Install Qubes OS as Standalone VM / Nested Virtualization

User Support
1

I want to install Qubes OS as standalone VM due to development and advanced modifications. So i will test some things and apply on my host Qubes OS. How can i install Qubes OS as standalone VM? I installed it normally with ISO but all Qubes inside of it don’t have software and i can’t use at all

2

Qubes based on Xen, Xen doesn’t support nested virtualization at all. So you could use proxmox, etc… for these purposes

3

Xen is used by some of the largest cloud providers in the world, and definitely does support nested virtualisation, it’s just been deactivated in its implementation of Qubes OS.

If you’re aware of the security implications of enabling nested virtualisation, and still wish to proceed, then have a read of this:
https://wiki.xenproject.org/wiki/Nested_Virtualization_in_Xen

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4

Nested virt implementation in Xen exists, and that’s already quite generous term. It does not work. The whole system crashes as soon as you start any VM that tries to use nested virt. I strongly recommend against trying to enable it…

I would like the situation to be better here, but well, here we are.

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5

Ah, i understand it now! I would like to have a dedicated Qubes OS VM to do some advanced tweaks without the risk of breaking my entire system and lost my data. Well, i will try to do it in some other way. Unfortunately i don’t have another machine to use for this purpose. Thank you guys, for all help!

6

You might want to give the tweaks I wrote about here (i.e. for installing an operational instance of Qubes OS inside Oracle VirtualBox) a try for your Qubes-OS-in-Qubes-OS installation.

Without requiring nested virtualization, i.e. using only PV virtualization mode, it does work to a certain extent. However I couldn’t get sys-net to work properly. See the screenshot below:

A screenshot of an HVM window with Qubes OS 4.2.2 running as a guest. The window has the black-label Xfwm4 decoration as a proof of it being a Xen HVM. The default Xfce4 desktop is showcased without any GUI personalization, and shows several windows and a tray icon from PV guests running.
A screenshot of an HVM window with Qubes OS 4.2.2 running as a guest. The window has the black-label Xfwm4 decoration as a proof of it being a Xen HVM. The default Xfce4 desktop is showcased without any GUI personalization, and shows several windows and a tray icon from PV guests running.1032×796 109 KB

Note: there might be some additional tweaks required, that I’m just not aware of, and they are the roadblocks for this case.