debian-9 template

[higgin...@gmail.com]

Have used Qubes3 for a couple of years and now acquired a new PC where I've done a complete fresh install of QUBES 4.

(Copied all my data off old system - ready for adding to new system when all set up)

Base system seems fine - standard VM's etc - but everything by default based on Fedora - albeit Debian and Fedora templates offered by default.

Fedora template has lots of assorted software - that I could use to add to various Vm's as required - a standard new VM using Fedora template offers FILES, TERMINAL, FIREFOX and QUBES SETTINGS - basically core features to get me started.

WHEN I LOOK AT THE DEBIAN-9 template - there is no software at all.

ALSO the DEBIAN-9 template and any VM that I generate using it, only offers QUBE-SETTINGS - i.e. no TERMINAL, BROWSER or FILEs.

CAN ANYONE advise on what I should do next - assume if I get access to terminal, I can install all software I want - but assumed there would be a standard stock of software/base features available in the Debian-9 template.

(Am sure this was the case with QUBES3)

Grateful for advice - my preference is to use Debian (as per last 2 years within QUBES and many years before that using DEBIAN distro) rather than Fedora.

[awokd]

On Fri, April 27, 2018 12:46 pm, higgin...@gmail.com wrote:
> Have used Qubes3 for a couple of years and now acquired a new PC where
> I've done a complete fresh install of QUBES 4.

> WHEN I LOOK AT THE DEBIAN-9 template - there is no software at all.
>
>
> ALSO the DEBIAN-9 template and any VM that I generate using it, only
> offers QUBE-SETTINGS - i.e. no TERMINAL, BROWSER or FILEs.

Go to Qube Settings, then Applications tab, then add the ones you want. It
doesn't have a file manager by default, so you'll want to apt install one.

[higgin...@gmail.com]

See awokd comments.
Problem is that I have nothing in APPLICATIONS.

Have tried Removing DEB9 template, installing DEB8 template and then following the Upgrade 8 to 9 route.
This initially seems to solve problem. Load of APPLICATIONS appear - and by going into repos folder- could change "jessie" to "stretch". Then update/upgrade.
Still can't use the APPLICATIONS in DEB 9.

I'll try it again with fresh install - in case I did something wrong.
Another option - might simply copy the DEB9 "template" from previous computer and install that - but wanted to avoid that - just naturally want to have "clean" install on QUBES 4 on new computer.

Any other suggestions welcome - have others found DEBIAN-9 template OK on clean install?.

[john]

On 04/27/18 08:20, higginsonjim2-Re5J...@public.gmane.org
wrote:

I believe I saw this also, but don't recall if I fixed it or what
dom0$ qvm-appmenus --sync debian-9 or so

btw, which file managers are recommended ? Nautilus or Nemo , I
believe I installed both, but what I see available is just called
"files" ; IIRC in debian-8 it was actually called Nautilus or , sorry
if this is a debian question

--

[js...@bitmessage.ch]

john:

> btw,  which file managers are recommended ?  Nautilus or Nemo  , I
> believe I installed both, but what I see available is just called
> "files" ; IIRC in debian-8  it was actually called Nautilus  or , sorry
> if this is a debian question

I like nemo better than nautilus, but the qubes specific file options
(copy/move to other VM, open in dispVM) only appear in nautilus (or
dolphin for whonix VMs). You can have both installed tho and use nemo
for regular purposes.

Thunar is another good file manager (dom0 uses it) and it comes with a
GUI bulk rename tool that can be handy.

I'm not sure how to enable the qubes specific actions in a non-default
file manager like nemo tho. It's possible to create custom actions but i
haven't really looked into it enough.

But yea nautilus and nemo are both just called "files" in the deb VMs.
You can manually edit the desktop files so they'll display the proper
names to distinguish them.

--
Jackie

[awokd]

On Sat, April 28, 2018 7:36 am, john wrote:
> On 04/27/18 08:20, higginsonjim2-Re5J...@public.gmane.org

>> Any other suggestions welcome - have others found DEBIAN-9 template OK
>> on clean install?.

Yes, don't remember having to do anything special.

> I believe I saw this also, but don't recall if I fixed it or what
> dom0$ qvm-appmenus --sync debian-9 or so
>
> btw, which file managers are recommended ? Nautilus or Nemo , I believe
> I installed both, but what I see available is just called
> "files" ; IIRC in debian-8 it was actually called Nautilus or , sorry
> if this is a debian question

Nautilus "just works" as expected under Qubes (i.e. the right-click menu
lets you copy to another VM/launch in DVM, etc.)

