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Introduction

EVE-OS supports Windows 10 workloads packaged as QCOW2 virtual machine images. FML (Full Machine Launch) mode uses UEFI boot and requires VirtIO storage drivers to be injected into the Windows installation. This procedure walks through creating and configuring a Windows 10 VM in VirtualBox, injecting the required VirtIO drivers, and converting the disk to QCOW2 format for deployment on EVE-OS.

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Prerequisites

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Create the Virtual Machine

  1. Open VirtualBox Manager and click New to create a new VM.
  2. Enter a name for the VM and select Windows 10 (64-bit) as the OS type. Click Continue.
  3. Set the memory size. Use a minimum of 4 GB. Click Continue.
  4. Select Create a virtual hard disk now and click Continue.
  5. Choose VMDK as the disk type. Click Continue.
  6. Choose Dynamically allocated storage. Click Continue.
  7. Set the file location and size. Use a minimum of 30 GB. The default location is acceptable. Click Continue.

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Configure the VM Settings

  1. Open the VM Settings, navigate to System, and confirm the following:
    • Boot order: optical drive first, then hard disk.
    • All three options in the Extended Features section are enabled. EFI must be enabled for FML mode.
  2. Navigate to Storage and configure two optical drives:
    • Port 1: Windows 10 ISO.
    • Port 2: VirtIO drivers ISO.

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Review the Final Configuration

Confirm the following before starting installation:
  • EFI is enabled.
  • Boot order is optical drive first, then hard disk.
  • Storage shows the Windows 10 ISO on port 1 and the VirtIO drivers ISO on port 2.

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Install Windows 10

Start the VM and complete the Windows 10 installation from the ISO. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation. After Windows is installed, proceed to install the VirtIO drivers.

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Install VirtIO Drivers

  1. After Windows installation completes, right-click the Windows Start button and open File Explorer.
  2. Navigate to the drive where the VirtIO drivers ISO is mounted (for example, the E: drive).
  3. Locate virtio-win-gt-x64 in the drivers directory and run the installer.
  4. Follow the installation guide to install all VirtIO drivers.

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Inject Storage Drivers in the PE Environment

VirtIO storage drivers must be injected into the Windows Preinstallation Environment (PE) to allow Windows to boot from the VirtIO disk controller after conversion. See this SuperUser article for background.
  1. Open Settings and navigate to Update & Security.
  2. Select Recovery and click Restart now under Advanced startup.
  3. Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt. The system reboots into a recovery command prompt. Enter your credentials if prompted.
  4. At the command prompt, identify the drive letter where the VirtIO drivers ISO is mounted.
  5. Navigate to the VirtIO drivers directory for your Windows version (where ā€œeā€ is where virtio drivers are mounted in the following example):
  1. Load the SCSI driver:
  1. Inject the SCSI driver into the Windows installation drive (replace c: with the letter of your Windows drive):
  1. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the VioStor driver:
  1. Close the command prompt and shut down the VM.

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Convert the VM Disk to QCOW2

After driver injection and shutdown, convert the VMDK disk file to QCOW2 format. Run the following command from the directory containing the VMDK file:
The output file virtual-box-w10vm.qcow2 is ready to upload to EVE-OS as a VM application image.

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Next Steps

Manage an App Image

Upload the QCOW2 image to your enterprise.

Add an Edge App Image

Add the QCOW2 image as a deployable edge application.

Create an EVE-OS Compatible Windows 10 VM (HVM Mode)

Create a Windows 10 VM for HVM mode instead.