How To Create OpenVZ Virtual Machines (VPS)

How do I create OpenVZ virtual machine (VPS) to run CentOS or Debian as VPS?

OpenVZ comes with a template for each VPS or virtual machine. OpenVZ provides templates for all leading Linux distributions. You need to download those templates in order to create a VPS. Visit this page to grab templates for vps.

Download Ubuntu Linux VPS

Type the following commands to download precreated Ubuntu Linux template:

# cd /vz/template/cache
# wget http://download.openvz.org/template/precreated/ubuntu-9.04-x86_64.tar.gz

Download CentOS 64 bit template:

# cd /vz/template/cache
# wget http://download.openvz.org/template/precreated/centos-5-x86_64.tar.gz

Create VPS

Now you’ve download the template for your virtual machine. You can just start a VPS based on the template you have just downloaded, by typing the following commands: [10 is VPS ID you can use as per your requirement]

vzctl create 10 –ostemplate ubuntu-9.04-x86_64
vzctl set 10 –onboot yes –save

*** Set IP for VPS ***
vzctl set 10 –ipadd 192.168.1.5 –save

*** Set Nameservers IP for VPS ***
vzctl set 10 –nameserver 192.168.1.111 –save
vzctl set 10 –nameserver 192.168.1.111 –save

*** Set Hostname IP for VPS ***
vzctl set 10 –hostname ourlinuxblog.wordpress.com –save

*** Set Disk quota for VPS (10G min [soft] and 11G max hard limit) ***
vzctl set 10 –diskspace 10G:11G –save

*** Okay lets the vps ***
vzctl start 10

*** Set root user password for VPS ***
vzctl exec 10 passwd

vzctl is used to create and set various vps properties such as memory, disk usage and much more. Where,

* create 10 : Your VPS ID.
* –ostemplate ubuntu-9.04-x86_64 : VPS template.
* –config vps.ubuntu: Save configuration.
* set 10 : Set various option for VPS ID # 10.
* –onboot yes : Make sure VPS boots automatically after a reboot.
* –save : Save changes to config file.

Common OpenVZ Admin Tasks

vzctl act as a master tool for various tasks:

How Do I Set VPS Name to ourlinuxblog.wordpress.com ?

# vzctl set 10 –hostname ourlinuxblog.wordpress.com –save

How Do I Set VPS IP Address?

# vzctl set 10 –ipadd 74.86.48.99 –save

How Do I Set VPS DNS Name Servers?

# vzctl set 10 –nameserver 10.0.1.11 –save

How Do I Set Disk Quota?

# vzctl set 10 –diskspace SoftLimitG:HardLimitG –save

# vzctl set 10 –diskspace 10G:12G –save

How Do I Stop / Start / Restart VPS Servers?

# vzctl start 10
# vzctl restart 10
# vzctl stop 10

How Do I Run a Command For VPS?

You can run command as follows

# vzctl exec 10 w
# vzctl exec 10 df
# vzctl exec 10 date
# vzctl exec 10 ps aux

How Do I Login Into VPS Server (container)?

# vzctl enter 10

How Do I Delete VPS?

Type the following command to delete VPS:

# vzctl destroy 10