topic Re: Changes Made via “virsh edit” in HPE Morpheus VM Essentials Software

Changes Made via “virsh edit”

dya — Wed, 06 May 2026 00:06:16 GMT

Is directly modifying a virtual machine definition (XML) using “virsh edit” an acceptable practice for HVM?

Since I can’t make detailed changes via the Web UI, I’m considering using “virsh edit.” However, I’ve noticed that changes made with “virsh edit” sometimes get reverted when I run the reconfigure menu or similar operations.

I’d also like to know which changes are preserved and which are not—do you happen to know?

*Please note that this is machine translation, so I apologize if it’s unclear.

Re: Changes Made via “virsh edit”

DiegoDelgado — Wed, 06 May 2026 01:46:04 GMT

We recommend against making any changes using "virsh edit" because the Morpheus Manager enforces the XML configuration after some operations are done. Examples of such operations could be linked to live migrating a VM or simply power cycling it.

The manager doesn't change every aspect of the XML, for example setting a manual MAC address is not changed.

What type of changes have you found to be reverted?

Re: Changes Made via “virsh edit”

dya — Wed, 06 May 2026 05:02:25 GMT

Thank you.

I had made the following changes, but they reverted when I changed the virtual machine plan.

■Changes made using `virsh edit`
<sound model='ac97'>
↓
<sound model='ich9'>

Re: Changes Made via “virsh edit”

jayst136 — Sun, 10 May 2026 18:13:30 GMT

so, if it's not supported/practical to run virsh edit. What's the supported way to edit the xml? persistently?

Re: Changes Made via “virsh edit”

DiegoDelgado — Wed, 13 May 2026 16:43:47 GMT

There's no supported way to edit the VMs XML, if the change doesn't persist and it's not something present in the UI, there's no guarantee the change will persist.

What are the use cases you're looking at? I see the Audio device example, but why is something like this needed?

Asking so we can analyze the use cases and make informed decisions

Re: Changes Made via “virsh edit”

jayst136 — Sat, 16 May 2026 06:36:38 GMT

i think the need to edit the xml comes from troubleshooting scenario's or do things the GUI wont let you. Editing the xml came up quite a few times already on the forums and that's probably already some kind of indicator people are looking for that ability for different reasons.

i had an issue with veeam connecting two CDROM drives to the VM i was restoring (not sure why though). VME GUI would not let me remove one. And gues what i was thinking...

Re: Changes Made via “virsh edit”

SprinkleJames — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:48:00 GMT

@DiegoDelgado,

Changing the audio device might be done to resolve "There are no compatible drivers for this device" error in Windows, as VirtIO doesn't provide a driver for the default audio device:

Screenshot 2026-08-05 102332.png

You mentioned that setting a manual MAC address is not changed, which is very helpful to know.

Until Morpheus VME provides a supported method of changing specific VM settings such as these, It would certainly be helpful if there were a list of which settings should not be manually changed because Morpheus Manager may revert them.

Re: Changes Made via “virsh edit”

Frank-75 — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 21:10:45 GMT

I need to edit the XML file because I need to insert a serial number for the virtual disk into a VM. I'm virtualizing TrueNAS, and it requires this parameter, otherwise adding the disk and the mount point fails.

Another case when I need to use HPE ROK ISOs. I must include an "HPE" option in the VM's BIOS, otherwise the load fails and the VM goes into a loop (BIOS LOCK error).

Can do it with nano editing the file and where is the path to save the VM?

Re: Changes Made via “virsh edit”

Tobfr128 — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 06:37:59 GMT

We removed the audio device in our template using virsh and we have created multiple new VMs from the template and also done live migrations without it readding the device.