Testing VMs

In the previous chapter, you read up on how to set up a local NetBox instance using netbox-docker.

This guide will show you how to set up a VM that you can register/update on this container using Nazara.

Prerequisites

Host machine with the netbox-docker deployment running locally
Virtualization software (QEMU/KVM)
A Linux ISO of your choosing

Create a new Linux VM

Use a GUI to create/manager VMs

For creating and managing VMs, we recommend you use a tool like virt-manager.

You can find a step-by-step guide on how to create a new VM here

Using the Terminal

Info

These examples are specifically for openSUSE Tumbleweed.

For package names on other distros, please refer to the list below or check your distro's package lists.

1. Install required packages

sudo zypper install -y qemu-kvm libvirt virt-manager virt-install bridge-utils
sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd

2. Create Linux VM

Replace $ISO_PATH with the path to the ISO file and $DISK_PATH to the path where you want your virtual disk to be localted.

Create a new virtual disk image

qemu-img create -f qcow2 $DISK_PATH 20G

Create the Virtual Machine

sudo virt-install \
    --name nazara-test-vm \
    --ram 2048 \
    --vcpus 2 \
    --os-type linux \
    --os-variant $VARIANT \
    --network network=default \
    --graphics spice \
    --cdrom $ISO_PATH \
    --disk path=$DISK_PATH,format=qcow2

Example: Creating Ubuntu VM

This is an example on how to create a new VM using Ubuntu Desktop 25.10.

Create the virtual disk

qemu-img create -f qcow2 /var/lib/libvirt/images/ubuntu.qcow2 20G

Create the VM

sudo virt-install \
  --name nazara-test-vm-ubuntu \
  --ram 2048 \
  --vcpus 2 \
  --os-type linux \
  --os-variant ubuntu25.10 \
  --network network=default \
  --graphics spice \
  --cdrom /home/user/Downloads/ubuntu-25-10-desktop-amd64.iso \
  --disk path=/var/lib/libvirt/images/ubuntu.qcow2,format=qcow2

Example: Creating openSUSE Tumbleweed VM

This is an example on how to create a new VM with openSUSE Tumbleweed.

qemu-img create -f qcow2 /var/lib/libvirt/images/tumbleweed.qcow2 20G

Create the VM

sudo virt-install \
  --name nazara-test-vm-tumbleweed \
  --ram 2048 \
  --vcpus 2 \
  --os-type linux \
  --os-variant opensuse-tumbleweed \
  --network network=default \
  --graphics spice \
  --cdrom /home/user/Downloads/ubuntu-25-10-desktop-amd64.iso \
  --disk path=/var/lib/libvirt/images/ubuntu.qcow2,format=qcow2

Network Notes:

Default NAT (virbr0) -> host reachable from VM at 192.168.122.1 (on openSUSE)
Optional: Use bridge or host-only network for static IP

Transfer Nazara to the VM

If you used the standard network option for your VM, it is most likely not able to connect to the internet directly. This means you cannot pull Nazara's GitHub repo.

You can however, move your binary and config file from your host machine to your VM using SSH.

First check if you can reach the NetBox instance from your VM. Then simply run this bash script to copy everything else over:

#!/bin/bash

# Usage: ./copy_to_vm.sh <VM_IP> <VM_USER> <PATH_TO_NAZARA_PROJECT>
# Example:
# ./copy_to_vm.sh 192.168.122.123 alice /home/user/Nazara

set -e

VM_IP="$1"
VM_USER="$2"
PROJECT_PATH="$3"

if [[ -z "$VM_IP" || -z "$VM_USER" || -z "$PROJECT_PATH" ]]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 <VM_IP> <VM_USER> <PATH_TO_NAZARA_PROJECT>"
    exit 1
fi

NAZARA_BINARY="$PROJECT_PATH/target/release/nazara"
CONFIG_FILE="/root/.config/nazara/config.toml"

if [[ ! -f "$NAZARA_BINARY" ]]; then
    echo "Error: Nazara binary not found at $NAZARA_BINARY"
    exit 1
fi

if [[ ! -f "$CONFIG_FILE" ]]; then
    echo "Error: config.toml not found at $CONFIG_FILE"
    exit 1
fi

echo "Copying Nazara binary to VM home directory..."
scp "$NAZARA_BINARY" "$VM_USER@$VM_IP:/home/$VM_USER/"

echo "Copying config file to VM root config directory..."
ssh "$VM_USER@$VM_IP" "sudo mkdir -p /root/.config/nazara"
scp "$CONFIG_FILE" "$VM_USER@$VM_IP:/tmp/config.toml"
ssh "$VM_USER@$VM_IP" "sudo mv /tmp/config.toml /root/.config/nazara/config.toml"

echo "Done!"