Vinix built from 390d8e9 (2026-10-18). Both images boot
into the Vinix desktop.

Give the VM at least 4 GB of memory and an empty disk of 4 GB or more
(16 GB leaves room for apps). The first boot installs Vinix onto the disk;
later boots start from it and keep users, files and installed apps. Keep the
ISO attached: it still boots the machine. Booting a newer ISO with the same
disk updates the system and keeps /root, where the users' homes are. Vinix
only formats a disk that is entirely empty. Without one it runs from memory,
and a restart starts from a clean image.

Vinix drives IDE and SATA disks on amd64 and VirtIO block devices on arm64.

QEMU

# amd64 (use -accel kvm -cpu host on Linux, -accel hvf on an Intel Mac)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-amd64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine q35 -m 4096 -smp 2 -cdrom vinix-amd64.iso \
    -drive file=vinix-amd64.qcow2,format=qcow2 -nic user,model=e1000

# arm64 (use -accel kvm on an arm64 Linux host)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-arm64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -accel hvf -cpu host -m 4096 -smp 4 \
    -bios "$(brew --prefix qemu)/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd" \
    -device virtio-scsi-pci -device scsi-cd,drive=cd \
    -drive if=none,id=cd,media=cdrom,file=vinix-arm64.iso \
    -drive if=none,id=hd,file=vinix-arm64.qcow2,format=qcow2 \
    -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd \
    -device ramfb -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \
    -netdev user,id=net0 -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net0

Firefox, Chromium and the other optional apps are not on the image: the first
launch offers them and pkg install downloads them, so give the VM a network
card (the commands above do). Vinix drives VirtIO and Intel e1000 cards. Nor is
X11: the first graphical Linux application brings it, from the
vinix-x11-*.tar.gz files of this release. Python is a pkg install python3
away; the V compiler and Oh My Zsh are left out too. The iOS runtime the first
launch offers on arm64 is vinix-ios-runtime-arm64, prebuilt.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox runs guests of its host's architecture: the amd64 image on Intel and
AMD machines, the arm64 image on Apple Silicon Macs.

Create a VM of type Other/Unknown (64-bit) or Other/Unknown (ARM 64-bit),
give it 4096 MB of memory and two CPUs, and attach the ISO to its optical
drive. For amd64, add a new 16 GB hard disk on a SATA controller; Vinix
has no driver for the disk controllers VirtualBox gives an arm64 VM, so that one
runs from memory. For the network, set the adapter type to Intel PRO/1000 MT
Desktop (82540EM). Everything else can stay as VirtualBox sets it; the amd64
image boots with EFI switched on or off. From a checkout of this repository,
./scripts/run-iso-virtualbox.sh vinix-amd64.iso creates and starts such a VM, disk
included.

Tested before release

Booted from the images above to the desktop, with typing and the pointer checked:

• QEMU, BIOS (i440fx, no HPET, one CPU: VirtualBox's defaults)
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), installing onto a blank SATA disk
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, virtio keyboard and tablet), installing onto a blank virtio disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, USB keyboard and tablet)

SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.

Vinix built from e55ee5f (2026-10-17). Both images boot
into the Vinix desktop.

Give the VM at least 4 GB of memory and an empty disk of 4 GB or more
(16 GB leaves room for apps). The first boot installs Vinix onto the disk;
later boots start from it and keep users, files and installed apps. Keep the
ISO attached: it still boots the machine. Booting a newer ISO with the same
disk updates the system and keeps /root, where the users' homes are. Vinix
only formats a disk that is entirely empty. Without one it runs from memory,
and a restart starts from a clean image.

Vinix drives IDE and SATA disks on amd64 and VirtIO block devices on arm64.

