# Nested virtualization and virt-manager: I can't create a VM within a KDE Linux VM **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Tags:** virtual-desktops, kde-linux\ **Created:** [August 17, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466 "2026-08-17T15:40:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sib](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/user_avatar/discuss.kde.org/sib/32/25579_2.png) [@sib](https://discuss.kde.org/u/sib)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 3:40pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/1 "2026-08-17T15:40:05Z")
I have been testing KDE Linux as a VM created by virt-manager, which works well. I want to verify that KDE Linux correctly supports creating and using VMs, but – within my KDE Linux VM – I’m unable to create nested virtual machines. The process fails at the stage where installation from a chosen ISO should begin, with the message: Unable to complete install: ‘internal error: QEMU unexpectedly closed the monitor (vm=‘blivet’): 2026-08-17T14:27:00.799665Z qemu-system-x86\_64: -device {“driver”:“ide-cd”,“bus”:“ide.0”,“drive”:“libvirt-1-storage”,“id”:“sata0-0-0”,“bootindex”:1}: Failed to get “consistent read” lock: Input/output error Is another process using the image [/run/user/1000/doc/kHlDdvNnHHJoDUw29L\_R5w/kubuntu-26.04-desktop-amd64.iso]?’ For what it’s worth, I _am_ able to nest VMs in a Pop! Linux VM. I’ve searched but have found no resolution. Any advice would be welcome. ---
**Author:** ![pg-tips](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@pg-tips](https://discuss.kde.org/u/pg-tips)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/2 "2026-08-17T15:52:06Z")
> [@sib](#): > > Is another process using the image [/run/user/1000/doc/kHlDdvNnHHJoDUw29L\_R5w/kubuntu-26.04-desktop-amd64.iso]?’ I don’t know if this will fix it, but have you tried giving the virt-manager Flatpak permissions to the directory on KDE Linux where your ISO lives, so that it can access it without mounting to `/run` ? ---
**Author:** ![stlnb](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/user_avatar/discuss.kde.org/stlnb/32/33628_2.png) [@stlnb](https://discuss.kde.org/u/stlnb)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 4:18pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/3 "2026-08-17T16:18:25Z")
I was going to say I didn’t recall having permission issues while testing an image in a VM but by looking at it, I think I still had the ISO in the Downloads folder, which `virt-manager` Flatpak has default permission to (`xdg-download`). So yeah, I would suggest putting the ISO in a specific folder and adding a permission to it then. ---
**Author:** ![sib](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/user_avatar/discuss.kde.org/sib/32/25579_2.png) [@sib](https://discuss.kde.org/u/sib)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 4:42pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/4 "2026-08-17T16:42:31Z")
The ISO is in a folder with read access for all. The ISO itself is also fully readable. virt-manager sees the ISO as living under /run, whose permissions I cannot alter. I have tried redirecting virt-manager’s path to my home in /home but it won’t accept that. Because this all works under a non-immutable OS VM, I share the guess that permissions are involved, but your welcome responses suggest others _are_ able to create VMs inside a KDE Linux VM. Still stuck, but grateful for your thoughts. I’ll try moving the ISO elsewhere. OK, I tried moving the ISO to /system (755) but experience the same problem. It seems that something else is going on. ---
**Author:** ![stlnb](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/user_avatar/discuss.kde.org/stlnb/32/33628_2.png) [@stlnb](https://discuss.kde.org/u/stlnb)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/5 "2026-08-17T17:04:28Z")
Oh, you may be mistaking host file permissions (usual rwx stuff) with Flatpak ones. Flatpaks have another layer of permissions because the apps are sandboxed. You can check and modify these permissions by looking in System Settings \> Applications Permissions \> Some app (here Virtual Machine Manager) \> Manage Flatpak settings. ---
**Author:** ![pg-tips](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@pg-tips](https://discuss.kde.org/u/pg-tips)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/6 "2026-08-17T17:06:25Z")
> [@sib](#): > > your welcome responses suggest others _are_ able to create VMs inside a KDE Linux VM. To be clear, I haven’t done nested virtualization. But if you’re doing it as a means to the end of answering the question “if I install KDE Linux on bare metal, can I then create and use VMs from KDE Linux?”, then I can confirm from experience that the answer is yes. ---
**Author:** ![sib](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/user_avatar/discuss.kde.org/sib/32/25579_2.png) [@sib](https://discuss.kde.org/u/sib)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 5:10pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/7 "2026-08-17T17:10:49Z")
Yes, nested virtualization is only important to me as a test of a bare-metal KDE Linux install, which will likely wait until the development process has matured further. Secondarily, it’s a learning opportunity. Perhaps someone will have more ideas to share about this. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![stlnb](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/user_avatar/discuss.kde.org/stlnb/32/33628_2.png) [@stlnb](https://discuss.kde.org/u/stlnb)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/8 "2026-08-17T17:35:38Z")
I can confirm it is indeed an issue in non-nested setups as well, putting the ISO in an unauthorised folder gets it mounted as a FUSE mount in `/run/` which ends up in the same error triggering. The most straightforward way to fix this is putting the ISO somewhere in Documents (which is authorised) or if you put it elsewhere, add the access by doing: `flatpak --user override --filesystem=:ro org.virt_manager.virt-manager`. Note I wouldn’t recommend putting things in `/system/` as it’s where the image files for KDE Linux are. ---
**Author:** ![stlnb](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/user_avatar/discuss.kde.org/stlnb/32/33628_2.png) [@stlnb](https://discuss.kde.org/u/stlnb)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 5:43pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/9 "2026-08-17T17:43:52Z")
Upstream issue: > > > I tried to select a local iso image through the portal, and could not find a dif…ferent way to select one. > > I then got the following error and could not proceed: > \`\`\` > internal error: QEMU unexpectedly closed the monitor (vm='fedora40'): 2025-01-23T22:21:07.675358Z qemu-system-x86\_64: -device {"driver":"ide-cd","bus":"ide.0","drive":"libvirt-1-storage","id":"sata0-0-0","bootindex":1}: Failed to get "consistent read" lock: Input/output error > Is another process using the image \[/run/user/1000/doc/8c51894a/iso/Fedora-Workstation-Live-x86\_64-40-1.14.iso\]? > \`\`\` ---
**Author:** ![sib](https://discuss-cdn.kde.org/user_avatar/discuss.kde.org/sib/32/25579_2.png) [@sib](https://discuss.kde.org/u/sib)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 8:43pm UTC](https://discuss.kde.org/t/nested-virtualization-and-virt-manager-i-cant-create-a-vm-within-a-kde-linux-vm/49466/10 "2026-08-17T20:43:35Z")
You nailed it, Sky! It was flatpak permissions, not file system permissions. Placing the ISO in Documents eliminated the problem. Thank you very much.