Can I create a windows VM in Qubes using a .vhd image from XenConvert (Windows application ?

[Rhn Mcl]

1/Can I create a windows VM in Qubes using a .vhd image from
XenConvert (Windows application ?
2/ if so how ?
3/ if not ;can I create a windows VM in Qubes using a disk image from
some other source ?
4/ if so how ?
5/ if not; is this contraint intrinsic (ie will always be the case) or
may be remedied in future ?

grateful for any responses ! mclrhn

[Marek Marczykowski-Górecki]

Generally you can, but you need to convert the image to "raw" (sparse)
format first.
Take a look at qemu-img-xen command. If it doesn't support your favorite
format, you can install full qemu-img version (qemu-img package).
The usage would be: qemu-img convert -f SRC_FORMAT -O raw input.vhd
output.img

Then you can create the VM using just prepared image:
qvm-create --hvm --root-move-from=output.img -l LABEL VMNAME

--
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?

[Rhn Mcl]

Marek thanks for your reply;
1// should I report progress to the list in case anyone else is interested ?
2/ I'll try the approach using "qemu-img-xen" first and keep that using
"qemu-img convert" as a fall-back.
3/ With regard to the latter I am taking "input.vhd" to mean the file
produced using say XenConvert (Windows app.) ?

regards Rohan McLeod

On 20/11/2014, Marek Marczykowski-Górecki

[Marek Marczykowski-Górecki]

On Thu, Nov 20, 2014 at 12:19:16PM +1100, Rhn Mcl wrote:
> Marek thanks for your reply;
> 1// should I report progress to the list in case anyone else is interested ?

Yes, please :)

> 2/ I'll try the approach using "qemu-img-xen" first and keep that using
> "qemu-img convert" as a fall-back.
> 3/ With regard to the latter I am taking "input.vhd" to mean the file
> produced using say XenConvert (Windows app.) ?

Yes.