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Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

github.com

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Re: Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

#71

Post by buffet_overflow »

freedomben wrote: post #58
_joel wrote: post #28

Shout out to https://virt-manager.org/ - works much better for me, supports running qemu on remote systems via ssh. I used to use this all the time for managing bunches of disparate vm hosts and local vms.

virt-manager is one of the most underrated softwares there is. It's a powerhouse and I use it all the time. It is going to expect you to know some basic terminology about VMs, but it reminds me a lot of the old skool GUIs that were packed with features and power. If your needs are simple or you're less technical with the VMs, Gnome Boxes uses the same backend and has a beautiful streamlined GUI. With the simplicity o…

I’m so appreciative that virt-manager has a GUI that crafts and then lets you edit the XML directly. It really eased that beginner into competent stages of using the program for me.

Re: Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

#72

Post by jampekka »

acatton wrote: post #8

Just a security reminder from the last time this got posted[1] This tool downloads random files from the internet, and check their checksum against other random files from the internet. [2] This is not the best security practice. (The right security practice would be to have the gpg keys of the distro developers committed in the repository, and checking all files against these keys) This is not downplaying the effort…

Still magnitudes better security practice than using any proprietary software or service.

Re: Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

#73

Post by viraptor »

tarruda wrote: post #70
renonce wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing I loved but rarely mentioned is systemd-nspawn. You do `docker create --name ubuntu ubuntu:22.04` and then `docker export ubuntu` to create a tar from an arbitrary docker image. Then you extract that to `/var/lib/machines/ubuntu`. Make sure to choose an image with systemd or install systemd in the container. Finally do `machinectl start ubuntu` and `machinectl shell ubuntu` to get inside. systemd-nspawn is…

systemd-nspawn is simple but AFAIK it doesn't do any security other than the kernel namespacing. Docker is even worse because it runs containers as root, which means a rogue process can take over the host very easily. Incus/LXD runs containers as normal users (by default) and also confines the whole namespace in apparmor to further isolate containerized processes from the host. Apparmor confinement is also used for V…

Docker runs container as the user you tell it to. Same with nspawn. There's not much difference there in that respect.

Nspawn does seccomp-based filtering, similar to the usual systemd services.

Re: Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

#74

Post by jampekka »

prmoustache wrote: post #20
acatton wrote: post #8

Just a security reminder from the last time this got posted[1] This tool downloads random files from the internet, and check their checksum against other random files from the internet. [2] This is not the best security practice. (The right security practice would be to have the gpg keys of the distro developers committed in the repository, and checking all files against these keys) This is not downplaying the effort…

Also, author is typing his user password during live streaming with a mechanical keyboard while microphone is on.

Poe's law strikes again.

Re: Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

#76

Post by blcknight »

freedomben wrote: post #58
_joel wrote: post #28

Shout out to https://virt-manager.org/ - works much better for me, supports running qemu on remote systems via ssh. I used to use this all the time for managing bunches of disparate vm hosts and local vms.

virt-manager is one of the most underrated softwares there is. It's a powerhouse and I use it all the time. It is going to expect you to know some basic terminology about VMs, but it reminds me a lot of the old skool GUIs that were packed with features and power. If your needs are simple or you're less technical with the VMs, Gnome Boxes uses the same backend and has a beautiful streamlined GUI. With the simplicity o…

Absolutely love virt-manager. I try gnome-boxes every so often and it just doesn’t compare. I guess its interface is easier for beginners.

Re: Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

#78

Post by jstrieb »

arghwhat wrote: post #13

The convenience of such a tool is great, but it's also ~5000 lines of bash across the two main scripts. I'd want to vet such a thing before I run it, but I also really don't want to read 5000 lines of bash.

While I agree in general that shell script is not usually fun to read, this particular code is really not bad.

Not sure if this will sway you, but for what it's worth, I did read the bash script before running it, and it's actually very well-structured. Functionality is nicely broken into functions, variables are sensibly named, there are some helpful comments, there is no crazy control flow or indirection, and there is minimal use of esoteric commands. Overall this repo contains some of the most readable shell scripts I've seen.

Reflecting on what these scripts actually do, it makes sense that the code is fairly straightforward. At its core it really just wants to run one command: the one to start QEMU. All of the other code is checking out the local system for whether to set certain arguments to that one command, and maybe downloading some files if necessary.

Re: Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

#79

Post by electroly »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #69
st3fan wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you wrote HTTPS in italic .. HTTPS doesn't mean anything. Both the good and bad actors can have perfectly valid HTTPS configured. It is not a good indicator of trustworthiness of the actual thing you download.

> HTTPS doesn't mean anything. That's not accurate at all. HTTPS should mean "we've validated that the content you're receiving comes from the registered domain that you've hit". Yes, it's possible that the domain host itself was compromised, or that the domain owner himself is malicious, but at the end of the day you have to trust the entity you're getting the content from. HTTPS says, importantly, "You're getting t…

> HTTPS says, importantly, "You're getting the content from whom you think you're getting it from."

You need certificate pinning to know this for sure, due to the existence of MITM HTTPS spoofing in things like corporate firewalls. HTTPS alone isn't enough; you have to confirm the certificate is the one you expected. (You can pin the CA cert rather than the leaf certificate if you want, if you trust the CA; that still prevents MITM spoofing.)

Re: Quickemu: Quickly run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines

#80

Post by cassianoleal »

siquick wrote: post #77

Would this be how I get to run PC games on Steam on my Mac?

No, that would be either Crossover [0] or Game Porting Toolkit [1] (easily run via Whisky [2]).

[0] https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover

[1] https://www.applegamingwiki.com/wiki/Game_Porting_Toolkit

[2] https://getwhisky.app/

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