCEDURE
[id="virt-creating-vm-cli_{context}"]
= Creating a VM from a VirtualMachine manifest

[role="_abstract"]
You can create a virtual machine (VM) from a `VirtualMachine` manifest. To simplify the creation of these manifests, you can use the `virtctl` command-line tool.

.Prerequisites

* You have installed the `virtctl` CLI.
* You have installed the {oc-first}.

.Procedure

. Create a `VirtualMachine` manifest for your VM and save it as a YAML file. For example, to create a minimal {op-system-base-full} VM, run the following command:
+
[source,terminal]
----
$ virtctl create vm --name rhel-9-minimal --volume-import type:ds,src:openshift-virtualization-os-images/rhel9
----

. Review the `VirtualMachine` manifest for your VM:
+
[NOTE]
====
This example manifest does not configure VM authentication.
====
+
.Example manifest for a {op-system-base} VM
[source,yaml]
----
apiVersion: kubevirt.io/v1
kind: VirtualMachine
metadata:
  name: rhel-9-minimal
spec:
  dataVolumeTemplates:
  - metadata:
      name: imported-volume-mk4lj
    spec:
      sourceRef:
        kind: DataSource
        name: rhel9
        namespace: openshift-virtualization-os-images
      storage:
        resources: {}
  instancetype:
    inferFromVolume: imported-volume-mk4lj
    inferFromVolumeFailurePolicy: Ignore
  preference:
    inferFromVolume: imported-volume-mk4lj
    inferFromVolumeFailurePolicy: Ignore
  runStrategy: Always
  template:
    spec:
      domain:
        devices:
          video:
            type: virtio
        memory:
          guest: 512Mi
        resources: {}
      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 180
      volumes:
      - dataVolume:
          name: imported-volume-mk4lj
        name: imported-volume-mk4lj
----
+

* `name: rhel-9-minimal` specifies the name of the VM.
* `name: rhel9` specifies the boot source for the guest operating system in the `sourceRef` section.
* `namespace: openshift-virtualization-os-images` specifies the namespace for the boot source. Golden images are stored in the `openshift-virtualization-os-images` namespace.
* `instancetype: inferFromVolume: imported-volume-mk4lj` specifies the instance type inferred from the selected `DataSource` object.
* `preference: inferFromVolume: imported-volume-mk4lj` specifies that the preference is inferred from the selected `DataSource` object.
* `type: virtio` specifies the use of a custom video device (a VirtIO device in this example) to enable hardware graphics acceleration. Enabling a custom video device is in Technology Preview for {VirtProductName} 4.21.

. Create a virtual machine by using the manifest file:
+
[source,terminal]
----
$ oc create -f <vm_manifest_file>.yaml
----

. Optional: Start the virtual machine:
+
[source,terminal]
----
$ virtctl start <vm_name>
----