Documentation related to Persistent domainXML

source/adminguide/virtual_machines/importing_unmanaging_vms.rst

@@ -362,6 +362,23 @@ Preserving unmanaged Instance NICs
 The zone setting: unmanage.vm.preserve.nics can be used to preserve Instance NICs and its MAC addresses after unmanaging them. If set to true, the Instance NICs (and their MAC addresses) are preserved when unmanaging it. Otherwise, NICs are removed and MAC addresses can be reassigned.
 
 
+Persistent KVM Domain XML for Unmanaged Instances
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Since 4.22, the domain XML of an Instance is made persistent when it is unmanaged from CloudStack. This allows the Instance to be managed directly outside of CloudStack using `virsh` or other libvirt tools. The domain XML will be stored in the directory `/etc/libvirt/qemu` on the relevant KVM host.
+
+Domain XML is taken from Instance but varies based on their state:
+
+- Running Instance
+   - The existing domain XML is retrieved from the Instance and persisted on the host where the Instance is running.
+- Stopped Instance
+   - The domain XML is reconstructed from the Instance details available in the CloudStack database.
+   - The reconstructed domain XML is persisted on the last host where the Instance was running before it was stopped. If that host is no longer available, the domain XML is saved on any other available host within the cluster.
+
+.. note:: 
+   It is recommended to unmanage Instances while they are in the **Running** state to ensure that the exact domain XML is preserved. When unmanaged in the **Stopped** state, some information may be lost due to reconstruction.
+
+
 Unmanaging Instance actions
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~