SDL fallback, partition fix, lz4 remote streaming, delay-oobe-run

SDL display:
- try SDL, auto-fallback to headless if it fails (no crash)
- SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11 to avoid wayland socket path issues
- suppress XDG_RUNTIME_DIR warnings

Disk copy:
- zap-all before writing to clear old partition tables
- delete recovery partition (4) before resizing partition 3
- use parted resizepart (preserves partition GUID for BCD)
- remote: nix-shell for sgdisk/parted/ntfsresize on target
- remote: lz4 compression for faster streaming
- remote: pv progress bar with disk size
- -y/--yes flag to skip confirmation prompt

Generalize:
- delay-oobe-run=true defers OOBE + activation to real hardware
- clean cached Autounattend from Windows\Panther before sysprep
- taskkill sysprep.exe on first login (CopyProfile artifact)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

flake.nix

@@ -29,16 +29,19 @@
         echo "  vmix build --image <path> [--generalize key=val,...] [--out-link PATH]"
         echo "  vmix copy  --image <path> [--generalize key=val,...] --to-disk /dev/sdX"
         echo "  vmix copy  --image <path> [--generalize key=val,...] --to-remote-disk user@host:/dev/sdX"
+        echo "  vmix run   <qcow2-file> [--mem 4096] [--smp 4] [--snapshot]"
         echo ""
         echo "Commands:"
         echo "  build   Build a vmix image (optionally generalized)"
         echo "  copy    Build a vmix image and write it to a disk"
+        echo "  run     Boot a qcow2 image with QEMU (SDL if DISPLAY available)"
         echo ""
         echo "Options:"
         echo "  --image PATH              Image path in vmixLib (e.g. windows.images.win10.laptop)"
-        echo "  --generalize KEY=VAL,...   Generalize with comma-separated options:"
+        echo "  --generalize KEY=VAL,...   Finalize image with comma-separated options:"
-        echo "                              username=User  password=  hostname=WIN-PC"
+        echo "                              username=User  password=  hostname=PC"
         echo "                              timezone=UTC   bgColor=8e8cd8"
+        echo "                              delay-oobe-run=true  (OOBE + activation on real hardware)"
         echo "  --to-disk DEVICE          Write to local disk and expand partitions"
         echo "  --to-remote-disk SSH:DEV  Stream to remote disk via SSH and expand partitions"
         echo "                              e.g. root@10.10.10.100:/dev/sda"
@@ -63,15 +66,67 @@
       COMMAND="$1"; shift
 
       case "$COMMAND" in
-        build|copy) ;;
+        build|copy|run) ;;
         --help|-h)  usage ;;
         *)          echo "Unknown command: $COMMAND"; usage ;;
       esac
 
+      # --- run command ---
+      if [[ "$COMMAND" == "run" ]]; then
+        [[ ''${#} -lt 1 ]] && { echo "Error: vmix run <qcow2-file-or-image-name> [--mem 4096] [--smp 4]"; exit 1; }
+        RUN_INPUT="$1"; shift
+        RUN_MEM=4096
+        RUN_SMP=4
+        while [[ ''${#} -gt 0 ]]; do
+          case "$1" in
+            --mem) RUN_MEM="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+            --smp) RUN_SMP="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+            *)     echo "Unknown option: $1"; exit 1 ;;
+          esac
+        done
+
+        RUN_IMAGE="$RUN_INPUT"
+        [[ ! -f "$RUN_IMAGE" ]] && { echo "Error: file not found: $RUN_IMAGE"; exit 1; }
+
+        VMIX_DISPLAY="-nographic"
+        if [[ -n "''${DISPLAY:-}" ]]; then
+          VMIX_DISPLAY="-display sdl"
+        fi
+
+        cp ${pkgs.OVMF.fd}/FV/OVMF_VARS.fd /tmp/vmix-run-vars-$$.fd
+        chmod +w /tmp/vmix-run-vars-$$.fd
+        trap 'rm -f /tmp/vmix-run-vars-$$.fd' EXIT
+
+        echo "=== vmix run ==="
+        echo "Image:   $RUN_IMAGE"
+        echo "Memory:  $RUN_MEM MB"
+        echo "CPUs:    $RUN_SMP"
+        echo "Display: $VMIX_DISPLAY"
+        echo ""
+
+        exec ${pkgs.qemu}/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 \
+          $VMIX_DISPLAY \
+          -accel kvm \
+          -m "$RUN_MEM" \
+          -smp "$RUN_SMP" \
+          -cpu host \
+          -machine type=q35 \
+          -drive if=pflash,format=raw,readonly=on,file=${pkgs.OVMF.fd}/FV/OVMF_CODE.fd \
+          -drive if=pflash,format=raw,file=/tmp/vmix-run-vars-$$.fd \
+          -rtc base=localtime,clock=host \
+          -device qemu-xhci -device usb-tablet \
+          -drive file="$RUN_IMAGE",format=qcow2,if=virtio,snapshot=on \
+          -nic user,model=virtio-net-pci \
+          -device virtio-serial-pci \
+          -chardev spicevmc,id=vdagent,debug=0,name=vdagent \
+          -device virtserialport,chardev=vdagent,name=com.redhat.spice.0
+      fi
+
       IMAGE_NAME=""
       GENERALIZE=""
       TO_DISK=""
       TO_REMOTE_DISK=""
+      YES=false
       OUT_LINK="./result"
 
