How to install virtio-win on Windows Guests without exposing the ISO from the hypervisor?

Solution Verified - Updated

Environment

  • Microsoft Windows 10
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform
  • Red Hat Virtualization
  • Red Hat Openshift Container Platform
    • Openshift Virtualization

Issue

  • How to install virtio-win without having hypervisor or guest configuration access?
  • Without admin rights to the virtualization platform, how can one install or update virtio-win drivers just by having access to the guest?

Resolution

NOTE: this solution requires network access and console access to the guest. Work is being done to provide easier to consume Windows executables, use the below as a workaround in the meantime.

1. From within the Guest, naviate to This content is not included.Red Hat Package Browser
2. Search for 'virtio-win' and download the desired version RPM.
3. Using Content from www.7-zip.org is not included.7-Zip or similar, right click the download RPM and select extract. This will extract a CPIO file.
4. Again using 7-Zip, right click on the CPIO file from the previous step and select extract again.
5. On the extracted location, navigate to usr/share/virtio-win. Inside this folder there is a ISO (Disk Image File) named virtio-win. Right click it and select "Mount".
6. In My Computer, the ISO is now mounted and can be used as a CD-ROM device. Double click virtio-win-guest-tools and the wizard to install Guest agent and drivers should load. Follow the documentation of the respective Red Hat product for further information if needed.

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