« BackShow HN: VM-curator – a TUI alternative to libvirt and virt-managergithub.comSubmitted by theYipster 2 days ago
  • theYipster 41 minutes ago

    Update: Released first bug-fixes (v 0.1.1). Notable fixes include:

    - Defaulting to SGL display-mode when enabling 3D accel for Linux VMs for better graphics performance. - Changing display mode for existing VMs is now available in Manage - Adding multiple VMs for the same OS is now supported - Custom VM naming now persists. - Renaming VMs is now supported.

    Next major feature: Full PCI passthrough support, including GPU passthrough via looking-glass.

    • btreecat a day ago

      I look forward to testing this out. I keep a windows VM mostly for updating hardware when there's no other way. USB passthrough is a feature that doesn't always work in a stable manner with libvirt.

      • pregnenolone a day ago

        How is this possible? I remember reading something about 3D para-virtualization not being supported on NVIDIA consumer GPUs.

        • theYipster a day ago

          I think you’re referring to the ability to split a physical NVIDIA GPU into multiple virtual GPUs so that you can do full GPU pass-through with one card (without having to resort to hacks like disconnecting host sessions.)

          What vm-curator provides is an easy way to use QEMU”s built in para-virtualization (virtio-vga-gl, a.k.a. virgl) in a manner that works with NVIDIA cards. This is not possible using libvirt based tools because of a bug between libvirt and NVIDIA’s Linux drivers.

        • unixhero a day ago

          Does it fetch the hardrive inages for all these preconfigured ones from somewhere? That would be a huge timesaver.

          • theYipster a day ago

            No. I thought about that, but decided it would be too much of a hassle to maintain, plus it becomes legally problematic with non-FOSS, non-abandonware profiles (i.e. modern Windows and MacOS.)

            Instead, for many profiles, it provides a link to the OS’s website (or archive.org) where you can download the installation media.

            • unixhero 20 hours ago

              I see...

              To be fair the archive.org links probably does not change much

          • westurner 2 days ago

            From https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46433355 re: quickemu, LXD snapshots and live migration, virtio-gpu-rutabaga:

            > IOMMU GPU passthrough with device selection would be a helpful feature: https://www.google.com/search?q=gpu+passthrough+qemu

            rutabaga_gfx does GPU paravirtualization: https://github.com/magma-gpu/rutabaga_gfx

            • theYipster 2 days ago

              IOMMU pass-through is the next feature I'm working on, but I felt it was now time to release the V1. Currently, vm-curator supports:

              - VM creation with over 100 different OS profiles, built for KVM and emulation - 3D para-virtualization support using virtio-vga-gl (virgl) - UEFI and TPM support (auto-configured for OSes that need it, like Windows 11) - QCOWS2 Snapshot support. - USB Pass-through support and management.

              There is also a rich metadata library with ascii art, descriptions of OSes, and fun-facts.

              VM Creation with IOMMU will require the following for GPU pass-through: - a motherboard capable of proper IOMMU support. - 2+ GPUs, plus a dummy HDMI or DP1.4 plug for the passed-through GPU - Looking-Glass for display

              VM-curator can host and manage other gpu-passthrough configurations, as the application supports editing each VM's launch script, but the above profile is what I'm planning to put into the creator system.

              I have a TRX40 (Threadripper) motherboard, which will serve as an ample test-bed, but I still need to acquire a second GPU.