Skip to content

Try in a VM

The fastest way to see PAI is in a local VM. This page walks through what the one-liner does, the hardware it needs, and how the VM experience differs from a real USB boot.

One-liner

curl -fsSL https://pai.direct/try | bash

irm https://pai.direct/try.ps1 | iex

Requirements

  • 8 GB RAM (4 GB minimum, pass --ram 4096 and --force-low-ram)
  • 5 GB free disk for the cached ISO
  • CPU with virtualization extensions enabled in BIOS (VT-x/AMD-V)
  • Linux: KVM access (user in the kvm group)
  • macOS: any modern Intel or Apple Silicon Mac
  • Windows: WHPX enabled (Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName HypervisorPlatform)

What the script does

  1. Downloads the latest PAI ISO from the GitHub release page.
  2. Verifies its SHA256 against the release's SHA256SUMS file.
  3. Caches the ISO so re-running is instant.
  4. Installs QEMU if missing — asks first, never silently.
  5. Launches QEMU with hardware acceleration, 8 GB RAM, 4 vCPUs.
  6. Forwards localhost:8080 on your host to Open WebUI inside the VM.
  7. Cleans up the cached ISO on exit (pass --keep to preserve).

Flags

Flag Default Purpose
--iso-url <url> latest release Override the ISO download source
--sha256 <hex> from SHA256SUMS Required if --iso-url is set
--ram <MB> 8192 VM memory
--cpus <n> min(4, nproc/2) vCPU count
--keep off Don't delete the cached ISO
--no-kvm / --no-hvf / --no-whpx off Force TCG (debugging only)
--headless off No display; prints a VNC URL
--port <N> 8080 Host port forwarded to Open WebUI

VM vs USB — what's different

VM (try.sh) USB (flash.ps1 / dd)
Isolation from host Shared kernel context via hypervisor Fully separate boot, nothing touches host
AI speed 80–90% of native Native
GPU access None by default Direct (see GPU setup)
Setup time 30 seconds 3–8 minutes
Persists after shutdown No No (unless persistence layer configured)
Network privacy Host's network stack Isolated unless you configure otherwise

For anything beyond evaluation, flash a USB.

Troubleshooting

"KVM not accessible"

Run: sudo usermod -aG kvm $USER && newgrp kvm. Log out and back in.

"WHPX accelerator not available"

Run (Admin PowerShell): Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName HypervisorPlatform -All. Reboot.

Boot hangs at GRUB

Likely a TCG fallback. Check the terminal output — if you see "falling back to TCG", hardware acceleration is disabled. See the flags above to force acceleration or enable it in BIOS.

Port 8080 already in use

Pass --port 9090. Open http://localhost:9090 instead.