Configuring a Custom Qubes OS System

General Discussion
1

Hello everyone,

I have installed a minimal version of Qubes OS 4.2.3 (R4.2), based on Fedora 30, with the XFCE desktop environment on my laptop, which is equipped with a quad-core Intel i5 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD.

This installation does not include:

  • Any TemplateVMs (fedora-40-xfce, debian-12-xfce, whonix-workstation-17, whonix-gateway-17, etc.)

  • Any ServiceVMs (sys-net, sys-firewall, sys-whonix, sys-usb, etc.)

  • Any AppVMs (anon-whonix, personal, untrusted, work, vault, etc.)

  • Any DispVMs (default-dvm, whonix-workstation-17-dvm, etc.)

Customization goals:

I would like to customize this system by adding:

• A minimal TemplateVM based on Fedora 40.

• A few SystemVMs or ServiceVMs:

  • sys-firewall

  • sys-net

  • sys-usb

• Several AppVMs:

  • An AppVM for system administration (XFCE terminal, XFCE task manager, system settings, etc.).

  • An AppVM for file management (Thunar, Mousepad, etc.).

  • An AppVM for office tasks (LibreOffice, Xarchiver, Xpdf, etc.).

  • An AppVM for graphics (GIMP, Ristretto, etc.).

  • An AppVM for applications requiring Internet access (Firefox, Thunderbird, Hexchat, Transmission, etc.).

  • An AppVM for multimedia (VLC, Audacity, Pavucontrol, etc.).

• A default DispVM based on Fedora.

Issue:

Since the system currently lacks a TemplateVM as well as the sys-net and sys-firewall ServiceVMs required for Internet access, how can I build a fully functional system from this minimal setup?

I have searched extensively on the Internet and on the Qubes OS forum but haven’t found any relevant tutorials or discussions.

I have an external Ventoy drive containing ISO files for various Fedora versions and other Linux distributions.

I can also download ISO files from my other connected devices and transfer them to the minimal Qubes OS system for offline installation, if necessary.

Important note:

I prefer using Qubes OS graphical tools as much as possible to minimize reliance on the command line.

Final question:

Could you provide a reliable, up-to-date, and functional tutorial, or guide me step by step on how to build the customized Qubes OS system I want, starting from this minimal Qubes OS 4.2.3 (R4.2) installation?

Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions!

2

You can install the templates directly from the install medium that you
used. They are installable using rpm -i
Once installed, you can the salt the service qubes that you want: e.g.
sudo qubesctl state.apply qvm.sys-net
Then just create the qubes that you want to have. Given your
requirements my approach would be to clone a minimal template and
install the software in to each clone - I do this using salt. I prefer
this approach to installing all the software in to one template, but
your view may be different. Let us know which way you want to go.
!

I never presume to speak for the Qubes team.
When I comment in the Forum I speak for myself.

3

Hi Kara - and welcome to the forum!

Sounds like you choose not to run the initial setup and went for the experienced user approach.

If you read the source for /usr/libexec/initial-setup/initial-setup-graphical and the files below /usr/share/anaconda/addons/org_qubes_os_initial_setup/, then you should have all the steps you need to get the basic system running (ServiceVMs) and go from there.

The easy way to get a working system, would be to run the Initial Setup and install the ServiceVMs, by running

sudo /usr/libexec/initial-setup/initial-setup-graphical

:slight_smile:

4

IMHO, it would be a lot easier just to do a default (non-expert) installation where you allow the installer to create the standard service qubes and at least one default full template for you, download a minimal template, clone and customize it as you like, switch your qubes to the minimal template, then delete the original full template.

2 Likes
5

Thank you for your feedback.

I have performed several types of Qubes OS installations:

  1. Full installation: Qubes OS (Fedora 30) with Fedora 40, Debian 12, and Whonix 17.

  2. Installation without Debian: Qubes OS (Fedora 30) with Fedora 40 and Whonix 17.

  3. Installation without Debian and Whonix: Qubes OS (Fedora 30) with Fedora 40.

  4. Minimal installation: Qubes OS (Fedora 30) only.

I am an experienced Linux user (20 years of experience) but a beginner with Qubes OS. For installations 1, 2, and 3, everything works almost perfectly.

However, I would like to understand the customized (expert mode) configuration of Qubes OS.

6

First they need some templates installed.

I never presume to speak for the Qubes team.
When I comment in the Forum I speak for myself.

7

Hi everyone,

Thank you all for your help with my custom Qubes OS installation project. I’ve decided to pause this project for now due to the challenges I’ve encountered.

I appreciate the support and advice you provided.

Best regards,

Kara

8

Hi unman,

Thank you for your suggestions. I tried installing the qubes-template-fedora-41-xfce from the Qubes OS installation USB using:

sudo rpm -i /path/to/qubes-template-fedora-41-xfce-4.2.0-202501300253.noarch.rpm

and

sudo dnf install ./qubes-template-fedora-41-xfce-4.2.0-202501300253.noarch.rpm

The package appears as installed when I run:

dnf list --installed

However, running qvm-ls shows only dom0.

Error encountered:

KeyError: ‘fedora-41-xfce’

but the issue persists.

Could you please provide a detailed, step-by-step procedure to properly install and configure the Fedora 41 XFCE template in this minimal environment?

Thank you in advance.

9

Hi ChrisA,

I tried your suggestion:

sudo /usr/libexec/initial-setup/initial-setup-graphical

The graphical interface opens, but it becomes unresponsive, and I cannot proceed further.

Could you please provide a detailed, step-by-step explanation of how to complete the setup from this point?

Thanks for your help.

10

Hi adw,

Thank you for your input. I understand your suggested approach. However, I prefer a cleaner solution starting from a minimal installation rather than installing a full system and removing components afterward.

I’ll continue exploring other methods that better fit my customization needs.

Best regards.

11

Hi Kara

You clearly prefers a setup, that differs from what I know and what I can give recommendations about.

If you read the source code for the initial setup, the needed steps to go from a clean dom0 to minimal system, should be pretty much step-by-step … :slight_smile:

I’ve not tried it, but what happens if you use:

qvm-template install ..

to install the template you prefers?

:slight_smile:

12

It shouldn’t work as no network vm available.

13

The qvm-template install ... command searches for the template file you want to install in the /etc/qubes-rpc/qubes-TemplateSearch directory. If no file matching the desired template name is found, an error message is displayed.

14

That’s right

15

Hi @fdhhjigf :slight_smile:

I was simply under the impression, that @kara already had (somehow) downloaded and copied the file /path/to/qubes-template-fedora-41-xfce-4.2.0-202501300253.noarch.rpm to the Qubes system … and then I believe that

cd /path/to
qvm-template install qubes-template-fedora-41-xfce

would install the template and make it visible with

qvm-ls

:slight_smile:

16 
I think it would be better to be explicit

cd /path/to
qvm-template install ./qubes-template-fedora-41-xfce…

to install the local file
<small>
I never presume to speak for the Qubes team.
When I comment in the Forum I speak for myself.
</small>