QEMU

# amd64 (use -accel kvm -cpu host on Linux, -accel hvf on an Intel Mac)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-amd64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine q35 -m 4096 -smp 2 -cdrom vinix-amd64.iso \
    -drive file=vinix-amd64.qcow2,format=qcow2 -nic user,model=e1000

# arm64 (use -accel kvm on an arm64 Linux host)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-arm64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -accel hvf -cpu host -m 4096 -smp 4 \
    -bios "$(brew --prefix qemu)/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd" \
    -device virtio-scsi-pci -device scsi-cd,drive=cd \
    -drive if=none,id=cd,media=cdrom,file=vinix-arm64.iso \
    -drive if=none,id=hd,file=vinix-arm64.qcow2,format=qcow2 \
    -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd \
    -device ramfb -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \
    -netdev user,id=net0 -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net0

Firefox, Chromium and the other optional apps are not on the image: the first
launch offers them and pkg install downloads them, so give the VM a network
card (the commands above do). Vinix drives VirtIO and Intel e1000 cards. Nor is
X11: the first graphical Linux application brings it, from the
vinix-x11-*.tar.gz files of this release. Python is a pkg install python3
away; the V compiler and Oh My Zsh are left out too. The iOS runtime the first
launch offers on arm64 is vinix-ios-runtime-arm64, prebuilt.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox runs guests of its host's architecture: the amd64 image on Intel and
AMD machines, the arm64 image on Apple Silicon Macs.

Create a VM of type Other/Unknown (64-bit) or Other/Unknown (ARM 64-bit),
give it 4096 MB of memory and two CPUs, and attach the ISO to its optical
drive. For amd64, add a new 16 GB hard disk on a SATA controller; Vinix
has no driver for the disk controllers VirtualBox gives an arm64 VM, so that one
runs from memory. For the network, set the adapter type to Intel PRO/1000 MT
Desktop (82540EM). Everything else can stay as VirtualBox sets it; the amd64
image boots with EFI switched on or off. From a checkout of this repository,
./scripts/run-iso-virtualbox.sh vinix-amd64.iso creates and starts such a VM, disk
included.

Tested before release

Booted from the images above to the desktop, with typing and the pointer checked:

• QEMU, BIOS (i440fx, no HPET, one CPU: VirtualBox's defaults)
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), installing onto a blank SATA disk
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, virtio keyboard and tablet), installing onto a blank virtio disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, USB keyboard and tablet)

SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.

Vinix built from c31952d (2026-10-17). Both images boot
into the Vinix desktop.

Give the VM at least 4 GB of memory and an empty disk of 4 GB or more
(16 GB leaves room for apps). The first boot installs Vinix onto the disk;
later boots start from it and keep users, files and installed apps. Keep the
ISO attached: it still boots the machine. Booting a newer ISO with the same
disk updates the system and keeps /root, where the users' homes are. Vinix
only formats a disk that is entirely empty. Without one it runs from memory,
and a restart starts from a clean image.

Vinix drives IDE and SATA disks on amd64 and VirtIO block devices on arm64.

QEMU

# amd64 (use -accel kvm -cpu host on Linux, -accel hvf on an Intel Mac)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-amd64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine q35 -m 4096 -smp 2 -cdrom vinix-amd64.iso \
    -drive file=vinix-amd64.qcow2,format=qcow2 -nic user,model=e1000

# arm64 (use -accel kvm on an arm64 Linux host)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-arm64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -accel hvf -cpu host -m 4096 -smp 4 \
    -bios "$(brew --prefix qemu)/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd" \
    -device virtio-scsi-pci -device scsi-cd,drive=cd \
    -drive if=none,id=cd,media=cdrom,file=vinix-arm64.iso \
    -drive if=none,id=hd,file=vinix-arm64.qcow2,format=qcow2 \
    -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd \
    -device ramfb -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \
    -netdev user,id=net0 -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net0

Firefox, Chromium and the other optional apps are not on the image: the first
launch offers them and pkg install downloads them, so give the VM a network
card (the commands above do). Vinix drives VirtIO and Intel e1000 cards. Nor is
X11: the first graphical Linux application brings it, from the
vinix-x11-*.tar.gz files of this release. Python is a pkg install python3
away; the V compiler and Oh My Zsh are left out too.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox runs guests of its host's architecture: the amd64 image on Intel and
AMD machines, the arm64 image on Apple Silicon Macs.

Create a VM of type Other/Unknown (64-bit) or Other/Unknown (ARM 64-bit),
give it 4096 MB of memory and two CPUs, and attach the ISO to its optical
drive. For amd64, add a new 16 GB hard disk on a SATA controller; Vinix
has no driver for the disk controllers VirtualBox gives an arm64 VM, so that one
runs from memory. For the network, set the adapter type to Intel PRO/1000 MT
Desktop (82540EM). Everything else can stay as VirtualBox sets it; the amd64
image boots with EFI switched on or off. From a checkout of this repository,
./scripts/run-iso-virtualbox.sh vinix-amd64.iso creates and starts such a VM, disk
included.

