Volant
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  1. Getting Started
  • Introduction
    • Why Volant
    • Introduction
  • Getting Started
    • Installation
    • Quick Start: Initramfs Strategy
    • Quick Start: Rootfs Strategy
  • Guides
    • Networking
    • Cloud-Init
    • Deployments
    • GPU Passthrough
    • Troubleshooting
  • Plugin Development
    • Overview
    • Initramfs Plugins
    • OCI/Rootfs Plugins
  • Architecture
    • Overview
    • Components
    • Data Flow
    • Networking
    • Boot and Runtime
    • Security and Limits
    • Extensibility
  • References
    • Plugin Manifest Schema
    • Fledge.toml Schema
    • VFIO API
    • volar(cli)
    • volantd (server)
    • kestrel(agent)
    • Glossary
  • Development
    • Contributing
    • Security
  1. Getting Started

Installation

References
scripts/install.sh
internal/setup and the CLI command volar setup

Quick install#

The endpoint points to the same script hosted in this repository:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/volantvm/volant/main/scripts/install.sh
The script will:
Download Volant binaries (volar, volantd, kestrel) from GitHub Releases
Download kernel artifacts: bzImage (from Volant release) and vmlinux (from Cloud Hypervisor)
Install to /usr/local/bin and /var/lib/volant/kernel
Optionally run sudo volar setup (recommended)

Setup (networking + systemd)#

volar setup configures host networking and writes a systemd unit for volantd.
Defaults (from code):
Bridge: vbr0
Subnet: 192.168.127.0/24
Host IP in bridge: 192.168.127.1/24
Work dir: /var/lib/volant
Kernel paths:
bzImage: /var/lib/volant/kernel/bzImage
vmlinux: /var/lib/volant/kernel/vmlinux
What it does:
Creates bridge vbr0, assigns host IP, brings it up
Enables IPv4 forwarding
Adds iptables MASQUERADE for the managed subnet
Writes systemd unit for volantd and enables it
Non-interactive example:
Environment overrides:
VOLANT_BRIDGE, VOLANT_SUBNET, VOLANT_RUNTIME_DIR, VOLANT_LOG_DIR,
VOLANT_KERNEL_BZIMAGE, VOLANT_KERNEL_VMLINUX, VOLANT_WORK_DIR

Requirements#

Linux host with:
cloud-hypervisor in PATH
qemu-img (from qemu-utils)
bridge-utils (brctl) and iptables
sha256sum (coreutils)
Sudo privileges (or run installer as root)
x86_64 architecture
The installer can auto-install missing packages for Ubuntu/Debian, Fedora, RHEL/CentOS, and Arch-based distros.

Verify installation#

If you skipped setup during install, run it later:

Uninstall / cleanup#

Stop volantd: sudo systemctl disable --now volantd
Remove bridge and iptables rules manually if you customized them
Remove work directory /var/lib/volant if desired

Troubleshooting#

If cloud-hypervisor not found: install package from your distro or upstream
Ensure /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward is 1
Check service logs: journalctl -u volantd -f
Networking conflicts: ensure vbr0 bridge does not collide with existing networks
Modified at 2025-10-05 17:45:39
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