Disp-mgmt-dvm requires what package?

User Support
1

First of all, very excited for the new forum. It was much needed.

Onto my problem, what package do I need for my disp-mgmt-dvm to successfully Qubes Update? I am using a minimal template for everything.

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2

Is it possible that you’re encountering the problem described in this announcement?

3

I changed the template to fedora-32-minimal now, but I just get this error message:

Error on updating anbox: Command '['sudo', 'qubesctl', '--skip-dom0', '--targets=anbox', '--show-output', 'state.sls', 'update.qubes-vm']' returned non-zero exit status 1 anbox: ERROR (exception list index out of range)

4

It sounds like anbox means you might be trying to emulate Android? That’s not currently supported, but perhaps this might shed some light:

5

That’s the name of my Anbox VM. The error is from the Qubes Updater. All other VM’s also give that same error message I posted.

Anbox works fine for me currently.

So the error message must mean I am missing some package. If I change the template to, say fedora-30 or debian-10 it works because they include many packages.
I will have a look at the docs and install packages related to minimal template customisation when i get the time.

6

Shifting to minimal templates is really long process in current scenerio, as Qubes doesn’t provide any minimal template at installation. And even if it provided, creating sys-net based on it will need package download. And it is also not useful to include networking packages to minimal templates by default. BTW I am using minimal ones for everything except default-mgmt-dvm. There is no documentation for needed packages for it.So you should better install At least one full template until this documentation issue resolves.

7

@9009: I can’t speak to Fedora, but I have created debian-mgmt by cloning debian-10-minimal and adding

  • qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root
  • xfce4-terminal (not necessary, but I prefer it when terminal is needed)
  • qubes-mgmt-salt-vm-connector

default-mgmt-dvm now uses debian-mgmt as its Template.

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8

I am using a debian-minimal based default-mgmt-dvm. Important AFAIK is
that you have installed the salt stack related stuff
(qubes-mgmt-salt-vm-connector).

/Sven

public key: https://www.svensemmler.org/0x8F541FB6.asc
fingerprint: D7CA F2DB 658D 89BC 08D6 A7AA DA6E 167B 8F54 1FB6

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9

Can confirm that qubes-mgmt-salt-vm-connector is the only needed package for a fresh debian-10-minimal template to be used as a mgmt-dvm.

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10

Are you guys sure as when I tried to test it today, I needed both qubes-mgmt-salt-vm-connector and qubes-core-agent-passwordless-root. When I wasn’t having passwordless root, It didn’t worked for me. I tested it on fedora-32-minimal.

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11

Yes, passwordless-root is also required, i think.

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12

After installilng these packages, how do you guys actually tell QubesOS to use that new minimal template for mgmt stuff? I couldn’t find a relevant settings entry in Qube Manager nor in Qubes Global Settings.

13

Create a disposable template using that new template:
qvm-create NEW_QUBE -t NEW_TEMPLATE -l COLOR
qvm-prefs NEW_QUBE template_for_dispvms True

Change the setting in qubes-prefs:
qubes-prefs management_dispvm NEW_QUBE

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14

You should still have the pre-installed management qube:

  • default-mgmt-dvm

To use the new minimal template, change the template in the qube’s settings using the GUI or with this command in dom0:

qvm-prefs default-mgmt-dvm template minimal-template

(‘minimal-template’ being whatever you chose to name it)

If you do not have the default-mgmt-dvm, then create a new one:

  • qvm-create --class AppVM -t minimal-template --prop autostart=false --prop netvm="" --label black default-mgmt-dvm

  • qvm-prefs default-mgmt-dvm template_for_dispvms true

  • qvm-prefs default-mgmt-dvm default_dispvm default-mgmt-dvm

  • qubes-prefs management_dispvm default-mgmt-dvm

That should be all you need to do.

15

Ah, thanks. However, @unman seems to recommend directly changing the management_dispvm into the minimal debian one, directly. While, you seem to recommend changing the existing default-mgmt-dvm qube’s template to the minimal debian one.

How different are these two ways of doing this?

16

First of all, trust @unman above me. I am not an expert and may misunderstand things like any other normal user.

I think that they are assuming that you do not already have a default-mgmt-dvm qube and giving the instructions for creating one. The commands match up to the ones I listed, although simpler.

17

On a Debian only install I don’t.