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gaming-arch

Arch Linux + KDE Plasma (Wayland) + Steam gaming VM. Boots the Arch ISO, runs a full in-guest install to a new disk, and installs Sunshine for game streaming. Runs with virtio-gpu by default, or GPU passthrough when you pass a PCI address.

Prerequisites

For passthrough, see GPU Passthrough Prerequisites.

Create

# virtio-gpu (no passthrough)
vee create arch-gaming --template gaming-arch

# GPU passthrough
vee create arch-gaming --template gaming-arch \
  --gpu-mode passthrough --gpu-pci 08:00.0

Defaults

SettingValue
Memory16G
CPUs8
Disk80G qcow2
NetworkBridge (br0) — or --nic-mode user
DisplaySPICE + virtio-gpu (passthrough swaps to the physical GPU)
Guest agentEnabled
UEFIYes
Usergamer (password = username unless overridden)

Flags

FlagDefaultDescription
--usergamerGuest login username
--password(= username)Guest login password
--gpu-modenone/virtiopassthrough to hand a physical GPU to the guest
--gpu-pci""PCI address for passthrough (e.g. 08:00.0)
--gpu-vendoramdGuest GPU driver: amd, nvidia, or virtio
--nic-modebridgeuser for NAT instead of a bridge
--headlessfalseNo local display window
--virtiofs-dir""Host directory shared into the guest (tag Games)

GPU vendor

--gpu-vendor selects the in-guest driver:

  • amd (default) — mesa + vulkan-radeon (plus vulkan-virtio when not using passthrough)
  • nvidianvidia + nvidia-utils, nvidia-persistenced enabled
  • virtio — AMD base stack for virtio-gpu

Streaming & tuning

The guest installs Sunshine (HTTPS on port 47991) for Moonlight streaming, plus gaming performance tuning: real-time priority / memlock limits, hugepages, a low-latency PipeWire quantum, SDDM autologin, and a serial console. A self-verifying vee-check health script is installed for vee check.

See Gaming Setup for the full Sunshine + Moonlight walkthrough.