Tested before release

Booted from the images above to the desktop, with typing and the pointer checked:

• QEMU, BIOS (i440fx, no HPET, one CPU: VirtualBox's defaults)
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), installing onto a blank SATA disk
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, virtio keyboard and tablet), installing onto a blank virtio disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, USB keyboard and tablet)

SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.

Vinix built from f52b29b (2026-10-17). Both images boot
into the Vinix desktop.

Give the VM at least 4 GB of memory and an empty disk of 4 GB or more
(16 GB leaves room for apps). The first boot installs Vinix onto the disk;
later boots start from it and keep users, files and installed apps. Keep the
ISO attached: it still boots the machine. Booting a newer ISO with the same
disk updates the system and keeps /root, where the users' homes are. Vinix
only formats a disk that is entirely empty. Without one it runs from memory,
and a restart starts from a clean image.

Vinix drives IDE and SATA disks on amd64 and VirtIO block devices on arm64.

QEMU

# amd64 (use -accel kvm -cpu host on Linux, -accel hvf on an Intel Mac)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-amd64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine q35 -m 4096 -smp 2 -cdrom vinix-amd64.iso \
    -drive file=vinix-amd64.qcow2,format=qcow2 -nic user,model=e1000

# arm64 (use -accel kvm on an arm64 Linux host)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-arm64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -accel hvf -cpu host -m 4096 -smp 4 \
    -bios "$(brew --prefix qemu)/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd" \
    -device virtio-scsi-pci -device scsi-cd,drive=cd \
    -drive if=none,id=cd,media=cdrom,file=vinix-arm64.iso \
    -drive if=none,id=hd,file=vinix-arm64.qcow2,format=qcow2 \
    -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd \
    -device ramfb -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \
    -netdev user,id=net0 -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net0

Firefox, Chromium and the other optional apps are not on the image: the first
launch offers them and pkg install downloads them, so give the VM a network
card (the commands above do). Vinix drives VirtIO and Intel e1000 cards. Nor is
X11: the first graphical Linux application brings it, from the
vinix-x11-*.tar.gz files of this release.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox runs guests of its host's architecture: the amd64 image on Intel and
AMD machines, the arm64 image on Apple Silicon Macs.

Create a VM of type Other/Unknown (64-bit) or Other/Unknown (ARM 64-bit),
give it 4096 MB of memory and two CPUs, and attach the ISO to its optical
drive. For amd64, add a new 16 GB hard disk on a SATA controller; Vinix
has no driver for the disk controllers VirtualBox gives an arm64 VM, so that one
runs from memory. For the network, set the adapter type to Intel PRO/1000 MT
Desktop (82540EM). Everything else can stay as VirtualBox sets it; the amd64
image boots with EFI switched on or off. From a checkout of this repository,
./scripts/run-iso-virtualbox.sh vinix-amd64.iso creates and starts such a VM, disk
included.

Tested before release

Booted from the images above to the desktop, with typing and the pointer checked:

• QEMU, BIOS (i440fx, no HPET, one CPU: VirtualBox's defaults)
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), installing onto a blank SATA disk
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, virtio keyboard and tablet), installing onto a blank virtio disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, USB keyboard and tablet)

SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.

Vinix built from 7833965 (2026-10-16). Both images boot
into the Vinix desktop.

Give the VM at least 4 GB of memory and an empty disk of 4 GB or more
(16 GB leaves room for apps). The first boot installs Vinix onto the disk;
later boots start from it and keep users, files and installed apps. Keep the
ISO attached: it still boots the machine. Booting a newer ISO with the same
disk updates the system and keeps /root, where the users' homes are. Vinix
only formats a disk that is entirely empty. Without one it runs from memory,
and a restart starts from a clean image.

Vinix drives IDE and SATA disks on amd64 and VirtIO block devices on arm64.

