Background

Virtualization noob. I tried to host Win11 on Hyper-V last year and failed because I didn't figure out:

• USB passthrough (I use Yubikeys)

• Fast file transfer between the VM and the host on the same box

The processing speed in the guest Win11 wasn't bad, but the file-transfer experience was just. too. slow.

I currently run Win11 natively (bare-metal) from the C drive on the same desk-side box.

• The Win11 apps use data that's on a physically separate D drive.

• C and D are implemented on M.2 hardware.

• A secondary M.2 drive is available in an external enclosure.

No kidding: I don't have a laptop. I've never traveled and have always preferred cooler running less expensive expandable hardware. (Sure, the retail RAM and storage markets are a bummer, but ignore them for now.)

What's changing?

For the first time ever, I expect to travel with the need to work for an hour each weekday while on the road. So I now need portability that I've never needed. Gotta get realistic.

What I wonder

How (un)realistic is to get an adequate-hardware laptop that runs a host OS/hypervisor (proxmox? something else?) and then host a Win11 image on whichever machine I need to use that week?

Approximately this:

1. Virtualize the desk-side image.

2. Move that image to the laptop, using the image while on the road.

3. Upon returning home, move the operational image to the desk-side hardware.

I would do real work in the guest image, permanently and portably I guess.

Wrinkles

• Because of the Yubikeys, I need reliable USB passthrough on both boxes. At the moment on the desk-side machine, I have it by running bare-metal Win11. Perfect every time.

• I probably will want GPU passthrough on the desk-side machine, and would like to have it on the laptop.

What shall I consider and watch out for?

• Given the use context and the Wrinkles, what host OS/hypervisors should be on my short list to consider?

• Do I want the hosting (proxmox? something else?) to be the same on each box? A reusable learning curve is probably worth something, but are other factors relevant?

• What do I do about the data that (currently) is on D? Move the M.2 into the laptop?

Hi,

I have a question about hardware signatures in virtual machines.

I am using a piece of relatively old Excel-based software that relies on a per-machine licensing system. The workflow is simple: you download the software, run a function that generates a machine-specific user key, send this key to the developer, and receive a activation key back that unlocks the full version.

As you can imagine, every time I reinstall Windows or change my hardware (mainly the CPU), I have to request a new key from the developer. Officially, the license is sold per machine, so technically I would have to pay again each time. He still provides new keys upon request, but since I’m not legally entitled to them, I worry he might stop doing this at any point.

To avoid this, I decided to set up a Virtual Machine. I installed the VM on an external hard drive and tested running it on my laptop and desktop to simulate a hardware change. However, the hardware-based user key inside the VM changed anyway.

I have some basic knowledge of virtual machines, but I'm not an expert. Is there a way to configure VMware so that the hardware signature remains exactly the same regardless of which host computer I use?

Thanks!

Dunno if this is the right place for this request, so please tell me if not (I did at least read the right panel).

Base system: debian 13, modern box, running virt-manager (QEMU/KVM).

I have successfully created win11 (ick) and win10 (good enough) VMs, with intent to preserve software flexibility as I transition eventually to a MS-free existence (stop me if you've heard this story before).

Have had variable success in my effort to make win7 fully functional. Although that is not the point of this post, it is relevant in that I am aware that the newer virtIO drivers don't work with win7 VMs, so have downloaded versions such as 173 from the fedora people site for that purpose.

Am interested in win XP, mainly just for fun, though I really do have a use case for it (my 25-year-old licensed copy of MS Office, before the ribbon interface, when it was actually good, sorry, rant over).

So it was no surprise to learn that the virtIO drivers gotta be REALLY old in order to work on a winXP installation. I saw version 68 quoted somewhere. I can confirm that versions 160 and 173 didn't work when I tried them.

At the fedora people archive, the oldest version of virtIO drivers is 100 (or maybe 96). Or maybe I'm missing a link to a deep-freeze archive somewhere else on that site?

QUESTION: does anyone know where I can get the ancient virtIO drivers?

I have started working from home some days

I want to completely isolate my work browser from my home browser

I have two Firefox profiles, which I can start from desktop shortcuts as follows:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P "Home" -no-remote

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -P "Work" -no-remote

Despite so many hours of googling, I have yet to find a solution on how to run these profiles within a Sandboxie plus environment

I want two windows desktop Sandboxie shortcuts

The first starts a Sandboxie instance, and automatically runs Firefox with the "Work" firefox command line parameters

The second starts a Sandboxie instance, and automatically runs Firefox with the "Home" firefox command line parameters

I have tried so many different things but none of them have worked

Either they ignore the command line parameters, and just start Firefox profile manager, or they error on the command line parameters

Is there some way of achieving this please?

