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@withcoresystem withcoresystem released this 08 Nov 14:13
v0.1.0
1de61da

v-EMU 0.1.0

Local-first virtualization labs for Linux — templates, linked clones and
declarative labs on the KVM stack you already trust.

v-EMU 0.1.0 is the first public release. It is a desktop application for
repeatable, self-contained labs on one Linux host, driving QEMU/KVM and libvirt
directly — no web console, no control plane and no second hypervisor.

Highlights

  • Lab-first workflow: seal a template once, create linked clones, and
    describe the whole lab in lab.yaml (vemu up, vemu status, vemu down).
  • Visible storage: qcow2 chain v2 metadata, offline snapshots with a layer
    tree, immutable templates, reference-checked deletion and orphan cleanup.
  • Networks included: NAT, isolated and LAN-bridge profiles, DHCP
    reservations, port forwards, multiple NICs and a network map.
  • Desktop + CLI: PySide6 shell with embedded noVNC consoles, one UI instance
    per user, non-modal workflow dialogs and full CLI parity.
  • Adopt at your own pace: existing libvirt/Cockpit VMs stay External and
    read-only, then can move to Partial or Full migration without deleting their
    old disks.
  • Guest interop: optional clipboard, VirtioFS shares, USB passthrough,
    Windows Server 2025 unattended installs and Linux cloud-init.
  • USB that does not block the lab: unplugged passthrough devices are marked
    Missing, can be detached, and no longer prevent a VM from starting.
  • Stable platform identity: SMBIOS and firmware report platform version
    1.0, independent of the application release.

Install

.run installer

Download the two assets, verify, then run:

sha256sum -c vemu-0.1.0-x86_64.run.sha256
./vemu-0.1.0-x86_64.run            # --standard (default)
./vemu-0.1.0-x86_64.run --full     # adds aarch64/riscv64 TCG where available

The installer is a thin wrapper around the same setup.sh used by the source
tree. It installs host packages, creates the daemon and desktop entry, and
keeps its source under ~/.local/share/vemu/source. A GTK3 installer is used
when available; otherwise it falls back to terminal prompts.

From source

git clone https://github.com/withcoresystem/v-EMU vEMU
cd vEMU
./setup.sh --precheck
./setup.sh --standard

Run as your normal desktop user, not with sudo. After the first install,
reboot or log out/in so group membership applies.

Requirements

  • 64-bit Linux with KVM (vmx/svm, /dev/kvm); no TCG-only host mode.
  • Python 3.11+.
  • sudo for host packages, the daemon, groups and firmware.
  • A Wayland desktop for the UI.
  • 20 GiB free for labs plus VM images.

Official hosts: Fedora 44, Rocky Linux 10.2, RHEL 10.2, openSUSE Leap 16.1,
Tumbleweed snapshot 20261028 and Debian 13. Debian 12 is best-effort; other
distributions are as-is. See the support matrix in
MANUAL.md.

Guest notes

  • Clipboard is optional. Windows needs QGA plus a logged-in user; Linux
    needs Wayland, wl-clipboard and QGA guest-exec. Fedora 45, AlmaLinux 10.2,
    Debian 13, Leap 16.1 and SLES 16 all required guest-side changes when tested.
    v-EMU does not relax guest policy or install guest packages.
  • VirtioFS is the supported two-way file exchange when a guest blocks
    guest-exec. Linux guests may need a manual mount:
    sudo mount -t virtiofs <guest-tag> /mnt/share.
  • Windows Sysprep is manual. Linux clone identity reset and cloud-init are
    best-effort per guest family.

Known limits

  • One host, one user. No cluster, HA, live migration, web console or multi-user
    server mode.
  • No 3D acceleration, GPU passthrough, VirtGL or macOS guests.
  • Snapshots are offline and chain-based; live snapshots are not included.
  • X11 guest clipboard/integration is out of scope.
  • TCG cross-architecture guests are functional but slow.
  • UI scale 125% does not fit a 1440×900 display.

Upgrade and uninstall

  • Re-run the newer .run or ./setup.sh --standard to upgrade in place.
  • ./setup.sh --uninstall removes the service, package, firmware, venv and
    desktop entry; VM disks, templates and /etc/vemu are kept.
  • --uninstall --purge also removes /etc/vemu and user settings/logs.

Verification

vemu-0.1.0-x86_64.run
SHA256 c4225876bee691bc22ef63c973c6c0aeffae98aaf46fdde2125f32f035009b89

SHA256 is the published integrity check; no GPG signature is produced.

Documentation

Thanks

This release includes firmware notices, upstream QEMU/KVM/libvirt and the
noVNC assets; see NOTICE, LICENSE and firmware/ for details.

Assets 4
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