Whonix Virtualization Platforms
Development Notes about existing Virtualizers Support by Whonix as well as ports to new Virtualizers. VirtualBox, QEMU, KVM, VMware, etc.
Contents
Introduction[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Introduction
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Introduction|Introduction]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Introduction](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Introduction)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Introduction](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Introduction)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Introduction]Introduction[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
Whonix is officially supported on the following platforms:
VirtualBox[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#VirtualBox
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#VirtualBox|VirtualBox]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[VirtualBox](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#VirtualBox)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[VirtualBox](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#VirtualBox)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#VirtualBox]VirtualBox[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
Why use VirtualBox over KVM?[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_KVM.3F
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_KVM.3F|Why use VirtualBox over KVM?]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Why use VirtualBox over KVM?](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_KVM.3F)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Why use VirtualBox over KVM?](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_KVM.3F)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_KVM.3F]Why use VirtualBox over KVM?[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
See Why use VirtualBox over KVM?
Why use VirtualBox over Qubes?[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_Qubes.3F
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_Qubes.3F|Why use VirtualBox over Qubes?]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Why use VirtualBox over Qubes?](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_Qubes.3F)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Why use VirtualBox over Qubes?](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_Qubes.3F)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_VirtualBox_over_Qubes.3F]Why use VirtualBox over Qubes?[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
See Why use VirtualBox over Qubes?
KVM[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#KVM
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#KVM|KVM]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[KVM](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#KVM)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[KVM](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#KVM)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#KVM]KVM[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
Why use KVM over VirtualBox?[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_VirtualBox.3F
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_VirtualBox.3F|Why use KVM over VirtualBox?]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Why use KVM over VirtualBox?](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_VirtualBox.3F)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Why use KVM over VirtualBox?](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_VirtualBox.3F)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_VirtualBox.3F]Why use KVM over VirtualBox?[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
See Why use KVM over VirtualBox?
Why use KVM over Qubes?[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_Qubes.3F
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_Qubes.3F|Why use KVM over Qubes?]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Why use KVM over Qubes?](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_Qubes.3F)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Why use KVM over Qubes?](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_Qubes.3F)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Why_use_KVM_over_Qubes.3F]Why use KVM over Qubes?[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
TODO: document
Qubes[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Qubes
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Qubes|Qubes]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Qubes](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Qubes)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Qubes](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Qubes)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Qubes]Qubes[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
libvirt[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#libvirt
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#libvirt|libvirt]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[libvirt](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#libvirt)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[libvirt](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#libvirt)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#libvirt]libvirt[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
In an ideal world Whonix would support all virtualization platforms. Theoretically this could be achieved by utilizing libvirt, since it is a toolkit that supports KVM, QEMU, Xen, Virtuozzo, VMWare ESX, LXC, Bhyve and other virtualization platforms on the Linux, FreeBSD, Windows and macOS operating systems. In practical terms libvert is out of the question because it does not yet abstract some commands that Whonix requires, see: libvirt-users: Does libvirt abstract each and any vm specific command?. That means without patches from interested parties, libvert APIs will not expose necessary functionalities.
Other Virtualization Platforms[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Other_Virtualization_Platforms
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Other_Virtualization_Platforms|Other Virtualization Platforms]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Other Virtualization Platforms](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Other_Virtualization_Platforms)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Other Virtualization Platforms](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Other_Virtualization_Platforms)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Other_Virtualization_Platforms]Other Virtualization Platforms[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
Theoretically, Whonix could run inside any virtualizer because its build scripts are very modular and extensible. In reality, Whonix does not have sufficient developer resources to test other virtualizers. If additional contributors join the project and become maintainers for other virtualizers, then support for those might be officially added.
Simplicity of Ports to Other Virtualizers[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Simplicity_of_Ports_to_Other_Virtualizers
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Simplicity_of_Ports_to_Other_Virtualizers|Simplicity of Ports to Other Virtualizers]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Simplicity of Ports to Other Virtualizers](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Simplicity_of_Ports_to_Other_Virtualizers)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Simplicity of Ports to Other Virtualizers](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Simplicity_of_Ports_to_Other_Virtualizers)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Simplicity_of_Ports_to_Other_Virtualizers]Simplicity of Ports to Other Virtualizers[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
In short: Very doable.
Quote Whonix homepage:
There are no artificial restrictions imposed on possible system configurations in Whonix.
And there really are none. There is no special code in Whonix which prevents software forks of Whonix being made compatible with VMware or any other virtualizers. Whonix is even Software Fork Friendly. Even the possibility to use distro-morphing is made for developers to simplify the process of porting Whonix to other virtualizers and/or architectures.
As an analogy, the Whonix port to other virtualizers is "95%" done. All of Whonix is in theory already perfectly compatible with any virtualizer. Only a Support Plan and a "plugin" (build step) for the specific virtualizer is required. This is being elaborated below. Derivative-Maker is the build script which is used to build Whonix from source code. It very feature rich (can create images for VirtualBox, KVM, various architectures such as Intel/AMD64, arm64, ppc64el and so much more), very customizeable and easily extensible by other developers.
