[SOLVED] Proxmox nested virtualization, Windows + Virtualbox

[Pietro395]

I recently installed Proxmox in an AMD EPYC 7302 16-Core Processor server, in addition to normal VMs I need to create a Windows VM that will start VMs with Virtualbox using a software we use to develop PLC software.

This setup worked on a previous Intel Xeon server with ubuntu and KVM/QEMU.

I followed the Proxmox guide here:

https://pve.proxmox.com/wiki/Nested_Virtualization

My Windows VM seems to correctly recognize virtualization support by displaying it in the task manager or on CPU-Z.



My VM configuration:

args: -cpu 'host,+svm,-hypervisor'
bios: ovmf
boot: order=scsi0;ide2;net0
cores: 4
cpu: host
efidisk0: Storage:106/vm-106-disk-1.qcow2,size=128K
ide2: Storage:iso/Windows10_InsiderPreview_Client_x64_en-us_21354.iso,media=cdrom
machine: pc-q35-5.2
memory: 16384
name: PCT3
net0: virtio=0E:C3:3D:3C:E8:79,bridge=vmbr0,firewall=1
numa: 0
ostype: win10
parent: Inizio
sata1: Storage:iso/virtio-win-0.1.185.iso,media=cdrom,size=402812K
scsi0: Storage:106/vm-106-disk-0.qcow2,discard=on,size=200G
scsihw: virtio-scsi-pci
smbios1: uuid=88dc3ecd-ee73-4fe2-b802-6f0cde889e9e
sockets: 1
vmgenid: 7b28e483-aaad-49cb-8170-27d645eae13c

Virtualbox creating a virtual machine manually with Ubuntu gets stuck and doesn't start.
It does not give me any error, it gets stuck in the Virtualbox logo, sometimes it starts but very slow remaining with the cursor blinking.

As a counter check I am also using Vmware Player, I immediately receive this error:

VMware Player unrecoverable error: (vcpu-0) vcpu-0: VMM fault 13: src = MONITOR rip = 0xfffffffffc05bc84 regs = 0xfffffffffc407e50 A log file is available in "C: \ Users \ admin \ Documents \ Virtual Machines \ Ubuntu 64-bit \ vmware.log". You can request support. To collect data to submit to VMware technical support, run "vm-support". We will respond on the basis of your support entitlement.

2021-05-10T09:31:50.280-07:00| vcpu-0| I005: Msg_Post: Error
2021-05-10T09:31:50.280-07:00| vcpu-0| I005: [msg.log.error.unrecoverable] VMware Player unrecoverable error: (vcpu-0)
2021-05-10T09:31:50.280-07:00| vcpu-0| I005+ vcpu-0:VMM fault 13: src=MONITOR rip=0xfffffffffc05bc84 regs=0xfffffffffc407e50
2021-05-10T09:31:50.280-07:00| vcpu-0| I005: [msg.panic.haveLog] A log file is available in "C:\Users\admin\Documents\Virtual Machines\Ubuntu 64-bit\vmware.log". 
2021-05-10T09:31:50.280-07:00| vcpu-0| I005: [msg.panic.requestSupport.withoutLog] You can request support. 
2021-05-10T09:31:50.280-07:00| vcpu-0| I005: [msg.panic.requestSupport.vmSupport.vmx86]
2021-05-10T09:31:50.280-07:00| vcpu-0| I005+ To collect data to submit to VMware technical support, run "vm-support".
2021-05-10T09:31:50.280-07:00| vcpu-0| I005: [msg.panic.response] We will respond on the basis of your support entitlement.
2021-05-10T09:31:50.280-07:00| vcpu-0| I005: ----------------------------------------

Documenting I seem to read that this is a problem using Windows and AMD CPU, I am currently using Windows 10 Insider Preview build 21354 but the problem remains, I also tested with Windows server .

Can nested virtualization work? is not supported by Windows?

