Virt-manager missing architecture types

I am running 21.10 with virt-manager 3.2.0. I have installed: qemu-system-aarch64 qemu-system-i386 qemu-system-x86_64-microvm qemu-system-arm qemu-system-x86_64 qemu-system-x86_64-spice

dpkg -l | grep qemu-system:

    ii  qemu-block-extra                           1:6.0+dfsg-2expubuntu1.1                   amd64        extra block backend modules for qemu-system and qemu-utils
ii  qemu-system-arm                            1:6.0+dfsg-2expubuntu1.1                   amd64        QEMU full system emulation binaries (arm)
ii  qemu-system-common                         1:6.0+dfsg-2expubuntu1.1                   amd64        QEMU full system emulation binaries (common files)
ii  qemu-system-data                           1:6.0+dfsg-2expubuntu1.1                   all          QEMU full system emulation (data files)
ii  qemu-system-gui:amd64                      1:6.0+dfsg-2expubuntu1.1                   amd64        QEMU full system emulation binaries (user interface and audio support)
ii  qemu-system-x86                            1:6.0+dfsg-2expubuntu1.1                   amd64        QEMU full system emulation binaries (x86)

When I first ran virt-manager, there was no "Architecture Options". Every time I attempted to build a VM, it would default to "x86_64". I then discovered, I did not have qemu-system-arm installed. So, I installed it. I then had "Architecture Options" available with: x86_64, aarch64, arm and armv6l. Still, no "i386".

So, I tried reinstalling "qemu-system-i386". Now, apt gives me "Note, selecting 'qemu-system-x86' instead of 'qemu-system-i386'". But, "qemu-system-x86" is not in my /usr/bin directory...and I was under the impression "qemu-system-i386" replaced the "qemu-kvm" driver.

I then tried directly installing "qemu-system-x86" with apt. It says it installed, but I still do not have it listed in my /usr/bin.

I've been at this all day and cannot figure out what I am missing to get virt-manager to poll through the available architectures on my desktop. Any help would be awesome.

The package qemu-system-x86 contains both qemu-system-i386 as well as qemu-system-x86_64. so it isn't that you'd miss one.

But generally /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 is the "real system hipervisor" much more tested, and even a 32bit OS can run just fine in it (just like you can run that older OS on a modern bare metal system as x86 is backwards compatible).

In most cases the i386 binary isn't what you think it is, it is emulation of 32bit :-) For that also see those similar topics:

• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=446817
• https://rwmj.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/32-or-64-bit-virtual-cpu-in-kvm/

Therefore virt-manager and libvirt rightfully default to /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 as it will work (most likely better) for both 32 and 64 bit guests.

If you have a strict need to "only provide 32bit" to the guest - you can after creation in the XML view of virt-manager change it to <type arch="i686" ... and <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-i386</emulator>

Also as outlined in one of the references above, you might want to set the CPU type - to do so at the end of the virt-manager guest creation select "Customize guest" and in the CPU section you can disable "Copy host CPU" which makes you able to select various old types leading to the guest seeing a reduced cpu feature sets.