[SOLVED] Create VM from Bootable Live USB Drive


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I have an external SSD USB Drive which I've already setup as a portable bootable live linux distro (Slackware-Based Porteus).

http://www.porteus.org/

 

How can I create a VM in unraid which runs off of this external SSD USB Drive?

 

Basically, this will serve as my Personal Portable OS.......But I would also like to just plug it into my Unraid home server box and fire it up as in a VM...this way I can work with it at home also.

 

Also would be nice to have a way to test Live Boot USB Drives.

Edited by Stupifier
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Connecting a bootable USB drive to KVM or VirtualBox virtual machine on Linux

 

I found this article which outlines how to do it using KVM or VirtualBox....and I know Unraid VM environment is KVM

BUT....

 

There is a step here I do not know how to do using the Unraid VM template.....It asks to point the OS Install path directly to the USB Drive path instead of an ISO file. In Unraid....it ONLY appears allow me to choose an ISO file for this field.

Any ideas?

Edited by Stupifier
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  • 2 months later...

Sort of.

 

  1. Plug in the USB Drive
  2. Mount it (I think I mounted it for this......if that doesn't work, try NOT mounting it)
  3. Go to create your VM template. Set whatever you want for CPUs, Memory, etc.....
  4. For BIOs....try both (I had to use SeaBIOS)
  5. For USB Controller, I used the 3.0 one so I would get the faster speed
  6. In terminal, run 
    ls -lha /dev/disk/by-id/
  7.  Find your USB Drive in that list and copy the ENTIRE name. Use that name for your Manual vDisk Location. For example, I put this in my VM template. It must be the entire USB drive...no part stuff
    /dev/disk/by-id/usb-SanDisk_Extreme_SSD_313931383039343032383934-0:0
  8. Primary vDisk Type: raw
  9. Primary vDisk Bus: USB
  10. Graphics Card: VNC

 

Here is a screenshot of my VM Template

raw

Edited by Stupifier
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  • 7 months later...

Perfect, worked like a charm. 

 

I've followed your steps and managed to install Windows 10 Pro from USB.

 

I had to create two disk first. 

 

Primary was manual with my USB Key Location / ID with vdisk BUS as USB. 

Secondary with 60GB and vdisk BUS as IDE.

 

I wanted to test and quickly get windows 10 on Unraid. I was straggling with getting my other nas or usb to be mounted to copy my iso's over. Hence why I've chosen this method. 

 

For some reason, Secondary vdisk 60GB set as Sata or VirtIO won't work and Windows 10 was asking for the drivers.

 

Thanks for your steps. 

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  • JorgeB changed the title to [SOLVED] Create VM from Bootable Live USB Drive

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