QEMU

# amd64 (use -accel kvm -cpu host on Linux, -accel hvf on an Intel Mac)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-amd64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine q35 -m 4096 -smp 2 -cdrom vinix-amd64.iso \
    -drive file=vinix-amd64.qcow2,format=qcow2 -nic user,model=e1000

# arm64 (use -accel kvm on an arm64 Linux host)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-arm64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -accel hvf -cpu host -m 4096 -smp 4 \
    -bios "$(brew --prefix qemu)/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd" \
    -device virtio-scsi-pci -device scsi-cd,drive=cd \
    -drive if=none,id=cd,media=cdrom,file=vinix-arm64.iso \
    -drive if=none,id=hd,file=vinix-arm64.qcow2,format=qcow2 \
    -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd \
    -device ramfb -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \
    -netdev user,id=net0 -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net0

Firefox, Chromium and the other optional apps are not on the image: the first
launch offers them and pkg install downloads them, so give the VM a network
card (the commands above do). Vinix drives VirtIO and Intel e1000 cards.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox runs guests of its host's architecture: the amd64 image on Intel and
AMD machines, the arm64 image on Apple Silicon Macs.

Create a VM of type Other/Unknown (64-bit) or Other/Unknown (ARM 64-bit),
give it 4096 MB of memory and two CPUs, and attach the ISO to its optical
drive. For amd64, add a new 16 GB hard disk on a SATA controller; Vinix
has no driver for the disk controllers VirtualBox gives an arm64 VM, so that one
runs from memory. For the network, set the adapter type to Intel PRO/1000 MT
Desktop (82540EM). Everything else can stay as VirtualBox sets it; the amd64
image boots with EFI switched on or off. From a checkout of this repository,
./scripts/run-iso-virtualbox.sh vinix-amd64.iso creates and starts such a VM, disk
included.

Tested before release

Booted from the images above to the desktop, with typing and the pointer checked:

• QEMU, BIOS (i440fx, no HPET, one CPU: VirtualBox's defaults)
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), installing onto a blank SATA disk
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, virtio keyboard and tablet), installing onto a blank virtio disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, USB keyboard and tablet)

SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.

Vinix desktop images built from 0a508781810bc1d4c9bf03e2f27687f21f897115.

This refresh includes:

• QCA9377 Wi-Fi support for the ThinkPad E470, with the pinned firmware, board data, licences and wifi-ctl included in the amd64 image. Initial station support is legacy 2.4 GHz channels 1–11 with WPA2-PSK/CCMP. Physical E470 Wi-Fi validation remains pending.
• External ext2 and read-only ext4 volume mounting, and Files initializes the mount inventory before scanning volumes.
• Cursor movement avoids unnecessary scene redraws. Ethernet status distinguishes disconnected cables from DHCP acquisition, and Realtek DHCP starts after carrier negotiation.
• Updated signed package publication, offline mirrors, organization policy review, and storage mapping/capacity operations.
• Fixes for current V compiler pthread declarations, external signal-runtime linking, and native guest process-tool builds.

Give a VM at least 4 GB of RAM and an empty supported disk of 4 GB or more; 16 GB leaves room for applications. Vinix installs onto an entirely empty supported disk during the first boot. Keep the ISO attached to boot the installed system. Without an empty supported disk, it runs from memory. x86-64 supports IDE and SATA disks; ARM64 supports VirtIO block devices.

Validation before publication:

• Seven QEMU desktop boots check keyboard input and pointer movement: amd64 BIOS, UEFI, USB-only input, SATA installation/reboot; ARM64 VirtIO input, USB input, VirtIO block installation/reboot.
• Installed desktop binaries are compared in full against staged binaries using SHA-256. amd64 installation also verifies both Wi-Fi firmware files, their licences, and wifi-ctl.
• Native ath10k tests pass, including real pinned firmware/board parsing and allocation, protocol, crypto and WPA checks.
• Kernel and desktop builds pass on both architectures. Native Minecraft process tools cross-build for both architectures.

SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.

Vinix desktop images built from c9125625c29b52c2db7d439df59b71bfaeb6e282.

Changes since the previous image:

• Realtek RTL8168G/GU Ethernet support for the ThinkPad E470 and readable kernel diagnostics through /proc/bootlog.
• Software shows resolved runtime and dependency updates, reviews complete package plans, and rejects stale confirmations. Package tooling adds trusted repository administration and replay history.
• Terminal controls move to the context menu. Session polling releases retained scratch allocations.
• Vinix identity is reported consistently by command-line tools and /proc/version. Storage tooling adds atomic disk snapshot enrollment batches.