The nested virtualization capability has so far been tested on "AMD's first generation Ryzen/Epyc or newer processors," the announcement indicated.
Microsoft hinted that it'll be possible to use Linux-based virtual machines with nested virtualization, stating that "Linux KVM [kernel-based virtual machine] guest support will be coming in the future."

Tahnk you

 

[aaron]

Haven´t tried Virtualbox inside a Windows (does it need to be Windows if you run Virtualbox in there?).

Did you enable the "kvm_amd" kernel module with the nested flag? What if you let the extra 'args: -cpu' line away in the VM config and just set the CPU type to host?

 

[Pietro395]

Haven´t tried Virtualbox inside a Windows (does it need to be Windows if you run Virtualbox in there?).

Did you enable the "kvm_amd" kernel module with the nested flag? What if you let the extra 'args: -cpu' line away in the VM config and just set the CPU type to host?

Thanks for the answer, unfortunately it must be windows, virtualbox is used by a development software that we use in the company. The tests I am doing by installing Virtualbox manually now.

Yes i have enabled "kvm_amd" kernel module and the command says this:

root@pve:~# cat /sys/module/kvm_amd/parameters/nested
1

I tried again by removing the args and nothing changes, the virtualbox vm starts and remains blocked with a black screen and a flashing cursor as if virtualization did not work.

do you think there is a solution? is it a windows problem? reading on the net you will find a lot on this topic.

 

[Pietro395]

Haven´t tried Virtualbox inside a Windows (does it need to be Windows if you run Virtualbox in there?).

Did you enable the "kvm_amd" kernel module with the nested flag? What if you let the extra 'args: -cpu' line away in the VM config and just set the CPU type to host?

On Reddit a user had the same problem as me, he advised me to upgrade to version 5.11 of the Linux Kernel, now everything works correctly !!

 

[aaron]

Thanks for sharing the solution. I went ahead and marked the thread as solved. You can do so yourself as well by editing the first post and selecting the prefix from the drop down menu next to the title

 

[Squ1sh]

I alread have Kernel Version: 5.4.78-2-pve but i still get that exact same errormessage when running nested vmware workstation (tried on windows guest and linux guest).

VMware Player unrecoverable error: (vcpu-0) vcpu-0: VMM fault 13: src = MONITOR rip = 0xfffffffffc05bc84 regs = 0xfffffffffc407e50 A log file is available in "C: \ Users \ admin \ Documents \ Virtual Machines \ Ubuntu 64-bit \ vmware.log". You can request support. To collect data to submit to VMware technical support, run "vm-support". We will respond on the basis of your support entitlement.

Host CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X.

 

[aaron]

I alread have Kernel Version: 5.4.78-2-pve but i still get that exact same errormessage when running nested vmware workstation (tried on windows guest and linux guest).

VMware Player unrecoverable error: (vcpu-0) vcpu-0: VMM fault 13: src = MONITOR rip = 0xfffffffffc05bc84 regs = 0xfffffffffc407e50 A log file is available in "C: \ Users \ admin \ Documents \ Virtual Machines \ Ubuntu 64-bit \ vmware.log". You can request support. To collect data to submit to VMware technical support, run "vm-support". We will respond on the basis of your support entitlement.

Host CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X.

Have you tried the 5.11 kernel by installing it with apt install pve-kernel-5.11 ?

 

[Squ1sh]

Have you tried the 5.11 kernel by installing it with apt install pve-kernel-5.11 ?

Just tried it out but with that kernel vms crash shortly after start or won't run past the bios screens. I have pve 6.3.3 and 'am trying to upgrade it to 7 now.

Update: That was just on my nested test-pve system. After installing pve-kernel-5.11 on the real host it worked fine ! (still using pve 6.3.3)

 

[aaron]

I have pve 6.3.3 and 'am trying to upgrade it to 7 now.

Definitely a good idea as 6.3 is somewhat old by now