What is the output of gnome-boxes --checks?

The output is following:
• The CPU is capable of virtualization: no
• The KVM module is loaded: no
• Libvirt KVM guest available: no
• Boxes storage pool available: yes
• The SELinux context is default: yes

(In reply to František Zatloukal from comment #2)
> The output is following:
> • The CPU is capable of virtualization: no
> • The KVM module is loaded: no
> • Libvirt KVM guest available: no
> • Boxes storage pool available: yes
> • The SELinux context is default: yes


It seems your cpu does not have VT extensions, is that correct? cat /proc/cpuinfo should tell. This is not a blocker, but means VMs will be slower than they could.
I'd also make sure that qemu-img is installed.

CPU doesn't support VT, package qemu-img is installed.
Btw, this is my CPU: http://ark.intel.com/products/42503/ (2nd generation of netbooks CPUs)

(In reply to František Zatloukal from comment #4)
> CPU doesn't support VT, package qemu-img is installed.
> Btw, this is my CPU: http://ark.intel.com/products/42503/ (2nd generation of
> netbooks CPUs)

This is hopelessly underpowered for running a VM:

Intel® Atom™ Processor N450 (512K Cache, 1.66 GHz)
# of Cores 	1
# of Threads 	2
Clock Speed 	1.66 GHz
L2 Cache 	512 KB
Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type) 	2 GB
Memory Types 	DDR2-667
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) No

Here are 431 Intel processors that would be a better choice for running a VM:
http://ark.intel.com/search/advanced/?s=t&CoreCountMin=2&CoreCountMax=2&VTX=true

1. They support virtualization.
2. They are dual core.

I know this CPU is really slow (even for browsing the internet). But, Gnome Boxes should be able to run on these CPUs IMO - they're installed in netbooks so they cannot be replaced for a faster CPUs and many users are using them - they're in the 2nd generation of netbooks.

You can find out how slow by running qemu from the command-line:

$ qemu-system-x86_64 -m 1024 -cdrom Fedora-Live-Desktop-x86_64-19-1.iso -vga std

$ rpm -q qemu-system-x86
qemu-system-x86-1.4.2-5.fc19.x86_64

I've used VirtualBox on that machine - and for example it is good enough to run a server. Anyway, I tried running an iso in qemu and the output is interesting:

qemu-system-x86_64: symbol lookup error: qemu-system-x86_64: undefined symbol: rbd_aio_flush

After all, it's bug at qemu side IMO, what do you think?

Very interesting ... :-)

I tested that command before posting it, and that certainly did not happen.

AFAICT, there aren't any qemu bugs for that. I would guess a library is missing. If so, qemu may be missing a dependency. So, yes, please open a bug against qemu.

Before filing a qemu bug, could you please run:
$ sudo yum distro-sync

This version of qemu-system-x86_64 does not call rbd_aio_flush:

$ rpm -qf /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64
qemu-system-x86-1.4.2-5.fc19.x86_64

$ readelf --syms /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 | grep -i aio
    11: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND io_setup (7)
   158: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND io_submit (30)
   211: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND rbd_aio_create_completion
   237: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND rbd_aio_write
   250: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND io_cancel (7)
   389: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND io_destroy (7)
   400: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND rbd_aio_get_return_value
   505: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND rbd_aio_release
   539: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND rbd_aio_discard
   576: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND io_getevents (7)
   749: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND rbd_aio_read

(In reply to František Zatloukal from comment #0)
...
> Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
> gnome-boxes3.9.3-2.fc20
...

Could you try F19 instead?
Debugging VMs is hard enough without the added complications of rawhide ...

What version of ceph-libs do you have?

