[SOLVED] View PVE host main disk within a Windows Guest VM for Disk Diagnostics and FW update

[MightySlaytanic]

Hi,
I need to perform some checks to the NVME disk on which PVE is running using a tool which is available only on Windows. Since I do not have a windows box I'd like to understand if I can map the /dev/nvme0 disk to a Windows VM and then run the tool within that VM. BTW, the most important thing is not to damage the PVE installation, but I think that if I don't modify/format the disk on the VM there should be almost no risk.

Do you think I could do what I've said by following this guide?

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[B.Otto]

I don't think it is possible to pass the proxmox root disk to a VM. And even if it were, that would most likely bork the disk beyond any help.

You can only map an unused disk to a VM.

 

[Dunuin]

You can't use the NVMe with PVE and pass it through to a VM at the same time.
What I would do is installing Windows (you don't need to activate it if you just need it once) to a USB HDD/SSD, then boot from it and use your tool. But make sure not to let Windows initilize the disk, as this might damage your linux partitions.

 

[MightySlaytanic]

You can't use the NVMe with PVE and pass it through to a VM at the same time.
What I would do is installing Windows (you don't need to activate it if you just need it once) to a USB HDD/SSD, then boot from it and use your tool. But make sure not to let Windows initilize the disk, as this might damage your linux partitions.

You’re right, I may try this way, by booting win 10 from usb and then installing it in another usb device. I hope windows won’t do nothing to the nvme disk if I don’t select it as installation target by mistake. The tools I need to use should work even with disks not formatted for windows since they mus retrieve smart info and other data from the disks (the vendor doesn’t like the smartctl output and wants to see the windows tools’ output :-/)

 

[MightySlaytanic]

You can't use the NVMe with PVE and pass it through to a VM at the same time.
What I would do is installing Windows (you don't need to activate it if you just need it once) to a USB HDD/SSD, then boot from it and use your tool. But make sure not to let Windows initilize the disk, as this might damage your linux partitions.

I've built an USB bootable windows installation downloading the ISO and building the drive with Rufus selecting Windows To Go (it makes a sort of Windows Live installation on the USB dongle). You can also choose to force windows not to mount internal disks in order to reduce the risk of messing up with the PVE disks. This allowed me to retrieve details and firmware info from the installed NVME and SATA disks.

Thanks again for the suggestion, sometimes I look for a more complex solution when there is an easy one available ;-)