[virt-tools-list] virt-manager get_xml inactive

[Stephen Marron]

Hi,

Im looking for some feedback on how virt-manager should display the
inactive/active xml details of a running virtual machine...

At the moment when a user views the basic details of a running virtual
machine, the code will call get_xml() which defaults to retrieving the
active xml state.

If a change is made ie we update the description field of the _running_
machine to say "apache server" instead of "template", then hit apply,
the user will get a message saying that some changes require a guest
reboot, they click ok, the xml now looks like this:

Active xml still says "template"
Inactive xml says "apache server"

Now if the user closes the details view then reopens it, without
rebooting the virtual machine, we will reload the active xml and tell
the user that the description is "template", this tends to be
non-intuitive and confusing to the user...

Any thoughts on how this should be handled?

I dont think that we should _always_ display the inactive xml state, but
i also dont think that the current method of _always_ displaying the
active xml state is correct...

maybe certain fields (ie description) should always show the inactive
xml state if its different, and the rest of the fields should always
show the active state?

Thoughts?

Regards

Stephen