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# Creating a `libvirt` Windows VM
## Understanding The Virtualisation Stack
This method of configuring a Windows virtual machine for use with WinApps is significantly more involved than utilising `Docker` or `Podman`. Nevertheless, expert users may prefer this method due to its greater flexibility and wider range of customisation options.
Before beginning, it is important to have a basic understanding of the various components involved in this particular method.
1. `QEMU` is a FOSS emulator that performs hardware virtualisation, enabling operating systems and applications designed for one architecture (e.g., aarch64) to run on systems with differing architectures (e.g., amd64). When used in conjunction with `KVM`, it can run virtual machines at near-native speed (provided the guest virtual machine matches the host architecture) by utilising hardware extensions like Intel VT-x or AMD-V.
2. `KVM` is a Linux kernel module that enables the kernel to function as a type-1 hypervisor. `KVM` runs directly on the underlying hardware (as opposed to on top of the GNU/Linux host OS). For many workloads, the performance overhead is minimal, often in the range of 2-5%. `KVM` requires a CPU with hardware virtualisation extensions.
3. `libvirt` is an open-source API, daemon, and management tool for orchestrating platform virtualisation. It provides a consistent and stable interface for managing various virtualisation technologies, including `KVM` and `QEMU` (as well as others). `libvirt` offers a wide range of functionality to control the lifecycle of virtual machines, storage, networks, and interfaces, making it easier to interact with virtualisation capabilities programmatically or via command-line tools.
4. `virt-manager` (Virtual Machine Manager) is a GUI desktop application that provides an easy-to-use interface for creating, configuring and controlling virtual machines. `virt-manager` utilises `libvirt` as a backend.
Together, these components form a powerful and flexible virtualization stack, with `KVM` providing low-level kernel-based virtualisation capabilities, `QEMU` providing high-level userspace-based virtualisation functionality, `libvirt` managing the resources and `virt-manager` offering an intuitive graphical management interface.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/Virtualisation_Stack.svg" width="500px"/>
</p>
## Prerequisites
1. Ensure your CPU supports hardware virtualisation extensions by [reading this article](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/KVM).
2. Install all dependencies by installing `virt-manager`. This will ensure that your package manager automatically installs all the necessary components.
```bash
sudo apt install virt-manager # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install virt-manager # Fedora/RHEL
sudo pacman -S virt-manager # Arch Linux
sudo emerge app-emulation/virt-manager # Gentoo Linux
```
3. Configure `libvirt` to use the 'system' URI by adding the line `LIBVIRT_DEFAULT_URI="qemu:///system"` to your preferred shell profile file.
```bash
echo "export LIBVIRT_DEFAULT_URI=\"qemu:///system\"" >> ~/.bashrc
```
4. Install `QEMU Guest Agent`.
```bash
sudo apt install qemu-guest-agent # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo dnf install qemu-guest-agent # Fedora/RHEL
sudo pacman -S qemu-guest-agent # Arch Linux
sudo emerge app-emulation/qemu-guest-agent # Gentoo Linux
sudo systemctl enable qemu-guest-agent
sudo systemctl start qemu-guest-agent
```
5. Download a [Windows 10](https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows10ISO) or [Windows 11](https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11) installation `.ISO` image.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> 'Professional', 'Enterprise' or 'Server' editions of Windows are required to run RDP applications. Windows 'Home' will NOT suffice.
6. Download [VirtIO drivers](https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/latest-virtio/virtio-win.iso) for the Windows virtual machine.
> [!NOTE]
> VirtIO drivers enhance system performance and minimize overhead by enabling the Windows virtual machine to use specialised network and disk device drivers. These drivers are aware that they are operating inside a virtual machine, and cooperate with the hypervisor. This approach eliminates the need for the hypervisor to emulate physical hardware devices, which is a computationally expensive process. This setup allows guests to achieve high-performance network and disk operations, leveraging the benefits of paravirtualisation.
> The above link contains the latest release of the `VirtIO` drivers for Windows, compiled and signed by Red Hat. Older versions of the `VirtIO` drivers can be downloaded [here](https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/archive-virtio/?C=M;O=D).
> You can read more about `VirtIO` [here](https://wiki.libvirt.org/Virtio.html) and [here](https://developer.ibm.com/articles/l-virtio/).
