Virtual Machines on AcreetionOS

Two directions matter: running AcreetionOS elsewhere (try-before-install, CI) and running guests on AcreetionOS (Windows VMs, test boxes).

Running AcreetionOS as a guest

Works everywhere. Give it 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 25 GB disk, enable 3D acceleration where available. Secure Boot off. ISO instructions: Installation Guide.

Guest additions:

  • VirtualBox: sudo pacman -S virtualbox-guest-utils then enable vboxservice.service.

  • VMware: open-vm-tools (+ open-vm-tools-desktop for clipboard/resolution).

  • Hyper-V: enlightened out of the box via hv modules.

Hosting guests on AcreetionOS — QEMU/KVM (recommended)

Native performance, free, scriptable:

sudo pacman -S qemu-full libvirt virt-manager dnsmasq
sudo systemctl enable --now libvirtd.service
sudo usermod -aG libvirt $USER      # re-login afterwards

Launch Virtual Machine Manager, create a VM, done. Windows 11 guests: add TPM via swtpm (virt-manager offers it in the wizard) and UEFI firmware.

Nested virtualization (VM inside VM):

cat /sys/module/kvm_intel/parameters/nested   # Y = good (or kvm_amd)

VirtualBox alternative

sudo pacman -S virtualbox virtualbox-host-dkms linux-headers
sudo vboxreload       # after kernel updates

Kernel-update caveat applies (module rebuild) — another reason KVM wins on rolling releases.

Sharing folders & USB passthrough

  • virt-manager: Add Hardware → Filesystem (virtiofs) or USB host device.

  • VirtualBox: Devices menu → shared folders / USB.

  • Snapshots before risky experiments: built into both; for the host itself use Timeshift.