How to enable the (new) GUI VM?

User Support General
61

thanks

after I use ```
sudo qubesctl top.disable qvm.sys-gui

well done 

but after reboot usb mouse can`t connect to dom0 anymore
62

What is the current status of the GUI-VM , is it stable? Is there a summary of issues that will be
encountered when applying the saltstack formula?

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63

Is it enough to follow the instructions in GUI domain | Qubes OS

to get the hybrid GUI-VM working?

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64

I cannot answer your question regarding the current status.
The saltstack formula is working for me in 4.2 without errors.

For sys-gui-gpu to work I have to attach the gpu, the HDMI/Display port and the HDMI audio device (I am not 100% sure about the HDMI audio device anymore but I think I got a black screen without it)
It doesn’t matter much getting a black screen because adding the “qubes.skip_autostart” option to GRUB allows you to try it out without much trouble.

The menus might have to be refreshed in order to show up in the new GUI-VM once you set the default guivm to sys-gui-gpu.

I am having trouble updating my qubes but I guess this is just a policy issue. Also, the keyboard localization is set to US. Waking from suspend does not work for me.

For now I went back to dom0 sessions but I am also very interested in where this is going.

65

What do you mean “went back to dom0 sessions”?

66

I was referring to the Hybrid GUI domain (sys-GUI).

67

How is the GUI-VM used, do you need to be logged into it directly? Or is it active when using the non-xfce user account?

68

I meant that I disabled sys-gui-gpu, detached the devices etc. and logged in like before. Since the GUI is in dom0 I called it a dom0 session. It may not be the right wording, I don’t know.

Sorry for referring to sys-gui-gpu. I did try sys-gui as well a few weeks ago and what I wrote about sys-gui-gpu does apply pretty much to sys-gui. There are no errors in the saltstack formula but I had the same problem running the updater. I didn’t have time to take a closer look at the policy files and there is a lot of half knowledge involved on my part so I’d rather have someone really knowing what they’re doing explaining what to do.
I had problems with the screensaver, I couldn’t unlock it. Other than that it looks like it’s working.

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69

Are you required to stay logged in to the xfce account? When you log into the xfce account you don’t have access to other VMs only the sys-gui.

70

A good introduction regarding the GUI-VM is here. If you haven’t read it yet it helps understanding what it does and how it works.

Usually you log into sys-gui or sys-gui-gpu because that is the default guivm now. Of course, this means your apps are set to the new guivm. When logging in to dom0 you’d have to set the guivm back to dom0 in order to get access.

For sys-gui you could start via dom0 running

qvm-run -p --no-gui --service sys-gui qubes.GuiVMSession

This is all explained in this thread (and a few others) .

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71

But once you login to the sys-gui domain using the command that you mentioned, you no longer have access to the AppVMs you would normally have access to. You’re saying you need to login to the xfce sys-gui domain, but connect to the dom0 domain to get access to your usual AppVMs?

72

When I login to sys-gui and try to sync templates with the older monolithic VMs, I get an error message
saying the VMs were not found.

73

Is there a way to copy over the templates used in the previous monolithic dom0?

74

Please read this and the other topics regarding the gui-domain.
You don’t need to copy anything.

You either set the default guivm to sys-gui via

qubes-prefs default_guivm sys-gui

in dom0.

Or, if you want to test single apps then run

qvm-prefs work guivm sys-gui

In order to go back to how things were you have to set default_guivm to dom0 or the single appVM to dom0 respectively.

Please take your time reading the posts in this and the other threads.

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75

Is there any particular reason that a Whonix workstation wouldn’t work with the sys-gui as the default GUI-VM?

After having made it the default, the Whonix workstation apps will not launch properly.

76

What worked for me was to have the desired AppVM apps launched while in the xfce account and then
log in to the sys-gui account and then run the command you mentioned:

qvm-prefs work guivm sys-gui

But the app needs to be running in the xfce account already

77

The command is for the specific app called “work”. Of course, you have to replace it with the names of your apps.

I did not use Whonix in sys-gui but it should work if not only the workstation is set to sys-gui but also gateway and sys-whonix.

Good luck!

78

The command requires the VMNAME value, which is the name of the appVM

79

Currently DispVMs do not appear to crossover from xfce into sys-gui.

80

In the Xfce user account the AppVMs and TemplateVMs and their related applications are listed in the “Q”
GUI dropdown menu in the upper left corner, is this possible in the sys-gui account?

Overall the sys-gui looks pretty promising, there are a few kinks to iron out.