Whonix 16 upgrade - missing directory in dom0

User Support
1

Qubes 4.0

Following this installation steps

I am already stuck on the first / second step. Doing the dom0 update: sudo qubes-dom0-update returns two warnings:

warning: Converting database from bdb to sqlite backend
Warning: Enforcing GPG signature check globally as per active RPM security policy (see 'gpgcheck' in dnf.conf(5) for how to squelch this message)
Fedora 25 - x86_64 ...
Fedora 25 - x86_64 - Updates ...
...
Dependencies resolved.
Nothing to do.
Complete!
No packages downloaded

Afterwards, I fail to make the first verification check since I do not have a directory /srv/formulas/base/...

2

First, it is not recommended to update with direct commands such as qubes-dom0-update. From How to update | Qubes OS :

Warning: Updating with direct commands such as qubes-dom0-update, dnf update, and apt update is not recommended, since these bypass built-in Qubes OS update security measures. Instead, we strongly recommend using the Qubes Update tool or its command-line equivalents, as described below. (By contrast, installing packages using direct package manager commands is fine.)

I’m not sure why the Whonix documentation says differently.
Next, if you’re just trying to install the Whonix 16 templates, you can follow the steps on Templates | Qubes OS to run sudo qubes-dom0-update --enablerepo=qubes-templates-community qubes-template-<DISTRO_NAME>-<RELEASE_NUMBER> where <DISTRO_NAME>-<RELEASE_NUMBER> is whonix-gw-16 and whonix-ws-16.
If you have any more problems or this is completely unrelated to your problem, please let me know.

3

In case technical issues are experienced such as broken dom0 , broken qubes-dom0-update

The instructions on this wiki page have bad usability. These are mostly out of control of the Whonix ™ project. See footnote for more information.

4

Looks good downloaded. I will follow up the global setting 15-purge and final test tomorrow. Thanks a lot!!

Still I would be interested in the warning message since it also pops up with your community installation.

Secondly, who is doing the ‘community’ template? Will it be also auto verified?

5

To summarize the solution (thank you @tech3599 :+1: !)

  1. Do NOT use the official Whonix guide How-to: Install Qubes-Whonix instead use the official Qubes OS guide How to update | Qubes OS (Why? see here)

  2. In dom0:
    sudo qubes-dom0-update --enablerepo=qubes-templates-community qubes-template-whonix-gw-16
    sudo qubes-dom0-update --enablerepo=qubes-templates-community qubes-template-whonix-ws-16

  3. Switching templates: Templates | Qubes OS

Applications Menu → System Tools → Qubes Template Manager

  1. Uninstall obsolete templates https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/templates/#uninstalling
    sudo dnf remove qubes-template-whonix-gw-15
    sudo dnf remove qubes-template-whonix-ws-15

Happy :onion:-browsing !