QCOW2 Image - Import in Proxmox VE

This article explains how to import a QCOW2 file into a Proxmox VE VM.

Starting point

Many applications, such as the Univention Corporate Server, can be downloaded as QCOW2 template. However, an import of this template is currently not possible via Proxmox VE User Interface.

Creation of VM

The QCOW2 file must first be created before it can be imported into a VM. Attention: Please use a free ID, which is not in use.

root@PMX4:~# qm create 200

Filing of the QCOW2 file

The QCOW2 file can be downloaded directly with wget into a register of your Proxmox VE cluster. It is also possible to transfer the file with scp on the Proxmox node. We use /mnt/pve/cephfs as a temporary storage for the file.

root@PMX4:~# cd /mnt/pve/cephfs
root@PMX4:/mnt/pve/cephfs# ls
cloudinit  dump  template  UCS-KVM-Image.qcow2

Import of QCOW2 file into VM

Now, an import can be performed via qm import. Important: Please state your correct VM-ID and the suitable target storage into which the file is to be imported. In our case, we import the file into the target storage vm_nvme.

root@PMX4:/mnt/pve/cephfs# qm importdisk 200 UCS-KVM-Image.qcow2 vm_nvme 
importing disk 'UCS-KVM-Image.qcow2' to VM 200 ...
transferred 0.0 B of 50.0 GiB (0.00%)
transferred 512.0 MiB of 50.0 GiB (1.00%)
transferred 1.0 GiB of 50.0 GiB (2.00%)
transferred 1.5 GiB of 50.0 GiB (3.01%)
transferred 2.0 GiB of 50.0 GiB (4.01%)
...
transferred 49.2 GiB of 50.0 GiB (98.34%)
transferred 49.7 GiB of 50.0 GiB (99.34%)
transferred 50.0 GiB of 50.0 GiB (100.00%)
transferred 50.0 GiB of 50.0 GiB (100.00%)
Successfully imported disk as 'unused0:vm_nvme:vm-200-disk-0'

Completion

Although the file has been imported, the disc, however, cannot be used currently. For this, the disc has to be activated with a double-click via Proxmox UI. Now, the VM can be equipped as desired. The VM can be added or edited via Proxmox-UI according to your wishes. Please make sure that you configurate enough resources (CPU, RAM and virtual network adapters) for the provided VM. You then start the VM and can start directly from the desired application.

Author: Jonas Sterr Jonas Sterr has been working for Thomas-Krenn for several years. Originally employed as a trainee in technical support and then in hosting (formerly Filoo), Mr. Sterr now mainly deals with the topics of storage (SDS / Huawei / Netapp), virtualization (VMware, Proxmox, HyperV) and network (switches, firewalls) in product management at Thomas-Krenn.AG in Freyung.

Translator: Alina Ranzinger Alina has been working at Thomas-Krenn.AG since 2024. After her training as multilingual business assistant, she got her job as assistant of the Product Management and is responsible for the translation of texts and for the organisation of the department.