Broken GUI Qubes 4

[a...@it-minds.dk]

Hello!

I have broken the GUI in dom0 in some weird way.
I tried to install KDE, then I tried to remove it again, before realising that I was fine with having it. Unfortunately, when I wanted to reinstall it, dnf kept saying that I already had the group installed, so I couldn't just run the `sudo qubes-dom0-update @kde-desktop-qubes`.

I ended up doing a `sudo dnf remove @kde` in dom0, which resulted in the package `qubes-gui-dom0` being deleted. I assume this is the package that is needed to show GUI from different VMs.

Basically, dom0 works fine. All of dom0 GUI works as intended, I am happily using KDE and SDDM. With that being said, none of my VMs work, so I can't really use my machine for anything.

I found this thread https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/qubes-users/7GeA1_xCeTg

But I cannot start VMs with `--no-guid` flag. I cannot for the love of my life get the package back.. I haven't cleared my cache or anything, but for some reason I am not able to install `qubes-gui-dom0` again without a network connection. Since my VMs don't start properly, I don't have network.

Is there any solution to this :S

PS: I backed up all my VMs the other day (happy coincidence) so I guess I could just reinstall, but I am quite happy with my current install :(

Thanks for any input!

[unman]

The obvious solution would be to download the files in another machine
and then transfer them to dom0 using a transfer disk.
If you're on a laptop and have a sys-usb set up then you will need to
interrupt boot and edit the kernel parameters to remove the section that
says rd.qubes.hide_all_usb - that will allow you to connect USB to
dom0 at some cost to your security.

If you dont want to do that we can try troubleshooting your inability
to start headless qubes.
If you wnat to do that then try starting just sys-net from the command
line and check the logs, and report back any error from the logs or
command line.

Best of luck

unman

[a...@it-minds.dk]

Thank you so much for you time!
When having all Qubes shutdown, I run
qvm-start --verbose sys-net

No feedback in the terminal. I cannot seem to find anything in the logs that might seem interesting either. I don't know if I am looking the wrong places.

I looked into /var/logs/qubes/ and then anything with sys-net in it. I also looked at the xen logs for the VM, but again, I can't seem to find anything special that stands out.

[unman]

You havent said what version of Qubes you are running.
What happens when you run qvm-start --verbose sys-net again?

[Ahmed Al Aqtash]

I am running Qubes OS 4.0.0, only vanilla repos, only stable.

Nothing happens when I run qvm-start --verbose sys-net. It just starts as if nothing is wrong. No feedback in the terminal.

If I run it again, while sys-net is running, is simply outputs that sys-net is already running.

[unman]

That's good.
Can you confirm you're using sys-firewall as updateVM?
qubes-prefs in dom0 - look at value for updatevm

If so, when you start sys-firewall, and try again, do you get the same
response?

What is the output when you attempt the install?

[Ahmed Al Aqtash]

sys-firewall is set as updateVM yes

 

If so, when you start sys-firewall, and try again, do you get the same
response?

Yes, the exact same response.

It starts up as normal, then gives the message stating that it is already running. 

What is the output when you attempt the install? 

Well, I know that I am not connected to anything right now, since there is no wifi near me that I have connected to before.

I tried beaming from my phone, and it didn't say that anything was connected.

The output when I run:

sudo qubes-dom0-update qubes-gui-dom0

Is:

Using sys-firewall as UpdateVM to download updates for Dom0; this may take some time...

Failed to synchronize cache for repo 'updates', disabling.

Failed to synchronize cache for repo 'fedora', disabling. 

Failed to synchronize cache for repo 'qubes-dom0-current', disabling.  

Failed to synchronize cache for repo 'qubes-templates-itl', disabling.  

No match for argument: qubes-gui-dom0

Error: Unable to find a match

It takes a while for it to bail out.

[unman]

On Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 02:22:49PM +0100, 'Ahmed Al Aqtash' via qubes-users wrote:
> Den tir. 13. nov. 2018 kl. 14.12 skrev unman <un...@thirdeyesecurity.org>:
>
> > On Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 01:46:39PM +0100, 'Ahmed Al Aqtash' via
> > qubes-users wrote:
> > > Den tir. 13. nov. 2018 kl. 13.38 skrev unman <un...@thirdeyesecurity.org

Well obviously we need to pick this up again when you're able to
connect. Let me know when that is.
You can get a terminal in sys-net by running in dom0:
sudo xl console sys-net
Log in as root
You can then check network status using ip tools.

[Ahmed Al Aqtash]

I wanted to check if I could get the console up at least, but that doesn't seem to work.

When running

sudo xl console sys-net

I get

xenconsole: Could not read tty from store: No such file or directory

Hmm.. 

[unman]

What template are you using for sys-net?
Can you open console for sys-firewall?

[unman]

Try that with xl console -t pv sys-net

(Use Ctrl+] to step out from console session onmce you're connected)

[Ahmed Al Aqtash]

Yes, I googled around, and that seems to work. I do have a console in sys-net now.

I switched my  template for sys-net and sys-firewall out to fedora-28 (sorry for not mentioning).

It is vanilla fedora-28 template though. No modifications or anything.

I'll try and see if I can get a connection to my network when I get home.

From there it should be smooth sailing.

Need to brush up my ip toolchain usage :)

Thank you so far for everything!

[unman]

Keep us posted on progress.
I'll check back in the morning.

unman

[Ahmed Al Aqtash]

This fixed the issue.

Luckily, as stated earlier in this thread, my VMs started up normally. Only the GUI was broken.

From dom0 (with a started sys-net VM) I could then get a TTY by issuing this command:

sudo xl console -t pv sys-net

This opens a TTY on sys-net, but it looks like if you used telnet (so little to no feedback).

Just type "root" to login as root on the sys-net, and then you should get feedback.

Now you can use "nmcli", which has luckily been installed in the fedora image.

You can use

nmcli connection up "name of your network"

to connect to a network you have already been connected to before.

You should now be connected to the internet through sys-net (and sys-firewall), and can update your system/install missing packages etc through dom0.

Thank you very much for your time unman!

I don't know how to mark a topic as solved, but for future readers (probably myself), know that this has been completed.

PS: If you are using nmcli and only have access to networks you have not been connected to before, then I cannot assist.

I would probably recommend using iwconfig/netctl/or whatever other CLI tool for networking is available.

Please remember that you can only use 1 tool for networking at a time, so you need to disable NetworkManager while trying to fix this.

You can then re-enable it after you have solved whatever issues you have.

[unman]

On Wed, Nov 14, 2018 at 09:42:17AM +0100, 'Ahmed Al Aqtash' via qubes-users wrote:

Glad you got everything fixed.

If you dont already have a connection set up, then use nmcli like this:
nmcli con add type ethernet con-name <name> ifname <iface>

If you want static address:
nmcli con add type ethernet con-name <name> ifname <iface> ip4 <IP address> gw4 <gateway IP>

Then:
nmcli con up <name>

For wireless connections, you use:
nmcli radio
to check that the radio switch is enabled.
nmcli device
to identify NICs
nmcli device <wifi device> rescan
nmcli device <wifi device> list

Then something like:
nmcli device <wifi device> connect <SSID> password <password>
should get you connected.

It's well documented, and the advantage is that you dont need to disable
NetworkManager, so you will be up and running when you get yoru desktop
back.

unman