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
New-Topics: Re: [Tails-testers] 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





    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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