diff --git a/server/src/libvirt.zig b/server/src/libvirt.zig
index 6d82f3e..3a50848 100644
--- a/server/src/libvirt.zig
+++ b/server/src/libvirt.zig
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ pub const c = @cImport({
 
 fn handleError() VirError {
     const err = c.virGetLastError();
-    std.debug.print("err: {any}\n", .{err});
+    // std.debug.print("err: {any}\n", .{err});
     return switch (err.*.code) {
         c.VIR_ERR_OK => VirError.OK,
         c.VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR => VirError.InternalError,
@@ -239,6 +239,27 @@ pub const VirError = error{
     NoNetworkMetadata,
 };
 
+// Helper struct for allocating null-terminated strings
+pub const String = struct {
+    allocator: mem.Allocator,
+    slice: []u8,
+    str: [:0]const u8,
+
+    pub fn init(allocator: mem.Allocator, in_str: []const u8) !String {
+        const str = try allocator.alloc(u8, in_str.len + 1);
+        @memcpy(str[0..in_str.len], in_str);
+        str[str.len - 1] = 0;
+        return .{
+            .allocator = allocator,
+            .slice = str,
+            .str = @ptrCast(str),
+        };
+    }
+    pub fn deinit(self: *const String) void {
+        self.allocator.free(self.slice);
+    }
+};
+
 fn string(str: [*c]const u8) []const u8 {
     return mem.span(str);
 }
@@ -348,12 +369,12 @@ pub const Connection = struct {
         );
     }
 
-    pub fn createPool(self: *const Connection, xml: []const u8, flags: []const Pool.CreateFlags) !Pool {
-        const pool = c.virStoragePoolCreateXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml), intFromFlags(Pool.CreateFlags, flags));
+    pub fn createPool(self: *const Connection, xml: String, flags: []const Pool.CreateFlags) !Pool {
+        const pool = c.virStoragePoolCreateXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml.str), intFromFlags(Pool.CreateFlags, flags));
         return if (pool) |p| Pool.init(p, self.allocator) else handleError();
     }
-    pub fn definePoolFlags(self: *const Connection, xml: []const u8, flags: []const Pool.DefineFlags) !Pool {
-        const pool = c.virStoragePoolCreateXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml), intFromFlags(Pool.DefineFlags, flags));
+    pub fn definePoolFlags(self: *const Connection, xml: String, flags: []const Pool.DefineFlags) !Pool {
+        const pool = c.virStoragePoolCreateXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml.str), intFromFlags(Pool.DefineFlags, flags));
         return if (pool) |p| Pool.init(p, self.allocator) else handleError();
     }
 
@@ -376,16 +397,16 @@ pub const Connection = struct {
         );
     }
 
-    pub fn createDomain(self: *const Connection, xml: []const u8, flags: []const Domain.CreateFlags) !Domain {
-        const domain = c.virDomainCreateXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml), intFromFlags(Domain.CreateFlags, flags));
+    pub fn createDomain(self: *const Connection, xml: String, flags: []const Domain.CreateFlags) !Domain {
+        const domain = c.virDomainCreateXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml.str), intFromFlags(Domain.CreateFlags, flags));
         return if (domain) |d| Domain.init(d, self.allocator) else handleError();
     }
-    pub fn defineDomain(self: *const Connection, xml: []const u8) !Domain {
-        const domain = c.virDomainDefineXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml));
+    pub fn defineDomain(self: *const Connection, xml: String) !Domain {
+        const domain = c.virDomainDefineXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml.str));
         return if (domain) |d| Domain.init(d, self.allocator) else handleError();
     }
-    pub fn defineDomainFlags(self: *const Connection, xml: []const u8, flags: []const Domain.DefineFlags) !Domain {
-        const domain = c.virDomainDefineXMLFlags(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml), intFromFlags(Domain.DefineFlags, flags));
+    pub fn defineDomainFlags(self: *const Connection, xml: String, flags: []const Domain.DefineFlags) !Domain {
+        const domain = c.virDomainDefineXMLFlags(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml.str), intFromFlags(Domain.DefineFlags, flags));
         return if (domain) |d| Domain.init(d, self.allocator) else handleError();
     }
 };
@@ -413,8 +434,13 @@ pub const Pool = struct {
         // return if (str.len == 0) handleError() else try self.arena.allocator().dupe(u8, str);
     }
 