## Creating a Windows VM
> [!NOTE]
> If you are an expert user, you may wish to:
> - [Define a Windows virtual machine from an existing `.XML` file](#defining-windows-vm-from-xml)
> - [Configure Rootless `libvirt`](#configuring-rootless-libvirt)
1. Open `virt-manager`.
> [!NOTE]
> The name given to the application can vary between GNU/Linux distributions (e.g., 'Virtual Machines', 'Virtual Machine Manager', etc.)
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/00.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
2. Navigate to `Edit`&rarr;`Preferences`. Ensure `Enable XML editing` is enabled, then click the `Close` button.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/01.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
3. Create a new virtual machine by clicking the `+` button.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/02.png" width="500px" alt="Creating a new virtual machine in 'virt-manager'"/>
</p>
4. Choose `Local install media` and click `Forward`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/03.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
5. Select the location of your Windows 10 or 11 `.ISO` by clicking `Browse...` and `Browse Local`. Ensure `Automatically detect from the installation media / source` is enabled.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/04_1.png" width="500px"/>
<img src="./libvirt_images/04_2.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
6. Configure the RAM and CPU cores allocated to the Windows virtual machine. We recommend `2` CPUs and `4096MB` of RAM. We will use the `VirtIO` Memory Ballooning service, which means the virtual machine can use up to `4096MB` of memory, but it will only consume this amount if necessary.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/05.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
7. Configure the virtual disk by setting its maximum size. While this size represents the largest it can grow to, the disk will only use this space as needed.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/06.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
8. Name your virtual machine `RDPWindows` to ensure it is recognized by WinApps, and select the option to `Customize configuration before installation`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/07.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
9. After clicking `Finish`, select `Copy host CPU configuration` under 'CPUs', and then click `Apply`.
> [!NOTE]
> Sometimes this feature gets disabled after installing Windows. Make sure to check and re-enable this option after the installation is complete.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/08.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
10. (Optional) Configure 'CPU pinning' by following [this excellent guide](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PCI_passthrough_via_OVMF#CPU_pinning).
> [!NOTE]
> CPU pinning involves assigning specific physical CPU cores to a virtual machine. This can improve performance by reducing context switching and ensuring that the VM's workload consistently uses the same cores, leading to better CPU cache utilisation.
11. Navigate to the `XML` tab, and edit the `<clock>` section to disable all timers except for the hypervclock, thereby drastically reducing idle CPU usage. Once changed, click `Apply`.
```xml
<clock offset='localtime'>
<timer name='rtc' present='no' tickpolicy='catchup'/>
<timer name='pit' present='no' tickpolicy='delay'/>
<timer name='hpet' present='no'/>
<timer name='kvmclock' present='no'/>
<timer name='hypervclock' present='yes'/>
</clock>
```
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/09.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
12. Enable Hyper-V enlightenments by adding the following to the `<hyperv>` section. Once changed, click `Apply`.
```xml
<hyperv>
<relaxed state='on'/>
<vapic state='on'/>
<spinlocks state='on' retries='8191'/>
<vpindex state='on'/>
<synic state='on'/>
<stimer state='on'>
<direct state='on'/>
</stimer>
<reset state='on'/>
<frequencies state='on'/>
<reenlightenment state='on'/>
<tlbflush state='on'/>
<ipi state='on'/>
</hyperv>
```
> [!NOTE]
> Hyper-V enlightenments make Windows (and other Hyper-V guests) think they are running on top of a Hyper-V compatible hypervisor. This enables use of Hyper-V specific features, allowing `KVM` to implement paravirtualised interfaces for improved virtual machine performance.
13. Add the following XML snippet within the `<devices>` section to enable the GNU/Linux host to communicate with Windows using `QEMU Guest Agent`.
```xml
<channel type='unix'>
<source mode='bind'/>
<target type='virtio' name='org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>
<address type='virtio-serial' controller='0' bus='0' port='2'/>
</channel>
```
14. In the 'Memory' section, set the `Current allocation` to the minimum amount of memory you want the virtual machine to use, with a recommended value of `1024MB`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/10.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
15. (Optional) Under `Boot Options`, enable `Start virtual machine on host boot up`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/11.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
16. Navigate to 'SATA Disk 1' and set the `Disk bus` type to `VirtIO`. This allows disk access to be paravirtualised, improving virtual machine performance.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/12.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
17. Navigate to 'NIC' and set the `Device model` type to `virtio` to enable paravirtualised networking.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/13.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
18. Click the `Add Hardware` button in the lower left, and choose `Storage`. For `Device type`, select `CDROM device` and choose the VirtIO driver `.ISO` you downloaded earlier. Click `Finish` to add the new CD-ROM device.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> If you skip this step, the Windows installer will fail to recognise and list the virtual hard drive you created earlier.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/14.png" width="500px"/>
</p>
19. Click `Begin Installation` in the top left.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/15.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
### Example `.XML` File
Below is an example `.XML` file that describes a Windows 11 virtual machine.
