Prepare
To obtain a good level of performance, we will install the Windows VirtIO Drivers during the Windows installation.
- Create a new VM, select “Microsoft Windows 10/2016/2019” as Guest OS and enable the “Qemu Agent” in the System tab. Continue and mount your Windows 10 ISO in the CDROM drive
- For your virtual hard disk select “SCSI” as bus with “VirtIO SCSI” as controller. Set “Write back” as cache option for best performance (the “No cache” default is safer, but slower) and tick “Discard” to optimally use disk space (TRIM).
- Configure your memory settings as needed, continue and set “VirtIO (paravirtualized)” as network device, finish your VM creation.
- For the VirtIO drivers, upload the driver ISO (use the stable VirtIO ISO, download it from here) to your storage, create a new CDROM drive (use “Add -> CD/DVD drive” in the hardware tab) with Bus “IDE” and number 3. Load the Virtio Drivers ISO in the new virtual CDROM drive.
- Now your ready to start the VM, just follow the Windows installer.
Launch Windows install
- After starting your VM launch the noVNC console
- Follow the installer steps until you reach the installation type selection where you need to select “Custom (advanced)”
- Now click “Load driver” to install the VirtIO drivers for hard disk and the network.
- Hard disk: Browse to the CD drive where you mounted the VirtIO driver and select folder “\amd64\xxx” and confirm. Select the “Red Hat VirtIO SCSI pass-through controller” and click next to install it. Now you should see your drive.
- Network: Repeat the steps from above (click again “Load driver”, etc.) and select the folder “NetKVM\w10\amd64”, confirm it and select “Redhat VirtIO Ethernet Adapter” and click next.
- Memory Ballooning: Again, repeat the steps but this time select the “Balloon\w10\amd64” folder, then the “VirtIO Balloon Driver” and install it by clicking next. With these three drivers you should be good covered to run a fast virtualized Windows 10 system.
- Choose the drive and continue the Windows installer steps.