I tested this on Fedora 28, which also has tuned 2.9.0, but a slightly newer QEMU (2.11.1, as opposed to 2.11 on Ubuntu 18.04), and a newer kernel (4.16.10 instead of 4.15.0 in Ubuntu 18.04).
The invocation in the unit (/usr/bin/python -Es /usr/sbin/tuned -l -P) is exactly the same, so is the active profile ("virtual-guest"), profile_mode ("auto"), and the config file tuned-main.conf, which is bit by bit the same between the two. However, this also affects Debian testing, which has Linux 4.16.5 and a newer QEMU (2.12). I filed a bug there as well now. ** Bug watch added: Debian Bug tracker #900381 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=900381 ** Also affects: tuned (Debian) via https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=900381 Importance: Unknown Status: Unknown -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1774000 Title: Fails to boot cirros QEMU image with tuned running To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/tuned/+bug/1774000/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs