Qubes Windows Tools (QWT) are a set of programs and drivers that provide integration of Windows 7, 10 and 11 AppVMs with the rest of the Qubes system. Currently the following features are available for Windows VMs after installation of those tools:
-**Qubes Video Driver** - provides for the seamless GUI mode that integrates windows apps onto the common Qubes trusted desktop (currently only for Windows 7)
-**Clipboard sender/receiver** - Support for [secure clipboard copy/paste](https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/copy-paste/) between the Windows VM and other AppVMs
-**Copy/Edit in Disposable VM** - Support for editing files in DisposableVMs as well as for `qvm-run` and generic `qrexec` for the Windows VM (e.g. ability to run custom service within/from the Windows VM)
-**Audio** - Audio support requires R4.1 and is available even without QWT installation if `qvm-features audio-model` is set as `ich6`
-**Xen PV drivers** for Windows that increase performance compared to QEMU emulated devices and are required for attaching USB devices, they allow USB device access even without QWT installation if `qvm-features stubdom-qrexec` is set as `1`
> - Currently only 64-bit versions of Windows 7, 10 and 11 are supported by Qubes Windows Tools. Only emulated SVGA GPU is supported (although [there has been reports](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/qubes-users/cmPRMOkxkdA) on working GPU passthrough).
**Windows 7 only:** Before proceeding with the installation we need to disable the Windows mechanism that allows only signed drivers to be installed, because currently the Qubes video driver, available for Windows 7, provided as part of the Windows Tools are not digitally signed with a publicly recognizable certificate. To do that:
1. Start the command prompt as Administrator, i.e. right click on the Command Prompt icon (All Programs -> Accessories) and choose "Run as administrator"
2. In the command prompt type `bcdedit /set testsigning on`
In the future this step will not be necessary anymore, because we will sign our drivers with a publicly verifiable certificate. However, it should be noted that even now, the fact that those drivers are not digitally signed, this doesn't affect security of the Windows VM in 'any' way. This is because the actual installation `iso` file can be verified as described in step 3 below. The only downside of those drivers not being signed is the inconvenience to the user that he or she must disable the signature enforcement policy before installing the tools.
> **Note:** it is recommended to increase the default value of Windows VM's `qrexec_timeout` property from 60 (seconds) to, for example, 300. During one of the first reboots after Windows Tools installation Windows user profiles are moved onto the private VM's virtual disk (private.img) and this operation can take some time. Moving profiles and, later on, updating a Windows installation, is performed in an early boot phase when `qrexec` is not yet running, so timeout may occur with the default value. To change the property use this command in `dom0`: *(where `<VMname>` is the name of your Windows VM)*
> **Note:** It is strongly suggested to enable autologon for any Windows HVMs that will have Qubes Tools installed. To do so, run `netplwiz` command from the `Win+R`/Start menu and uncheck the *Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer* option.
This will allow you to install the Qubes Windows Tools on Windows 7, 10 and 11 both as a StandaloneVM as well as a Template VM and a corresponding AppVM. But some features are not available:
> **Note:** Seamless mode is currently not available for windows 10 and 11. Please check the top of this document for the full feature availability breakdown.
> **Note:** *Steps 1 through 4 are prelimnary and will be replaced once Qubes Windows Tools are made available in a Qubes repository. This is a workaround for installing the Qubes windows tools until the tools are available in the Qubes repositories.*
1. Download the [Qubes Windows Tools installation disk](https://github.com/tabit-pro/qubes-windows-tools-cross/releases/download/v4.1.67/qubes-windows-tools-4.1.67.1.iso/) into some AppVM, e.g. *untrusted*.
3. Check the integrity of the file `qubes-windows-tools-4.1.67.1.iso` by comparing its hash checksum. This can be done using the `sha256sum` command in the AppVM like:
and compare it to the value stored in the file `sha256sum.txt` for the `iso` file (**it has to exactly match for security reasons**). If it matches, feel free to continue the installation. If not, repeat the download to make sure it was not corrupted due to a network problem. If it keeps on not matching it might be an attacker attempting to do something nasty to your system -- *Ask for support.*
4. Start the Windows qube attaching the `iso` file as a virtual CD-Rom drive *(where `<VMname>` is the name of your Windows VM and <AppVM> the name of the AppVM where you downloaded the installation `iso`)*
Once the Windows VM boots, a CDROM should appear in the 'My Computer' menu (typically as `D:` or `E:`) with the setup program `qubes-tools-x64.msi` in its main directory.
5.**Windows 7 only:** Rename the private disk `D:` to `Q:`. This can be done by starting the diskmanager and changing the drive letter:
- Start the command prompt as administrator, i.e. right click on the Command Prompt icon (All Programs -> Accessories) and choose "Run as administrator"
- In the command prompt type `diskmgmt.msc`
- In the disk manager, select the volume `Private (D:)`
- Select the option `Change Drive Letter and Path`
- Select option `Change...`
- Select the letter `Q`
- Click `OK` in all still open windows of the disk manager and terminate it.
