[fedora-virt] Installing Windows 7 in a KVM?

[Cole Robinson]

On 03/05/2014 12:56 PM, Tom Horsley wrote:
> I've got a copy of Windows 7 on order I want to install in
> a KVM on Fedora 20.
> 
> I cannot believe the amount of conflicting information
> I find when googling about how best to do the install :-).
> 
> Is there a recent, reasonably accurate guide anywhere?
> 

Not an explicit guide specifically for windows 7 that I know of.

For everything listed below, gnome-boxes will do everything you want
automatically. So if you use gnome-shell, that's an option for you.

I'll describe how to do what you want with virt-manager.

> Things like the best way to get the virtio drivers
> into the system at install time?
> 

In virt-manager, create a new VM, specify win7 cdrom media. Make sure to tell
the wizard you are installing windows 7.
On the last page, 'customize before install', add hardware->disk->cdrom, point
to the virtio iso.
Then back in the hardware config screen, change the disk bus to virtio and the
network model to virtio.
Continue the install

> Are the drivers at:
> http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/virtio-win/latest/images/virtio-win-0.1-74.iso
> the ones I want?
> 

Yup.

> Besides network and disk, what the heck are all the other drivers
> on that ISO, and why do I want them?
> 

virtio-balloon: allows dynamically changing allocated VM memory
virtio-serial: host<->guest communication channel, used for guest agents
virtio-scsi, just a different type of virtio storage device with some
additional benefits.


> What other guest software is needed (various agents,
> and wot-not)?
> 

After the guest installation is over, run this in the guest to get everything
you want:
http://www.spice-space.org/download/windows/spice-guest-tools/spice-guest-tools-0.74.exe

This also contains a windows driver for the qxl video device.

> The highest performance cache mode for the virtual
> disk?
> 
> The best way to define the mouse?

virt-manager will set optimal defaults here, so you shouldn't need to
explicitly worry about them. But the general rule is

cache: none
mouse: tablet

- Cole