kvm debian squeeze ERROR: internal error Child process

Question

Having issues creating virtual machines in Debian Squeeze. The host is a Dell Poweredge with Xeon processor, running Debian Squeeze - kernel 3.2.0-4-amd64

When I try to create the VM through virt-manager, the error message is:

Unable to complete install: 'internal error Child process (LC_ALL=C PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin HOME=/ /usr/bin/kvm -no-user-config -device ? -device pci-assign,? -device virtio-blk-pci,? -device virtio-net-pci,? -device scsi-disk,?) status unexpected: exit status 1'

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/asyncjob.py", line 45, in cb_wrapper
    callback(asyncjob, *args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/share/virt-manager/virtManager/create.py", line 1909, in do_install
    guest.start_install(False, meter=meter)
  File "/usr/lib/pymodules/python2.7/virtinst/Guest.py", line 1239, in start_install
    noboot)
  File "/usr/lib/pymodules/python2.7/virtinst/Guest.py", line 1307, in _create_guest
    dom = self.conn.createLinux(start_xml or final_xml, 0)
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/libvirt.py", line 2475, in createLinux
    if ret is None:raise libvirtError('virDomainCreateLinux() failed', conn=self)
libvirtError: internal error Child process (LC_ALL=C PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin HOME=/ /usr/bin/kvm -no-user-config -device ? -device pci-assign,? -device virtio-blk-pci,? -device virtio-net-pci,? -device scsi-disk,?) status unexpected: exit status 1

Then I try through the command line like:

virt-install --connect qemu:///system 
    -n test -r 1024 --vcpus=2 
    --disk /data/virtualmachines/test.img 
    -c /home/foobar/debian-7.1.0-amd64-netinst.iso 
    --vnc --ost-type linux --accelerate 
    --network=bridge:br0 --hvm

And get the following:

ERROR    internal error Child process (LC_ALL=C PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin HOME=/ /usr/bin/kvm -no-user-config -device ? -device pci-assign,? -device virtio-blk-pci,? -device virtio-net-pci,? -device scsi-disk,?) status unexpected: exit status 1
Domain installation does not appear to have been successful.

I am running:

• Debian Squeeze
• kvm = 1.1.2
• virt-manager = 0.9.1
• libvirt = 0.9.12
• the kvm module is properly listed in lsmod

Any ideas or pointers?

Answer 1

It seems that you are not using the default location for your kvm image. Have you looked if apparmor is blocking access to that resource? Look for DENIED entries in your dmesg log and if that is true then add the following line to /etc/apparmor.d/abstractions/libvirt-qemu:

/data/virtualmachines/** rw,

(or any other paths you are using for your kvm images)