       while [[ ''${#} -gt 0 ]]; do
@@ -80,6 +135,7 @@
           --generalize)      GENERALIZE="$2"; shift 2 ;;
           --to-disk)         TO_DISK="$2"; shift 2 ;;
           --to-remote-disk)  TO_REMOTE_DISK="$2"; shift 2 ;;
+          -y|--yes)          YES=true; shift ;;
           --out-link)        OUT_LINK="$2"; shift 2 ;;
           --help|-h)         usage ;;
           *)                 echo "Unknown option: $1"; usage ;;
@@ -101,8 +157,14 @@
         for pair in "''${PAIRS[@]}"; do
           key="''${pair%%=*}"
           val="''${pair#*=}"
+          if [[ "$val" == "true" || "$val" == "false" ]]; then
+            NIX_ARGS+="$key = $val; "
+          else
             NIX_ARGS+="$key = \"$val\"; "
+          fi
         done
+        # CLI delay-oobe-run → nix delayOobeRun
+        NIX_ARGS="''${NIX_ARGS//delay-oobe-run/delayOobeRun}"
         GENERALIZE_EXPR=".generalize { $NIX_ARGS }"
       fi
 
@@ -152,17 +214,24 @@
         echo "Target: $TO_DISK ($DISK_SIZE_GB GB)"
         echo ""
         echo "WARNING: This will DESTROY all data on $TO_DISK"
+        if [[ "$YES" != "true" ]]; then
           read -rp "Continue? [y/N] " confirm
           [[ "$confirm" != "y" && "$confirm" != "Y" ]] && { echo "Aborted."; exit 0; }
+        fi
 
         echo ""
-        echo "[1/4] Writing image to disk..."
+        echo "[1/5] Wiping partition table..."
+        ${pkgs.gptfdisk}/bin/sgdisk --zap-all "$TO_DISK"
+
+        echo "[2/5] Writing image to disk..."
         ${pkgs.qemu}/bin/qemu-img convert -p -S 4k -f qcow2 -O raw "$IMAGE_FILE" "$TO_DISK"
 
-        echo "[2/4] Fixing GPT backup header..."
+        echo "[3/5] Fixing GPT backup header..."
         ${pkgs.gptfdisk}/bin/sgdisk -e "$TO_DISK"
+        # delete recovery partition if present, then resize Windows partition
+        ${pkgs.gptfdisk}/bin/sgdisk -d 4 "$TO_DISK" 2>/dev/null || true
 
-        echo "[3/4] Expanding Windows partition (partition 3) to fill disk..."
+        echo "[4/5] Expanding Windows partition (partition 3)..."
         ${pkgs.parted}/bin/parted -s "$TO_DISK" resizepart 3 100%
 
         if [[ "$TO_DISK" == *nvme* ]] || [[ "$TO_DISK" == *mmcblk* ]]; then
@@ -171,7 +240,7 @@
           WIN_PART="''${TO_DISK}3"
         fi
 
-        echo "[4/4] Expanding NTFS filesystem on $WIN_PART..."
+        echo "[5/5] Expanding NTFS filesystem on $WIN_PART..."
         ${pkgs.ntfs3g}/bin/ntfsresize --force --no-action "$WIN_PART"
         echo "y" | ${pkgs.ntfs3g}/bin/ntfsresize --force "$WIN_PART"
 