The USB/PS2 input fixes and complete-write installer fix from the preceding release are included. The Realtek driver has native register and firmware fixture coverage; physical ThinkPad E470 operation remains unverified.

Give a VM at least 4 GB of RAM and an empty disk of 4 GB or more; 16 GB leaves room for applications. Vinix installs onto an entirely empty supported disk during the first boot. Later boots retain users and files. Keep the ISO attached to boot the machine. Without an empty supported disk, the image runs from memory. x86-64 supports IDE and SATA disks; ARM64 supports VirtIO block devices.

Validation before publication:

• x86-64: BIOS, UEFI, USB keyboard and mouse with PS/2 disabled, installation onto SATA, and reboot from the installed system.
• ARM64: VirtIO input, USB keyboard and tablet, installation onto VirtIO block storage, and reboot from the installed system.
• All seven QEMU boot cases check the displayed desktop, keyboard input, and pointer movement.
• Installed desktop executables are compared in full against the staged binaries using SHA-256.
• Native Realtek driver and kernel boot-log fixtures pass.

SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.

Vinix desktop images built from 14f82617404e4410a68b97770d66f0996cb64c4d.

This release includes xHCI port power and firmware ownership fixes, along with synchronous PS/2 keyboard initialization and bounded controller waits. These address machines reaching setup with unresponsive input. Physical ThinkPad E470 operation still needs confirmation on that hardware.

It also fixes installation of files larger than the filesystem's per-transaction write limit. The installer now completes short writes instead of leaving zero-filled tails in large executables.

Give a VM at least 4 GB of RAM and an empty disk of 4 GB or more; 16 GB leaves room for applications. Vinix installs onto an entirely empty supported disk during the first boot. Later boots retain users and files. Keep the ISO attached to boot the machine. Without an empty supported disk, the image runs from memory. x86-64 supports IDE and SATA disks; ARM64 supports VirtIO block devices.

Validation before publication:

• x86-64: BIOS, UEFI, USB keyboard and mouse with the PS/2 controller disabled, installation onto SATA, and reboot from the installed system.
• ARM64: VirtIO input, USB keyboard and tablet, installation onto VirtIO block storage, and reboot from the installed system.
• All seven QEMU boot cases check the displayed desktop, keyboard input, and pointer movement.
• Installed desktop executables are compared in full against the staged binaries using SHA-256.
• Five native regression cases cover large and irregular short writes, failed writes, and empty files.

SHA-256 checksums for both images are in SHA256SUMS.

Vinix built from eda879f (2026-10-07). Both images boot
into the Vinix desktop.

Give the VM at least 4 GB of memory and an empty disk of 4 GB or more
(16 GB leaves room for apps). The first boot installs Vinix onto the disk;
later boots start from it and keep users, files and installed apps. Keep the
ISO attached: it still boots the machine. Booting a newer ISO with the same
disk updates the system and keeps /root, where the users' homes are. Vinix
only formats a disk that is entirely empty. Without one it runs from memory,
and a restart starts from a clean image.

Vinix drives IDE and SATA disks on amd64 and VirtIO block devices on arm64.

QEMU

# amd64 (use -accel kvm -cpu host on Linux, -accel hvf on an Intel Mac)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-amd64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine q35 -m 4096 -smp 2 -cdrom vinix-amd64.iso \
    -drive file=vinix-amd64.qcow2,format=qcow2 -nic user,model=e1000

# arm64 (use -accel kvm on an arm64 Linux host)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-arm64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -accel hvf -cpu host -m 4096 -smp 4 \
    -bios "$(brew --prefix qemu)/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd" \
    -device virtio-scsi-pci -device scsi-cd,drive=cd \
    -drive if=none,id=cd,media=cdrom,file=vinix-arm64.iso \
    -drive if=none,id=hd,file=vinix-arm64.qcow2,format=qcow2 \
    -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd \
    -device ramfb -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \
    -netdev user,id=net0 -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net0

Firefox, Chromium and the other optional apps are not on the image: the first
launch offers them and pkg install downloads them, so give the VM a network
card (the commands above do). Vinix drives VirtIO and Intel e1000 cards.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox runs guests of its host's architecture: the amd64 image on Intel and
AMD machines, the arm64 image on Apple Silicon Macs.