6. Install Qubes Windows Tools by starting `qubes-tools-x64.msi` as administrator, optionally selecting the `Xen PV disk drivers`. For installation in a template, you should select `Move user profiles`. If during installation, the Xen driver requests a reboot, select "No" and let the installation continue - the system will be rebooted later.
7. After successful installation, the Windows VM must be shut down and started again, possibly a couple of times. On each shutdown, wait until the VM is really stopped, i.e. Qubes shows no more activity.
8. Qubes will automatically detect that the tools have been installed in the VM and will set appropriate properties for the VM, such as `qrexec_installed`, `guiagent_installed`, and `default_user`. This can be verified (but is not required) using the `qvm-prefs` command *(where `<VMname>` is the name of your Windows VM)*:
It is advisable to set some other parameters in order to enable audio and USB block device access, synchronize the Windows clock with the Qubes clock, and so on:
With the value `localtime` the dom0 `timezone` will be provided to virtual hardware, effectively setting the Windows clock to that of Qubes. With a digit value (negative or positive) the guest clock will have an offset (in seconds) applied relative to UTC.
9. Reboot Windows. If the VM starts, but does not show any window then shutdown Windows from the Qube manager, wait until it has really stopped, and reboot Windows once more.
- Start the command prompt as administrator, i.e. right click on the Command Prompt icon (All Programs -> Accessories) and choose "Run as administrator"
If Windows is used in a TemplateVM / AppVM combination, this registry fix has to be applied to the TemplateVM, as the `HKLM` registry key belongs to the template-based part of the registry.
12. Lastly to enable file copy operations to a Windows VM the `default_user` property should be set the `<username>` that you use to login to the Windows VM. This can be done via the following command on a `dom0` terminal: *(where `<VMname>` is the name of your Windows VM)*
> **Note:** If this property is not set or set to a wrong value, files copied to this VM are stored in the folder `C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\Documents\QubesIncoming\<source_VM>`.
> If the target VM is an AppVM, this has the consequence that the files are stored in the corresponding TemplateVM and so are lost on AppVM shutdown.
Installing Xen's PV drivers in the VM will lower its resources usage when using network and/or I/O intensive applications, but *may* come at the price of system stability (although Xen's PV drivers on a Windows VM are usually very stable). They can be installed as an optional part of Qubes Windows Tools (QWT), which bundles Xen's PV drivers.
> **Notes** about using Xen's VBD (storage) PV driver:
> - **Windows 7:** Installing the driver requires a fully updated VM or else you'll likely get a BSOD ("Blue Screen Of Death") and a VM in a difficult to fix state. Updating Windows takes *hours* and for casual usage there isn't much of a performance between the disk PV driver and the default one; so there is likely no need to go through the lengthy Windows Update process if your VM doesn't have access to untrusted networks and if you don't use I/O intensive apps or attach block devices. If you plan to update your newly installed Windows VM it is recommended that you do so *before* installing Qubes Windows Tools. Installing the driver will probably cause Windows 7 activation to become invalid, but the activation can be restored using the Microsoft telephone activation method.
> - The option to install the storage PV driver is disabled by default in Qubes Windows Tools
> - In case you already had QWT installed without the storage PV driver and you then updated the VM, you may then install the driver by again starting the QWT installer and selecting the change option.
> **Note:** This feature is only available for Windows 7
Once you start a Windows-based AppVM with Qubes Tools installed, you can easily start individual applications from the VM (note the `-a` switch used here, which will auto-start the VM if it is not running):
... just like in the case of Linux AppVMs. Of course all those operations are governed by central policy engine running in Dom0 -- if the policy doesn't contain explicit rules for the source and/or target AppVM, the user will be asked whether to allow or deny the operation.
Inter-VM file copy and clipboard works for Windows AppVMs the same way as for Linux AppVM (except that we don't provide a command line wrapper, `qvm-copy-to-vm` in Windows VMs) -- to copy files from Windows AppVMs just right-click on the file in Explorer, and choose: Send To-\> Other AppVM.
You can switch between seamless and "full desktop" mode for Windows HVMs in their settings in Qubes Manager. The latter is the default.
Using template-based Windows AppVMs
-----------------------------------
Qubes allows HVM VMs to share a common root filesystem from a select Template VM, just as for Linux AppVMs. This mode is not limited to Windows AppVMs, and can be used for any HVM (e.g. FreeBSD running in a HVM).
In order to create an HVM TemplateVM, the type "TemplateVM" has to be selected on creating the VM. Then set memory as appropriate, and install the Windows OS (or any other OS) into this template the same way as you would install it into a normal HVM -- please see instructions on [this page](https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/hvm-create/).
If you use this Template as it is, then any HVMs that use it will effectively be DisposableVMs - the User directory will be wiped when the HVM is closed down.
If you want to retain the User directory between reboots, then it would make sense to store the `C:\Users` directory on the 2nd disk which is automatically exposed by Qubes to all HVMs.
This 2nd disk is backed by the `private.img` file in the AppVMs' and is not reset upon AppVMs reboot, so the user's directories and profiles would survive the AppVMs reboot, unlike the "root" filesystem which will be reverted to the "golden image" from the Template VM automatically.
