Its funny to see how such a small change in a complex system can make such a huge difference.

A tiny little update to the Proxmox virtualization platform was pushed through yesterday.  A new configuration option ‘args’ has been made available.  You can now pass any KVM configuration command option to to your guests.  You can either use the scripted interface command “qm” or directly edit the configuration file under /etc/qemu-server/<ID>.conf.

So what’s the big deal?  KVM development moves at a rapid pace, and new features are constantly added.  The proxmox team has built a solid platform, but hasn’t yet been able to add every single configuration to the easy to use web interface.  Until now, for example, that has prohibited someone from (easily) using the more advanced features of KVM, such as true Live Migration.  With the new ‘args’ command option, ALL of the KVM feature set can be utilized, while maintaining the stable Proxmox platform as your base.

I’ll document soon how to perform a Live Migration with this new feature, and also provide additional examples of its use.  For the advanced user that wants to give it a whirl now, just check the manual from the CLI at “man qm”

Thank you Proxmox Team – and especially Dietmar!