Re: [Tails-testers] Installing a Tails USB Image as Virtual …

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Author: Terry Gruzebeck
Date:  
To: u, Tails list for early testers
Old-Topics: Re: [Tails-testers] Installing a Tails USB Image as Virtual USB Storage in Virt-Manager
New-Topics: [Tails-testers] Manual upgrade from virt-manager [was: Installing a Tails USB Image as Virtual USB Storage in Virt-Manager]
Subject: Re: [Tails-testers] Installing a Tails USB Image as Virtual USB Storage in Virt-Manager





    OK, so I'm trying to manually upgrade my Tails-3.16 USB image VM
    installation to Tails 4.0 in Virt-Manager (per the "New Version
    Available" pop-up during system startup).  Your instructions say:


To do a manual upgrade, you can either:

Upgrade
          by cloning from another Tails
(below)
Download
          and upgrade
(below)
Burn
          a new Tails DVD

Upgrade
          your virtual machine


    I go to the "Upgrade your virtual machine" link, and it has the same
    instructions for setting up and installing a USB image as a new VM
    on a virtual USB device.  There are no instructions on how to
    upgrade the existing installation, which, specifically (for the
    purposes of manually upgrading), accounts for how the existing
    persistence volume is to be preserved whilst upgrading the existing
    Tails (3.16) USB VM.


    Bear in mind that Tails running in a Virt-Manager VM cannot access
    external USB sticks plugged into the host system.

    .


On 1/31/2019 12:59 AM, Terry Gruzebeck
      wrote:




      This virtual USB encrypted persistence is the best stuff ever!! 
      Now all my data files, Thunderbird settings and Tor Browser
      bookmarks are secured beneath two layers of encryption, using two
      different passphrases, on the same USB stick.  This setup works 
flawlessly
      in a Virt-Manager VM, running in a 
Live,
      Encrypted-Persistence installation of Parrot Security 4.5.1 as the
      host OS (on USB stick).  Although conceptually daunting, your
      setup instructions are clear and easy to follow.  Thanks much for
      your excellent work!



Terry Gruzebeck wrote on 1/16/2019
        2:41 PM:




        Thanks for your detailed and prompt reply.  So, to clarify, if
        I'm running Tails within a Virt-Manager virtual machine
        instance, which is running within a Live, Encrpyted Persistence
        instance of Parrot Security (parrotsec.org), if I create a
        persistent Tails volume within that VM, then when I shut down
        the Tails VM (whether internally (normally). or by a "force off"
        command from Virt-Manager), the settings and data stored in
        Tail's persistent volume will be encrypted and preserved
        somewhere in the VM's storage, which is stored in the Encrypted
        Persistence storage of Parrot Security's host volume on it's USB
        stick, so that when I restart Parrot Security in a new, Live,
        Encrypted Persistence instance, and then restart Tails in a new
        VM instance within Virt-Manager, I will be able to recover my
        Tails settings and data previously stored in the Tails
        persistent volume?


        Here is our discussion recapped from below:  


Having persistent storage for a virtual instance of Tails would be */awesome!/*
I'm assuming that it will be likewise encrypted, just as is a persistent volume
on a USB stick installation.


Correct.

I *think* there are also other ways to achieve this, but I've never
tried it myself.


        Best wishes for your roll-out of Tails 3.12.


        Terry

          

u:


Hi!

Terry Gruzebeck:


Are we there yet for USB images? -->>
https://tails.boum.org/doc/advanced_topics/virtualization/virt-manager/index.en.html#index5h1

Will the instructions for running Tails from a virtual USB storage change?


Good question. We will keep distributing ISO images alongside USB
images. Virtual machines can be run using both types of images.
I'll create a ticket in our ticketing system to update this page.



Going forward, will .iso images still be available for: -->> "To run Tails from
a virtual USB device using /virt-manager/, first create a virtual machine
running from an ISO image as described above
<https://tails.boum.org/doc/advanced_topics/virtualization/virt-manager/index.en.html#iso>."
If so, from where are they to be downloaded?


They'll still be available, because people using DVDs will need them. In
order to download an ISO, one should follow the installation
instructions for DVD (starting with Tails 3.12).



After completing the next 7 steps, the directions for running Tails from a
virtual USB storage say: "Then start the virtual machine from the virtual DVD
to install Tails onto the virtual USB storage using /Tails Installer/. The
virtual USB storage appears in /Tails Installer/ as *QEMU HARDDISK*."

Assuming Tails Installer is accessed from the "virtual DVD", and how do I run
it, and from where? Is this the .iso image that's being run from the virtual DVD?


Tails Installer is a software that will keep being distributed in Tails.
The use of this software is to clone a running Tails onto any type of
USB storage, physical or virtual. You can find it in the applications
menu, under "Tails".



Having persistent storage for a virtual instance of Tails would be */awesome!/*
I'm assuming that it will be likewise encrypted, just as is a persistent volume
on a USB stick installation.


Correct.

I *think* there are also other ways to achieve this, but I've never
tried it myself.

Cheers!
u.










    

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