[john]

On 04/27/18 21:36, john wrote:
> On 04/27/18 08:20,

> higginsonjim2-Re5JQEeQqe8Avxt...@public.gmane.org

> wrote:
>> On Friday, April 27, 2018 at 1:46:08 PM UTC+1,

>> higgin...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w-XMD5yJDbdMReXY1tMh2IBg@public.gmane.org

or? .....maybe
qvm-appmenus update debian-9


vs
qvm-sync-appmenus
which seems to update more items but also spits out
Warning: ignoring key 'Name' of display-im6.q16
and icedove, and iceweasel

and shows *no Nautilus in the 'applications' tab to select over to
the right ......


--
john <yrebstv-sGOZH3h...@public.gmane.org>

[john]

nm, "files" appears to be nautilus , but then should nemo be also
appears in applications since it *is installed also ?


PS: what is the secret(if any) to using gmane without using my email
account ; eg with the address below ?

--
john <yrebstv-sGOZH3h...@public.gmane.org>

[higgin...@gmail.com]

Thanks for comments but still no success.

Does anyone know how to access files or a terminal for deb-9.

Have tried qvm-run -a debian-9 gnome-terminal AND prompt box says "Running gnome-terminal on debian-9.

PROBLEM is - it still doesn't appear anywhere. NOTHING AVAILABLE - files,terminal, anything.

(Think I might need to give up and try and use FEDORA)

[higgin...@gmail.com]

tried ---

sudo qubes-dom0-update --enablerepo=qubes-templates-community --action=reinstall qubes-template-debian-9

Again it appears to reinstall - message appears saying successfully installed.

Then try to start DEBIAN-9 VM and get
"ERROR:VM directory does not exist: /var/lib/qubes/vm-templates/debian-9".

Help!

[awokd]

There was a recent bug fix pushed to testing that addresses this. You can
either upgrade dom0 to the testing repo (but be aware some updates in
there may have other bugs) or manually reinstall with a dnf remove then
regular install of qubes-template-debian-9.

[John Maher]

I just did a fresh install of Qubes OS 4.0 on new hardware and I'm having the exact same problem. None of the suggestions here have resulted in any change, although I did not try:

sudo qubes-dom0-update --enablerepo=qubes-templates-community --action=reinstall qubes-template-debian-9

and I'm not that interested in going that route.

I've been using Qubes OS 3.2 for over a year now without this type of problem. Any more suggestions or fixes?

Thanks.

John

[unman]

Have you tried the obvious, and created the missing directory?
Ownership should be root:qubes - compare to the other template
directories.

The only content is a symlink icon.png, pointing to
/usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/devices/appvm-black/png
You could create this yourself also.

[John Maher]

Unman, thanks for replying. I didn't run that command (sudo qubes-dom0-update --enablerepo=qubes-templates-community --action=reinstall qubes-template-debian-9), so I don't know if I would get the same error message, but I do have the directory /var/lib/qubes/vm-templates/debian-9.

I've performed an automatic re-install of the debian-9 template twice and a manual re-install once. Still, no applications display under Applications tab. I can't even run a terminal via dom0 using: qvm-run debian-9 gnome-terminal

I have to believe there is a simple command to make this debian-9 template functional, but I don't know where to go from here.

Thanks.

John

[unman]

Sorry John, I misunderstood.
The message you quoted referred to a VM directory that did not exist,
and I assumed *that* was your problem.

It appears that your problem is that the template does not show any
applications. Have you tried running 'qvm-start debian-9' followed by
'qvm-sync-appmenus debian-9' ? What is the result?

Incidentally, it would be helpful if you gave a little more information
about the errors you are encountering. When you try to run
gnome-terminal, what exactly happens? Do you see any error messages?
Does the template start?

Have you tried running other applications using qvm-run? xterm? firefox?


unman

[John Maher]

Hi unman,

Thanks for this. Sorry, I do need to provide more info.

I ran the following and got the following:

[maher@dom0 ~]$ qvm-start debian-9
[maher@dom0 ~]$ qvm-sync-appmenus debian-9
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/bin/qvm-sync-appmenus", line 9, in <module>
load_entry_point('qubesdesktop==4.0.12', 'console_scripts', 'qvm-sync-appmenus')()
File "/usr/lib/python3.5/site-packages/qubesappmenus/receive.py", line 390, in main
new_appmenus = retrieve_appmenus_templates(vm, use_stdin=use_stdin)
File "/usr/lib/python3.5/site-packages/qubesappmenus/receive.py", line 364, in retrieve_appmenus_templates
new_appmenus = get_appmenus(vm if not use_stdin else None)
File "/usr/lib/python3.5/site-packages/qubesappmenus/receive.py", line 158, in get_appmenus
"Error getting application list")
qubesadmin.exc.QubesException: Error getting application list

Regarding errors, I really haven't received any, and I've mostly worked in the GUI. For example, I opened Qubes Manager and ran Qube settings for the debian-9 template. Clicking the Applications tab displays no applications. Clicking the Refresh Application button results in no applications, regardless how long I wait.

