(1) Download the ubuntu kernel and images
cd ${HOME}
mkdir debianvm
curl -o - https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/focal/release/unpacked/ubuntu-20.04-server-cloudimg-arm64-vmlinuz-generic | gunzip > debianvm/vmlinuz
curl -o debianvm/initrd https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/focal/release/unpacked/ubuntu-20.04-server-cloudimg-arm64-initrd-generic
curl -o - https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/focal/release/ubuntu-20.04-server-cloudimg-arm64.tar.gz | tar zxvC debianvm
(2) download the raspbian arm64 image
curl -OL https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspios_arm64/images/raspios_arm64-2020-08-24/2020-08-20-raspios-buster-arm64.zip
unzip 2020-08-20-raspios-buster-arm64.zip -d debianvm
(3) Copy and expand the disk to say 38G (
Don't use this method to expand disk on external HD)
cp debianvm/focal-server-cloudimg-arm64.img debianvm/raspberry-arm64.img
dd if=/dev/zero of=debianvm/raspberry-arm64.img seek=40000000 obs=1024 count=0
(4) Compile and use the latest vftool which is enhanced to mount multiple disks.
cd ${HOME}
git clone https://github.com/evansm7/vftool
cd vftool && xcodebuild
(5) start the vm say
screen -S vm
cd ${HOME}/debianvm
${HOME}/vftool/build/Release/vftool -k vmlinuz -i initrd -d focal-server-cloudimg-arm64.img -d raspberry-arm64.img -d 2020-08-20-raspios-buster-arm64.img -m 2048 -a "console=hvc0"
Detach the screen using Ctrl-A D
(6) start the tty say
screen -S tty /dev/ttys001
(7) prepare the ubuntu cloud image
mkdir /mnt
mount /dev/vda /mnt
chroot /mnt
touch /etc/cloud/cloud-init.disabled
echo 'root:root' | chpasswd
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key -N '' -t rsa
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key -N '' -t dsa
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key -N '' -t ecdsa
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key -N '' -t ed25519
# add fixed IP
cat <<EOF > /etc/netplan/01-dhcp.yaml
network:
renderer: networkd
ethernets:
enp0s1:
dhcp4: true
addresses: [192.168.64.33/24]
version: 2
EOF
# add IP when login prompt
cat <<EOF >> /etc/issue
enp0s1: \4
EOF
exit
umount /dev/vda
(8) copy the rootfs to raspberry-arm64.img
#Detach the screen using Ctrl-A D
screen -r vm # resume vm screen
# stop the vm by ctrl-C and restart the ubuntu vm
cd ${HOME}/debianvm
${HOME}/vftool/build/Release/vftool -k vmlinuz -i initrd -d focal-server-cloudimg-arm64.img -d raspberry-arm64.img -d 2020-08-20-raspios-buster-arm64.img -m 2048 -a "console=hvc0 root=/dev/vda"
#Detach the screen using Ctrl-A D
#Notice the tty number when starting the vm and start the tty say
screen -S tty /dev/ttys001
# login with id root and password root
# and copy the rootfs to the expanded disk raspberry-arm64.img
dd if=/dev/vdc2 of=/dev/vdb bs=64K conv=noerror,sync
exit
(9) prepare the raspberry-arm64 image
# stop the vm and restart the vm
# Control-A D to detach the tty screen
# resume vm screen
screen -r vm
# Control-C to stop the vm
cd ${HOME}/debianvm
${HOME}/vftool/build/Release/vftool -k vmlinuz -i initrd -d raspberry-arm64.img -m 2048 -a "console=hvc0"
mkdir /mnt
mount /dev/vda /mnt
chroot /mnt
echo 'root:root' | chpasswd
#!!! delete or comment out the lines in /etc/fstab, or there will be "A start job is running on /dev/disk/.." blocking!!
