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Skunkworks in a Hyper-V balenaOS virtual machine

This document will guide you through the process of virtualizing a balena device. This provides an effective method for rapid iteration and local development.

This guide assumes that you already have a balena account.

Quick start

  1. Create a x86_64 fleet
  2. Add a device and download balenaOS
  3. Convert the image to a VHDX
  4. Add it to a virtual machine
  5. Start it!

On balenaCloud

Creating a fleet

Head to the balena dashboard and sign in if you haven't already. First, click on the Create fleet button and in the subsequent window, enter a name for the fleet and choose "Generic x86_64" as the device type.

Adding a device

Next, we must add a device. This can be done by clicking Add device on the page of the fleet you just created. The options for the image are fairly situational, but you should select the development edition.

Beside the Flash button there is a downward arrow. Click this and select Download balenaOS. This image can be used for all future devices, so you shouldn't need to re-download it.

On the host machine

Converting the image to a Hyper-V disk

Unfortunately, Hyper-V doesn't include a method to convert raw disk images into the VHDX format. There are various utilities available online to do this. The tool used in this guide is the qemu-img utility available here.

On the command line, run this command. This command shouldn't need to be edited if you extracted qemu-img into the same folder as the balenaOS image.

.\qemu-img.exe convert <balena-cloud-app>.img -O vhdx -o subformat=dynamic <balena-cloud-app>.vhdx

Creating a bridged network adapter

In order for UPnP to work, a bridged network must be used instead of the default NAT network.

In the Hyper-V Manager, ensure that your machine is selected on the left pane and click Virtual Switch Manager....

In the window that appears, make sure External is selected and click on the Create Virtual Switch button. Give it a name and change the network adapter under Connection type to the one connected to the Internet. Finally, click Ok and accept the warning that is displayed.

Creating the virtual machine

You should be back at the main window. To create a VM click New -> Virtual Machine.... Configure the machine to your liking but make sure to configure the following:

  • Specify Generation 2 when asked.
  • When asked to configure networking, choose the bridged adapted made earlier.
  • Leave the default Install an operating system later option selected.

Once you are back at the main window, select the virtual machine and on the right side click on Settings.... You must disable Secure Boot, and add a new hard disk. Specify the location to the balenaOS image created earlier for that hard disk.

Provisioning the VM

You may now start the VM and it will begin provisioning. This can take some time but the VM will shutdown once it's finished. Booting can take a while and it might look like it isn't doing anything. Being shown a login screen is normal.

Finallizing

With any luck you should now have a virtual balenaOS device and it should appear on the balenaCloud dashboard. You may remove the balenaOS image if you want.