@@ -192,19 +261,28 @@
         echo "Disk:   $REMOTE_DISK"
         echo ""
         echo "WARNING: This will DESTROY all data on $REMOTE_HOST:$REMOTE_DISK"
+        if [[ "$YES" != "true" ]]; then
           read -rp "Continue? [y/N] " confirm
           [[ "$confirm" != "y" && "$confirm" != "Y" ]] && { echo "Aborted."; exit 0; }
+        fi
 
         echo ""
-        echo "[1/4] Streaming image to remote disk..."
+        echo "[1/5] Wiping partition table..."
-        ${pkgs.qemu}/bin/qemu-img convert -f qcow2 -O raw "$IMAGE_FILE" /dev/stdout \
+        ssh "$REMOTE_HOST" "sgdisk --zap-all $REMOTE_DISK"
-          | ssh "$REMOTE_HOST" "dd of=$REMOTE_DISK bs=4M status=progress oflag=direct"
 
-        echo "[2/4] Fixing GPT backup header..."
+        echo "[2/5] Streaming image to remote disk..."
-        ssh "$REMOTE_HOST" "sgdisk -e $REMOTE_DISK"
+        NBD_SOCK="/tmp/vmix-nbd-$$.sock"
-
+        ${pkgs.qemu}/bin/qemu-nbd --read-only -f qcow2 -k "$NBD_SOCK" "$IMAGE_FILE" &
-        echo "[3/4] Expanding Windows partition (partition 3) to fill disk..."
+        NBD_PID=$!
-        ssh "$REMOTE_HOST" "parted -s $REMOTE_DISK resizepart 3 100%"
+        trap "kill $NBD_PID 2>/dev/null; rm -f $NBD_SOCK" EXIT
+        while [ ! -S "$NBD_SOCK" ]; do sleep 0.1; done
+        DISK_SIZE=$(${pkgs.libnbd}/bin/nbdinfo --size "nbd+unix:///?socket=$NBD_SOCK")
+        ${pkgs.libnbd}/bin/nbdcopy --request-size=4194304 "nbd+unix:///?socket=$NBD_SOCK" - \
+          | ${pkgs.pv}/bin/pv -s "$DISK_SIZE" \
+          | ${pkgs.lib.getBin pkgs.lz4}/bin/lz4 -1 - \
+          | ssh "$REMOTE_HOST" "nix-shell -p lz4 --run 'lz4 -d - - | dd of=$REMOTE_DISK bs=4M iflag=fullblock oflag=direct conv=sparse'"
+        kill $NBD_PID 2>/dev/null || true
+        rm -f "$NBD_SOCK"
 
         if [[ "$REMOTE_DISK" == *nvme* ]] || [[ "$REMOTE_DISK" == *mmcblk* ]]; then
           REMOTE_WIN_PART="''${REMOTE_DISK}p3"
@@ -212,8 +290,14 @@
           REMOTE_WIN_PART="''${REMOTE_DISK}3"
         fi
 
-        echo "[4/4] Expanding NTFS filesystem on $REMOTE_WIN_PART..."
+        echo "[3/5] Fixing GPT backup header..."
-        ssh "$REMOTE_HOST" "echo y | ntfsresize --force $REMOTE_WIN_PART"
+        ssh "$REMOTE_HOST" "nix-shell -p gptfdisk --run 'sgdisk -e $REMOTE_DISK && sgdisk -d 4 $REMOTE_DISK 2>/dev/null || true'"
+
+        echo "[4/5] Expanding Windows partition (partition 3)..."
+        ssh "$REMOTE_HOST" "nix-shell -p parted --run 'parted -s $REMOTE_DISK resizepart 3 100%'"
+
+        echo "[5/5] Expanding NTFS filesystem on $REMOTE_WIN_PART..."
+        ssh "$REMOTE_HOST" "nix-shell -p ntfs3g --run 'echo y | ntfsresize --force $REMOTE_WIN_PART'"
 
         echo ""
         echo "Done. $REMOTE_HOST:$REMOTE_DISK is ready to boot."

lib/images/windows/helpers/customizeImage.nix

@@ -80,31 +80,36 @@
       chmod +w vars.fd
 
       VMIX_DISPLAY="-nographic"
-      ${lib.optionalString (displayArg != null) ''VMIX_DISPLAY="${displayArg}"''}
+      ${lib.optionalString (vncDisplay != null) ''VMIX_DISPLAY="-vnc ${vncDisplay}"''}
-      ${lib.optionalString (displayArg == null) ''
+      ${lib.optionalString (vncDisplay == null) ''
         VMIX_DF=$(ls -t /tmp/.vmix-display-* 2>/dev/null | head -1)
         if [ -n "$VMIX_DF" ]; then
           export DISPLAY=$(cat "$VMIX_DF")
+          export HOME=$(mktemp -d)
+          export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$HOME
+          export SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11
           VMIX_DISPLAY="-display sdl"
         fi
       ''}
 
