--- /dev/null
+title: Virtual Windows 7
+linktitle: virtual-win7
+parent: Home
+ctime: 2011-07-28
+
+# Introduction
+
+This page documents the process of converting a dual-boot Linux/Windows
+installation into a Linux installation running the Windows partition under a
+KVM virtual machine. This work was first performed under Ubuntu 10.10 and
+11.04 versions.
+
+# Why virtualize Windows 7?
+
+During my development activities, customer needs infrequently require use of
+software only available under Windows. But booting between OSes is an
+incredible waste of time and drain on productivity. My work notebook, a Lenovo
+X201, came pre-installed with an OEM version Windows 7 Home Premium. The
+obvious solution? Virtualize Windows under Linux.
+
+# Microsoft licensing issues?
+
+[[!pquote text="The OEM Windows EULA allows for virtualization"]]
+
+I downloaded the EULA for Windows 7 from microsoft.com as applicable for
+pre-installed OEM versions of Windows 7 Home Premium. For this OS configuration,
+the license specifically allows execution of the pre-installed OEM OS when
+virtualized on the same hardware. The actual text is found in Section 3.d:
+
+> Use with Virtualization Technologies. Instead of using the software directly
+on the licensed computer, you may install and use the software within only one
+virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed computer. When
+used in a virtualized environment, content protected by digital rights
+management technology, BitLocker or any full volume disk drive encryption
+technology may not be as secure as protected content not in a virtualized
+environment. You should comply with all domestic and international laws that
+apply to such protected content.
+
+# Virtualization requirements
+
+For Windows virtualization to be effective in my development use cases, the
+following requirements and constraints must be met. Additionally, I want the
+virtualization solution to support running additional virtual machines as well.
+
+* Run 32-bit x86 Windows 7 from 32-bit x86 Ubuntu Linux 10.10 and newer.
+* Run various flavors of Linux or other Intel x86 based operating environments.
+* No unnecessary dependences to software or hardware that will limit the
+ability of the virtualized OS from functioning properly in the future.
+* Ability to run with native disk, not disk-as-file, for improved IO
+performance.
+* Supports use of VT-x and VT-d, again for performance.
+* Will be sufficiently performant on the target hardware when virtualized. The
+X201 has an i5-M560 CPU which offers 4 cores at 2.66 GHz each, and 8 GB of RAM.
+* Simple management of VMs, including configuration, start and stop.
+* VMs must behave sanely in the presence of host OS power saving functionality,
+like suspend.
+* There is no requirement to continue to run Win7 natively.
+* High end graphics are not required: no need for 3D, Aero effects, video
+playback, etc.
+* And finally, a reliable mechanism return to the prior physical configuration
+if the VM experiment fails to work as hoped.
+
+# Selecting a virtualization framework
+
+There are a few virtualization options suitable for use on a development system,
+including VMware, Xen, VirtualBox, and KVM. All can do the job, but KVM was
+chosen for a variety of reasons:
+
+* KVM has the features needed, and is available through the standard
+Ubuntu repositories.
+* KVM management via libvirt is more than adequate.
+* KVM can use an SDL local window for rendering the virtualized OS, for quite
+good display performance.
+* The enterprise features of Xen are overkill for this application.
+* VMWare is not open source, so there is some concern about support for this
+particular hardware in the far future (I tend to keep hardware for a very long
+time).
+* VirtualBox can not access USB hardware unless the purchased version is used.
+
+The virtual machine manager, using libvirt, is a pretty nice environment. This
+management tool already supports a few different VM strategies, called
+*backends*, and they are likely to improve moving forward. Therefore, gaining
+knowledge about VMM, libvirt, and KVM could in the near future represent
+an intellectual asset deployable against future customer needs.
+
+# Disk organization, pre-virtualization
+
+Prior to any changes, the 320 GB notebook disk drive was organized as follows:
+
+ /dev/sda1, 1.17 GiB, Label=SYSTEM_DRV
+ /dev/sda2, 78.17 GiB, Label=WindowsOS_7
+ /dev/sda3, 19.68 GiB, Label=Lenovo_Recovery
+ /dev/sda4, an extended partition container
+ /dev/sda5, 15.26 GiB, swap partition
+ /dev/sda6, 23.84 GiB, / partition
+ /dev/sda7, 159.96 GiB, /home partition
+
+* The SYSTEM_DRV apparently supports the Lenovo ThinkVantage functionality
+which includes some backup and restore capability.