The lack of Whonix's derivative-maker for other virtualizer support is because nobody who accomplished to research, document and/or Whonix with a different virtualizers decided to go the extra mile and contribute a build steps for that virtualizer to the build script and/or fork Whonix, keep maintaining a fork of Whonix for that virtualizer.
Whonix's build script is "plugin" based. There are build-steps. It is easy for developers to add additional build steps such as to perform steps required to support other virtualizers.
All that's missing for other virtualizer support are some bits and pieces. By comparison example, to accomplish VirtualBox support, there's two build major steps:
- convert the raw image to vdi for VirtualBox
- create the VirtualBox settings files
- optionally for example for redistributable builds it makes sense to have a export VirtualBox VMs as ova and upload script
For example, some users already managed to write documentation how to use Whonix in VMware or QEMU and there are various ports of Whonix to other architectures in various development stages.
Related: Existing Ports of and Porting Whonix ™ to other Architectures chapter Porting Simplicity
Whonix-Host ISO versus Virtualizer Support[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Whonix-Host_ISO_versus_Virtualizer_Support
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Whonix-Host_ISO_versus_Virtualizer_Support|Whonix-Host ISO versus Virtualizer Support]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Whonix-Host ISO versus Virtualizer Support](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Whonix-Host_ISO_versus_Virtualizer_Support)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Whonix-Host ISO versus Virtualizer Support](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Whonix-Host_ISO_versus_Virtualizer_Support)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Whonix-Host_ISO_versus_Virtualizer_Support]Whonix-Host ISO versus Virtualizer Support[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
Note, that the upcoming Whonix-Host ISO will cannot simplify ports of Whonix to other virtualizers. This is because the Whonix-Host ISO is "designed" to be run on host operating systems and not inside VMs. "Designed" is written in quotes because that is not an intentional user freedom restriction. It is because Whonix-Host is a host operating system which comes with a virtualizer installed by default that runs the Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation VMs.
Running Whonix-Host in a VM would result in Nested Virtualization . There are performance and reliability issues with that. Specifically when mixing virtualizers such as when attempting to run a Whonix-Host ISO that comes with VirtualBox inside VMware. These are general limitations by all all virtualizers and unspecific to Whonix.
Support Plan[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Support_Plan
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Support_Plan|Support Plan]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Support Plan](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Support_Plan)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Support Plan](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Support_Plan)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Support_Plan]Support Plan[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
As outlined above, Whonix needs dedicated contributors to support other virtualization platforms. Essential contributor responsibilities include:
- Essential Tests
- running new security feature tests
- performing Leak Tests and relevant Protocol Leak and Fingerprinting Protection tests
- conducting other miscellaneous security and performance tests to confirm the platform has full functionality and is fit for purpose
Ideally, a dedicated contributor would also create, sign and upload native images for the alternative virtualization platform (such as VMware, QEMU, etc.).
Virtualizers Support Feature Requests[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Virtualizers_Support_Feature_Requests
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Virtualizers_Support_Feature_Requests|Virtualizers Support Feature Requests]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Virtualizers Support Feature Requests](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Virtualizers_Support_Feature_Requests)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Virtualizers Support Feature Requests](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Virtualizers_Support_Feature_Requests)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Virtualizers_Support_Feature_Requests]Virtualizers Support Feature Requests[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
On one hand, there is already a number of officially supported Whonix platforms maintained by the current contributors. On the other hand, there is a plethora of unsupported virtualizers, architectures and related applications. In the history of Whonix, there have been feature requests to add support for OpenVZ, docker, QEMU, Bochs, VMware, Xen, Proxmox, Kubernetes and more.
While in theory, adding support for other platforms would be feasible for new contributors (see above chapter Other Virtualization Platforms), the existing contributors most likely will not be able to take this on because of time restraints due to the maintenance workload required for existing platform support.
See also Bug Reports, Software Development and Feature Requests chapter Community Feedback.
Partially Finished Attempts[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Partially_Finished_Attempts
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Partially_Finished_Attempts|Partially Finished Attempts]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Partially Finished Attempts](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Partially_Finished_Attempts)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[Partially Finished Attempts](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Partially_Finished_Attempts)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#Partially_Finished_Attempts]Partially Finished Attempts[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
See Also[edit]
Copy or share this direct link!
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#See_Also
Click below ↴ = Copy to Clipboard
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[[Dev/Virtualization_Platform#See_Also|See Also]]
Copy as Wikitext
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[See Also](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#See_Also)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[See Also](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#See_Also)
Copy as Markdown
Click = Copy
Copied to clipboard!
[url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform#See_Also]See Also[/url]
Copy as phpBB
Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data
We don't use embedded scripts
This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also
Social Share Button.
Copy as Wikitext Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! [Whonix Virtualization Platforms](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform)
for Discourse, reddit, GitHub Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! [Whonix Virtualization Platforms](https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform)
Copy as Markdown Click = Copy Copied to clipboard! [url=https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Dev/Virtualization_Platform]Whonix Virtualization Platforms[/url]
Copy as phpBB Click below ↴ = Open social URL with share data We don't use embedded scripts This share button is completely self-hosted by this webserver. No scripts from any of the social networks are embedded on this webserver. See also Social Share Button.
We believe security software like Whonix needs to remain open source and independent. Would you help sustain and grow the project? Learn more about our 12 year success story and maybe DONATE!