Creating a Disposable TemplateVM?

Vael_S · February 11, 2025, 3:35am

How can I create an actual template that will be a disposable template?

At the moment I have the AppVM based on another template.
But I want the disposables to have different features and not need to be based on a template, then have to alter the settings every time I create a Disposable.

How can I create a template that just makes the AppVMs disposable?

Do I need to rewrite the code for the Qubes Manager to enable the checkbox and cascade the options?

parulin · February 11, 2025, 5:59am

You can’t and there is an issue on github about this:

github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues

Allow disposable qubes to be based directly on regular templates

opened 05:31AM - 19 Jun 21 UTC

ninavizz

C: core ux P: default

**The problem you're addressing (if any)** Today a user must create a "Disposab…le Template" from an App VM. It is well understood why a user may _desire_ that, but it feels odd to be forcing it. **Describe the solution you'd like** Allow users to create Templates that are only to be used to spawn Disposable qubes from. **Where is the value to a user, and who might that user be?** 1. Users new to Qubes OS and learning its ecosystem 2. It feels a bit silly to _have to_ create at least one Template and one App Qube, to be able to have a Disposable Qube. Again, for the use-case where a user would desire having a Disposable Qube spawned from an App Qube for unusually sensitive things, it's awesome that this capability exists! It's just breaks an intuitive mental-model of how Qubes works, to shoehorn today's dependency on an App VM intermediary as a requirement. **Describe alternatives you've considered** Nope **Additional context** From a private conversation with @marmarek: > "One corner case (not a blocker for the idea) is what to do about template's private disk. Currently template's private disk is not share with anything based on it. On the other hand, DispVM does get snapshot of its template private disk (which is that intermediate app qube right now). If we're going to remove that intermediate qube, we need to decide: should DispVM get always clean private disk in this case, or should template's private disk be no longer that private?" **Relevant [documentation](https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/) you've consulted** Nope **Related, [non-duplicate](https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/reporting-bugs/#new-issues-should-not-be-duplicates-of-existing-issues) issues** Nope

In short, it’s currently not possible because of the way inheritance is managed between templates and app qubes.

I’m not sure to understand. What’s wrong with several customised disposable templates?

Vael_S · February 17, 2025, 12:39am

Well, managed to get it done good enough. Thanks.

catacombs · February 17, 2025, 3:37pm

Uh, If you have time. How.
I would have suggested a standalone app qube, then clone off that. changes to that would be permanent, and one could clone the one you want. Delete after use. but that is a lot of ongoing work. creating clones, moving data somewhere, then deleting the use clone.

Vael_S · February 19, 2025, 11:55pm

Just the normal way unfortunately.
So there are multiple steps still unfortunately.

One template set up for the DVM, then have each machine use that as template and be set as a disp-vm template.

Nothing much I can do about it unfortunately.

Just have to have one DVM as the default, then set the rest normally as DVM.

I had to do a lot through CLI though, because it wouldn’t let me set things the way I wanted through the GUI due to the extremely limited functionality.

I’m looking at writing a GUI to set certain things up and make things work certain ways for things that I do and use.

Altering their UI is just a huge pain and so complicated to do anything. I don’t see how they can keep track of things and make things work right. I’m not a Python man though. But to me, the code is just not that easy to work with.