       echo "=== vmix: booting Audit Mode for ${name} ==="
-      timeout 1800 qemu-system-x86_64 \
+      QEMU_ARGS="-accel kvm -m ${toString memSize} -smp ${toString smp} -cpu host -machine type=q35 \
-        $VMIX_DISPLAY \
-        -accel kvm \
-        -m ${toString memSize} \
-        -smp ${toString smp} \
-        -cpu host \
-        -machine type=q35 \
         -drive if=pflash,format=raw,readonly=on,file=${pkgs.OVMF.fd}/FV/OVMF_CODE.fd \
         -drive if=pflash,format=raw,file=vars.fd \
         -rtc base=localtime,clock=host \
         -device qemu-xhci -device usb-tablet \
-        -global ICH9-LMB.disable_s3=1 -global ICH9-LMB.disable_s4=1 \
         -drive file=${resultImg},format=qcow2,if=virtio \
         ${cdromArgs} \
-        -nic user,model=virtio-net-pci
+        -nic user,model=virtio-net-pci"
+
+      timeout 1800 qemu-system-x86_64 $VMIX_DISPLAY $QEMU_ARGS || \
+        if [[ "$VMIX_DISPLAY" == "-display sdl" ]]; then
+          echo "=== vmix: SDL failed, retrying headless ==="
+          cp ${pkgs.OVMF.fd}/FV/OVMF_VARS.fd vars.fd && chmod +w vars.fd
+          timeout 1800 qemu-system-x86_64 -nographic $QEMU_ARGS
+        else
+          exit 1
+        fi
 
       echo "=== vmix: audit script ${name} complete ==="
     '';

lib/images/windows/helpers/makeImage.nix

@@ -51,28 +51,33 @@ let
       VMIX_DF=$(ls -t /tmp/.vmix-display-* 2>/dev/null | head -1)
       if [ -n "$VMIX_DF" ]; then
         export DISPLAY=$(cat "$VMIX_DF")
+        export HOME=$(mktemp -d)
+        export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=$HOME
+        export SDL_VIDEODRIVER=x11
         VMIX_DISPLAY="-display sdl"
       fi
     ''}
 
     # Windows installs unattended, reboots into Audit Mode,
     # deletes cached Autounattend, shuts down → QEMU exits.
-    timeout 3600 qemu-system-x86_64 \
+    QEMU_ARGS="-accel kvm -m ${toString memSize} -smp ${toString smp} -cpu host -machine type=q35 \
-      $VMIX_DISPLAY \
-      -accel kvm \
-      -m ${toString memSize} \
-      -smp ${toString smp} \
-      -cpu host \
-      -machine type=q35 \
       -drive if=pflash,format=raw,readonly=on,file=${pkgs.OVMF.fd}/FV/OVMF_CODE.fd \
       -drive if=pflash,format=raw,file=vars.fd \
       -rtc base=localtime,clock=host \
       -device qemu-xhci -device usb-tablet \
-      -global ICH9-LMB.disable_s3=1 -global ICH9-LMB.disable_s4=1 \
       -drive file=disk.qcow2,format=qcow2,if=virtio \
       -drive file=${iso},media=cdrom,readonly=on \
       -drive file=${drivers.virtio-iso},media=cdrom,readonly=on \
-      -nic user,model=virtio-net-pci
+      -nic user,model=virtio-net-pci"
+
+    timeout 3600 qemu-system-x86_64 $VMIX_DISPLAY $QEMU_ARGS || \
+      if [[ "$VMIX_DISPLAY" == "-display sdl" ]]; then
+        echo "=== vmix: SDL failed, retrying headless ==="
+        cp ${pkgs.OVMF.fd}/FV/OVMF_VARS.fd vars.fd && chmod +w vars.fd
+        timeout 3600 qemu-system-x86_64 -nographic $QEMU_ARGS
+      else
+        exit 1
+      fi
 
     echo "=== vmix: ${name} install complete ==="
     mv disk.qcow2 $out

lib/images/windows/templates/default.nix

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ in rec {
     vcppRuntimes    = import ./essentials/vcpp-runtimes.nix args;
     bestPerformance      = import ./essentials/best-performance.nix args;
     clearFileAssociations = import ./essentials/clear-file-associations.nix args;
+    virtioDrivers   = import ./essentials/virtio-drivers.nix args;
   };
 
