DaDesktop Nested Virtualization Compatibility

Getting nested virtualisation to run smoothly can often be a challenge. Below you’ll find our guidance on which virtualisation tools function—or function best—within each DaDesktop environment.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Keep in mind that some tools, like Virt Manager, aren’t available on every operating system.

You can also check out more details on using Virt Manager to deliver 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 guest is not supported. You must disable the "Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI" checkbox in hardware-processors

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

③: Running VirtualBox inside LXC clashes with active KVM VMs, so you’ll need to stop all KVM instances on the host first

④: We ran into a soft lockup systemd-udevd error—slow and stuck behaviour