diff --git a/core-modules/000QubesVm.py b/core-modules/000QubesVm.py
index c0c52671..c49e178e 100644
--- a/core-modules/000QubesVm.py
+++ b/core-modules/000QubesVm.py
@@ -848,6 +848,8 @@ class QubesVm(object):
         return True
 
     def is_running(self):
+        if vmm.offline_mode:
+            return False
         try:
             if self.libvirt_domain.isActive():
                 return True
@@ -1192,7 +1194,10 @@ class QubesVm(object):
             shutil.copy(self.label.icon_path, self.icon_path)
 
         # Make sure that we have UUID allocated
-        self._update_libvirt_domain()
+        if not vmm.offline_mode:
+            self._update_libvirt_domain()
+        else:
+            self.uuid = uuid.uuid4()
 
         # fire hooks
         for hook in self.hooks_create_on_disk:
diff --git a/core-modules/006QubesProxyVm.py b/core-modules/006QubesProxyVm.py
index 88a4781b..b5ae20f8 100644
--- a/core-modules/006QubesProxyVm.py
+++ b/core-modules/006QubesProxyVm.py
@@ -58,6 +58,8 @@ class QubesProxyVm(QubesNetVm):
     def _set_netvm(self, new_netvm):
         old_netvm = self.netvm
         super(QubesProxyVm, self)._set_netvm(new_netvm)
+        if vmm.offline_mode:
+            return
         if self.netvm is not None:
             self.netvm.add_external_ip_permission(self.get_xid())
         self.write_netvm_domid_entry()
diff --git a/linux/aux-tools/prepare-volatile-img.sh b/linux/aux-tools/prepare-volatile-img.sh
index 25d9a600..d41a3ce4 100755
--- a/linux/aux-tools/prepare-volatile-img.sh
+++ b/linux/aux-tools/prepare-volatile-img.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,18 @@ EOF
 
 loopdev=`losetup -f --show --partscan "$FILENAME"`
 udevadm settle
+created=
+if [ ! -e ${loopdev}p1 ]; then
+	# device wasn't created automatically, probably udev isn't running;
+	# create devs manually
+	for partdev in /sys/block/$(basename ${loopdev})/loop*p*; do
+		mknod /dev/$(basename ${partdev}) b $(cat ${partdev}/dev | tr : ' ')
+	done
+	created=yes
+fi
 mkswap -f ${loopdev}p1 > /dev/null
+if [ "$created" = "yes" ]; then
+	rm -f ${loopdev}p*
+fi
 losetup -d ${loopdev} || :
 chown --reference `dirname "$FILENAME"` "$FILENAME"
diff --git a/qvm-tools/qubes-prefs b/qvm-tools/qubes-prefs
index 41a365be..2f6a38aa 100755
--- a/qvm-tools/qubes-prefs
+++ b/qvm-tools/qubes-prefs
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ from optparse import OptionParser
 import subprocess
 import os
 import sys
+from qubes.qubes import vmm
+
 
 def handle_vm(vms, label, new_value = None):
     functions = { # label: [ getter, setter ],
@@ -116,6 +118,8 @@ def main():
         else:
             options.do_set = True
 
+    vmm.offline_mode = True
+
     if options.do_set:
         qvm_collection = QubesVmCollection()
         qvm_collection.lock_db_for_writing()
diff --git a/qvm-tools/qvm-create b/qvm-tools/qvm-create
index 1e2ac66a..dc414cf9 100755
--- a/qvm-tools/qvm-create
+++ b/qvm-tools/qvm-create
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ import subprocess
 import re
 import os
 import sys
+from qubes.qubes import vmm
+
 
 def main():
     usage = "usage: %prog [options] <vm-name>"
@@ -55,6 +57,9 @@ def main():
                         help="Initial memory size (in MB)")
     parser.add_option ("-c", "--vcpus", dest="vcpus", default=None,
                         help="VCPUs count")
+    parser.add_option ("--offline-mode", dest="offline_mode",
+                       action="store_true", default=False,
+                       help="Offline mode")
     parser.add_option ("-i", "--internal", action="store_true", dest="internal", default=False,
                         help="Create VM for internal use only (hidden in qubes-manager, no appmenus)")
     parser.add_option ("--force-root", action="store_true", dest="force_root", default=False,
@@ -118,6 +123,9 @@ def main():
         print >> sys.stderr, "File specified as root.img does not exists"
         exit (1)
 
+    if options.offline_mode:
+        vmm.offline_mode = True
+
     qvm_collection = QubesVmCollection()
     qvm_collection.lock_db_for_writing()
     qvm_collection.load()
diff --git a/qvm-tools/qvm-prefs b/qvm-tools/qvm-prefs
index 8eac355d..78d09b87 100755
--- a/qvm-tools/qvm-prefs
+++ b/qvm-tools/qvm-prefs
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@ import subprocess
 import os
 import sys
 import re
+from qubes.qubes import vmm
+
 
 def do_list(vm):
     label_width = 19
@@ -541,6 +543,9 @@ def main():
     parser.add_option("--force-root", action="store_true", dest="force_root",
                       default=False,
                       help="Force to run, even with root privileges")
+    parser.add_option ("--offline-mode", dest="offline_mode",
+                       action="store_true", default=False,
+                       help="Offline mode")
 
     (options, args) = parser.parse_args ()
     if (len (args) < 1):
@@ -560,6 +565,9 @@ def main():
                              "the same time!"
         exit(1)
 
+    if options.offline_mode:
+        vmm.offline_mode = True
+
     if options.do_set:
         qvm_collection = QubesVmCollection()
         qvm_collection.lock_db_for_writing()