```xml
<domain type="kvm">
<name>RDPWindows</name>
<uuid>4d76e36e-c632-43e0-83c0-dc9f36c2823a</uuid>
<metadata>
<libosinfo:libosinfo xmlns:libosinfo="http://libosinfo.org/xmlns/libvirt/domain/1.0">
<libosinfo:os id="http://microsoft.com/win/11"/>
</libosinfo:libosinfo>
</metadata>
<memory unit="KiB">8388608</memory>
<currentMemory unit="KiB">8388608</currentMemory>
<vcpu placement="static">4</vcpu>
<cputune>
<vcpupin vcpu="0" cpuset="2"/>
<vcpupin vcpu="1" cpuset="6"/>
<vcpupin vcpu="2" cpuset="3"/>
<vcpupin vcpu="3" cpuset="7"/>
</cputune>
<os firmware="efi">
<type arch="x86_64" machine="pc-q35-8.1">hvm</type>
<firmware>
<feature enabled="yes" name="enrolled-keys"/>
<feature enabled="yes" name="secure-boot"/>
</firmware>
<loader readonly="yes" secure="yes" type="pflash" format="qcow2">/usr/share/edk2/ovmf/OVMF_CODE_4M.secboot.qcow2</loader>
<nvram template="/usr/share/edk2/ovmf/OVMF_VARS_4M.secboot.qcow2" format="qcow2">/var/lib/libvirt/qemu/nvram/RDPWindows_VARS.qcow2</nvram>
<boot dev="hd"/>
</os>
<features>
<acpi/>
<apic/>
<hyperv mode="custom">
<relaxed state="on"/>
<vapic state="on"/>
<spinlocks state="on" retries="8191"/>
<vpindex state="on"/>
<synic state="on"/>
<stimer state="on">
<direct state="on"/>
</stimer>
<reset state="on"/>
<frequencies state="on"/>
<reenlightenment state="on"/>
<tlbflush state="on"/>
<ipi state="on"/>
</hyperv>
<vmport state="off"/>
<smm state="on"/>
</features>
<cpu mode="host-passthrough" check="none" migratable="on">
<topology sockets="1" dies="1" clusters="1" cores="2" threads="2"/>
</cpu>
<clock offset="localtime">
<timer name="rtc" present="no" tickpolicy="catchup"/>
<timer name="pit" present="no" tickpolicy="delay"/>
<timer name="hpet" present="no"/>
<timer name="kvmclock" present="no"/>
<timer name="hypervclock" present="yes"/>
</clock>
<on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
<on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
<on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
<pm>
<suspend-to-mem enabled="no"/>
<suspend-to-disk enabled="no"/>
</pm>
<devices>
<emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</emulator>
<disk type="file" device="disk">
<driver name="qemu" type="qcow2" discard="unmap"/>
<source file="/var/lib/libvirt/images/RDPWindows.qcow2"/>
<target dev="vda" bus="virtio"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x04" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</disk>
<disk type="file" device="cdrom">
<driver name="qemu" type="raw"/>
<target dev="sdb" bus="sata"/>
<readonly/>
<address type="drive" controller="0" bus="0" target="0" unit="1"/>
</disk>
<controller type="usb" index="0" model="qemu-xhci" ports="15">
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x02" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="0" model="pcie-root"/>
<controller type="pci" index="1" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="1" port="0x10"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="2" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="2" port="0x11"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x1"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="3" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="3" port="0x12"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x2"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="4" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="4" port="0x13"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x3"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="5" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="5" port="0x14"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x4"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="6" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="6" port="0x15"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x5"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="7" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="7" port="0x16"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x6"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="8" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="8" port="0x17"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x02" function="0x7"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="9" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="9" port="0x18"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x0" multifunction="on"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="10" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="10" port="0x19"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x1"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="11" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="11" port="0x1a"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x2"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="12" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="12" port="0x1b"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x3"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="13" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="13" port="0x1c"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x4"/>
</controller>
<controller type="pci" index="14" model="pcie-root-port">
<model name="pcie-root-port"/>
<target chassis="14" port="0x1d"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x03" function="0x5"/>
</controller>
<controller type="sata" index="0">
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x1f" function="0x2"/>
</controller>
<controller type="virtio-serial" index="0">
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x03" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</controller>
<interface type="network">
<mac address="52:54:00:81:ff:44"/>
<source network="default"/>
<model type="virtio"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x01" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</interface>
<serial type="pty">
<target type="isa-serial" port="0">
<model name="isa-serial"/>
</target>
</serial>
<console type="pty">