Running 'qvm-run debian-9 gnome-terminal' in dom0 displays:

Running 'gnome-terminal' in debian-9

It waits a short while and returns a dom0 prompt but no gnome-terminal window. The same thing happens when trying to run xterm or firefox.

Thanks for your attention to this.

John

[John Maher]

Also, I mentioned it in an earlier post, but I re-installed the template both automatically (twice) and manually (once).

John

[John Maher]

Still struggling with this. I don't understand how Fedora can work fine and the Debian-9 template is unusable. I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks.

John

[awokd]

I don't get it either, especially with a fresh install. Did you test
before running any updates? If you enable debug mode, any hints in the
console or related VM log files?

[John Maher]

awokd, I did test before running updates. The template definitely starts out appearing (or having?) no applications.

I don't know how to enable debug mode, and I don't see anything in the official documentation. I'm also not familiar with the console, unless you're referring to a dom0 terminal. Any guidance would be wonderful. Thanks.

John

[John Maher]

I decided to see if I could install the debian-8 template with different results from the debian-9 template. Sure enough, by default terminal if displayed as an available app under debian-8, and within debian-8 Qubes Settings there are plenty of expected apps in the Applications tab. I'll now try to upgrade debian-8 to debian-9 (using a different name) and see what I get.

awokd, I really appreciate you (and anyone else who has ideas on this) giving this some attention. I really want to work with debian-9, and understand what the hell is going on.

[awokd]

Same behaviour on a fresh install of 4.0, right? Try this in dom0:

1) qvm-run debian-9 gnome-terminal
2) sudo xl dmesg [look for any related errors at the bottom]
3) sudo journalctl -e [check errors again]
4) review /var/log/xen/console/guest-debian-9.log
5) go to Qube Settings for debian-9 and checkmark the "Run in debug mode" box
6) qvm-run debian-9 gnome-terminal [may see a console pop up here]
7) review /var/log/xen/console/guest-debian-9.log again

[John Maher]

On Tuesday, September 11, 2018 at 9:02:53 AM UTC-4, awokd wrote:
> On Tue, September 11, 2018 12:27 pm, John Maher wrote:
> > On Tuesday, September 11, 2018 at 8:15:50 AM UTC-4, John Maher wrote:
> >
> >> On Tuesday, September 11, 2018 at 6:15:43 AM UTC-4, awokd wrote:
>
> >>>
> >>> I don't get it either, especially with a fresh install. Did you test
> >>> before running any updates? If you enable debug mode, any hints in the
> >>> console or related VM log files?
> >>
> >> awokd, I did test before running updates. The template definitely
> >> starts out appearing (or having?) no applications.
> >>
> >> I don't know how to enable debug mode, and I don't see anything in the
> >> official documentation. I'm also not familiar with the console, unless
> >> you're referring to a dom0 terminal. Any guidance would be wonderful.
> >> Thanks.
> >>
> >>
> >> John
> >>
> >
> > I decided to see if I could install the debian-8 template with different
> > results from the debian-9 template. Sure enough, by default terminal if
> > displayed as an available app under debian-8, and within debian-8 Qubes
> > Settings there are plenty of expected apps in the Applications tab. I'll
> > now try to upgrade debian-8 to debian-9 (using a different name) and see
> > what I get.
>
> Same behaviour on a fresh install of 4.0, right? Try this in dom0:

Yes, this all started with a fresh install of 4.0 on new hardware.

>
> 1) qvm-run debian-9 gnome-terminal

output:

Running 'gnome-terminal' on debian-9

Very odd behavior. I have never gotten a terminal windows when running the above command, but the time I ran the command in response to your suggestion I actually ended up with a terminal window! Subsequent attempts have resulted in no terminal window.

> 2) sudo xl dmesg [look for any related errors at the bottom]

No errors. Just many lines of

(XEN) PCI add device 0000:xx:xx.x

(with 'x' being various alpha numeric values).

