DaDesktop Nested Virtualization Compatibility

Getting nested virtualization to run smoothly can be a bit of a challenge at the best of times. Below are our recommendations on which virtualization tools function properly, or perform the best, within each environment on DaDesktop.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us. Do keep in mind that some tools, like Virt Manager, aren't available on all operating systems.

You can find more details on using Virt Manager to set up multiple sandboxed servers and/or desktops.
 

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

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

Window: Windows 10

Linux: Ubuntu 20.04

Virtualbox: 6.1.18

VMware Workstation: 16 Pro, v16.1.1

Comments:

①: Intel VT-X & AMD virtualization acceleration in the guest is not supported. You must uncheck the "Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI" option in the hardware-processor settings.

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

③: Running VirtualBox inside an LXC conflicts with active KVM virtual machines, so you must stop all KVM instances on the host first.

④: We encountered a soft lockup systemd-udevd error, which led to sluggish performance and freezing.