+* The WindowsOS_7 partition is the one to virtualize, containing the licensed
+OEM version of Windows 7 Home Premium that came with this notebook.
+* The system boots using Grub2, which initially included an entry to boot the
+Windows_7 partition.
+
+# The solution
+
+Unfortunately, the solution is not so simple as to point the VM to the /dev/sda2
+partition. First, the virtual hardware expects to see a hard drive, complete
+with partition table. Second, suitable drivers for the virtual hardware must be
+installed into the windows installation. I took several steps to convert
+/dev/sda2 in place to look like a hard drive (kpartx, etc) but the best I could
+accomplish was Windows 7 hanging during boot. Since my expertise with Windows
+internals is limited, and so is the information available online, I elected to
+do a clean re-install Windows from the virtual environment.
+
+## Create backups
+
+### R&R image
+
+Levnovo offers a recovery capability accessible by booting the Lenovo_Recovery
+partition. I used this to create a recovery image for the WindowsOS_7
+partition.
+
+* Create a windows repair disc from the Win7 OS
+* Create an R&R recovery boot disc
+* Back up the current Win7 image via R&R to the Lenovo_Recovery partition. This
+required removing all other prior backups because of size constaints in that
+partition.
+* Back up the current Win7 image to a set of DVD optical discs. It took 3: a
+boot disc and two data discs.
+
+### Partition level backups
+
+Since the space was available in the Linux partition, I opted to create parition
+level backups as well, which would be 'easier' to restore, at least for me.
+
+ # Backup the first MiB of /dev/sda to capture MBR and any bootloader stuff
+ dd if=/dev/sda of=mbr.save bs=1M count=1
+ # Use ntfsclone to make a space-efficient copy of the windows partition
+ ntfsclone --save-image -o - /dev/sda2 | gzip -c > sda2.img.gz
+
+## Prepare /dev/sda2 for virtualization
+
+First, /dev/sda2 must look like a DOS style disk, complete with disk level
+partition information. This can be accomplished using this fdisk command:
+
+ fdisk -c -u /dev/sda2
+
+Drive fdisk to create a single windows partition spanning the entirety of the
+'disk' (actually the physical partition /dev/sda2). Now /dev/sda2 will look
+like a valid disk image usable by a VM to re-install Windows 7.
+
+## Install the virtualization tools in Linux
+
+ sudo apt-get install virt-manager virt-viewer python-vm-builder \
+ kvm-pxe ubuntu-vm-builder
+
+I tested the VM tools by creating an Ubuntu 11.04 install. I ran the Virtual
+Machine Manager using an Ubuntu 11.04 install .iso image as its CD-ROM. The
+installation was successful and the resulting virtual machine worked without
+fail.
+
+## Re-install Windows 7
+
+Next windows was re-installed. A Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit OEM .iso was
+used to do a clean install of Win7. See the virtioinstall.sh script for more
+information. I used the Win7 iso, and virtual floppy and CD-ROM images from
+RedHat containing signed virtio drivers for disk and network devices. The VM was
+started using the virtio disk driver, booting into the Win7 iso. Then the
+virtual floppy was accessed during the Win7 install process to load in the
+virtio drivers so the Win7 install program could see the disc, which was of
+course the disk image on the host /dev/sda partition. I formatted the 'drive'
+(which is really the /dev/sda2 partition on the physical drive), then proceeded
+to install Win7 onto it. The installation process, from first boot of the Win7
+iso, to first user login to Win7, took just under 45 minutes.
+
+At this point, the VM was stopped so its configuration could be altered it use
+the virtio network driver. The VM was then restarted with the virtio iso from
+RedHat connected as the virtual CD-ROM disc. Once Win7 was running, in device
+manager the drivers for the broken network device were updated from the .iso to
+get the network running. The virtio network interface seems very efficient. The
+VM configuration was finally modified to provide for 2 CPU cores and 2 GB of
+RAM.
+
+## Re-activate Windows 7
+
+At this time, Win7 had to be re-activated. The online technique failed, so the
+phone call technique was required. It was a bit painful, but the end result was
+a properly activated installation.
+
+## Install other Windows 7 tools
+
+Since I installed from scratch, I had to reinstall the few tools I use under
+Windows. Since these tools were few in number, this process was pretty
+painless. This strategy would be much more painful if there were lots of tools
+and/or custom configuration or data required to be recovered.
