Internal error: no supported architecture for os type 'hvm'

KVM
#1

I’m following the kvm instructions step by step with whonix 9.6.

I got this error at the first gateway import step.

user@host:~$ virsh -c qemu:///system define ~/Whonix-Gateway_kvm-9.6.xml error: Failed to define domain from /home/user/Whonix-Gateway_kvm-9.6.xml error: internal error: no supported architecture for os type 'hvm'

These are my kvm software versions.

debian wheezy 7.8
libvirt-bin 1.2.9-9~bpo70+1
qemu-kvm 2.1+dfsg-9~bpo70+1
virt-manager 0.9.1-4

My system hardware might not support the ‘hvm’ architecture?

If this is the problem, can I change this ‘hvm’ dependency to something for systems that don’t support it?

This page maybe shows some other options.

os_type This expresses what kind of operating system the hypervisor is able to run. Possible values are: 
xen
    for XEN
linux
    legacy alias for xen
hvm
    Unmodified operating system
exe
    Container based virtualization
uml
    User Mode Linux</blockquote>
#2

Tried modifying the Whonix-Gateway_kvm-9.6.xml file with no joy so far.

hvm

Tried changing ‘hvm’ to ‘xen’, ‘linux’, ‘exe’, ‘uml’.

Just got this type of error for each one.

user@host:~$ virsh -c qemu:///system define ~/Whonix-Gateway_kvm-9.6.xml error: Failed to define domain from /home/user/Whonix-Gateway_kvm-9.6.xml error: unknown OS type xen

Same for each try.

error: unknown OS type xen
error: unknown OS type linux
error: unknown OS type exe
error: unknown OS type uml

#3

The error means the KVM kernel modules are not loaded on your system. This happens when Linux can’t use your hardware’s virtualization extensions because they are either unavailable or not enabled in the BIOS.

You will need to go into the BIOS and enable virtualization then KVM will work.

Not related to your problem, but I recommend using Whonix 10 with a Debian Jessie host when it comes out later this month because the configuration works best with it. Wheezy doesn’t support some features in the newer libvirt and it will give you a headache to get working.

Issues with Importing Whonix VM Templates in Jessie
#4

TODO: Add to documentation Whonix ™ for KVM

(Recently came up again here: Issues with Importing Whonix VM Templates in Jessie)