<target type="serial" port="0"/>
</console>
<channel type="spicevmc">
<target type="virtio" name="com.redhat.spice.0"/>
<address type="virtio-serial" controller="0" bus="0" port="1"/>
</channel>
<channel type='unix'>
<source mode='bind'/>
<target type='virtio' name='org.qemu.guest_agent.0'/>
<address type='virtio-serial' controller='0' bus='0' port='2'/>
</channel>
<input type="tablet" bus="usb">
<address type="usb" bus="0" port="1"/>
</input>
<input type="mouse" bus="ps2"/>
<input type="keyboard" bus="ps2"/>
<tpm model="tpm-crb">
<backend type="emulator" version="2.0"/>
</tpm>
<graphics type="spice" autoport="yes">
<listen type="address"/>
<image compression="off"/>
</graphics>
<sound model="ich9">
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x1b" function="0x0"/>
</sound>
<audio id="1" type="spice"/>
<video>
<model type="qxl" ram="65536" vram="65536" vgamem="16384" heads="1" primary="yes"/>
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x00" slot="0x01" function="0x0"/>
</video>
<hostdev mode="subsystem" type="usb" managed="yes">
<source>
<vendor id="0x0bda"/>
<product id="0x554e"/>
</source>
<address type="usb" bus="0" port="4"/>
</hostdev>
<redirdev bus="usb" type="spicevmc">
<address type="usb" bus="0" port="2"/>
</redirdev>
<watchdog model="itco" action="reset"/>
<memballoon model="virtio">
<address type="pci" domain="0x0000" bus="0x05" slot="0x00" function="0x0"/>
</memballoon>
</devices>
</domain>
```
## Install Windows
Install Windows as you would on any other machine.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/16.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
Once you get to the point of selecting the location for installation, you will see there are no disks available. This is because the `VirtIO driver` needs to be specified manually.
1. Select `Load driver`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/17.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
2. The installer will then ask you to specify where the driver is located. Select the drive the `VirtIO` driver `.ISO` is mounted on.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/18.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
3. Choose the appropriate driver for the operating system you've selected, which is likely either the `w10` or `w11` drivers.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/19.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
4. The virtual hard disk should now be visible and available for selection.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/20.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
The next hurdle will be bypassing the network selection screen. As the `VirtIO` drivers
for networking have not yet been loaded, the virtual machine will not be able to be connected to the internet.
- For Windows 11: Press "Shift + F10" to open the command prompt. Type 'OOBE\BYPASSNRO' (without the surrounding quotation marks) and press Enter. The system will restart and now allow you to click `I don't have internet`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/21.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
- For Windows 10: Simply click `I don't have internet`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/22.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
Following the above, choose to `Continue with limited setup`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/23.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
## Final Configuration Steps
Open `File Explorer` and navigate to the drive where the `VirtIO` driver `.ISO` is mounted. Run `virtio-win-gt-x64.exe` to launch the `VirtIO` driver installer.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/24.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
Leave everything as default and click `Next` through the installer. This will install all required device drivers as well as the 'Memory Ballooning' service.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/25.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
Next, install the `QEMU Guest Agent` within Windows. This agent allows the GNU/Linux host to request a graceful shutdown of the Windows system. To do this, either run `virtio-win-guest-tools.exe` or `guest-agent\qemu-ga-x86_64.msi`. You can confirm the guest agent was successfully installed by running `Get-Service QEMU-GA` within a PowerShell window. The output should resemble:
```
Status Name DisplayName
------ ---- -----------
Running QEMU-GA QEMU Guest Agent
```
You can then test whether the host GNU/Linux system can communicate with Windows via `QEMU Guest Agent` by running `virsh qemu-agent-command RDPWindows '{"execute":"guest-info"}'`. The output should resemble:
```
{"return":{"version":"107.0.1","supported_commands":[{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-cpustats","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-diskstats","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-devices","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-osinfo","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-timezone","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-users","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-host-name","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-exec","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-exec-status","success-response":true},{"enabled":false,"name":"guest-get-memory-block-info","success-response":true},{"enabled":false,"name":"guest-set-memory-blocks","success-response":true},{"enabled":false,"name":"guest-get-memory-blocks","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-set-user-password","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-fsinfo","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-disks","success-response":true},{"enabled":false,"name":"guest-set-vcpus","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-vcpus","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-network-get-interfaces","success-