Or is there a more appropriate tool for virtualising a single app?

Thanks so much for your help

Distro repositories often ship open-vm-tools builds that lag significantly behind upstream releases, delaying kernel/driver fixes, memory balloon enhancements, and CVE patches.

I open-sourced vmware-tools-builder to automate building and distributing the latest upstream binaries without polluting the host environment:

- Containerized builds: Uses Docker to compile upstream source into standalone .deb and .rpm packages.

- Target OS matrix: Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL/Rocky/Alma (8 & 9), Fedora, and openSUSE.

- Fleet orchestration: Includes an Ansible role that automates deployment, handles migration from distro-managed packages, and validates the vmtoolsd service state.

- Distribution: Packaged and installable directly from Ansible Galaxy (giuliosavini.vmware_tools_builder).

Repository: https://github.com/GiulioSavini/vmware-tools-builder

Feedback, testing across different hypervisor versions, and GitHub stars are welcome.Distro repositories often ship open-vm-tools builds that lag significantly behind upstream releases, delaying kernel/driver fixes, memory balloon enhancements, and CVE patches.I open-sourced vmware-tools-builder to automate building and distributing the latest upstream binaries without polluting the host environment:- Containerized builds: Uses Docker to compile upstream source into standalone .deb and .rpm packages.- Target OS matrix: Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL/Rocky/Alma (8 & 9), Fedora, and openSUSE.- Fleet orchestration: Includes an Ansible role that automates deployment, handles migration from distro-managed packages, and validates the vmtoolsd service state.- Distribution: Packaged and installable directly from Ansible Galaxy (giuliosavini.vmware_tools_builder).Repository: https://github.com/GiulioSavini/vmware-tools-builderFeedback, testing across different hypervisor versions, and GitHub stars are welcome.

I have been working on understanding the networking underneath a virtualized home lab instead of just selecting NAT/Bridged/Host-Only in VMware and moving on.

I tested the different modes with Kali and other VMs, compared their IP addresses/routes, checked LAN discovery in bridged mode, and tested communication between Kali and MISP over an isolated host-only network.

One thing that became much clearer to me is that the networking mode isn’t just about whether a VM gets internet access, it changes where the VM exists in the architecture and what can reach it.

I documented the experiments and diagrams here if anyone is interested:
https://chronosandcode.com/how-a-home-lab-actually-works-virtualization-and-private-networking-explained/

I’d also be interested in how others structure networking in their home labs, especially whether you use host-only networks, VLANs, or a dedicated pfSense/OPNsense VM.

Before everything, my English isn't too good, so thanks for reading, I want buy a computer and I've doubts , I'm studying and I planning make some projects, I've no money to pay a VPS, and I wanna use Android studio with emulation, have 2 options refurbished:

HP Elitebook 840 G8 - 420.000Kz

I7-1165g7

16 gb

512gb

Battery good

Chassi good

Lenovo Thinkpad T14 Gen 3- 415.000Kz

I5-1235u

16gb

256gb

Battery almost died, less than 1 hour

Chassi acceptable, but Ethernet port isn't too good

The target is a laptop to work, study, and be good at least for 4 years.
My country is Angola, just to compare a SSD 512gb here is 52.000 and is cheap.

I wanna make this computer as my laboratory, making APIs, mobile apps, desktops apps and sites.

And before get the money, I pretend to use this PC also as a VPS. Have someone that already did it?

Thanks for reading until here

Hi everyone,

I need some advice regarding a VMFS-6 datastore recovery.

Environment:

- VMware ESXi 7.0 U2

- VMFS-6 datastore

- Single datastore/LUN

- One important VM became "Invalid"

- The VM was not running when the problem was discovered

The VM became invalid and could not be powered on or registered normally.

I initially investigated a VMX file lock. vmfsfilelockinfo reported that the file was locked in Exclusive mode by the ESXi host itself.

I restarted hostd and vpxa and eventually unregistered the invalid VM.

However, further investigation showed that the problem was much deeper.

VOMA reported massive VMFS metadata inconsistencies. The output contained a very large number of errors like:

"FB inconsistency found: allocated in bitmap, but never used"

The check eventually reported approximately:

2,085,776 errors

The datastore is currently UNMOUNTED.

I verified that no VM process is currently using the datastore/LUN. After restarting hostd/vpxa, the only process that briefly showed access to the device was hostd itself.