> 3) sudo journalctl -e [check errors again]

No errors. Just a lot regarding my running sudo and references to pam.

> 4) review /var/log/xen/console/guest-debian-9.log

Here are some occurrences of 'fail', 'error', and 'seg':

[ 0.002577] NMI watchdog: Perf event create on CPU 0 failed with -2

.

[ 0.069536] dmi: Firmware registration failed.

.

Waiting for /dev/xvdd device...
mount: /dev/xvdd is write-protected, mounting read-only
[ 5.836088] EXT4-fs (xvdd): mounting ext3 file system using the ext4 subsystem
[ 5.840428] EXT4-fs (xvdd): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
switch_root: failed to mount moving /dev to /sysroot/dev: Invalid argument
switch_root: forcing unmount of /dev
switch_root: failed to mount moving /proc to /sysroot/proc: Invalid argument
switch_root: forcing unmount of /proc
switch_root: failed to mount moving /sys to /sysroot/sys: Invalid argument
switch_root: forcing unmount of /sys
switch_root: failed to mount moving /run to /sysroot/run: Invalid argument
switch_root: forcing unmount of /run

.

Starting udev Kernel Device Manager...
[ 6.243442] systemd-journald[205]: Received request to flush runtime journal from PID 1
[ 6.245978] qubesdb-daemon[264]: segfault at 76d6ff72eff8 ip 000076d6ff51bf64 sp 000076d6ff72f000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[76d6ff512000+23000]
[.[0;1;31mFAILED.[0m] Failed to start Qubes DB agent.
See 'systemctl status qubes-db.service' for details.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Flush Journal to Persistent Storage.
Starting Load/Save Random Seed...
Starting Init Qubes Services settings...
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started udev Coldplug all Devices.
[.[0;1;31mFAILED.[0m] Failed to start Load/Save Random Seed.
See 'systemctl status systemd-random-seed.service' for details.

.

Starting Permit User Sessions...
Starting /etc/rc.local Compatibility...
Starting Qubes misc post-boot actions...
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Permit User Sessions.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started /etc/rc.local Compatibility.
[ 9.738613] qrexec-agent[537]: segfault at 7a9f3456bff8 ip 00007a9f34368355 sp 00007a9f3456c000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[7a9f34352000+23000]
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Serial Getty on hvc0.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Getty on tty1.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Reached target Login Prompts.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Qubes misc post-boot actions.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Reached target Multi-User System.
Starting Update UTMP about System Runlevel Changes...
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Update UTMP about System Runlevel Changes.
[ 9.928387] qrexec-agent[572]: segfault at 7a9f3456bff8 ip 00007a9f34368355 sp 00007a9f3456c000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[7a9f34352000+23000]

Debian GNU/Linux 9 localhost hvc0

localhost login: [ 14.777457] qrexec-fork-ser[703]: segfault at 71772c9d3ff8 ip 000071772c7cd355 sp 000071772c9d4000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[71772c7b7000+23000]

> 5) go to Qube Settings for debian-9 and checkmark the "Run in debug mode" box

I shutdown debian-9 first, then added the checkmark.

> 6) qvm-run debian-9 gnome-terminal [may see a console pop up here]

No terminal.

> 7) review /var/log/xen/console/guest-debian-9.log again

Pretty much the same as above. Why would debian segfault? Incompatible hardware? Hard to imagine since the system came with Ubuntu 16.04 installed on it.

I can get by with debian-8, but when it's EOL I'll be in a pickle.

Thanks, awokd.

[John Maher]

When starting debian-9 it consistently segfaults at this:

Starting Permit User Sessions...
Starting /etc/rc.local Compatibility...

[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Permit User Sessions.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started /etc/rc.local Compatibility.

[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Serial Getty on hvc0.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Getty on tty1.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Reached target Login Prompts.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Qubes misc post-boot actions.
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Reached target Multi-User System.
Starting Update UTMP about System Runlevel Changes...
[.[0;32m OK .[0m] Started Update UTMP about System Runlevel Changes.

[ 10.197894] qrexec-agent[560]: segfault at 78e2e90c2ff8 ip 000078e2e8ebf355 sp 000078e2e90c3000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[78e2e8ea9000+23000]

[awokd]

Have you ever been able to update that debian-9 template? Maybe it's ok on
first boot but not the rest.

