How can I get hard drive to work for QEMU-virtualized Windows Home Server 2011?

Question

I have configured a Windows Home Server 2011 guest with virt-install and virsh, but the windows installer can't find any hard drives. Nor can it load any virtio drivers for it.

This is my first qemu/kvm virtualization attempt, so maybe I'm just missing something obvious, but any help is appreciated! Here are the details:

• I created the domain with virt-install 0.600.4.

The command:

virt-install --connect qemu:///system -n fas -r 6144 --vcpus=2 \
  --disk pool=vmstore,size=50,bus=virtio,cache=none -c whs2011.iso --vnc \
  --noautoconsole --os-type windows --os-variant win2k8 \
  --network network=default,model=e1000 \
  --disk path=virtio-win-0.1-74.iso,device=cdrom,perms=ro

I use os-variant win2k8, since no win2011 is available for virt-install, afaik. Don't know if this makes any trouble.

• I did virsh destroy fas to stop it,
• I modified it with virsh edit fas to add cdrom as first boot device.

The resulting xml for the domain is:

<domain type='kvm'>
  <name>fas</name>
  <uuid>3d170dbf-c96e-5b0c-0e75-0bd2d6c5e98c</uuid>
  <memory unit='KiB'>6291456</memory>
  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>6291456</currentMemory>
  <vcpu placement='static'>2</vcpu>
  <os>
    <type arch='x86_64' machine='pc-i440fx-1.5'>hvm</type>
    <boot dev='cdrom'/>
    <boot dev='hd'/>
  </os>
  <features>
    <acpi/>
    <apic/>
    <pae/>
  </features>
  <clock offset='localtime'/>
  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
  <on_crash>restart</on_crash>
  <devices>
    <emulator>/usr/bin/kvm</emulator>
    <disk type='file' device='disk'>
      <driver name='qemu' type='raw' cache='none'/>
      <source file='/var/lib/libvirt/images/fas.img'/>
      <target dev='vda' bus='virtio'/>
      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x04' function='0x0'/>
    </disk>
    <disk type='file' device='cdrom'>
      <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>
      <source file='/home/nb/whs2011.iso'/>
      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
      <readonly/>
      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
    </disk>
    <disk type='file' device='cdrom'>
      <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>
      <source file='/home/nb/virtio-win-0.1-74.iso'/>
      <target dev='hdc' bus='ide'/>
      <readonly/>
      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='1' target='0' unit='0'/>
    </disk>
    <controller type='usb' index='0'>
      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x2'/>
    </controller>
    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
    <controller type='ide' index='0'>
      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x1'/>
    </controller>
    <interface type='network'>
      <mac address='52:54:00:84:3b:8b'/>
      <source network='default'/>
      <model type='e1000'/>
      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x03' function='0x0'/>
    </interface>
    <serial type='pty'>
      <target port='0'/>
    </serial>
    <console type='pty'>
      <target type='serial' port='0'/>
    </console>
    <input type='tablet' bus='usb'/>
    <input type='mouse' bus='ps2'/>
    <graphics type='vnc' port='-1' autoport='yes'/>
    <video>
      <model type='vga' vram='9216' heads='1'/>
      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x02' function='0x0'/>
    </video>
    <memballoon model='virtio'>
      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x05' function='0x0'/>
    </memballoon>
  </devices>
</domain>

• Then I started it again with virsh start fas and,
• successfully connected to the view port with a vnc viewer.
• The Windows installer was started and I clicked "New installation: Install Windows" (see http://i.stack.imgur.com/EaSnT.png).
• Then I was presented with the fact that no hard drives could be found, so I clicked "Load drivers".
• Then, no matter which folder I select from the virtio driver cd image, no hard drives show up when I hit OK (see http://i.stack.imgur.com/htoda.png).

My system is an up-to-date Ubuntu Server 13.10 (kernel 3.11.0-14-generic) running on an HP Proliant ML330 G6 (quad-core Intel Xeon @2.4GHz). QEMU version is 1.5.0.

Any input is welcome!

Answer 1

After asking on superuser.com, I found out how to solve this. Find the answer here: https://superuser.com/a/698751/286884