Can you check this out please?
http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/157935/qemu-img-invalid-file-format-raw
As well what about changing .img to .raw? I find .img much more obscure and unpopular naming. No more questions on how to create raw images using Whonix’s build script after changing to .raw. So unless .img is the more popular way to call images in Qubes, I suggest changing to .raw.
[quote=“Patrick, post:1, topic:551”]Can you check this out please?
http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/157935/qemu-img-invalid-file-format-raw[/quote]
Looks like he had a typo and has solved it now.
I do see and get your point here with .img being generic/obscure.
However, in Qubes, .img is the standard file extension for raw disk images.
I’m wondering which is would be the worst of the two in Qubes…
a) Dealing with .raw and then using it as .img, potentially confusing people on how it magically changes file extensions or if the .raw will even work for them in Qubes.
b) Dealing with .img consistently throughout Qubes, potentially confusing people between the nature of file formatting and file extension.
Also, if we soon achieve a useful ProxyVM + AppVM configuration with nrgaway’s contributions, I’m not so sure it will even make sense to deal with HVMs and importing disk images anymore, as the Whonix Qubes HVMs are very lacking in their ease of use and workflow flexibility.
Agreed. So maybe suggest to Qubes to use .raw rather than .img?
Actually, with some quick and crude searching, I’m seeing things mentioning that the .img convention seems to go beyond Qubes as being somewhat standard for raw disk images.
For example, from the Wikipedia page:
IMG, in computing, refers to binary files with .img filename extension that store raw disk images of floppy disks, hard drives, or optical discs.
The .img filename extension is used by disk image files, which contain raw dumps of a magnetic disk or of an optical disc.
QEMU uses the .img file extension for raw images of hard drive disks, calling the format simply "raw".
Haven’t searched it out much, but switching to .raw might be attempting to go against a somewhat already standardized convention for using .img?
That’s what I called it .img first. Just by experience I can say that .img confused more people than .raw. So I switched Whonix’s code to .raw.
I understand and, like you, I do personally like and prefer the .raw over .img myself.
However, when I try and mentally think from standing in Qubes developers shoes, for their own existing Qubes system…
Qubes users don’t currently deal much at all, if ever, with the VM disk images.
Qubes project might want to follow suit with established .img conventions.
More work for minor/unknown/negative benefit inside of Qubes.
Also, as mentioned, will we even care about importing .raw/.img files once we move to a native ProxyVM + AppVM architecture? Or also once Qubes pre-installs Whonix inside their distro?
If our current Whonix Qubes HVM configuration is the only reason driving a switch to .raw for the entire Qubes platform, then it might be too minor and short-lived to warrant it.
Trying to think from every stakeholders perspective here. 
Good way to think. Valid points made.
If you’d like, Patrick, I don’t really mind changing to .raw in our current instructions, especially since users aren’t directly dealing with the .img files. Just say the word if you’d like.
No, I am going with your argumentation. As long as Qubes internally used .img, we’d add more confusion by using .raw. If Qubes was to change from .img to .raw, that’d be ideal. So hopefully the Qubes devs won’t say “we’d do this, if the Xen devs did that”. 
Ok. Sounds good for now.