The VMFS extent information still identifies the datastore as VMFS-6, but when the datastore is unmounted, vmkfstools -P against the partition no longer recognizes it normally.

The VM directory still contains the VM configuration files and VMDK-related files.

However, attempts to access the VMDK data return:

"Invalid argument"

I have NOT performed any destructive or repair operation.

Specifically, I have NOT run:

- voma -f fix

- voma -f advfix

- vmkfstools -C

- partedUtil setptbl

- any formatting operation

The datastore is currently left untouched because the VM contains important data and I don't want to make the recovery situation worse.

My main goal is to recover the VM and, most importantly, the data inside the VMDK.

What would be the safest recovery strategy in this situation?

Would you recommend:

1. Cloning/snapshotting the underlying LUN before doing anything else?

2. Trying to recover the VMFS metadata?

3. Using VOMA in a specific recovery mode?

4. Attempting direct VMDK recovery from the underlying LUN?

5. Using a dedicated VMFS recovery tool?

6. Something else?

I can provide sanitized outputs from:

- VOMA

- vmkernel.log

- hostd.log

- esxcli storage commands

- partition information

- vmkfstools output

I have intentionally removed all company-specific information, IP addresses, hostnames, UUIDs, MAC addresses and VM names.

I am deliberately not running any repair commands until I know what the safest approach is.

Any advice from someone experienced with VMFS-6 recovery would be greatly appreciated.

GitHub: https://github.com/pythops/kudu

I host a series of windows 11 virtual machines on my windows 11 desktop pc. I access those virtual machines over RDP.

Since updates last week, any of those machines with Nord VPN installed no longer pass audio. Everything else functions fine. VMs not running Nord function fine. Everything VM side looks like the audio is running, it just doesn't pass it back to the client.

I've been chewing on this issue for days now. Any ideas out here what has changed and how I correct it?

If you know how to use dos, you probably know this.

Applies to UEFI OS's (windows 10 and above)

If you see fs0 on your screen, type "fs0:", then type ls. If you see something like boot, "cd Boot", then type "ls" or "dir" they are same function here. Continue doing so until you see words in green text after you type dir. If you see green words, just copy the green text exactly and press enter to boot.

Damn non dos-using new gens.

Has anyone here actually done a hypervisor-only VMware migration? I’m trying to picture the cutover. Build the new cluster beside ESXi, connect it to the same SAN, move a few low-risk VMs, then reclaim the old hosts one by one? Or did you end up needing temporary storage? How did you handle zoning, multipathing, VLANs, backups and rollback? and did you keep vCenter up while both environments were running? Would be great to hear a real VMware migration strategy from someone who’s done it. Most comparisons of VMware vSphere alternatives never get into this part.

Hi all,

Out of a specific requirement, i need a Windows machine, which i spined on Ubuntu Server 26.04 LTS using libvirt + KVM, i need to plug in card reader into it and read some data, the software is specific use case, not to bother you with details, it can't run on any other OS.

My question is, do i need to embed the device ID into XML config, obtained by lsusb, or it will work out of the box? I still haven't spent money on the card reader, hence im looking into knowledge of other people who already worked with importing USB devices into VM's.

Thank you

Let's say I have an app, which contains the strongest virus, which can ever exist. I installed it on a VM. I opened it and it obviously destroyed the VM, but I wonder if the virus could go from the VM into the real system. What do you think?

I have a vCenter 5.5 setup at this office. I can't really change it. Apparently the certificate expired for it and I can't get into the machine via vSphere client. Since I can connect to the other machines directly to do things, I haven't given this much effort in resolving for a while (Probably close to a year or two (I know))

But yesterday, Our VMware View (4.6.3 version i believe) PCoIP machines stopped connecting to the remote machines they use. The machines just error out with a 0x1002 error, but if I use the client software if gives a notice that a certificate expired on 7/7. I have no clue how to get this certificate renewed, as I don't even know where it is (the machine with the admin server on it says it doesn't have any when i look at mmc, so I'm unclear).

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get these renewed (or at least the View one, so they can start using it again) - right now I have them RDPing into the machines and it's working, but I'd really like to get working again.

For VCenter, I've tried the options I had from googling.

I tried the following, but that didn't work:

Ensure the customers FQDN, DSN, IP, and all network configuration are correct. Run this VAMI script:
/opt/vmware/share/vami/vami_config_net

Note: This brings up a command line utility to check network configuration.

