virtio-win

Windows 11 VM installation on ARM64 with qemu

This guide explains how to install and run a Windows 11 for ARM64 virtual machine with qemu-system-aarch64.

Prerequisites

Windows ISO (ARM64)

• Download the Windows 11 (ARM64) ISO from Microsoft’s download page: Windows 11 for Arm-based PCs.

Virtio drivers

• Download the latest virtio-win driver ISO from the repository page: virtio-win. It will be used during setup to provide the storage and network drivers.

EFI

• Install the AArch64 UEFI firmware from your distribution (packages: qemu-efi-aarch64 or edk2-aarch64). This provides QEMU_EFI.fd.
• If it is not available in your distro, download the Debian package: qemu-efi-aarch64 and extract it using:

ar x qemu-efi-aarch64*.deb
tar xvf data.tar.xz
cp ./usr/share/qemu-efi-aarch64/QEMU_EFI.fd .

Create a virtual disk

qemu-img create win11-arm64.img 100G

You should now have the following files in your working directory:

• Win11_*.iso
• virtio-win-*.iso
• QEMU_EFI.fd
• win11-arm64.img

Run QEMU

Option A: Software emulation (TCG)

qemu-system-aarch64 \
  -M virt -m 8G -cpu max,pauth-impdef=on -smp 8 \
  -bios ./QEMU_EFI.fd\
  -accel tcg,thread=multi\
  -device ramfb \
  -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \
  -nic user,model=virtio-net-pci \
  -device usb-storage,drive=install \
  -drive if=none,id=install,format=raw,media=cdrom,file=./Win11_*.iso \
  -device usb-storage,drive=virtio-drivers \
  -drive if=none,id=virtio-drivers,format=raw,media=cdrom,file=./virtio-win-*.iso \
  -drive if=virtio,id=system,format=raw,file=./win11-arm64.img  

Option B: Hardware acceleration (KVM, aarch64 host)

Requires a Linux aarch64 host with KVM enabled. On x86_64 hosts, use Option A. From the Option A command, change:

• -accel tcg,thread=multi -> -accel kvm
• -cpu max,pauth-impdef=on -> -cpu host Everything else remains the same.

Windows setup walkthrough

1. Boot from the Windows ISO
   • When prompted, press any key to boot from the installer.
2. Start installation
   • Choose language, click Install. When asked for a key, click “I don’t have a product key”.
3. Bypass Windows 11 checks (if shown)
   • If you see “This PC can’t run Windows 11”, press Shift+F10 → run regedit.
   • Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup.
   • Right-click Setup → New → Key → name it LabConfig.
   • In LabConfig, create the following DWORD (32-bit) values:
     • Must:
       • BypassSecureBootCheck = 1
     • Can be done for convenience (only if you still see the error):
       • BypassCPUCheck = 1
       • BypassRAMCheck = 1
       • BypassStorageCheck = 1
       • BypassTPMCheck = 1

   • Close Registry Editor and the command prompt, go back to the previous page, and click “I don’t have a product key” again. Installation should proceed.

   • Important: Some Windows 11 images do not show a Back button. If so, complete this bypass (create LabConfig and set the 5 DWORDs to 1) before clicking “I don’t have a product key”.

1. Storage driver and disk selection
   • Choose “Custom Install”.
   • Click “Load driver” → browse the virtio-win ISO → viostor/w11/ARM64/ → load the driver.
   • Create a partition on the virtio disk and click Next.

   

2. Installation progress
   • The installer copies files and reboots several times.

   

3. Continue without an internet connection
   • If the OOBE insists on a network connection, press Shift+F10 and run:

OOBE\BYPASSNRO

• The system will reboot and offer an option to proceed without a network.

1. First boot to the Windows desktop
   • After the reboot, choose “I don’t have internet” → “Continue with limited setup”.
   • Create a local user and finish the OOBE. You should arrive at the Windows desktop.
2. Get a network connection
   • Open Device Manager → expand “Other devices” → right‑click “Ethernet Controller” → Update driver.
   • Browse to the virtio ISO NetKVM folder (e.g., E:\NetKVM), and install the driver.
   • After the driver installs, the adapter should obtain network connectivity.