The F19 version of ceph-libs does not have rbd_aio_flush:
$ rpm -q ceph-libs
ceph-libs-0.56.4-1.fc19.x86_64

$ readelf --syms /usr/lib64/librbd.so.1 | grep -i rbd_aio
   297: 00000033c9a1b2b0     8 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_aio_discard
   319: 00000033c9a1b240    82 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_aio_create_completion
   455: 00000033c9a1b2a0     8 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_aio_write
   577: 00000033c9a1b2e0     5 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_aio_wait_for_complete
   658: 00000033c9a1b2f0     5 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_aio_get_return_value
   667: 00000033c9a1b4c0     5 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_aio_release
   769: 00000033c9a1b2c0    11 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_aio_read

$ rpm -qf /usr/lib64/librbd.so.1
ceph-libs-0.56.4-1.fc19.x86_64

In F19, there is a function rbd_flush, but no function rbd_aio_flush:

$ readelf --syms /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 | grep _flush
   728: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND spice_qxl_flush_surfaces_.2 (8)
   808: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND rbd_flush

$ readelf --syms /usr/lib64/librbd.so.1 | grep _flush
   311: 00000033c9a1b2d0     5 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_flush
   561: 00000033c9a31fd0   527 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 _ZN6librbd6_flushEPNS_8Im

$ rpm -qf /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 /usr/lib64/librbd.so.1
qemu-system-x86-1.4.2-5.fc19.x86_64
ceph-libs-0.56.4-1.fc19.x86_64

(In reply to František Zatloukal from comment #0)
...
> Terminal output: (gnome-boxes:17395): Boxes-WARNING **: wizard.vala:382:
> Failed to create volume: internal error: unable to parse qemu-img output ''
> Graphical output: Box setting failed
...

This error could be caused by the same inconsistency. Could you try this?

$ qemu-img create test-1.img 1G
Formatting 'test-1.img', fmt=raw size=1073741824 

NB: This will create a file, if it succeeds.

qemu switched to rbd_flush with 2:1.0-4:
$ sudo yum changelog qemu | less
...
* Sun Feb  5 04:00:00 2012 Richard W.M. Jones <rjones> - 2:1.0-4
- Require updated ceph for latest librbd with rbd_flush symbol.
...

Could you post version info?
$ rpm -q qemu-system-x86 ceph-libs | sort

Here is what is in rawhide:
$ sudo repoquery --arch=x86_64 --releasever=rawhide qemu-system-x86 ceph-libs
ceph-libs-0:0.61.7-2.fc20.x86_64
qemu-system-x86-2:1.5.2-4.fc20.x86_64

I installed qemu in a rawhide nightly image and found the following:
qemu-system-x86_64 calls rbd_aio_flush.
librbd.so.1 provides rbd_flush and rbd_aio_flush.

[liveuser@localhost foo]$ rpm -q qemu-system-x86 ceph-libs | sort
ceph-libs-0.61.7-2.fc20.x86_64
qemu-system-x86-1.5.2-4.fc20.x86_64

[liveuser@localhost foo]$ readelf --syms /usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64 | grep _flush
   480: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND rbd_aio_flush
   997: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND spice_qxl_flush_surfaces_.2 (13)
  1382: 0000000000fcefa8     4 OBJECT  GLOBAL DEFAULT   28 tlb_flush_count

[liveuser@localhost foo]$ readelf --syms /usr/lib64/librbd.so.1 | grep _flush
   335: 000000000001d4b0     5 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_flush
   549: 000000000001d4c0     8 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 rbd_aio_flush
   593: 0000000000057b10  1139 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 _ZN12ObjectCacher17_flush
   617: 0000000000034740   432 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 _ZN6librbd6_flushEPNS_8Im
   643: 0000000000041650  1058 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT   11 _ZN6librbd9aio_flushEPNS_

Tested with:
$ qemu-kvm -m 4096 -cdrom Fedora-20-Nightly-x86_64-Live-lxde-20130801.12-1.iso -vga std -boot menu=on

(In reply to Steve Tyler from comment #10)
> Before filing a qemu bug, could you please run:
> $ sudo yum distro-sync
...