To facilitate such separation of user profiles, Qubes Windows Tools provide an option to automatically move `C:\Users` directory to the 2nd disk backed by `private.img`.
It's a selectable feature of the installer. For Windows 7, it requires the private disk to be renamed to `Q:` before QWT installation (see above); for Windows 10 and 11, this renaming occurs during QWT installation automatically.
If that feature is selected during installation, completion of the process requires two reboots:
- The private disk is initialized and formatted on the first reboot after tools installation. It can't be done **during** the installation because Xen mass storage drivers are not yet active.
- User profiles are moved to the private disk on the next reboot after the private disk is initialized.
Reboot is required because the "mover utility" runs very early in the boot process so OS can't yet lock any files in there.
This can take some time depending on the profiles' size and because the GUI agent is not yet active dom0/Qubes Manager may complain that the AppVM failed to boot.
That's a false alarm (you can increase the AppVM's default boot timeout using `qvm-prefs`), the VM should appear "green" in Qubes Manager shortly after.
It also makes sense to disable Automatic Updates for all the template-based AppVMs -- of course this should be done in the Template VM, not in individual AppVMs, because the system-wide settings are stored in the root filesystem (which holds the system-wide registry hives). Then, periodically check for updates in the Template VM and the changes will be carried over to any child AppVMs.
- Move user profiles: user profile directory (`C:\users`) is moved to VM's private disk backed by `private.img file` in `dom0` (useful mainly for HVM templates).
> **Note:** *In testing VMs only* it's probably a good idea to install a VNC server before installing QWT. If something goes very wrong with the Qubes gui agent, a VNC server should still allow access to the OS.
> **Note**: Xen PV disk drivers are not installed by default. This is because they seem to cause problems (BSOD = Blue Screen Of Death). We're working with upstream devs to fix this. *However*, the BSOD seems to only occur after the first boot and everything works fine after that. **Enable the drivers at your own risk** of course, but we welcome reports of success/failure in any case (backup your VM first!). With disk PV drivers absent `qvm-block` will not work for the VM, but you can still use standard Qubes inter-VM file copying mechanisms.
If the install process fails or something goes wrong during it, include the installation logs in your bug report. They are created in the `%TEMP%` directory, by default `<user profile>\AppData\Local\Temp`. There are two text files, one small and one big, with names starting with `Qubes_Windows_Tools`.
Uninstalling QWT is supported. After uninstalling you need to manually enable the DHCP Client Windows service, or set IP settings yourself to restore network access.
Various aspects of Qubes Windows Tools (QWT) can be configured through the registry. The main configuration key is located in `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Invisible Things Lab\Qubes Tools`. Configuration values set on this level are global to all QWT components. It's possible to override global values with component-specific keys, this is useful mainly for setting log verbosity for troubleshooting. Possible configuration values are:
To override global settings for a specific component, create a new key under the root key mentioned above and name it as the executable name, without `.exe` extension.
|qga|DisableCursor|DWORD|Disable cursor in the VM. Useful for integration with Qubes desktop so you don't see two cursors. Can be disabled if you plan to use the VM through a remote desktop connection of some sort. Needs gui agent restart to apply change (locking OS/logoff should be enough since qga is restarted on desktop change).|1|
Troubleshooting
---------------
If the VM is inaccessible (doesn't respond to qrexec commands, gui is not functioning), try to boot it in safe mode:
**Please include appropriate logs when reporting bugs/problems.** Logs contain the QWT version. If the OS crashes (BSOD) please include the BSOD code and parameters in your bug report. The BSOD screen should be visible if you run the VM in debug mode (`qvm-start --debug vmname`). If it's not visible or the VM reboots automatically, try to start Windows in safe mode (see above) and 1) disable automatic restart on BSOD (Control Panel - System - Advanced system settings - Advanced - Startup and recovery), 2) check the system event log for BSOD events. If you can, send the `memory.dmp` dump file from `C:\Windows`.
Xen logs (`/var/log/xen/console/guest-*`) are also useful as they contain pvdrivers diagnostic output.
If a specific component is malfunctioning, you can increase its log verbosity as explained above to get more troubleshooting information. Below is a list of components:
|qubesdb-daemon|Service for accessing Qubes configuration database.|
|network-setup|Service that sets up network parameters according to VM's configuration.|
|prepare-volume|Utility that initializes and formats the disk backed by `private.img` file. It's registered to run on next system boot during QWT setup, if that feature is selected (it can't run *during* the setup because Xen block device drivers are not yet active). It in turn registers move-profiles (see below) to run at early boot.|
|relocate-dir|Utility that moves user profiles directory to the private disk. It's registered as an early boot native executable (similar to chkdsk) so it can run before any profile files are opened by some other process. Its log is in a fixed location: `C:\move-profiles.log` (it can't use our common logger library so none of the log settings apply).|
When we publish a new QWT version, it's usually pushed to the `current-testing` or `unstable` repository first. To use versions from current-testing, run this in dom0:
That command will download a new QWT `iso` file from the testing repository. It goes without saying that you should **backup your VMs** before installing anything from testing repos.
