Conventions between MicroVM packages and the host
This section describes the interface that is used to run MicroVM
packages with the flake's host module. While the microvm.nix
flake was designed for single-server usage, you can build different
MicroVM deployments using the information on this page.
nixosModule.microvm option | MicroVM package file | nixosModules.host systemd service | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
microvm.hypervisor | bin/microvm-run | microvm@.service | Start script for the main MicroVM process |
microvm.hypervisor | bin/microvm-shutdown | microvm@.service | Script for graceful shutdown of the MicroVM (i.e. triggering the power button) |
microvm.interfaces.*.id | share/microvm/tap-interfaces | microvm-tap-interfaces@.service | Names of the tap network interfaces to setup for the proper user |
microvm.devices.*.path | share/microvm/pci-devices | microvm-pci-devices@.service | PCI devices that must be bound to the vfio-pci driver on the host |
microvm.shares.*.source | share/microvm/virtiofs/${tag}/source | microvm-virtiofsd@.service | Source directory of a virtiofs instance by tag |
microvm.shares.*.socket | share/microvm/virtiofs/${tag}/socket | microvm-virtiofsd@.service | virtiofsd socket path by tag |
share/microvm/system | config.system.build.toplevel symlink, used for comparing versions when running microvm -l |
Generating custom operating system hypervisor packages
Because a microvm.nix runner package completely defines how to run the Hypervisor, it is possible to define independent packages that virtualize other operating systems than NixOS.
-
Your NixOS configurations should export their runner package as
config.microvm.declaredRunnerso that it can be picked up either as declarative MicroVMs or by the microvm command. -
The runner package must have a file layout as described in the table above.
microvm-solo5-spt is an example of a Flake that can run on a microvm.nix host.