KVM Guest Operating System

The KVM Guest is a sparse installation.

KVM Guest Template

Install Debian

Define your disk layout, then go ahead and install Debian. Make sure this is an installation with a minimum of packages. Once Debian has been installed, leave the template alone.

KVM Guest Clone

Clone Your Template

Start by cloning your template.

Configure the New Guest

Root Password

Reset your root passwd.

passwd

Hostname

Your new system will need a new hostname.

• /etc/hostname
• /etc/hosts

sed -i 's/stretch-template/clone/g' /etc/hosts
sed -i 's/stretch-template/clone/g' /etc/hostname

Unique sshd keys

Make sure your clone does indeed have unique ssh keys. This is a really important step when cloning. Consider all your clones had the same ssh keys, that would really be a mess.

rm /etc/ssh/ssh_host_*
dpkg-reconfigure openssh-server
service sshd restart

Update

Since the template can be quite old, you might as well update the new system.

apt-get update
apt-get upgrade