-    pub fn createVolume(self: *const Pool, xml: []const u8, flags: []const Volume.CreateFlags) !Volume {
-        const volume = c.virStorageVolCreateXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml), intFromFlags(Volume.CreateFlags, flags));
+    pub fn createVolume(self: *const Pool, xml: String, flags: []const Volume.CreateFlags) !Volume {
+        const volume = c.virStorageVolCreateXML(self.ptr, @ptrCast(xml.str), intFromFlags(Volume.CreateFlags, flags));
+        return if (volume) |v| Volume.init(v, self.arena.allocator()) else handleError();
+    }
+
+    pub fn lookupVolumeByName(self: *const Pool, name: []const u8) !Volume {
+        const volume = c.virStorageVolLookupByName(self.ptr, @ptrCast(name));
         return if (volume) |v| Volume.init(v, self.arena.allocator()) else handleError();
     }
 
diff --git a/server/src/main.zig b/server/src/main.zig
index 8b02370..13fdd90 100644
--- a/server/src/main.zig
+++ b/server/src/main.zig
@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ const fs = std.fs;
 const libvirt = @import("libvirt.zig");
 
 pub fn main() !void {
-    var gpa = heap.GeneralPurposeAllocator(.{}){};
-    defer _ = gpa.deinit();
-    const allocator = gpa.allocator();
+    var arena = heap.ArenaAllocator.init(heap.raw_c_allocator);
+    defer arena.deinit();
+    const allocator = arena.allocator();
 
     const connection = try libvirt.Connection.connect("qemu:///system", allocator);
     defer connection.close();
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ pub fn main() !void {
     nix.cwd_dir = flake_dir;
     _ = try nix.spawnAndWait();
     nix.argv = &[_][]const u8{ "nix", "build", ".#beforeInstall", "-o", "beforeInstall" };
-    // _ = try nix.spawnAndWait();
+    _ = try nix.spawnAndWait();
     nix.argv = &[_][]const u8{ "nix", "build", ".#afterInstall", "-o", "afterInstall" };
     // _ = try nix.spawnAndWait();
     nix.argv = &[_][]const u8{ "nix", "build", ".#beforeBoot", "-o", "beforeBoot" };
@@ -32,7 +32,11 @@ pub fn main() !void {
     defer volume_def.close();
     const volume_xml = try volume_def.readToEndAlloc(allocator, 1024 * 1024);
     defer allocator.free(volume_xml);
-    // const volume = try connection.defineVolume(volume_xml);
+
+    const domain_beforeinstall_def = try flake_dir.openFile("beforeInstall", .{});
+    defer domain_beforeinstall_def.close();
+    const domain_beforeinstall_xml = try domain_beforeinstall_def.readToEndAlloc(allocator, 1024 * 1024 * 1024);
+    defer allocator.free(domain_beforeinstall_xml);
 
     // --------------
 
@@ -68,22 +72,22 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         const name = try pool.getName();
         // std.debug.print("name: {s}\n", .{name});
         if (mem.eql(u8, name, "default")) {
-            // std.debug.print("xml: {s}\n\n", .{volume_xml});
-            const xml_str =
-                \\<volume>
-                \\  <name>wintest.qcow2</name>
-                \\  <capacity unit='GB'>16</capacity>
-                \\  <target>
-                \\    <format type='qcow2'/>
-                \\  </target>
-                \\</volume>
-            ;
-            const volume = try pool.createVolume(xml_str, &[_]libvirt.Pool.Volume.CreateFlags{
-                libvirt.Pool.Volume.CreateFlags.Validate,
-            });
-            std.debug.print("pool: {any}\n", .{volume});
+            const vol_str = try libvirt.String.init(allocator, volume_xml);
+            defer vol_str.deinit();
+            const volume = pool.createVolume(vol_str, &[_]libvirt.Pool.Volume.CreateFlags{}) catch |err| blk: {
+                if (err == libvirt.VirError.StorageVolExist) {
+                    break :blk try pool.lookupVolumeByName("wintest.qcow2");
+                } else return err;
+            };
+            _ = volume;
+            break;
         }
     }
+
+    const dom_str = try libvirt.String.init(allocator, domain_beforeinstall_xml);
+    defer dom_str.deinit();
+    const domain = try connection.createDomain(dom_str, &[_]libvirt.Domain.CreateFlags{});
+    _ = domain;
 }
 
 pub const DomainSpec = struct {