NB: You could hit:
Bug 995816 - /bin/dracut-initqueue: line 72: syntax error near unexpected token `fi'

(In reply to Steve Tyler from comment #14)
> (In reply to František Zatloukal from comment #0)
> ...
> > Terminal output: (gnome-boxes:17395): Boxes-WARNING **: wizard.vala:382:
> > Failed to create volume: internal error: unable to parse qemu-img output ''
> > Graphical output: Box setting failed
> ...
> 
> This error could be caused by the same inconsistency. Could you try this?
> 
> $ qemu-img create test-1.img 1G
> Formatting 'test-1.img', fmt=raw size=1073741824 
> 
> NB: This will create a file, if it succeeds.

qemu-img also calls rbd_aio_flush, however qemu-img works as expected with the version of ceph-libs below:

$ readelf --syms `which qemu-img` | grep _flush
   326: 0000000000000000     0 FUNC    GLOBAL DEFAULT  UND rbd_aio_flush

$ rpm -q qemu-img ceph-libs
qemu-img-1.5.2-4.fc20.x86_64
ceph-libs-0.61.7-2.fc20.x86_64

I reproduced the qemu error message in F20 by downgrading ceph-libs[1].

Christophe: The qemu error message is much more informative than the gnome-boxes error message[2]. Is the qemu error message logged somewhere? Could the qemu error message be displayed with the gnome-boxes error message?

$ qemu-img create test-1.img 1G
qemu-img: symbol lookup error: qemu-img: undefined symbol: rbd_aio_flush

$ qemu-system-x86_64 -display none
qemu-system-x86_64: symbol lookup error: qemu-system-x86_64: undefined symbol: rbd_aio_flush

$ rpm -q qemu-system-x86 qemu-img ceph-libs
qemu-system-x86-1.5.2-4.fc20.x86_64
qemu-img-1.5.2-4.fc20.x86_64
ceph-libs-0.56.4-1.fc20.x86_64

[1] Information for build ceph-0.56.4-1.fc20
ID	407544
http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=407544

NB: boost needed to be downgraded too, to satisfy dependencies:
Information for build boost-1.53.0-11.fc20
ID	438318
http://koji.fedoraproject.org/koji/buildinfo?buildID=438318

[2] Reported in Comment 0.

(In reply to Steve Tyler from comment #19)
...
> $ qemu-system-x86_64 -display none
...                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My test environment is an F20 minimal install, so X is not running ...

This is the qemu bug:

Bug 995883 - qemu-system-x86_64: symbol lookup error: qemu-system-x86_64: undefined symbol: rbd_aio_flush

This is the gnome-boxes bug:

gnome-boxes is not reporting the qemu error message.[1] The only reason we discovered the cause of this bug is because František ran qemu-system-x86_64 from the command-line and reported the qemu error message.[2]

[1] Comment 0.
[2] Comment 8.

Ok, I've reported new bug against Gnome Boxes.
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=995887

Steve reported new bug againts qemu.
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=995883

So I am closing this bug report as notabug.

Thanks, František.

BTW, BZ will create internal bug links if you use the syntax "Bug NNNNNN":
Bug 995883
Bug 995887

Chapter 5. Using Bugzilla
5.8.1. Autolinkification
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/docs/en/html/hintsandtips.html

Great, I've never read documentation for BZ :). 
I hope I'll find time to look at it.
Thanks

(In reply to Steve Tyler from comment #19)
> Christophe: The qemu error message is much more informative than the
> gnome-boxes error message[2]. Is the qemu error message logged somewhere?
> Could the qemu error message be displayed with the gnome-boxes error message?

If it's logged somewhere, this would be somewhere in libvirt logs (maybe in ~/.cache/libvirt/qemu/log/ ).
As for showing that in Boxes UI, that's definitely a no as it's only useful if you want to debug what's going on.

Since gnome-boxes developers are going to be the first ones to get bug reports for gnome-boxes VM install failures, they might find it worth their while to learn where the log files are and what is in them.

(In reply to Steve Tyler from comment #26)
> Since gnome-boxes developers are going to be the first ones to get bug
> reports for gnome-boxes VM install failures, they might find it worth their
> while to learn where the log files are and what is in them.

Broken distro is a bit of a corner case, so I don't know for sure what libvirt logs/does not log when it cannot run the qemu binary, nor where it would log exactly. Regular VM logs are stored in the location I mentioned.

You could try the reproducer in Comment 19 and look at the log files ...
Or are you going to make me do all the work? :-)

(In reply to Christophe Fergeau from comment #27)
...
> Broken distro is a bit of a corner case, 
...

qemu does not have an explicit requires for ceph-libs.