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windows_vm_in_kvm_on_headless_ubuntu_server [23.01.2016 13:48] – Pascal Suter | windows_vm_in_kvm_on_headless_ubuntu_server [09.04.2022 01:22] (current) – [example config] Pascal Suter | ||
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run qemu and install windows. access the display via VNC | run qemu and install windows. access the display via VNC | ||
- | qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -k de-ch -name windows -vnc :1 -cdrom /dev/cdrom -boot d -drive file=/ | + | qemu-system-x86_64 -enable-kvm -k de-ch -name windows -vnc :1 -cdrom /dev/cdrom -drive file=/ |
now connect with your favourite vnc client to the ip of your server and install windows. you need to load the derivers from the second cdrom that is emulated. make sure you choose the correct virtio storage driver for your windows version. it may load the wrong one if you just select the root directory and let the installer search for it, resulting in an unstable windows vm | now connect with your favourite vnc client to the ip of your server and install windows. you need to load the derivers from the second cdrom that is emulated. make sure you choose the correct virtio storage driver for your windows version. it may load the wrong one if you just select the root directory and let the installer search for it, resulting in an unstable windows vm | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== autostart on boot / init script ===== | ||
+ | once the installation is done, shut down your windows vm. it is now time to make it autostart upon boot of your linux machine.. in order to do that i used [[https:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | this script will also send a shutdown command to all vms once the server shuts down, so no need to manually do that in order to gracefully shutdown your vm' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== bridged network ===== | ||
+ | by default qemu uses nat-ed network, so that the vm is in its own network and the vm host acts as a nat router. if you want your vm to be part of your network like any physical machine you have connected to your swich you can use a bridged connection.. | ||
+ | |||
+ | you need to install bridge-utils to be able to create a bridge network device | ||
+ | | ||
+ | now change your ''/ | ||
+ | < | ||
+ | auto br0 | ||
+ | iface br0 inet static | ||
+ | address 192.168.168.1 | ||
+ | netmask 255.255.255.0 | ||
+ | network 192.168.168.0 | ||
+ | broadcast 192.168.168.255 | ||
+ | gateway 192.168.168.254 | ||
+ | bridge_ports eth0 | ||
+ | bridge_stp off | ||
+ | bridge_maxwait 5 | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | Notice: you won't need any block for eth0 after you defined the bridge interface. | ||
+ | |||
+ | now either reboot your machine or try to get your eth0 down using '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | now in your qemu command line you ened to add the parameters | ||
+ | < | ||
+ | the default qemu-ifup script in /etc/ will do the rest for you. | ||
+ | |||
+ | **Notice** you will need virtio drivers for the nic to work. you can leave the '' | ||
+ | ===== example config ===== | ||
+ | here is an example configuration for a windows 7 machine using the above mentioned init script.. if you use another init script or run kvm manually you can simply use all the cli options listed below as an example of what you might want to pass on to qemu.. also take a look at the man page it is very informative and helpful! | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | # Should be unique among all VMs | ||
+ | MONITOR_PORT=5801 | ||
+ | |||
+ | # Not mandatory, but useful to keep it in a distinct variable | ||
+ | VNC_DISPLAY=1 | ||
+ | |||
+ | # KVM parameters | ||
+ | KVM_OPTS=" | ||
+ | -enable-kvm \ | ||
+ | -k de-ch \ | ||
+ | -name windows \ | ||
+ | -drive file=/ | ||
+ | -m 4096 \ | ||
+ | -net nic, | ||
+ | -net tap \ | ||
+ | -vnc : | ||
+ | -monitor tcp: | ||
+ | -monitor vc \ | ||
+ | -daemonize \ | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===== Windows 10 upgrade ===== | ||
+ | I had a windows 7 license laying around so i used that but wanted to upgrade to win 10. unfortunately the update crashed with error < | ||
+ | |||
+ | this was easily fixed by adding a < | ||
+ | |||
+ | that brings me to another note regarding windows vm' | ||
+ | ===== Disable Windows Updates on VM ===== | ||
+ | when the host system is shut down, akk kvm vm's will be sent a acpi power down message to gracefully shut down. the problem is, if the vm does not support this feature or crashes during shutdown, the host system will in turn hang on its shutdown and you might loose control over it when you connect from remotely.. so Thomas set a timout for the shutdown command to complete and after this timeout, his init script will simply switch the vm off. this is very good in order to keep the host system under control but it can badly harm especially Windows VM's as windows likes to install updates during the shutdown of a machine and therefore can take literally hours to shut down. | ||
+ | |||
+ | there are two solutions to this problem.. an easy one and a more complex one: | ||
+ | - Easy: disable automatic updates and do your updates manually so you can reboot your VM and give it all the time it wants to complete the updates | ||
+ | - Complex: use the qemu monitor command '' | ||
+ | for once i decided to go the easy way.. the problem about the complex solution is, that this only works once you know what to look for in the screenshot.. and who knows what microsofts "i am updating, don't you turn me off" message might look like in the future.. in times of error messages like " | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== windows 10 - disable updates ==== | ||
+ | windows 10 gives you a hard time when it comes to disabling updates.. it really insists on doing some of its updates automatically.. | ||
+ | in windows 10 pro you can set some goup policies and disable automatic updates but in windows 10 home you need to work around this issue by setting your network connection to be a " | ||
+ | === Pro - set group policies === | ||
+ | since i am using a windows 7 pro on my vm (i upgraded from a 7 ultimate i had laying around which turned into 10 pro upon the upgrade) i will disable auto updates using the official way: | ||
+ | * start -> search for "edit group policy" | ||
+ | * navigate to '' | ||
+ | * doubleclick '' | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ |