Issues with Windows 11 on KVM Plugin

1st Official Post

    Hi there!

    I'm running OMV on an repurposed HP Z2 G4 SFF Workstation from 2019 that I've upgraded. My specs are as follows:

    Intel i5-8500

    32GB RAM

    4 2.5 HDDs in a RAID5 Array
    1 NVMe Drive (OMV installed here)


    I am trying to use the KVM plugin to add a Windows 11 Virtual Machine so I can test some things for work, but I can't ever get past the installation and set up process. I've followed the guide here but realize that it's for OMV 6 (not sure if that's a problem).


    The issues I am having are that no matter how many CPU Cores or GB of RAM I give the system, installation takes several hours. Of the three times I've tried installing the OS onto the VM I created, I was only able to finish once. I thought maybe that it was an issue with Windows 11, so I tried with Windows 10 and get the same issue. Essentially it goes so slow that it eventually locks up and stops working entirely. I have to Force Shutdown the VM and get the same results when rebooting.

    The other issue I have is that I can't edit the RAM or CPU cores for a system when trying to tweak the settings. I get an error, ultimately resulting in me deleting the VM and starting completely over.

    The only thing I can think of that is different for my setup vs. the info in the guide is that I have NOT enabled the backports. I wasn't sure if that was necessary here since I was able to see the plugin in the OMV-extras section. Should I activate those and reinstall the plugin?


    Any advice, links to updated guides or other info here would be greatly appreciated. I'm also happy to help provide any requested info that might help any troubleshooting efforts. Thank you in advance for any info.

  • macom

    Approved the thread.

    I think backports are installed automatically when you install the kvm plugin. Do doubt this is the issue.


    Windows is quite a tricky vm to setup. Try setting up a straightforward vm like Ubuntu and see how that goes as a test.


    If you are using a slow drive for your volumes, then this could be why it is very slow. I have my VMs on a fast nvme ssd.


    I have windows 11 vm working fine so I will post you my recipe / notes when at home.

    OMV 8 (latest) on N100 minipc (16GB) and rpi5 (8GB). OS on SSD/SD. System ext4 on SSD. Data BTRFS on HDDs

    • Official Post
    Quote from jata1

    I think backports are installed automatically when you install the kvm plugin.

    omv-extras can enable/disable it but not the kvm plugin.

    omv 8.1.1-1 synchrony | 6.17 proxmox kernel

    plugins :: omvextrasorg 8.0.2 | kvm 8.0.7 | compose 8.1.5 | cterm 8.0 | borgbackup 8.1.7 | cputemp 8.0 | mergerfs 8.0 | scripts 8.0.1 | writecache 8.1.1


    omv-extras.org plugins source code and issue tracker - github - changelogs


    Please try ctrl-shift-R and read this before posting a question.

    Please put your OMV system details in your signature.
    Please don't PM for support... Too many PMs!

    Just an update here: I am testing the installation on a SSD instead of my RAID array and now I get to about 54% installation progress and then receive "Windows 11 Installation has failed"

    • Official Post
    Quote from MrMadCatz

    Should I try reinstalling KVM with backports enabled? Is that a recommended troubleshooting step?

    Nope. I would install updates if there are any. It is possible backports was already enabled.

    omv 8.1.1-1 synchrony | 6.17 proxmox kernel

    plugins :: omvextrasorg 8.0.2 | kvm 8.0.7 | compose 8.1.5 | cterm 8.0 | borgbackup 8.1.7 | cputemp 8.0 | mergerfs 8.0 | scripts 8.0.1 | writecache 8.1.1


    omv-extras.org plugins source code and issue tracker - github - changelogs


    Please try ctrl-shift-R and read this before posting a question.

    Please put your OMV system details in your signature.
    Please don't PM for support... Too many PMs!

    OP - not sure where you have got up to with this generally or with windows11.


    Have you tried setting up ubuntu on the SSD volume to see how this goes?


    For windows 11, here are the notes I used to get it working. I think you already have most of this covered so just look for differences I think.


    prereqs:

    windows 11 image/iso and key. I had a legit key and downloaded latest image direct from MS

    Latest virtio drivers for windows from here: https://fedorapeople.org/group…tio/virtio-win-0.1.262-2/

    The actual iso file you need is this one https://fedorapeople.org/group…-2/virtio-win-0.1.262.iso

    qemu guest agent install for windows (see step 10) https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/archive-qemu-ga/qemu-ga-win-108.0.2-1.el9/


    steps:

    1. copy both images to the iso shared folder used by the KVM plugin

    2. create a new vm - advanced settings. make sure to set the disk config to virtio in the vm setup. leave network as bridge (assuming you have it configured). Set UEFI boot and check TPM. Add the windows iso as the cd drive

    3. IMPORTANT: before you start the vm, add a second cd drive with the win-virtio ISO as you need this during install

    4. start the vm. with the UEFI boot, you might get a text output with cmd prompt. type exit to get the boot loader. select continue.

    5. start the windows install (press key to proceed booting from the iso)

    6a. IMPORTANT: when you get to the part of install where you select the disk - it will be empty. Click add driver and browse from virtio iso. Expand Viostor, expand w11, select amd64, and click ok (this step adds the virtio disk driver and you can now see the disk you created in the vm settings)

    6b IMPORTANT: do the same as above but this time add virtio network driver. as above but expand NetKVM, expand w11, select amd64, and click ok

    7. proceed and complete the windows installation

    8. before doing updates etc. Install the full virtio package/installer in the normal windows way from the win-virtio cd/image

    9. reboot and check windows device manager to confirm virtio drivers for disk, network and display

    10. install the qemu guest agent for windows - see link above to get latest qemu guest agent drivers for windows

    11. have a beer

    OMV 8 (latest) on N100 minipc (16GB) and rpi5 (8GB). OS on SSD/SD. System ext4 on SSD. Data BTRFS on HDDs

    Quote from MrMadCatz

    Just a general question: Would having 4 2.5in SSDs for my RAID be a better setup?

    This is a tricky question. I don't use RAID on my home setup. It's good for redundancy when downtime is a big problem but it is not a backup solution.


    For me the ideal setup for OMV is:


    1. install OMV on a small capacity USB SSD - I prefer SSD to flash drives as you don't have to worry about wear and install flash memory plugin

    2. use a fast SSD as the OMV system disk. install docker here. shared folders for volumes for VMs, config/app data for docker containers etc.

    3. Not sure if possible but i'd want to use the 4 disk RAID enclosure to create 2 volumes/disks (2 x 2 disks). Use 1 for data and the second for backup


    For 3 above - this does not 'need' to be SSDs. It can be slower spinning disks. Use for media storage etc.


    Hope this helps but others will know more about RAID stuff than me. I prefer to setup data storage using btrfs or zfs file system so you can add disks, check for errors (bit rot etc).

    OMV 8 (latest) on N100 minipc (16GB) and rpi5 (8GB). OS on SSD/SD. System ext4 on SSD. Data BTRFS on HDDs

    MrMadCatz Ask yourself if you can run windows11 bare metal on a HDD these days. I think the answer ought to show that running a Windows VM on HDD is not practical. To make matters worse you were using parity RAID5 with slow writes, when RAID10 would have been a better choice.


    Clearly 4 SSDs in RAID10 would be far better than using HDDS, but just using one quality SSD or nvme could be sufficient for your needs.

    Quote from MrMadCatz

    Just an update here: I am testing the installation on a SSD instead of my RAID array and now I get to about 54% installation progress and then receive "Windows 11 Installation has failed"

    Did you use virtio for your VM network? The instructions at https://wiki.omv-extras.org/do…nfiguring_a_windows_11_vm do not explicitly mention the need to install the appropriate NetKVM Windows driver and memory balloon driver from the attached ISO during the installation process.

    Going to try these steps today! Thank you for all the info. I went ahead and purchased a 2TB NVMe drive to run these VMs and other read/write intensive things on. Your info and help got me to do the right kind of research and figure out what would be best for my setup. I am genuinely grateful.

    Quote from Krisbee

    MrMadCatz Ask yourself if you can run windows11 bare metal on a HDD these days. I think the answer ought to show that running a Windows VM on HDD is not practical. To make matters worse you were using parity RAID5 with slow writes, when RAID10 would have been a better choice.


    Clearly 4 SSDs in RAID10 would be far better than using HDDS, but just using one quality SSD or nvme could be sufficient for your needs.

    Did you use virtio for your VM network? The instructions at https://wiki.omv-extras.org/do…nfiguring_a_windows_11_vm do not explicitly mention the need to install the appropriate NetKVM Windows driver and memory balloon driver from the attached ISO during the installation process

    These are all good points. I'm not usually a Windows user so I'm a bit out of touch when it comes to what hardware is needed. I've gone ahead and purchased an NVMe drive to run VMs from that I just installed into my machine today. I'll give all the steps and suggestions given and report back on how it all goes.

    jata1 Great news! I was able to get Windows 10 to work. Windows 11 still won't, but I think I might have a bad iso for the OS. I will continue testing with the info you've shared. Thanks again for everything!

    • Official Post
    Quote from Krisbee

    Did you use virtio for your VM network? The instructions at https://wiki.omv-extras.org/do…nfiguring_a_windows_11_vm do not explicitly mention the need to install the appropriate NetKVM Windows driver and memory balloon driver from the attached ISO during the installation process.

    It mentions here that it is necessary to download the virtio drivers:

    Quote

    Press the Download virtio iso button. At that time we already have it available in the isos folder and ready to use.

    And then it is mentioned that it is necessary to install these drivers.

    Quote
    When you get to the window to choose a hard drive to install on it will be blank.
    • Click on Load Driver.
    • Find the virtio driver for windows that we have attached to the VM and install the drivers for your version of Windows. Accept and now the virtual disk should appear. Select it and continue the installation normally.

    Maybe I understood it wrong but if there is anything else missing, tell me so I can add it to the wiki, please.


    With those instructions I configured a windows 11 vm in OMV6. I haven't tried it again but I would swear that this should work in OMV7. If there is something to add or modify, I would appreciate the instructions to do so.

    I was successfully able to get get both Windows 11 and Windows 10 installed as VMs on my machine, using the new NVMe SSD I purchased. I guess my previous issues were related to RAID (bad idea trying to install it here now that I've done more research) and attempting to install on the same drive as the Host OS.


    This has been solved and I appreciate everyone's help!


    chente I was able to find all of the info you mentioned in the guide. The only thing I didn't see in the guide is what jata1 mentioned above about installing the qemu agent after Windows setup is complete.


    The only issue I'm having now is getting the audio to work. I'm using RealVNC Viewer. Not sure if there is a better client to use.

    Glad we were able to help MrMadCatz


    for sound, you first need to check the VM host (device manager) to see that your system has found and loaded drivers for sound hardware. If you are trying to 'pass' sound across the network to a VNC client then this is outside my level of expertise and could be quite tricky I think.


    Have fun with your VMs.

    OMV 8 (latest) on N100 minipc (16GB) and rpi5 (8GB). OS on SSD/SD. System ext4 on SSD. Data BTRFS on HDDs

    • Official Post
    Quote from MrMadCatz

    The only issue I'm having now is getting the audio to work.

    For the sound to work you must configure it first in the vm. When you create it, press the Show advanced options button and then press the Audio button.

    • Official Post
    Quote from MrMadCatz

    The only thing I didn't see in the guide is what jata1 mentioned above about installing the qemu agent after Windows setup is complete.

    If I'm not mistaken, you are referring to this:

    Quote

    Press the Download virtio iso button. At that time we already have it available in the isos folder and ready to use.

    The guide mentions that you must press that button to download the virtio ISO. That button is a direct download of that ISO. And that ISO includes everything you need if I'm not mistaken, or am I missing something else?

    Quote from chente

    For the sound to work you must configure it first in the vm. When you create it, press the Show advanced options button and then press the Audio button.

    Thankfully I did that for both my Windows 10 and Windows 11 VMs, but I'm not getting any audio.

    I am using RealVNC Viewer. Do you happen to know if that supports sound?

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