>
>
> Waiting for /dev/xvdd device...
> mount: /dev/xvdd is write-protected, mounting read-only
> [ 5.836088] EXT4-fs (xvdd): mounting ext3 file system using the ext4
> subsystem [ 5.840428] EXT4-fs (xvdd): mounted filesystem with ordered
> data mode. Opts: (null) switch_root: failed to mount moving /dev to
> /sysroot/dev: Invalid argument
> switch_root: forcing unmount of /dev
> switch_root: failed to mount moving /proc to /sysroot/proc: Invalid
> argument switch_root: forcing unmount of /proc
> switch_root: failed to mount moving /sys to /sysroot/sys: Invalid argument
> switch_root: forcing unmount of /sys
> switch_root: failed to mount moving /run to /sysroot/run: Invalid argument
> switch_root: forcing unmount of /run

Mine shows this too- xvdd is the kernel.

All those segfaults are probably causing your problems, but the question
is what is causing them!? I'm not sure what to suggest for those. Maybe
disable power management? Check for a BIOS/EFI update? Test RAM? When you
installed, did you let Qubes set up the partitions, including swap?

> Pretty much the same as above. Why would debian segfault? Incompatible
> hardware? Hard to imagine since the system came with Ubuntu 16.04
> installed on it.
>
> I can get by with debian-8, but when it's EOL I'll be in a pickle.

There's an old post out here about locale causing segfaults somehow; did
you change yours from the default?
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/qubes$20segfault/qubes-users/mOfb-hYJD08/9EWKwyL2AgAJ

[John Maher]

Yeah, it's probably some piece of hardware that doesn't play well with debian-9. I'll try those things above. I did let Qubes set up the partitions entirely.

>
> > Pretty much the same as above. Why would debian segfault? Incompatible
> > hardware? Hard to imagine since the system came with Ubuntu 16.04
> > installed on it.
> >
> > I can get by with debian-8, but when it's EOL I'll be in a pickle.
>
> There's an old post out here about locale causing segfaults somehow; did
> you change yours from the default?
> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/qubes$20segfault/qubes-users/mOfb-hYJD08/9EWKwyL2AgAJ

No, I didn't change from the default.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. I may have to give up and run without Debian. Any new results I'll post here.

John

[be...@damon.com]

On Friday, April 27, 2018 at 10:46:08 PM UTC+10, higgin...@gmail.com wrote:
...

I have been plagued with this issue ever since heeding the call to upgrade whonix-13 to whonix-14. All my whonix-14 templates are useless.

I followed the steps carefully, removing / reinstalling. No errors.

user@host:~$ sudo dmesg | grep segf
[ 11.396489] qubesdb-daemon[232]: segfault at 7994802abff8 ip 0000799480098f64 sp 00007994802ac000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[79948008f000+23000]
[ 12.342682] qrexec-agent[648]: segfault at 70d5257f6ff8 ip 000070d5255f3355 sp 000070d5257f7000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[70d5255dd000+23000]
[ 15.903799] qrexec-agent[789]: segfault at 70d5257f6ff8 ip 000070d5255f3355 sp 000070d5257f7000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[70d5255dd000+23000]
[ 1524.123824] qrexec-fork-ser[4430]: segfault at 7b59263a8ff8 ip 00007b59261a2355 sp 00007b59263a9000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[7b592618c000+23000]
[ 1547.347882] qrexec-fork-ser[4456]: segfault at 7b59263a8ff8 ip 00007b59261a2355 sp 00007b59263a9000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[7b592618c000+23000]
[ 1594.046093] qrexec-fork-ser[4527]: segfault at 7b59263a8ff8 ip 00007b59261a2355 sp 00007b59263a9000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[7b592618c000+23000]
[ 2963.435851] qrexec-fork-ser[5300]: segfault at 7b59263a8ff8 ip 00007b59261a2355 sp 00007b59263a9000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[7b592618c000+23000]
[ 3145.932364] qrexec-fork-ser[5413]: segfault at 7b59263a8ff8 ip 00007b59261a2355 sp 00007b59263a9000 error 6 in ld-2.24.so[7b592618c000+23000]

Everything is hosed.

If anyone has a fix, I would appreciate knowing it.

[Marek Marczykowski-Górecki]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256

This looks to be the issue described here:
https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/4349

The proper fix is in testing repository right now, you can either
install it[1], or apply a workaround listed in that ticket (add noxsave
to kernelopts of that template and VMs based on it). Actually, you may
need to apply workaround temporarily to be able to install updates...

[1] https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/software-update-vm/#debian

- --
Best Regards,
Marek Marczykowski-Górecki
Invisible Things Lab
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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[Beto HydroxyButyrate]

Thanks for that!

I should have figured out how to post to qubes-users much earlier,
rather than bashing my head against the wall for so long.