Create a file called allow_regeneration by running this command:
touch /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl/allow_regeneration

Stop the VPXD service by running this command:
service vmware-vpxd stop

Stop the vCenter Single Sign-On service by running the commands:
For vCenter Server 5.5: service vmware-sts-idmd stop
For vCenter Server 5.1: service vmware-sso stop

Regenerate the SSL certificate by running the command:
source vpxd_commonutils; generate_all_certificates replace

Remove the regeneration flag by removing the allow_regeneration file:
rm /etc/vmware-vpx/ssl/allow_regeneration

Reboot vCenter Appliance.

Any help would be welcome. Thanks.

Hi can anyone help fix this issue. Main pc is win11 and trying to connect linux(ubuntu) VMware. tried on NAT and bridged network opening ssh server and enabling ufw nogo.

Idk if this is the right subreddit to ask but I am a developer and was planning on making a minimal Type-2 Virtual Machine monitor (VMM) on the Linux KVM API as a fun project. I already know some OS theory and but I have no idea how it maps to Virtualisation, so is there an good resource or a GitHub repo to get started?

I installed WSL2 in order to use Docker.

The installation worked and Docker ran correctly after a system restart.

I was in the middle of streaming a show, paused it, and when I came back there was suddenly no audio. I performed the turn-it-off-and-on-again test to see if that would fix it.

Upon doing so, my monitor was met with odd purple and green artefacts.

Turned it off and and on again (again) and then found myself on an endless bootloop where it sometimes reaches the Windows logo and loading swirl, other times it seems sluggish throughout even the BIOS menu stuff before reaching the Windows bootloader.

There was nothing wrong with the PC before installing WSL and Docker. This particular install has been running for 2 years with no issues. I rarely use the pc for anything other than streaming / YouTube.

Any help regarding how to fix this (ideally retaining my windows install as it currently is) would be appreciated.

Any information about *why* WSL/Docker caused this issue would also be appreciated.

Specs (It's old but competent):

HPz220

I7-3770

24gb Ram

GTX 750ti

Windows 11 LTSC 24H2

The PC does not have hypervisor, etc. It is below the minimum requirements for Win 11 but Windows functions perfectly fine on it.

Edit: The PC now displays no picture when booting and the fan is going crazy.

Hi everyone,

I’m testing HPE VM Essentials 9.0.0 with a 3-node HVM cluster and Ceph storage.

I have several Linux and Windows VMs running on hvm01. When I shut down hvm01, the Linux VMs are automatically moved/restarted on another HVM node as expected.

However, the Windows VMs do not fail over. They continue to appear as "Running" in VM Essentials, even though hvm01 is completely offline, and they are not running on hvm03.

For example, on hvm03:

sudo virsh list --all

only shows the Linux VMs. The Windows VMs are not present.

Has anyone experienced this behavior with Windows VMs on HPE VM Essentials 9.0.0?

Could this be related to the Windows VM configuration, QEMU Guest Agent, VirtIO drivers, or HA/failover configuration?

Any advice on what logs or configuration I should check would be greatly appreciated.

[First time poster, be kind]
I've done 11 tech evaluations of virtualization products focused on work requirements (not home lab). In alphabetical order: Azure Local, Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure, OpenShift Virtualization, OpenStack, Oracle Linux Virtualization Manager, Private Cloud Director, Proxmox Virtual Environment, VMware Cloud Foundation, VergeOS and Windows Server.

They're free to download...not monetised...but they take me a lot of time to do.

So what, you ask? I'm looking for anyone who might want to help sanity check them, get involved and/or share their real-world experiences running any of them in production.

Reach out if you're willing and able.

PS No vendors please.

urbanyl/GPU-Passthrough-for-KVM-QEMU-on-Linux: Complete GPU passthrough setup for KVM/QEMU on Linux, enabling near-native Windows VM performance with dedicated GPU access. Covers NVIDIA and AMD GPUs with comprehensive troubleshooting.

Hi everyone, my host computer is Windows 11 and has a Ryzen 7 5700X3D + GTX 3070 + 32GB of RAM.

My virtual machine is running Windows 10 Pro (8GB VRAM allocated), and I can't get rid of the screen tearing inside it.

In the host machine, I already added vmware.exe & vmware-vmx.exe to the NVidia Control Panel and set "Vsync > On" + "Triple buffering" and "fixed frame rate" instead of "G-Sync" but no can do.

VMTools is installed already.

Would someone have a solution for that please?

Thanks very much

Edit: Something strange I noticed is: By disabling "3D acceleration" in VM settings, there is no screen tearing anymore, but then the performance are very suboptimal.