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VM Configuration

The VM Configuration modal allows you to fine-tune every aspect of your virtual machines, from resource allocation to hardware passthrough.

To access configuration: * Single VM: Double-click on a VM card (or press Enter when selected). * Bulk Edit: Select multiple VMs and use the Bulk CMD menu (or press b).

General Configuration

General Resources

Adjust the core computing resources for your VM.

  • CPU:
    • Cores: Set the number of vCPUs.
    • Model: Choose the CPU model. host-passthrough provides best performance, while specific models (e.g., EPYC, Skylake) ensure migration compatibility.
  • Memory:
    • Size: Allocate RAM (in MB).
    • Shared Memory: Enable this if you plan to use VirtIO-FS for file sharing.
  • Firmware & Security:
    • Firmware: Switch between BIOS and UEFI modes.
    • Secure Boot: Enable for modern OS security requirements (requires UEFI).
    • AMD SEV/SEV-ES: Enable memory encryption features (if supported by host hardware).
    • Machine Type: Update the QEMU machine type version (e.g., pc-q35-6.0 to pc-q35-7.0) to access new hypervisor features.

Boot Management

Control how the VM starts up.

Boot Options

  • Boot Order: Reorder devices using the Up and Down buttons to prioritize boot targets.
  • Boot Menu: Enable the interactive boot menu (accessible via F12 during POST).
  • Devices: Add or remove Disks and Network Interfaces from the boot sequence using the arrow buttons.

Storage & Networking

Manage your virtual disks and network connections.

Storage and Network

Disks

  • Management: Add new virtual disks, attach existing images/volumes, or remove/disable current drives.
  • Modes: Configure Cache (e.g., none, writeback) and Discard (e.g., unmap) settings for performance optimization and storage efficiency.

Networks

  • Interfaces: Add or remove network adapters.
  • Model: Select the NIC model (e.g., virtio for performance, e1000e for compatibility).
  • Connection: Switch networks (e.g., from default NAT to a bridge) on the fly.

VirtIO-FS

Share directories from the host to the guest efficiently without network overhead. * Requirement: Requires Shared Memory to be enabled in the Memory tab. * Setup: Map a host source path to a guest mount tag.

Hardware & Peripherals

Configure advanced hardware integration and display settings.

Hardware Settings

Graphics & Display

  • Video Model: Select the video adapter (e.g., virtio for 3D acceleration, qxl, vga, none).
  • Graphics Type: Choose between VNC (broad compatibility) and SPICE (better desktop integration).
  • Remote Access: Configure listen addresses, ports, and passwords for remote connections.
  • 3D Acceleration: Enable for supported guests (requires virtio video model).

USB Passthrough

Input & Peripherals

  • USB Host: Pass physical USB devices from the host to the VM dynamically.
  • TPM: Configure Emulated or Passthrough TPM 2.0 (essential for Windows 11 support).
  • RNG: Configure Random Number Generator passthrough for better entropy in the guest.
  • Watchdog: Set up automatic actions (reset, shutdown) if the guest OS hangs.

Serial & Channels

  • Serial: Manage serial consoles (PTY) for headless management.
  • Channels: Configure QEMU Guest Agent channels for host-guest communication (copy-paste, time sync).

Bulk Configuration

When multiple VMs are selected via Bulk Edit, changing a setting (like CPU Model or Graphics Password) will apply that change to all selected VMs sequentially. This is powerful for fleet updates.