Create a VM of type Other/Unknown (64-bit) or Other/Unknown (ARM 64-bit),
give it 4096 MB of memory and two CPUs, and attach the ISO to its optical
drive. For amd64, add a new 16 GB hard disk on a SATA controller; Vinix
has no driver for the disk controllers VirtualBox gives an arm64 VM, so that one
runs from memory. For the network, set the adapter type to Intel PRO/1000 MT
Desktop (82540EM). Everything else can stay as VirtualBox sets it; the amd64
image boots with EFI switched on or off. From a checkout of this repository,
./scripts/run-iso-virtualbox.sh vinix-amd64.iso creates and starts such a VM, disk
included.

Tested before release

Booted from the images above to the desktop, with typing and the pointer checked:

• QEMU, BIOS (i440fx, no HPET, one CPU: VirtualBox's defaults)
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), installing onto a blank SATA disk
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, virtio keyboard and tablet), installing onto a blank virtio disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, USB keyboard and tablet)

SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.

Vinix built from acd0e3c (2026-10-05). Both images boot
into the Vinix desktop.

Give the VM at least 4 GB of memory and an empty disk of 4 GB or more
(16 GB leaves room for apps). The first boot installs Vinix onto the disk;
later boots start from it and keep users, files and installed apps. Keep the
ISO attached: it still boots the machine. Booting a newer ISO with the same
disk updates the system and keeps /root, where the users' homes are. Vinix
only formats a disk that is entirely empty. Without one it runs from memory,
and a restart starts from a clean image.

Vinix drives IDE and SATA disks on amd64 and VirtIO block devices on arm64.

QEMU

# amd64 (use -accel kvm -cpu host on Linux, -accel hvf on an Intel Mac)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-amd64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-x86_64 -machine q35 -m 4096 -smp 2 -cdrom vinix-amd64.iso \
    -drive file=vinix-amd64.qcow2,format=qcow2 -nic user,model=e1000

# arm64 (use -accel kvm on an arm64 Linux host)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 vinix-arm64.qcow2 16G
qemu-system-aarch64 -machine virt -accel hvf -cpu host -m 4096 -smp 4 \
    -bios "$(brew --prefix qemu)/share/qemu/edk2-aarch64-code.fd" \
    -device virtio-scsi-pci -device scsi-cd,drive=cd \
    -drive if=none,id=cd,media=cdrom,file=vinix-arm64.iso \
    -drive if=none,id=hd,file=vinix-arm64.qcow2,format=qcow2 \
    -device virtio-blk-device,drive=hd \
    -device ramfb -device qemu-xhci -device usb-kbd -device usb-tablet \
    -netdev user,id=net0 -device virtio-net-device,netdev=net0

Firefox, Chromium and the other optional apps are not on the image: the first
launch offers them and pkg install downloads them, so give the VM a network
card (the commands above do). Vinix drives VirtIO and Intel e1000 cards.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox runs guests of its host's architecture: the amd64 image on Intel and
AMD machines, the arm64 image on Apple Silicon Macs.

Create a VM of type Other/Unknown (64-bit) or Other/Unknown (ARM 64-bit),
give it 4096 MB of memory and two CPUs, and attach the ISO to its optical
drive. For amd64, add a new 16 GB hard disk on a SATA controller; Vinix
has no driver for the disk controllers VirtualBox gives an arm64 VM, so that one
runs from memory. For the network, set the adapter type to Intel PRO/1000 MT
Desktop (82540EM). Everything else can stay as VirtualBox sets it; the amd64
image boots with EFI switched on or off. From a checkout of this repository,
./run-iso-virtualbox.sh vinix-amd64.iso creates and starts such a VM, disk
included.

Tested before release

Booted from the images above to the desktop, with typing and the pointer checked:

• QEMU, BIOS (i440fx, no HPET, one CPU: VirtualBox's defaults)
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), installing onto a blank SATA disk
• QEMU, UEFI (q35), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, virtio keyboard and tablet), installing onto a blank virtio disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt), again, from the system on that disk
• QEMU, UEFI (virt, USB keyboard and tablet)

SHA-256 checksums are in SHA256SUMS.