+
+## Improving diplay performance
+
+The default display mechanism when interacting with the Windows VM display is
+VNC. This is not very performant. Since the Windows VM is only to be accessed
+from the local hardware, I instead configured the VM to use SDL for rendering
+the VM display in a window. Interestingly, this change also allowed sound from
+the Win7 VM to propagate to the sound hardware. The SDL configuration is fast
+enough to watch Netflix from the VM.
+
+ Stop the win7 VM
+ Reconfigure the VM:
+ Remove VNC graphics entry for the VM and add the local SDL one.
+ Change the sound driver to ac97
+ Edit /etc/libvirt/qemu.conf. Add:
+ user = "smckown"
+ group = "smckown"
+ sudo service libvirtd-bin restart
+ Restart the virtual machine
+
+### Why not SPICE?
+
+The SDL method creates a new local window that hosts the VM display. It cannot
+be embedded into the virtual manager VM window. It looks like the better
+solution is going to be to use the SPICE facility. Special drivers in the VM
+work with special client features to implement a much improved connection. SPICE
+provides better display performance than VNC, can do stereo sound, and also
+provides for USB redirection. As of 7/13/12, Ubuntu 12.04 does not have the
+right stuff to do spice through virt-manager. There is a PPA that will allow it.
+The nice thing about SPICE is it is network-able and can be embedded. Since
+network access to the VM is not necessary, the SDL window method seems optimal.
+
+## Anti Virus considerations
+
+It should be noted that the VM, as the native install before it, is running
+Microsoft Security Essentials for Anti-Virus. There appears a noticeable
+performance hit for using AV within the VM, in comparison to running it
+natively. Unfortunately, the protection offered is probably worth the
+performance penalty.
+
+# Conclusion
+
+I am quite happy with the results of this process. Win7 boots noticeably faster
+from the VM than it did on native hardware. Disk CPU are perceptibly sluggish
+within the VM with respect to native performance, but it is tolerable. Network
+performance seems on par with native. For the tasks in which I will use
+Windows, the virtual machine performance is more than adequate.
+
+Of course the big win is that Win7 can be running simultaneously with Ubuntu.
+This solves a host of workflow problems and removes the terrible inefficiencies
+caused by having to boot between the two OSes natively. For one, I was able to
+continue working with apps in the host Ubuntu OS while the Win7 VM chugged away
+literally for hours downloading and rebooting ad nauseum as it updated itself
+with the latest Win7 SP1 and subsequent patches.
+
+My overall concern with this strategy is that a change in Microsoft policy could
+complicate my life. Although this use of my windows license is perfectly
+legitimate according to my reading of the EULA, I depend upon Windows Product
+Activation to honor this legitimacy. Here is to hoping that Microsoft will take
+care to ensure that their WPA policies retain convenient use of Windows for all
+legitimate uses.
+
+---
+
+# Updates
+
+### 2012-08-13
+After using this configuration for over a year, I have found it to be quite
+reliable. The upgrade to 12.04 triggered Windows Product Activation, and
+another phone call to the automated WPA phone number was required. The
+activation was successful.
+
+---
+
+# Links
+
+The following links, in no particular order, were invaluable in completing this project. Thanks to all those who published their prior experience for others to use!
+
+* <http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392>
+* <http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/hp-mini-210-windows-7-recovery-0xc000000f-bcd/6c79d900-79dc-4f54-bcf7-22edf6f44dd4>
+* <http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Startup-Repair-frequently-asked-questions>
+* <http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/20864-mbr-restore-windows-7-master-boot-record.html>
+* <http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/104341-bootmgr-missing-fix.html>
+* <http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/163216-bootrec-exe-tool-how-use-windows-recovery-environment.html>
+* <http://brandonkonkle.com/blog/2009/apr/27/lvm-based-virtualization-kvm-and-jaunty/>
+* <http://techpp.com/2009/11/11/download-windows-7-iso-official-direct-download-links/>
+* <http://bderzhavets.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/set-up-rh-virtio-scsi-driver-on-windows-xp-kvm-at-kvm-qemu-instance-on-f14/>
+* <http://techpp.com/2009/11/11/download-windows-7-iso-official-direct-download-links/>
+* <http://cloud.ubuntu.com/2011/03/fast-win7-kvm-virtiodisk-net-install/>
+* <http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html>
+* <http://rghost.net/3412907>
+* <http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/156599-help-windows-7-clean-install.html>
+* <http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/151566-reinstalling-windows-7-a.html#post1300819>
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