How to use the command `virsh pool-autostart` (with examples)

The command virsh pool-autostart is used to enable or disable autostart for a virtual machine storage pool. Autostart allows the storage pool to automatically start when the host machine boots up.

Use case 1: Enable autostart for a storage pool

To enable autostart for a specific virtual machine storage pool, you can use the following command:

virsh pool-autostart --pool name|uuid

• --pool: This argument is used to specify the name or UUID of the storage pool for which you want to enable autostart. You can determine the name or UUID of the storage pool by using the command virsh pool-list.

Motivation: Enabling autostart for a storage pool ensures that the pool starts automatically when the host machine boots up. This can be useful to ensure that the storage pool is always available for the virtual machines that depend on it.

Example:

Let’s say we have a storage pool with the name data, and we want to enable autostart for this pool. We can use the following command:

virsh pool-autostart --pool data

The command will enable autostart for the data storage pool.

Use case 2: Disable autostart for a storage pool

To disable autostart for a specific virtual machine storage pool, you can use the following command:

virsh pool-autostart --pool name|uuid --disable

• --pool: This argument is used to specify the name or UUID of the storage pool for which you want to disable autostart.
• --disable: This option is used to indicate that autostart should be disabled for the specified storage pool.

Motivation: Disabling autostart for a storage pool can be useful in scenarios where you want to manually control when the pool starts. This can be helpful for troubleshooting purposes or when you want to optimize the boot time of the host machine.

Example:

Let’s say we have a storage pool with the UUID 12345, and we want to disable autostart for this pool. We can use the following command:

virsh pool-autostart --pool 12345 --disable

The command will disable autostart for the storage pool with the UUID 12345.

Conclusion:

The virsh pool-autostart command is a useful tool for managing the autostart behavior of virtual machine storage pools. By enabling or disabling autostart for a storage pool, you can ensure that the pool starts automatically or manually control its startup behavior.