[Tfug] Virtualization

[Joe Blais]

>
> Ray wrote:
> > I'm looking to try to do some virtualization and was wondering if
> > anybody has experience with this & could provide some pointers.
>  My main
> > machine is Windows XP but I've dabbled some with Linux though not an
> > expert.  Any opinions on how best to get started?  Could I start with
> > the free VMWARE product and load a linux distro?
> Also, MS released their full version of Virtual PC 2007 for free. It
> doesn't have VM templates for Linux or "VMware tools for Linux", but it
> should still work.
>
> Give it a try,
> Shawn


Hello -
I use the MS virtual thing all the time.  I think it needs XP pro, or
another "pro" type.
It's free.
I had an older version that had issues with dual core host processor, but
the latest 2007 works good.
When you start it up, you can configure the operating system, they have MS
options, and "other".  I pick other, then I pick customize, which just
allows you to set how much memory to use.  I pick the folder where I want
the config file and the virtual hard drive to exist.

When it starts, it's just like booting a PC with an empty hard drive.  You
put your distribution disk or cd into the drive and hit enter a few times
until it starts the boot process.  The virtual hard drive is just a file, so
go ahead and say format the drive, it won't touch or format your drive.

I've tried SuSe 10.  It installed the best, it sensed the actual display and
worked OK.  Unfortunately, I had to use Fedora.  Fedora 1 worked good, but
Fedora 5, which I use, had issues with the Dell flat panel display.  The
thing displayed a stretched out mess of pixels.  To fix that, first try the
<ctrl><F1> key to get a normal console. Then go into the /etc/X11/xorg.conf
file, find the entry for the screen - default depth - and set that to 16
(assuming it had set 24).  Also comment out the settings for the 24 depth
screen.  You may also muck with screen sizes and other stuff until you get
something you like.

I like being able to backup and restore the entire system just by copying
the 2 or 3 files in the folder that make up the machine.  You can have a
bunch of virtual machines, and pick which one you want to run.  Fedora 5
makes a virtual drive file that's about 6 gig (it's grown to 11). Your pc
should have a bunch of available ram (a 1 gig pc can run a 512meg virtual
with no problem).

You get network access, and stuff.  I haven't gotten a USB stick to work
yet.  I make a share on my PC and then just map to it in fedora to move
stuff around.

You can shut down the thing or save state.  The save state it interesting.
Everything is saved, even the clock time. I even saved state while
installing a few times because I had to burn cd's in XP to be able to finish
the install.

I tried downloading vmware, but never figured how to create a machine.  I
think you need something or get one of their images or something.  I knew
the MS stuff so I didn't take time to figure vmware out.

Joe