sepastian/qemu_win10_guest.md

## qemu_win10_guest.md

      
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              qemu_win10_guest.md
            
          
    Install Win10 as a guest in QEMU, running on a Debian host.
# Host machine used.
uname -a
Linux x220 5.10.0-2-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 5.10.9-1 (2021-01-20) x86_64 GNU/Linux

This is based on https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-create-and-manage-kvm-virtual-machines-from-cli.
Prerequisites

Download Win10 Iso

https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/software-download/windows10ISO
Install Requirements

# Install QEMU and tools required.
sudo apt install libvirt-clients qemu-kvm virtinst virt-viewer

# Install osinfo-query.
sudo apt install libosinfo-bin

# Check, if win10 is supported;
# specify --os-variant=win10 below.
osinfo-query os | grep Windows

Check for Virtualization Support on Host

# Check for virtualization support
cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep vmx   # Intel
cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep svm   # AMD

# Check for kvm modules;
# result must include kvm_intel (Intel) or kvm_amd (AMD).
lsmod | grep kvm

# Enable libvirt daemon now and on startup.
systemctl enable --now libvirtd

Install

Install Win10 guest on Debian Host.
Add current user to the kvm group to be able to install without using sudo.
Requires logging out and in again.
# Add sebastian to group kvm.
sudo usermod -aG kvm sebastian
# log out, log in again.

The Win10 ISO is located at Isos/Win10_20H2_v2_English_x64.iso.
Specifying --disk size=5 creates a 11GB disk at ~/.local/share/libvirt/images;
a different path may be specified with path=....
The disk must be at least 10544MB in size, or Win10 won't install on it;
the installer recommends 15351MB and complains, if the partition is smaller than that.
Specifying the --os-variant=win10 is important to get optimizations for this OS;
see osinfo-query above.
virt-install \
  --name=win10 \
  --vcpus=2 \
  --memory=2048 \
  --cdrom=Isos/Win10_20H2_v2_English_x64.iso \
  --disk size=16 \
  --os-variant=win10

The graphical installer opens in a new window.
Select language etc., then select I don't have a product key;
select an N version, e.g. Windows 10 Pro N to install Windows without media player, Skype etc.
To uninstall an installation created with virt-install:
# https://serverfault.com/q/299632
virsh destroy virt1.example.com
virsh undefine --nvram virt1.example.com
virsh undefine virt1.example.com
virsh vol-delete --pool vg0 virt1.example.com.img
Caveats

If running the virt-install command multiple times fails with
Disk [...] is already in use by other guests, delete the disk image and use virsh
to remove the guest before running virt-install again.
# Delete disk image.
rm -rf ~/.local/share/libvirt/images/win10.qcow2

# Start the virsh console,
# destroy win10.
virsh
virsh # list
 Id   Name    State
-----------------------
 2    win10   running

virsh # destroy win10
Domain 'win10' destroyed

virsh # list
 Id   Name   State
--------------------

virsh # undefine win10
Domain 'win10' has been undefined

virsh # 

Managing and Using VMs

Use virsh to manage domains (VMs).
# list running VMs (domains)
virsh list
 Id   Name    State
-----------------------
 7    win10   running

# Start win10.
virsh start win10
Domain win10 started

# Suspend win10.
virsh suspend win10
Domain 'win10' suspended

# Resume win10.
virsh resume win10
Domain 'win10' resumed

# Disable autostart for win10.
virsh autostart --disable win10
Domain 'win10' unmarked as autostarted

# Use virst start and virst shutdown to start/shutdown a domain.

Conect to the graphical UI of win10 running virt-viewer and selecting the VM to connect to in the box that appears.