This project implements a Type 2 hypervisor for Linux-based x86_64 systems using QEMU (Quick Emulator). QVM is designed to facilitate the effecient use of QEMU which is a generic and open-source machine emulator and virtualizer that allows guest operating systems to run as an application on top of an existing operating system. Tkerhis implementation focuses on providing a user-friendly, efficient, and flexible virtualization solution for various guest operating systems.
- Multiple OS Support: Run various Linux-based guest operating systems, including Debian, ArchLinux, Kali Linux, Ubuntu, RaspiOS, and other specialized systems.
- Lightweight & Effecient:
QVMis a sleek & efficientType 2 hypervisorthat leaves minimal footprint while maximising performance with seamless integration across platforms. - Hardware Emulation: Emulate a wide range of hardware devices, including CPUs, network cards, and storage devices.
- Disk Image Management: Utilizes the
qcow2format for efficient disk space usage and snapshot capabilities.raw,vdi,vmdk&vhdformats can also be used. - VM Templating: Create and manage VM templates for quick and efficient replication of virtual machines.
- Memory Management: Configure and optimize VM memory usage with various backend options.
- NUMA Support: Enable
Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA)for improved performance in multi-processor systems. - KVM & VGA Support: Enable
Kernel-based Virtual Machinesupport and use KVM virtualization features to further enhance performance.VGAgraphics display drivers can be used instead of default QEMU graphics drivers for specialised use-cases.
Note: QVM has so far only been tested on Debian 12 & Kali Linux systems.
First, make sure that your system is up-to-date & that git is installed:
Using apt:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install git
Using pacman:
sudo pacman -Syu
sudo pacman -S git
Using dnf:
dnf upgrade
dnf install git
Using yum:
sudo yum update && sudo yum upgrade
sudo yum install git
To install QVM-Manager, follow these steps:
cd /tmp/
git clone https://github.com/RoyalHighgrass/QVM-Manager.git
cd QVM-Manager
sudo chmod +x QVM/config.sh
sudo ./QVM/config.sh
All packages listed below (excluding YAD) are available via the Debian & Kali Linux repositories. This application is yet to be tested on the following commonly used Linux OS's;
Ubuntu, ArchLinux, Manjaro, ParrotOS & RaspiOS.
If you use one of these systems and any package listed below is not available via your systems repository, you may want to consider installing it manually from source before running the sudo ./QVM/config.sh command.
wget
tree
cut
original-awk
mawk
gawk
find
locate
zenity
wmctrl
make
cpu-checker
intltool
autoconf
gtk-layer-shell-doc
gtk4-layer-shell-doc
libgtk-3-common
libgtk-4-common
libgtk-3-0t64
libgtk-3-dev
yad (github)
acpi
bc
tr
xrandr
cgroup-tools
libvirt-clients
libvirt-daemon-system
bridge-utils
virtinst
libvirt-daemon
libvirt-clients-qemu
qemu-kvm
qemu-system-common
qemu-system-x86
qemu-system-modules-opengl
qemu-utils
grub-firmware-qemu
mgba-sdl
libsdl2-2.0-0
libsdl2-net-2.0-0
mednafen
Start QVM's CLI interface:
qvm-manager
Launch GUI interface:
qvm-manager --gui
Get version info:
qvm-manager --version
Show help message:
qvm-manager --help
For more advanced usage and configuration options, please refer to the User Manual documentation.
The hypervisor VM specifications can easily be configured using command-line application interface, and templating can be implemented via the graphical user interface. Some key configuration areas include:
- Memory allocation
- CPU cores used
- Network interfaces
- Display drivers
- Audio interfaces
- KVM & VGA intergration
- Virtual hardware
- Storage devices
- Shared memory
- Host keyboard sharing
Contributions to the project are welcome! Please read the CONTRIBUTING.md file for guidelines on how to submit pull requests, report issues, and suggest improvements.
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for more details.