I helped a friend this weekend to install the WordPress Appliance on a server with KVM.

Here is my "Recipe":

1. Download the VMDK-file and Unzip it

2. Convert the Vmware-image to QEMU Raw-format with:

qemu-img convert turnkey-wordpress-2009.10-2-hardy-x86.vmdk sda.img

3. Mount the image temporary:

If you look att Disk-image with "fdisk -ul sda.img" you see that "sda1" starts at unit 32 and that an unit is 512 bytes (32x512=16384). Mount it like this:

mount -o loop,offset=16384 sda.img /mnt

4. Create support for Serial Console:

In /mnt/etc/grub/menu.lst add the following in the top:

serial --unit=0 --speed=115200 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1
terminal --timeout=15 serial console

Change the kernel-lines in the end to look like:

kernel          /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.2..... ro quiet splash console=tty0 console=ttyS0,115200n8

Create /mnt/etc/event.d/ttyS0 with following content:

# ttyS0 - getty
#
# This service maintains a getty on tty1 from the point the system is
# started until it is shut down again.

start on stopped rc2
start on stopped rc3
start on stopped rc4
start on stopped rc5

stop on runlevel 0
stop on runlevel 1
stop on runlevel 6

respawn
exec /sbin/getty 115200 ttyS0

5. Set static IP:

Edit /mnt/etc/network/interfaces to look like this:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
        address 1.2.3.4
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        gateway 1.2.3.1

6. Setup DNS:

Edit /mnt/etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/base to look like this:

domain yourdomain.com
search yourdomain.com
nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220

7. Unmount the Image:

umount /mnt

8. Create an XML-file for KVM:

I modified an existing file and got this (wp.xml):

<domain type='qemu' id='2'>
  <name>wp</name>
  <memory>524288</memory>
  <currentMemory>524288</currentMemory>
  <vcpu>1</vcpu>
  <os>
    <type arch='x86' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
    <boot dev='hd'/>
  </os>
  <clock offset='utc'/>
  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
  <devices>
    <emulator>/usr/bin/kvm</emulator>
    <disk type='file' device='disk'>
      <source file='/srv/virt/wp/sda.img'/>
      <target dev='hda' bus='virtio'/>
    </disk>
    <interface type='bridge'>
      <mac address='52:54:00:aa:12:34'/>
      <source bridge='br0'/>
      <target dev='vnet2'/>
      <model type='virtio'/>
    </interface>
    <serial type='pty'>
      <source path='/dev/pts/3'/>
      <target port='0'/>
    </serial>
    <console type='pty' tty='/dev/pts/3'>
      <source path='/dev/pts/3'/>
      <target port='0'/>
    </console>
  </devices>
</domain>

Don't forget that mac address must be unique.

9. Define it in KVM and make it autostart with help of virsh:

Start virsh and type:

define wp.xml
autostart wp

Start up your new virtual machine with virsh and play with it...

start wp
console wp

That's all folks!