kvm-ok(1)

📦 version 0.7, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ kvm-ok(1) ✨

Okay bestie, this is the kvm-ok manual from the cpu-checker package 💅 It's the page for the kvm-ok tool, so let's get into it 🫶

🦋 NAME 🦋

okay so kvm-ok is the tool that checks if your system can run hardware accelerated KVM virtual machines 🖥️✨ basically whether it has Virtualization Technology (VT) 🔥

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

kvm-ok is a program that checks if the local system can host hardware accelerated KVM virtual machines. no cap, it's the vibe check you need before you start a VM 💖

First it looks in /proc/cpuinfo for the flags that say your CPU has the Virtualization Technology (VT) capability. ✨

Next, it checks whether the /dev/kvm device exists. 🎀

If you're running as root, it will also check your CPU's MSRs to see if VT is disabled in the BIOS. this is the part where it gets lowkey intense 💀

If KVM can be used, this script exits 0. Otherwise it exits non-zero, so you'll know it's a no from the exit status 🙈

In some failure cases, kvm-ok gives you hints on how to enable KVM on a system where it's been arbitrarily disabled. literally the helpful friend energy we all need 🧚

🍓 SEE ALSO 🍓

kvm(1), dmesg(1) 💜

🌈 FILES 🌈

/proc/cpuinfo, /dev/kvm ⭐

💀 BUGS 💀

Okay, real talk, this one's a bit messy. The disabled-by-BIOS check currently scans dmesg(1) for a message the kernel displays. That's not ideal, because a long-running system will eventually roll the dmesg logs 😭 The kernel should expose the disabled-by-BIOS flag in /proc/cpuinfo instead.

Tracking it here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/535373 🔥

👑 MORE INFORMATION 👑

More info lives at http://launchpad.net/cpu-checker 🌸

🫶 AUTHOR 🫶

This manpage and the utility were written by Dustin Kirkland <kirkland@canonical.com> for Ubuntu systems, though others are welcome to use them 💖

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 3, published by the Free Software Foundation. iykyk, it's the license that keeps things open 🦋

On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL-3 📜

Okay that's the whole page, bestie 💅 Straight from cpu-checker, dated 9 March 2010, manual page kvm-ok(1). Go check your VT flags and slay the virtualization game 🎀✨

📦 where this page comes from