diff --git a/hardware/shadowfax-kubevirt.nix b/hardware/shadowfax-kubevirt.nix
index 38104ed..c440e39 100644
--- a/hardware/shadowfax-kubevirt.nix
+++ b/hardware/shadowfax-kubevirt.nix
@@ -7,7 +7,15 @@
   config = {
     networking.useDHCP = true;
     boot.initrd.availableKernelModules = [ "ahci" "virtio_pci" "virtio_scsi" "sr_mod" "virtio_blk" ];
-    boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ ];
+    boot.initrd.kernelModules = [ "virtio_gpu" ];
     boot.extraModulePackages = [];
+    boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable = true;
+    # since it's a vm, we can do this on every update safely
+    boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;
+
+    # set console because the console defaults to serial and
+    # initialize the display early to get a complete log.
+    # this is required for typing in LUKS passwords on boot too.
+    boot.kernelParams = [ "console=tty" ];
   };
 }
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