Uninstall Qubes-Whonix ™
From Whonix
< Qubes
Introduction[edit]
This procedure is useful before a complete re-installation of Qubes-Whonix ™. [1]
Alternatively, it is possible to Reinstall Qubes-Whonix ™ TemplateVMs without a complete uninstallation of Whonix ™ as documented on this page.
Before Qubes-Whonix ™ TemplateVM packages can be uninstalled, the TemplateVM must not be used as the underlying template by any VMs. Otherwise Qubes prohibits removal. Therefore, choose either to delete the VMs as documented below, or follow the step to: Stop using Whonix ™ TemplateVMs in VM Template Settings.
Users can replace version 15
with 14
or any other version number if that is the goal.
Whonix-Workstation ™ Removal[edit]
Remove Whonix-Workstation ™ TemplateBasedAppVMs[edit]
The anon-whonix
Whonix-Workstation ™ TemplateBasedAppVM [2] must be manually removed. Alternatively, you can Stop using Whonix ™ TemplateVMs in VM Template Settings.
In the case of previously used anon-whonix
, strongly consider backups of any important files before proceeding.
1. Remove anon-whonix
.
Qube Manager
→ right-click Whonix ™ TemplateBasedAppVM
anon-whonix
→ Delete qube
[3]
2. Repeat the above step for any other TemplateBasedAppVMs based on Whonix-Workstation ™ TemplateVM whonix-ws-15
that you might have created earlier. Replace vm-name
with the actual name of the VM.
Qube Manager
→ right-click Whonix ™ TemplateBasedAppVM
vm-name
→ Delete qube
[4]
Remove the Whonix-Workstation ™ DisposableVM Template[edit]
The whonix-ws-15-dvm
domain must be manually removed. Alternatively, you can Stop using Whonix ™ TemplateVMs in VM Template Settings.
In the case of customized Whonix-Workstation ™ DVM template, strongly consider backups of any important files before proceeding.
Launch a dom0
terminal.
Click the Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q")
→ Open the Terminal Emulator (Xfce Terminal)
1. Set the default DispVM for anon-whonix
to ""
. This is only required if you chose to skip removal of anon-whonix
as documented above.
qvm-prefs anon-whonix default_dispvm ""
2. Repeat the above step for all other TemplateBasedAppVMs that are based on Whonix-Workstation ™ TemplateVM whonix-ws-15
that you might have created earlier. Replace vm-name
with the actual name of the VM.
qvm-prefs vm-name default_dispvm ""
3. Set the default DispVM for whonix-ws-15-dvm
to ""
.
qvm-prefs whonix-ws-15-dvm default_dispvm ""
4. Remove whonix-ws-15-dvm
.
qvm-remove whonix-ws-15-dvm
5. The process of removing whonix-ws-15-dvm
is now complete.
Whonix-Gateway ™ Removal[edit]
Stop using Whonix-Gateway ™ as Qubes UpdateVM[edit]
Set Qubes dom0 UpdateVM to sys-firewall
or any VM of your choice.
Note: Upgrades will be no longer torified.
This is only required if you previously elected to update dom0 through Whonix ™. In any case it is a good idea to check the Qubes dom0 UpdateVM setting.
Qubes Manager
→ System
→ Global Settings
→ Dom0 UpdateVM:
sys-firewall
→ OK
[5]
Stop using Whonix-Gateway ™ as NetVM for any VM[edit]
If you configured any VM to use sys-whonix
as NetVM, this change needs to be undone.
Note: The VM's traffic will be no longer torified.
This is only required if you previously elected to torify a VMs network traffic through Whonix ™. In any case it is a good idea to check the NetVM setting of Qubes VMs.
To set the NetVM of any VM to None
, in other words, to disable networking.
Qube Manager
→ right-click
vm-name
→ Qube settings
→ NetVM
→ None
→ OK
[6]
Alternatively, you can set the NetVM
to sys-firewall
or another ProxyVM of your choice. However, traffic will not be torified (unless you are using cloned VMs).
Remove Whonix-Gateway ™ TemplateBasedProxyVMs[edit]
The sys-whonix
Whonix-Gateway ™ TemplateBasedProxyVM [2] must be manually removed. Alternatively, you could Stop using Whonix ™ TemplateVMs in VM Template Settings.
In the case of a previously used sys-whonix
ProxyVM, consider backups before proceeding. This might be a custom Tor configuration, Onion Services configuration, Bridges configuration or Tor data to persist Tor Entry Guards.
1. Remove sys-whonix
.
Qube Manager
→ right-click
sys-whonix
→ Delete qube
[7]
2. Repeat the above step for any other TemplateBasedProxyVM based on Whonix-Gateway ™ TemplateVM whonix-gw-15
that might have been created earlier. Replace vm-name
with the actual name of the VM.
Qube Manager
→ right-click
vm-name
→ Delete qube
[8]
Qubes Adjustments[edit]
Stop using Whonix ™ TemplateVMs in VM Template Settings[edit]
If a Whonix ™ TemplateVM is set as the underlying TemplateVM for any VMs, the TemplateVM cannot be removed. Therefore, choose either to delete the VM as documented above or unset the TemplateVM using Qube Manager. [9]
Optionally, the VMs can be set to use a dummy template. The advantage of setting a dummy
template as the underlying TemplateVM is the ability to retain any VMs along with the user storage contents.
