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Add Qubes Core Stack section from article; minor improvements

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Andrew David Wong 2020-08-03 16:33:21 -05:00
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developer/system/architecture.md
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@ -14,10 +14,10 @@ Qubes Architecture Overview
Qubes implements a Security by Isolation approach. To do this, Qubes utilizes virtualization technology in order to isolate various programs from each other and even to sandbox many system-level components, such as networking and storage subsystems, so that the compromise of any of these programs or components does not affect the integrity of the rest of the system.
Qubes lets the user define many security domains, which are implemented as lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs), or “AppVMs.” For example, the user can have “personal,” “work,” “shopping,” “bank,” and “random” AppVMs and can use the applications within those VMs just as if they were executing on the local machine. At the same time, however, these applications are well isolated from each other. Qubes also supports secure copy-and-paste and file sharing between the AppVMs, of course.
[![qubes-schema-v2.png](/attachment/wiki/QubesArchitecture/qubes-schema-v2.png)](/attachment/wiki/QubesArchitecture/qubes-schema-v2.png)
Qubes lets the user define many security domains, which are implemented as lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs), or “AppVMs.” For example, the user can have “personal,” “work,” “shopping,” “bank,” and “random” AppVMs and can use the applications within those VMs just as if they were executing on the local machine. At the same time, however, these applications are well isolated from each other. Qubes also supports secure copy-and-paste and file sharing between the AppVMs, of course.
Key Architecture features
-------------------------
@ -32,4 +32,43 @@ Key Architecture features
- Qubes GUI provides isolation between apps sharing the same desktop
- Secure system boot based (optional)
[Architecture Spec v0.3 [PDF]](/attachment/wiki/QubesArchitecture/arch-spec-0.3.pdf) (The original 2009 document that started this all...)
[Architecture Spec v0.3 [PDF]](/attachment/wiki/QubesArchitecture/arch-spec-0.3.pdf) is the original 2009 document that started this all.
Qubes Core Stack
----------------
Qubes Core Stack is, as the name implies, the core component of Qubes OS. It's
the glue that connects all the other components together, and which allows users
and admins to interact with and configure the system. The other components of
the Qubes system include:
- VM-located core agents (implementing e.g. qrexec endpoints used by various
Qubes services)
- VM-customizations (making the VMs lightweight and working well with seamless
GUI virtualization)
- Qubes GUI virtualization (the protocol, VM-located agents, and daemons
located in the GUI domain which, for now, happens to be the same as dom0),
- GUI domain customizations (Desktop Environment customizations, decoration
coloring plugin, etc)
- The AdminVM distribution (various customizations, special services, such as
for receiving and verifying updates, in the future: custom distro)
- The Xen hypervisor (with a bunch of customization patches, occasional
hardening) or - in the future - some other virtualising or containerizing
software or technology
- Multiple "Qubes Apps" (various services built on top of Qubes qrexec
infrastructure, such as: trusted PDF and Image converters, Split GPG, safe
USB proxies for HID devices, USB proxy for offering USB devices (exposed via
qvm-usb), Yubikey support, USB Armory support, etc)
- Various ready-to-use templates (e.g. Debian-, Whonix-based), which are used
to create actual VMs, i.e. provide the root filesystem to the VMs
- Salt Stack integration
And all these components are "glued together" by the Qubes Core Stack.
[![Qubes system components](/attachment/wiki/QubesArchitecture/qubes-components.png)](/attachment/wiki/QubesArchitecture/qubes-components.png)
This diagram illustrates the location of all these components in the overall
system architecture. Unlike the other Qubes architecture diagram above, this one
takes an AppVM-centric approach.