Tiny11 builds a Windows 11 ISO that is 3.7GB in size, and installs in less than 10GB. It is so stripped down it doesn’t even have a web browser, so it requires minimal updates, and runs great as a VM.

Personally, I use it for things like configuring Webcams or Controllers.

I recommend installing in KVM using a qcow2 disk image named Tiny11-Base.qcow2, then:

Install VirtIO tools

https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/archive-virtio/

To get VirtIO on there you can use a USB stick, or use PowerShell as Administrator to download:

$url = "https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/archive-virtio/virtio-win-0.1.285-1/virtio-win-guest-tools.exe"
$output = "c:\Users\User\Download\virtio.exe"

Import-Module BitsTransfer
Start-BitsTransfer -Source $url -Destination $output

Mount folders

This is so you don’t need a browser or to use PowerShell for downloading. I mount my local Downloads folder.

Guide: https://www.debugpoint.com/kvm-share-folder-windows-guest/

Latest FSP (Fuse for Windows) at time of writing: https://github.com/winfsp/winfsp/releases/download/v2.2B1/winfsp-2.2.26112.msi

Snapshot and backup

Shutdown and create backups.

This retains sparse file compatibility (a disk that can grow as needed).

• Snapshot will give you two files. Point your VM to the second one to use the snapshot.
• The backup command will backup the original and the snapshot.

Snapshot

qemu-img create -f qcow2 -b Tiny11-Base.qcow2 -F qcow2 Tiny11-Active.qcow2

Backup

tar --use-compress-program=pbzip2 -cSvf Tiny11.tar.bz2 Tiny11*.qcow2

Export KVM

virsh dumpxml Tiny11 > Tiny11.xml 

Restore qcow2

tar --use-compress-program=pbzip2 -xvf ./Tiny11.tar.bz2

Import KVM

virsh define Tiny11.xml