response":true},{"enabled":false,"name":"guest-suspend-hybrid","success-response":false},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-suspend-ram","success-response":false},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-suspend-disk","success-response":false},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-fstrim","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-fsfreeze-thaw","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-fsfreeze-freeze-list","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-fsfreeze-freeze","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-fsfreeze-status","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-file-flush","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-file-seek","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-file-write","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-file-read","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-file-close","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-file-open","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-shutdown","success-response":false},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-info","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-set-time","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-get-time","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-ping","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-sync","success-response":true},{"enabled":true,"name":"guest-sync-delimited","success-response":true}]}}
```
Next, you will need to make some registry changes to enable RDP Applications to run on the system. Start by downloading the [RDPApps.reg](/install/RDPApps.reg) file, right-clicking on the `Raw` button, and clicking on `Save target as`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/26.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
Once you have downloaded the registry file, right-click on it, and choose `Merge`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/27.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
Rename the Windows virtual machine so that WinApps can locate it by navigating to the start menu and typing `About` to bring up the `About your PC` settings.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/28.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
Scroll down and click on `Rename this PC`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/29.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
Rename the PC to `RDPWindows`, but **DO NOT** restart the virtual machine.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/30.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
Scroll down to `Remote Desktop`, and enable `Enable Remote Desktop`.
<p align="center">
<img src="./libvirt_images/31.png" width="700px"/>
</p>
At this point, you will need to restart the Windows virtual machine.
You may now proceed to install other applications like 'Microsoft 365', 'Adobe Creative Cloud' or any other applications you would like to use through WinApps.
> [!NOTE]
> You may also wish to install [Spice Guest Tools](https://www.spice-space.org/download/windows/spice-guest-tools/spice-guest-tools-latest.exe) inside the virtual machine, which enables features like auto-desktop resize and cut-and-paste when accessing the virtual machine through `virt-manager`. Since WinApps uses RDP, however, this is unnecessary if you don't plan to access the virtual machine via `virt-manager`.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Ensure `WAFLAVOR` is set to `"libvirt"` in your `~/.config/winapps/winapps.conf` to prevent WinApps looking for a `Docker` installation instead.
Finally, restart the virtual machine, but **DO NOT** log in. Close the virtual machine viewer and proceed to run the WinApps installation.
```bash
./installer.sh
```
## Expert Installations
### Defining Windows VM from `.XML`
This expert guide for `.XML` imports is specific to Ubuntu 20.04 and may not work on all hardware platforms. Please read this guide in conjunction with the steps outlined above.
1. Copy your Windows `.ISO` and `VirtIO` drivers `.ISO` files into the desired folder, updating the relevant paths in `kvm/RDPWindows.xml`.
2. Define a virtual machine called 'RDPWindows' from the sample XML file.
``` bash
virsh define kvm/RDPWindows.xml
virsh autostart RDPWindows # Configure the VM to start automatically when the host machine boots
```
3. Open the virtual machine's properties in `virt-manager` and ensure that `Copy host CPU configuration` is enabled.
4. Boot the virtual machine, install Windows and complete the final configuration steps as outlined in the main guide above.
### Configuring Rootless `libvirt`
By default, `libvirt` requires sudo to run virtual machines. To enable your user to access `libvirt` and `kvm` without sudo, your user must be added to groups of the same name. Furthermore, modifications need to be made to `AppArmor` (if relevant to your distribution).
``` bash
sudo sed -i "s/#user = "root"/user = "$(id -un)"/g" /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf # Uncomment the user = "root" line and replace root with the current username.
sudo sed -i "s/#group = "root"/group = "$(id -gn)"/g" /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf # Uncomment the group = "root" line and replace root with the current user's primary group.
sudo usermod -a -G kvm $(id -un) # Add the user to the 'kvm' group.
sudo usermod -a -G libvirt $(id -un) # Add the user to the 'libvirt' group.
sudo systemctl restart libvirtd # Restart the libvirt daemon.
sudo ln -s /etc/apparmor.d/usr.sbin.libvirtd /etc/apparmor.d/disable/ # Disable AppArmor for the libvirt daemon by creating a symbolic link.
```
You will need to reboot your system to ensure your user is added to the relevant groups.
> [!NOTE]
> Systems with `SELinux` may also require security policy adjustments to enable correct functioning of the `libvirt` daemon.
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