How to use Windows 10 OEM license in libvirt VM (<smbios mode='host' /> does not work as Windows seems to verify UUID; apparmor/security configuration changes may be needed)

domain.xml

<domain type='kvm' xmlns:qemu='http://libvirt.org/schemas/domain/qemu/1.0'>
  <!-- ... -->
  <qemu:commandline>
    <qemu:arg value='-acpitable'/>
    <qemu:arg value='file=/some/path/slic.bin'/>
    <qemu:arg value='-acpitable'/>
    <qemu:arg value='file=/some/path/msdm.bin'/>
    <qemu:arg value='-smbios'/>
    <qemu:arg value='file=/some/path/smbios_type_0.bin'/>
    <qemu:arg value='-smbios'/>
    <qemu:arg value='file=/some/path/smbios_type_1.bin'/>
  </qemu:commandline>
</domain>

slic-dump

#!/bin/bash

set -e

cat /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/SLIC > slic.bin
cat /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM > msdm.bin
dmidecode -t 0 -u | grep $'^\t\t[^"]' | xargs -n1 | perl -lne 'printf "%c", hex($_)' > smbios_type_0.bin
dmidecode -t 1 -u | grep $'^\t\t[^"]' | xargs -n1 | perl -lne 'printf "%c", hex($_)' > smbios_type_1.bin

@sun-jiao it depends on the hardware how it is implemented. It is also probably different for different OS versions (depending what OS the OEM licence is for). Technically all that is required for OEM licence to work is a machine unique ID (which is then used to activate over the internet), but some computers also have a digital signature that can be verified by the Microsoft cert.

Thanks. I am wondering if it's possible to write a SLIC file manually based on the infos displayed in UEFI.

Thanks. I am wondering if it's possible to write a SLIC file manually based on the infos displayed in UEFI.

Why? If your licence is activated and the file does not exist then it is not used.

Thanks. I am wondering if it's possible to write a SLIC file manually based on the infos displayed in UEFI.

Why? If your licence is activated and the file does not exist then it is not used.

OK, I have understood now.

Note that this is a much better (and doesn't accidentally corrupt) way to generate the smbios extracts:

dmidecode -t 0 -u | awk '/^\t\t[0-9A-F][0-9A-F]( |$)/' | xxd -r -p > smbios_type_0.bin
dmidecode -t 1 -u | awk '/^\t\t[0-9A-F][0-9A-F]( |$)/' | xxd -r -p > smbios_type_1.bin

I expanded this to work with Proxmox - https://gist.github.com/xrobau/d98fe46c4677e46577ba2f20f35b783b

slic doesn't exist for me, do I just remove it or is there an alternative?

slic doesn't exist for me, do I just remove it or is there an alternative?

This is expected for newer windows versions. Just skip it and use what you have.

If you're using virt-manager and the configuration is not applying, or if you then drop down to virsh and it fails with:

$ virsh -c qemu:///system edit win11
error: XML document failed to validate against schema: Unable to validate doc against /usr/share/libvirt/schemas/domain.rng
Element domain has extra content: qemu:commandline

Failed. Try again? [y,n,i,f,?]: 

keep in mind that the xmlns:qemu='http://libvirt.org/schemas/domain/qemu/1.0' at the root of the configuration is not fluff and is likely missing from yours. After I added this manually and booted the VM, Windows 11 activated for me.

I'm getting some errors when try to dump the smbios_type_1.bin table. My laptop is a Dell G5 5590.

dmidecode -t 1 -u | grep $'^\t\t[^"]' | xargs -n1 | perl -lne 'printf "%c", hex($_)' > smbios_type_1.bin
Wide character in printf at -e line 1, <> line 58.
Wide character in printf at -e line 1, <> line 64.

Is it really needed? Is any workaround?

Using perl's catch-all -CSDA approach works for me..
dmidecode -t 1 -u | grep $'^\t\t[^"]' | xargs -n1 | perl -CSDA -lne 'printf "%c", hex($_)' > smbios_type_1.bin