Quickemu: Quickly create and run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux VMs

 (github.com)

78 points | by teekert 2 days ago

7 comments

  • mmastrac 1 hour ago
    I've been trying to do something similar to set up Windows VMs with developer tools. This would be awesome if there was a way to inject a `ps1` script where we could go through the awkwardness of installing choco and various dev tools.

    For anyone interested, the magic incantation in the autoattend.xml is:

        <settings pass="specialize">
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Deployment" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS">
        <RunSynchronous>
        <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
            <Order>1</Order>
            <Path>cmd /c powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File A:\scripts\setup-dev.ps1 &gt; \\.\COM1</Path>
            <Description>Run dev setup script</Description>
        </RunSynchronousCommand>
        </RunSynchronous>
    </component>
    </settings>
    Redirecting to COM1 is a fun hack I discovered that allows you to remotely monitor these from build scripts.

    Even better would be figuring out how to slipstream the choco packages into the ISO - it's not super reliable to install these packages in my recent experience.

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  • tempodox 26 minutes ago
    I have to try this. All my previous attempts to get to grips with qemu left me with the impression that it’s strictly for rocket scientists. This might ease the learning curve for me.
  • dang 2 hours ago
    Related. Others?

    Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39188432 - Jan 2024 (133 comments)

  • peter_d_sherman 2 days ago
    Brilliant!

    This may just become my next most favorite project on GitHub!

    For anyone who would create their own OS, or just experiment with other OS'es, this could be a godsend!

    The set of ideas which gives rise to this tool are brilliant, and while I haven't reviewed all of the code for potential security implications (as I would want to if I were deploying it to a production server in a business environment) -- it looks very well thought out at first glance!

    Extra kudos for having a flake.nix (for us Nix users!)

    (If you're using NixOS or the Nix package manager, you can download it here https://search.nixos.org/packages?channel=25.11&query=quicke... , i.e., "$ nix-shell -p quickemu")

    And extra extra kudos for having Alpine, Nix, ReactOS, TinyCore and OpenBSD as downloadable OS choices!

    In the future, I'd love to see Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows NT too (assuming that Microsoft would permit that!) -- but that would just be the icing on the cake!

    Short review: There's potentially something for everyone here! (Well, any OS person! Could Minix 3 be added in the future? :-) )

    Long review: Will definitely have to watch this project in the future, to see where it goes!

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    • ryandrake 1 hour ago
      My first reaction was: Fuck! Terrible timing!! I just spent the last few days (during some time off from work) manually setting up macOS and Windows qemu VMs on my homelab running Proxmox, just to see if I could do it. And navigating all the janky, old tutorials, forums full of "try this" junk, hitting roadblock after roadblock (ProTip: macOS versions > Monterey will NOT run on Ivy Bridge processors in a virtualized environment) and trying to filter out and dodge AI garbage advice, was a real slog. Why didn't I see this article the first time it made the rounds on HN???

      My second reaction was in line with yours. This is awesome. Bookmarked already. +1 for the suggestion of doing more ancient Windows versions.

  • fraserphysics 1 hour ago
    I thought that macOS was proprietary, and that apple only allowed it to be run on apple hardware. Just last month, I used incus to test a software package in 6 Linux distributions. I want to also test the package in macOS. Must I get a license from apple to do that with Quickemu?
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  • westurner 2 days ago
    IOMMU GPU passthrough with device selection would be a helpful feature: https://www.google.com/search?q=gpu+passthrough+qemu

    LXD manages qemu VMs and supports snapshotting, live migration, and a number of storage drivers: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45270468

    virtio-gpu-rutabaga works with Android VMs on qemu, but does it work with Win/Mac/Lin: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42921315

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    • subscribed 1 day ago
      I would love that so much. That's the feature I wanted to play for the longest while, but the shortage of time just doesn't let me.

      That would be a jixe step up.

  • clircle 1 hour ago
    Is this less buggy than UTM on apple silicon?