Nested Virtualization Compatibility on DaDesktop

Getting nested virtualization to perform well can be a challenge. We've put together our suggestions on which virtualization tools function best in different DaDesktop setups. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Note that not every tool is available across all operating systems — for instance, Virt Manager.

Please contact us if you have any queries. Some tools are not available in all OS's, ie Virt Manager.

Further information regarding using Virt Manager to provide multiple sandboxed servers and/or desktops is available.
 

		Intel CPU		AMD CPU
		KVM	LXC	KVM	LXC
Virt-Manager	Windows	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Linux	√	√	√	√
VirtualBox	Windows	√	N/A	X④	N/A
	Linux	√	√②③	X④	√②③
VMware Workstation	Windows	√①	N/A	√	N/A
	Linux	√①	X	√	X

 

Test environment:

Intel CPU tested: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2673 v3 @ 2.40GHz

AMD CPU tested: AMD EPYC 7502P 32-Core Processor

Windows version: Windows 10

Linux distribution: Ubuntu 20.04

VirtualBox version: 6.1.18

VMware Workstation version: 16 Pro, v16.1.1

Comments:

①: Intel VT-x and AMD virtualization acceleration are not supported for guests. You'll need to uncheck the "Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI" option under hardware processors.

②: The VirtualBox version on the guest must exactly match the VirtualBox DKMS version on the host.

③: Running VirtualBox within an LXC container conflicts with active KVM virtual machines, so you'll need to halt all KVM instances on the host first.

④: We observed a soft lockup error from systemd-udevd, leading to performance slowdowns and system hangs.