Qubes Windows Tools =================== Qubes Windows Tools are a set of programs and drivers that provide integration of Windows 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 apps windows onto the common Qubes trusted desktop (cuurently only for Windows 7) - **File sender/receiver** - Support for [secure clipboard copy/paste](https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/copy-paste/) between the Windows VM and other AppVMs - **File sender/receiver** - Support for [secure file exchange](https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/copying-files/) 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) - **Xen PV drivers** for Windows that increase performance compared to qemu emulated devices Below is a breakdown of the feature availability depending on the windows version: | Feature | Windows 7 x64 | Windows 10/11 x64 | | ------------------------------------ | :------------: | :---------------: | | Qubes Video Driver | + | - | | Qubes Network Setup | + | + | | Private Volume Setup (move profiles) | + | + | | File sender/receiver | + | + | | Clipboard Copy/Paste | + | + | | Application shortcuts | + | + | | Copy/Edit in Disposable VM | + | + | | Block device | + | + | | USB device | + | + | | Audio | + | + | Qubes Windows Tools are open source and are distributed under a GPL license. NOTES: - 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). - __This page documents the process of installing Qubes Windows Tools in version R4.1.__. Preparation ----------- Before proceeding with the installation we need to disable the Windows mechanism that allows only signed drivers to be installed, because currently (beta releases) the drivers we provide as part of the Windows Tools are not digitally signed with a publicly recognizable certificate. To do that: - 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 `bcdedit /set testsigning on` - Reboot your Windows VM 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. Installing Windows OS in a Qubes VM ----------------------------------- Please refer to [this page](https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/windows-vm41.md/) for instructions on how to install Windows in a Qubes 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. Installing Qubes guest tools in Windows VMs ------------------------------------------- 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. 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. 2. Download the [checksumfile](https://github.com/tabit-pro/qubes-windows-tools-cross/releases/download/v4.1.67/sha256sum.txt) into the same AppVM. 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: sha256sum qubes-windows-tools-4.1.67.1.iso 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 keeps on not matching it might be an attacker attempting to do something nasty to your system -- Ask for support. > **Note**: this is a workaround for installing the Qubes windows tools since the tools are not yet available in the Qubes repositories. 4. Start the Windows qube attaching the `iso` file as a virtual CD-Rom drive *(where `` is the name of your Windows VM and the name of the AppVM where you downloaded the installation `iso`)* qvm-start --cdrom=:/PATH_TO_THE_FILE/qubes-windows-tools-4.1.67.1.iso Once the Windows VM boots, a CDROM should appear in the 'My Computer' menu (typically as `D:`) with the setup program `qubes-tools-x64.msi` in its main directory. 5. Install Qubes Windows Tools 4.1.67.1 by starting `qubes-tools-x64.msi`, optionally selecting the `Xen PV disk drivers`. For Windows 10 and 11, but not Windows 7, you should select `Move user profiles` (which would probably lead to problems in Windows 7). If during installation, the Xen driver requests a reboot, select "No" and let the installation continue - the system will be rebooted later. 6. 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. 7. Qubes will automatically detect the tools has 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 `` is the name of your Windows VM)*: qvm-prefs > **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. *(Currently this only works for Windows 10 and 11.)* Moving profiles 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`: qvm-prefs qrexec_timeout 300 It is also advisable to set some other parameters in order to enable audio, synchronize the Windows clock with the Qubes clock, and so on: qvm-features gui 1 qvm-features gui-emulated 1 qvm-features audio-model ich9 qvm-features stubdom-qrexec 1 qvm-features timezone localtime qvm-prefs qrexec_timeout 300 8. 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. 9. Now the system should be up, with QWT running correctly. 10. For Windows 7, optionally enable seamless mode. This can be done using the Windows command `regedit` on the windows command prompt (`cmd.exe`) and, in the registry editor, positioning to the keys `\HKLM\Software\Invisible Things Lab\Qubes Tools\` and `\HKLM\Software\Invisible Things Lab\Qubes Tools\qga\` and changing the value for the entries `SeamlessMode` in both keys from 0 to 1. After the next boot, the VM will start in seamless mode. 11. Lastly to enable file copy operations to a Windows VM the `default_user` property should be set the `` that you use to login to the Windows VM. This can be done via the following command on a `dom0` terminal: *(where `` is the name of your Windows 10 VM)* `qvm-prefs default_user ` > **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\`. > 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. Xen PV drivers and Qubes Windows Tools -------------------------------------- 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 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 (QWT). - 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. Using Windows AppVMs in seamless mode ------------------------------------- > **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): ~~~ qvm-run -a my-win7-appvm explorer.exe ~~~ ![windows-seamless-4.png](/attachment/wiki/WindowsAppVms/windows-seamless-4.png) ![windows-seamless-1.png](/attachment/wiki/WindowsAppVms/windows-seamless-1.png) Also, the inter-VM services work as usual -- e.g. to request opening a document or URL in the Windows AppVM from another VM: ~~~ [user@work ~]$ qvm-open-in-vm work-win7 roadmap.pptx ~~~ ~~~ [user@work ~]$ qvm-open-in-vm work-win7 https://invisiblethingslab.com ~~~ ... 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. To simulate CTRL-ALT-DELETE in the HVM (SAS, Secure Attention Sequence), press Ctrl-Alt-Home while having any window of this VM in the foreground. ![windows-seamless-7.png](/attachment/wiki/WindowsAppVms/windows-seamless-7.png) Changing between seamless and full desktop mode ----------------------------------------------- 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 a HVM TemplateVM one can use the following command, suitably adapted: ~~~ qvm-create --class TemplateVM win-template --property virt_mode=HVM --property kernel='' -l green ~~~ ... , 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, but currently working only for Windows 10 and 11. 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. For Windows 7, the user directories have to be moved manually, because the automatic transfer during QWT installation does not work for not yet known reasons. 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. Once the template has been created and installed it is easy to create AppVMs based on it: ~~~ qvm-create --property virt_mode=hvm --template --label