v0.3.0

Third pre-release — and the first with a Linux build.

Highlights since v0.2.0

First Linux build (AppImage)

• A self-contained .AppImage (~41 MB, no .NET install needed). On Linux it uses your system QEMU + virt-viewer — install once with e.g. sudo apt install qemu-system-x86 qemu-utils virt-viewer (see packaging/README-FIRST-linux.txt). The Windows ZIP and Linux AppImage now ship side by side from one tag.

OS catalog — now five distros

• Added Fedora Workstation 44 and Linux Mint 22.3 (Cinnamon), alongside Ubuntu 24.04 Desktop/Server and Debian 13 netinst. All checksum-verified (SHA-256).

Engineering

• Cross-platform CI: every push builds + tests on Windows, macOS and Linux.
• Boxwright.Qmp 0.3.0 on NuGet (no API changes since 0.1.0).

Honest notes

• macOS packaging and code signing are still to come.
• On Windows, QEMU (WHPX) is slower than VMware/VirtualBox.
• Not code-signed yet (SmartScreen on Windows; the AppImage just needs chmod +x).

Install

• Windows: download Boxwright-0.3.0-win-x64.zip, extract, run Boxwright.App.exe (QEMU bundled).
• Linux: download Boxwright-0.3.0-x86_64.AppImage, chmod +x, run it (install qemu + virt-viewer first).

v0.2.0

Second pre-release. Self-contained Windows ZIP (no .NET install needed) with QEMU bundled.

Highlights since v0.1.0

Modern GUI (FluentAvalonia / WinUI 3)

• Sidebar VM cards with colored status pills, an icon action row, and card-based detail sections (Media / Snapshots / Clone / Logs) with a separated danger zone.
• Follows the OS light/dark theme (manual toggle too); Windows 11 Mica backdrop; app icon.

One-click OS catalog — "Get an OS"

• Pick a distro → Boxwright downloads the official ISO, verifies it (SHA-256) with provenance shown, and creates a ready-to-install VM (ISO attached, CD-first boot).
• Ships with Ubuntu 24.04 Desktop & Server and Debian 13 netinst. ISOs stream to a shared cache, so a second VM of the same OS is instant.

Other

• Boxwright.Qmp 0.2.0 on NuGet (no API changes since 0.1.0).
• Manual download/hash test harness (tools/Boxwright.E2E).

Honest notes

• On Windows, QEMU (WHPX) is slower than VMware/VirtualBox — a GUI can't change that.
• Not code-signed yet: SmartScreen may warn → More info → Run anyway.
• To view a running VM, install virt-viewer once (not bundled).
• Catalog: Windows entries, GPG signatures, cloud-init, and a remote catalog are future work; pinned checksums may go stale on distro point releases.

Install (Windows)

Download Boxwright-0.2.0-win-x64.zip, extract anywhere, run Boxwright.App.exe.

v0.1.0

Boxwright v0.1.0 — first pre-release

Cross-platform QEMU GUI: create/run/snapshot/clone VMs, SPICE display via remote-viewer, guest agent (shutdown + IP), save/resume (KVM/TCG), modern FluentAvalonia UI. Self-contained Windows ZIP with bundled QEMU.