   # Applications
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ in rec {
   # Default file associations policy
   defaultApps = import ./default-apps.nix args;
 
-  # Generalize (sysprep + OOBE)
+  # Generalize (sysprep + OOBE). Pass seal=true for hardware deployment.
   generalize = import ./generalize.nix args;
 
   # Offline registry templates
@@ -59,10 +60,10 @@ in rec {
       reg.performanceTweaks
       apps.edgeWebview
       apps.thorium
-      apps.sandboxie
       apps.sevenZip
       apps.vlc
       apps.imageGlass
+      essentials.virtioDrivers # needed for network during Office download
       apps.office
     ];
   };

lib/images/windows/templates/essentials/virtio-drivers.nix

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Install VirtIO drivers only (no guest agent or SPICE)
+# Used during build for network access, not needed on real hardware
+{ drivers, ... }:
+{
+  name = "virtio-drv";
+  cdroms = [ drivers.virtio-iso ];
+  auditScript = ''
+    @echo off
+    if exist D:\cert\virtio_win_cert.cer (
+      certutil -addstore TrustedPublisher D:\cert\virtio_win_cert.cer
+    )
+    :: Install drivers via pnputil (network, storage, balloon, serial)
+    for %%d in (NetKVM vioinput viostor vioscsi Balloon vioserial) do (
+      if exist "D:\%%d\w10\amd64" pnputil /add-driver "D:\%%d\w10\amd64\*.inf" /install 2>nul
+      if exist "D:\%%d\w11\amd64" pnputil /add-driver "D:\%%d\w11\amd64\*.inf" /install 2>nul
+    )
+  '';
+}

lib/images/windows/templates/generalize.nix

@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ in
   timezone ? "UTC",
   # Desktop background solid color as hex string (e.g. "8e8cd8")
   bgColor ? null,
+  # delayOobeRun = true: sysprep only, OOBE + activation on real hardware
+  # delayOobeRun = false: sysprep + OOBE + activation in build VM
+  delayOobeRun ? false,
 }: let
   # Convert "8e8cd8" hex to "142 140 216" decimal RGB for Windows registry
   hexToRgbStr = hex: let
@@ -50,6 +53,12 @@ in
     reg add "HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop" /v WallpaperStyle /t REG_SZ /d "0" /f
     ''}
 
+    :: Kill sysprep if it was triggered via CopyProfile'd startup entries
+    taskkill /f /im sysprep.exe 2>nul
+    :: Clean any leftover RunOnce/Run entries from audit phase
+    reg delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce" /v "vmixAudit" /f 2>nul
+    reg delete "HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v "vmixAudit" /f 2>nul
+
     :: Remove Edge AppxPackage for current user (runs in user context during OOBE)
     :: The app is already removed on one of the templates but a ghost appx entry remains that can only be deleted at the user level
     powershell -Command "Get-AppxPackage *MicrosoftEdge* | Remove-AppxPackage -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue"
@@ -74,7 +83,7 @@ in
     del /q C:\vmix-audit-script.cmd 2>nul
     del /q C:\vmix-audit-wrapper.cmd 2>nul
 
-    shutdown /s /t 5 /c "vmix generalize complete"
+    ${if delayOobeRun then "" else "shutdown /s /t 5 /c \"vmix generalize complete\""}
     del /q C:\post-oobe.cmd 2>nul
   '';
 
@@ -145,16 +154,21 @@ in
     </unattend>
   '';
 in {
-  name = "generalize";
+  name = if delayOobeRun then "generalize-delay-oobe" else "generalize";
   uploads = [
     { source = oobeXml; dest = "/oobe-unattend.xml"; }
     { source = postOobeScript; dest = "/post-oobe.cmd"; }
     { source = masScript; dest = "/MAS_AIO.cmd"; }
   ];
-  # Sysprep reboots into OOBE within the same QEMU session
+  # delayOobeRun: sysprep + shutdown — OOBE runs on real hardware
+  # generalize: sysprep + reboot into OOBE in the same QEMU session
   auditScript = ''
     @echo off
-    C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe /reboot /quiet /unattend:C:\oobe-unattend.xml
+    :: Remove cached Autounattend from initial install (contains Audit Mode reseal)
+    del /q C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml 2>nul
+    del /q C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend\unattend.xml 2>nul
+    del /q C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\Panther\unattend.xml 2>nul
+    C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /oobe ${if delayOobeRun then "/shutdown" else "/reboot"} /quiet /unattend:C:\oobe-unattend.xml
   '';
 }