cat <<EOF > /etc/fstab
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
#PARTUUID=ad09722e-01 /boot vfat defaults 0 2
#PARTUUID=ad09722e-02 / ext4 defaults,noatime 0 1
EOF
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_rsa_key -N '' -t rsa
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_dsa_key -N '' -t dsa
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ecdsa_key -N '' -t ecdsa
ssh-keygen -f /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key -N '' -t ed25519
mkdir -p /etc/network/interfaces.d/
cat <<EOF > /etc/network/interfaces.d/enp0s1
allow-hotplug enp0s1
iface enp0s1 inet dhcp
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
EOF
cat <<EOF >> /etc/dhcpcd.conf
# add fixed IP
interface enp0s1
static ip_address=192.168.64.10/24
EOF
# put mac host ${HOME}/.ssh/id.rsa.pub key here
mkdir -p /root/.ssh
cat <<EOF > /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
ssh-rsa <mac id.rsa.pub key here>
EOF
# add IP when login prompt
cat <<EOF >> /etc/issue
enp0s1: \4
EOF
exit
umount /dev/vda
(10) login raspberry OS arm64 with id root and password root
# stop the vm and restart the vm with
cd ${HOME}/debianvm
${HOME}/vftool/build/Release/vftool -k vmlinuz -i initrd -d raspberry-arm64.img -m 2048 -a "console=hvc0 root=/dev/vda rw"
# set date say
date -s "29 DEC 2020 14:54:00"
resize2fs /dev/vda
dpkg-reconfigure tzdata # set timezone
apt update
systemctl disable rpi-eeprom-update.service
systemctl disable rng-tools.service
(11) install utilities in raspberry os that can handle qcow2 disk image conversion and resize
apt install qemu-utils libguestfs-tools
hostname -I # get ip address
(13) Install Realvncserver and connect from Mac
passwd pi # set user pi password
# login as user pi
login pi
# Use raspi-config to enable SSH and VNC
sudo apt install realvnc-vnc-server
sudo raspi-config
# Choose 5 Interfacing Options -> P2 SSH
# Choose 5 Interfacing Options -> P3 VNC
# enter vnc key, can put this in /etc/rc.local without sudo
sudo vnclicense -add VKUPN-MTHHC-UDHGS-UWD76-6N36A
# setup vncpasswd for user mode, only user mode can run browser
vncpasswd -user
# edit config file to have these two lines for vnc password auth
echo -e "Authentication=VncAuth" | tee -a ~/.vnc/config.d/vncserver-x11
echo -e "Encryption=PreferOff" | tee -a ~/.vnc/config.d/vncserver-x11
cp ~/.vnc/config.d/vncserver-x11 ~/.vnc/config.d/Xvnc
# start service
vncserver
#put these in rc.local to automate after reboot, Raspberry Pi hardware has bundled vnclicense and no need to add it
/usr/bin/vnclicense -add VKUPN-MTHHC-UDHGS-UWD76-6N36A
sudo -H -u pi /usr/bin/vncserver
#check which port is listening
netstat -tlpn | grep -i listen
This would configure VNC in
Virtual Mode
# Screen Sharing Connect from Mac
# In Finder, Go -> Connect to Server, enter IP address and port number of the vm e.g.
# Enter the vncpassword to connect, and connection needs port number
vnc://192.168.64.10:5901
For configuring VNC in
Service Mode, please refer to https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/remote-access/vnc/
For differences in these modes, please refer to https://help.realvnc.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002253238-Understanding-VNC-Server-Modes
#Start or stop the service with:
# systemctl (start|stop) vncserver-x11-serviced.service
#Mark or unmark the service to be started at boot time with:
# systemctl (enable|disable) vncserver-x11-serviced.service
#sudo systemctl start vncserver-x11-serviced.service
For Service Mode the connection from Mac is (no port number), vnc://192.168.64.10
If you need port forwarding on macOS, so that you can vnc connect from other machines on the LAN to this vm, see this article
https://www.papercut.com/kb/Main/MacPortForwarding
That is run
echo "
rdr pass on lo0 inet proto tcp from any to self port 5910 -> 192.168.64.10 port 5901
rdr pass on en0 inet proto tcp from any to any port 5910 -> 192.168.64.10 port 5901
rdr pass on wlan0 inet proto tcp from any to any port 5910 -> 192.168.64.10 port 5901
" | sudo pfctl -ef -
Then, test connect from other machines to
:5901 on the LAN.
# To install Visual Studio Code
wget -O code_arm64.deb https://aka.ms/linux-arm64-deb && sudo dpkg -i code_arm64.deb && rm code_arm64.deb
sed 's/BIG-REQUESTS/_IG-REQUESTS/' /usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libxcb.so.1.1.0 | sudo tee /usr/share/code/libxcb.so.1 > /dev/null
Demo - VNC to rapberrypi desktop vm screen capture
P.S. Only vm can run realvncserver, docker environment can only run lightweight vncserver e.g. tightvncserver
(14) For qcow2 image, the conversion to raw image is
wget https://cloud.debian.org/images/cloud/buster/20201214-484/debian-10-generic-arm64-20201214-484.qcow2
qemu-img dd -f qcow2 -O raw bs=64k if=debian-10-generic-arm64-20201214-484.qcow2 of=debian-10.img
# scp debian-10.img to the Mac Mini host and prepare a new expanded debian-arm64.img similar to the raspberry-arm64.img as above
# After restarting vm and mounting images, the dd command to extract rootfs is
# Assume debian-arm64.img is vdb and debian-10.img is vdc
dd if=/dev/vdc1 of=/dev/vdb bs=64K conv=noerror,sync
# For debian image, add this to /etc/hosts
127.0.1.1 debian
