virtual-machine.md

Virtual Machine (VM)

Description

This is a brief description of the topic.

Directory

• Virtual Machine (VM)
  • Description
  • Directory
  • VM Software Setup
    • Description
    • References
    • Steps
    • Troubleshooting
  • Optimising Windows VM
    • Description
    • References
    • Steps

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VM Software Setup

Description

This details how to setup Virt-manager, a software that allows creating and managing VMs.

References

• Virt-Manager
• Creating Virtual Machines in QEMU | Virt-manager | KVM

Steps

1. Install the virt-manager package and its dependencies using yay:

   • qemu-desktop
   • libvirt
   • edk2-ovmf
   • dnsmasq
   • iptables-nft

2. Start and Enable the libvirtd.service service.

3. To not need sudo to run the software, add our user to the libvirt group:

   sudo usermod -aG libvirt ${USER}

4. Edit our qemu.conf config:

   sudo nano /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf

   Uncomment these lines and replace the values with your username:

   # user = "libvirt-qemu"
   # group = "libvirt-qemu"
   

   Sample value assuming our username is myuser:

   user = "myuser"
   group = "myuser"
   

Troubleshooting

• If Virt-Manager QEMU/KVM is stuck at connecting, restart the libvirtd.service service.

• To find the cause of the issue, check the status of the libvirtd.service service.

  More often than not, it's likely a configuration issue with a VM. Fixing the configuration should fix the issue.

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Optimising Windows VM

Description

This details some steps that can be done on a Windows VM through VirtManager in order to make the experience a little better.

References

• Windows Inside of Linux

Steps

1. Install Windows VM on an actual disk would make it a lot faster:

   • While creating a new VM on VirtManager, In Step 4 of 5, choose Select or create custom storage.

   • In that field, put in the location of the destination disk (check using sudo blkid).

   • Proceed with installation.

2. Once Windows has been installed, install VirtIO drivers from Proxmox:

   • Download the latest stable ISO on your Host machine from this link (https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Windows_VirtIO_Drivers#Using_the_ISO).

   • Mount the ISO to the Windows VM.

   • Boot the Windows VM.

   • Open the mounted ISO and run the 64-bit installer.

   • Once the drivers have installed, shut down the VM.

3. Add a channel for "better" communication between your Host machine to the VM:

   • In the info tab of the VM, click Add Hardware.

   • Click Channel, and pick qemu.guest_agent from the Name dropdown.

   • Click Finish.

4. (Optional) Set Video model to VirtIO (in some cases, the default QXL model might be better):

   • In the info tab of the VM, locate Video QXL.

   • In the Video QXL section, change the Model to Virtio.

   • Click Apply.

5. Set CPU cores to a minimum of 4, and ensure that the Windows VM sees all 4 cores:

   • In the Details tab of the VM, get to the CPUs section.

   • Under Topology, select the Manually set CPU topology option.

   • Fill in the following values:

     • Sockets: 1
     • Cores: 4
     • Threads: 1

   • Click Apply.