Windows 7 Fully Offline Install -- Trouble With Updating

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I’m trying to get a fully offline Windows 7 VM up. I have a Microsoft ISO and a .msu file to bring it up to date, but I have a very frustrating chicken-and-egg situation with the updates: I need QWT to copy the update file and update, and the update file to get QWT.

I’ve also tried to get it off of the internet directly from M$ on the Windows 7 VM by enabling internet and disabling the firewall (allow all connections). I set up the IPv4 stuff in-VM like the docs say, but I’m given some vague error that the website can’t be displayed when I go tho the link above.

I’ve looked at the Qubes docs and searched the forum, albeit unexhaustively, and I can’t find the same problem.

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I was thinking, would it be possible to pass the file like CD like QWT is to install? I tried passing it as a block device, and of course that failed. How would I do it like QWT is?

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Running

qvm-features <vmname> stubdom-qrexec 1

in a dom0 terminal will allow usb devices to be attached to the qube, regardless of it there are tools installed it it.

If you have a usb drive, you could use it, otherwise this comment details how to mount a file from another qube as a block device:

I believe you will still need to run the above command for this to work.

I also remember reading a thread about mounting the root volume of one qube as a block device on another, but i can’t seem to find that one.

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Thanks, but for the block device to work according to the docs, you have to have the Xen PV disk drivers installed, which won’t work for me (I’m assuming I have to update it first, which is what the docs say). I may go get an extra USB, but I need this to be a clean VM, so I’m hesitant to go that route.

Edit: I will still be trying the block device with that command.

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I found a script I made a while ago of the commands to mount the root volume of one qube as a block device in another.

#!/bin/bash
dev=$(basename $(readlink /dev/qubes_dom0/vm-<windows-qube-name>-root))
qubesdb-write /qubes-block-devices/$dev/desc "name-for-the-block-device"
qvm-block attach <qube-to-attach-it-to> dom0:$dev

This needs to be run in dom0. I’m assuming that you installed windows to the root volume. If you installed it to the private volume, just change the -root in the first command to -private (I’m pretty sure that’s how the qubes volumes are named)

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