1. Create the dummy
TemplateVM. [10]
Launch a dom0
terminal.
Click the Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q")
→ Open the Terminal Emulator (Xfce Terminal)
Execute the following commands.
Qubes R3.2:
mkdir -p /var/lib/qubes/vm-templates/dummy
touch /var/lib/qubes/vm-templates/dummy/{root.img,private.img}
qvm-add-template dummy
Qubes R4:
qvm-create --class TemplateVM --label red dummy
The process of creating the dummy
TemplateVM is now complete.
2. Shut down the Whonix ™ TemplateVM if already running: Qube Manager
→ right-click Whonix ™ TemplateVM
→ Shutdown qube
[11]
3. Set the dummy
template as the TemplateVM: right-click VM
→ Qube settings
→ Template:
dummy
[12]
The process of setting the dummy
template as the VMs underlying TemplateVM is now complete.
Stop using Whonix-Gateway ™ for torified TemplateVM Updates[edit]
In case you intent to:
- A) Install Qubes-Whonix ™ again: You can skip this chapter.
- B) Not install Qubes-Whonix ™ again: Apply the following steps
In technical terms, stop using Whonix-Gateway ™ as dom0 UpdatesProxy for any TemplateVMs. This is only required if you previously elected to update Qubes TemplateVMs through Whonix ™.
1. Open /etc/qubes-rpc/policy/qubes.UpdatesProxy
with root rights.
2. Search for.
$type:TemplateVM $default allow,target=sys-whonix
3. Comment out that line. i.e. add a hash (#
) in front of it.
#$type:TemplateVM $default allow,target=sys-whonix
4. Save.
5. The steps to remove Whonix-Gateway ™ as dom0 UpdatesProxy is now complete.
Uninstall Whonix ™ TemplateVMs[edit]
Introduction[edit]
In the case of customized TemplateVMs, you should strongly consider backups of anything important before proceeding.
Whonix ™ (or any) TemplateVM in Qubes cannot be removed if any other VM is still using them. See introduction.
Whonix-Gateway ™[edit]
- Open a dom0 terminal:
Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q")
→System Tools
→Xfce Terminal
- Uninstall all Qubes-Whonix ™ Whonix-Gateway ™ template packages matching
qubes-template-whonix-gw*
: [14]
sudo dnf remove qubes-template-whonix-gw*
Review the dnf
confirmation output before proceeding.
Whonix-Workstation ™[edit]
- Open a dom0 terminal:
Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q")
→System Tools
→Xfce Terminal
- Uninstall all Qubes-Whonix-Workstation ™ template packages matching
qubes-template-whonix-ws*
: [14]
sudo dnf remove qubes-template-whonix-ws*
Review the dnf
confirmation output before proceeding.
All Whonix ™ Template Packages[edit]
- Open a dom0 terminal:
Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q")
→System Tools
→Xfce Terminal
- Uninstall all Qubes-Whonix ™ template packages matching
qubes-template-whonix*
: [14]
sudo dnf remove qubes-template-whonix*
Review the dnf
confirmation output before proceeding.
Troubleshooting[edit]
If you receive the following error when removing the TemplatesVMs a manual fix is required.
“ERROR: VM installed by package manager: template-vm-name”
For instruction on how to work around this issue see: Remove VM Manually [archive].
Done[edit]
The process of uninstalling Qubes-Whonix ™ is now complete.
In order to use Qubes-Whonix ™ again in the future, follow the Install Qubes-Whonix ™ instructions.
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ Or if deciding not to use Whonix ™ at all.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1
Qubes glossary [archive] documents
TemplateBasedVM
,TemplateBasedVMs
andTemplateBasedHVM
. So the spelling ofTemplateBasedAppVMs
andTemplateBasedProxyVMs
should be correct. - ↑
qvm-remove anon-whonix
- ↑
qvm-remove vm-name
- ↑
To revert this change, run.
qubes-prefs updatevm sys-firewall
- ↑
qubes-prefs --set vm-name netvm ""
- ↑
qvm-remove sys-whonix
- ↑
qvm-remove vm-name
- ↑ Or command line.
- ↑
- ↑
qvm-shutdown vm-name
- ↑
qvm-prefs --set vm-name template dummy
- ↑
The entry
$tag:whonix-updatevm $default allow,target=sys-whonix
and
$tag:whonix-updatevm $anyvm deny
can remain. These won't have any effect once Qubes TemplateVMs are removed since no VM has the tag
whonix-updatevm
. - ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2
Note the matching syntax below and the effect of running
qubes-template-whonix-gw*
orqubes-template-whonix-ws*
. Also note the asterisk*
wildcard at the end. Depending on the Whonix ™ version, this leads to multiple template packages being uninstalled if they are present:qubes-template-whonix-gw
(Whonix ™ 13)qubes-template-whonix-ws
(Whonix ™ 13)qubes-template-whonix-gw-14
(stable Whonix ™ release)qubes-template-whonix-ws-14
(stable Whonix ™ release)qubes-template-whonix-gw-15
(future Whonix ™ release)qubes-template-whonix-ws-15
(future Whonix ™ release)
*
syntax could be replaced with a specific template package listed above.
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