Creating A Virtual Host Station

[Kyuuketsuki]

I'm a Windows tech … I've been “into” Windows from its earliest inception and worked happily with it since Windows 3.1 (never really liked the earlier versions) and, ever since it's release, I've been using Windows 7. I make no excuses for it but I like Windows or at least I did until Windows Vista and Windows 7 is, in many ways, a service pack for Vista inasmuch as it addresses the faults of Vista, solves most of them and makes it a considerably better OS. But here's the thing (for me at least) … Windows 7 is slick, it works, it does all the things it says on the box except interest me (which isn't actually written on the box). For some reason I can't adequately identify I don't like Windows 7 and I'm not entirely sure why … I wonder if it's because it's somehow too smooth, too slick, too glossy and just plain boring.

OTOH I have always kinda liked Linux (my favourite distro is/was OpenSUSE) but I have never been quite able to get my head round the way everything in Linux works together. This has resulted in a something like a 15 year love/hate relationship with Linux my earliest real experience being a 6 month hands-on stint with SuSE 7 Linux and over a decade of downloading and trying out new distros … all that time I've stuck with Windows as my primary OS. In part that's because of my job (I've been supporting various Windows server versions for the past 9 years) , in part because Windows has given me any real problems. Windows 7 has changed that for me.

So, as a primary OS, I've decided I would like it to go and, being into virtualisation and not being “done” with Windows (it's what I know, what I'm good at), I have decided that some kind of virtualisation host is the way to go. What I want is to build a system that will allow me to virtualise my Windows systems and (potentially) other OS's so my basic plan is this:

• Build a Linux machine and configure it with Sun Virtual Box.
• Create two virtual machines (XP and Win 7) and configure them with my normal applications.

This would allow me to firstly continue to work using Windows (virtual) whilst learning more about Linux (host OS) over a period of time. It would also allow me to keep easy backups of my systems by copying the system VHD's to my NAS box … so that's what I am trying to do. Simples!

So far it hasn't gone well … I first started with the latest stable incarnation of what has, up 'til now, been my favourite Linux distro, OpenSUSE (11.2) but I did something wrong with that (not sure what, possibly related to installing Sun Virtualisation) causing it to lock up and, some 15 minutes after it had and was still locked, I hit the system reset and the OS refused to boot. So then I tried Kubuntu (what I'm using right now) and it did that thing I've historically hated about Linux where it (apparently) installs an application (Sun virtualisation) and then leaves me with no idea where to go to run the thing (a shortcut) … of course I'm not actually sure I've even installed it!

I apologise if this all comes across as rather cynical … I have had a rather checkered relationship with Linux and I am (I admit) biased towards Windows (unsurprising I suppose given that it's my job and I understand quite well it's strengths & limitations and that I really don't get the kind of problems that many others claim to when using it). My only real issue now is that I find Windows 7 kinda dull and that Linux always has represented a sort of techy “holy grail” of computing and, as such, I genuinely want to use Linux this time and it seems so simple an idea ... run Windows in virtual machines, learn more about Linux on the host! Best of both worlds.

So (using Kubuntu 10.4 beta) my question is, given that I have (as far as I know) already installed it and before I go running back to familiar territory (a.k.a. Windows), how do I check that I actually have installed Sun Virtual Box & what do I run to make it work?

Kyu

[Fintan]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Well first off welcome to the party

Lucid beta? brave heart

Anyway I am by no means an expert and some will differ with my opinion but I have been running xp and win7 beta on vmware player for quite a while.

All mmy adobe stuff (the only reason I have win ) is faster, more stable and safer (linux host) than any HD win install.

Depending on your machin specs give the guest system as much RAM as VMplayer suggests and you are fine.

I run DW, FL and PS all at once with 512 MB alocated RAM.

Imho vmplayer is more stable and faster than VB but again that is soley my opinion.

It is simple to install and use:
http://www.vmware.com/products/player/

As for VB being installed?

Well before I go into that I would seriously suggest installing synaptic as your Application manager and using that to serach.

It is easier to use and much more stable that kpackagekit.

To install open up a terminal (alt+f2->konsole) and run:

sudo apt-get install synaptic

give your password (which will be invisable) and off you go.

You will find it in Kicker (the K button on your panel) under applications->system->synaptic.

As this runs under root you will have to give your password again.

Now go to search and look for virtual box.

More on synaptic:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticHowto

you might also want to have a read about ap-get. There are lots of how-to's on the net and here on this forum.

Hope this helps a bit and enjoy

Edit:
As an afterthought you may want to have a look here:
http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/

and here:
http://www.howtoforge.com/vmware_con..._windows_linux

[GreyGeek]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Kyu,

Welcome to Kubuntu!

Sun's VirtualBox has an advantage over it's OSE offering in that the Sun proprietary version allows USB connections while the OSE version does not.

On my installation VirtualBox can be found under Kgear --> Utilities --> VirtualBox

But, to run Windows as a guest OS you will need an install CD. Start the VirtualBox app and click on the "New" icon to create a new guest OS. You will be asked for a name and given an option of choosing the kind of Windows you want to run as a guest. Choose "Windows 7". Proceed to answer the questions it asks. When you are done your Windows 7 guest setup will show in the left panel of the VirtualBox app. Insert your Windows 7 install CD and then start your Windows 7 guest OS. After that it will be like a regular windows install, including entering the product key and the multple reboots, which won't take you out of the VirtualBox app or the Windows 7 guest OS. After it boots the final time you will be asked to authenticate your installation. Assuming you chose to link to your Internet connection (via NAT, usually) that will be automatic, after answering a few questions.

Then, you'll get the usual update icons in the system tray. When everything appears to be done and you have Win7 running like you want it, with the apps installed that you want, then quit Win7 and return to the VirtualBox app. In the right panel will be a tab marked "Snapshots". Create one. Every time you add or make significant changes create another snapshot. Consider them Restoration Points. Also, I'd suggest making the "HD" dynamic so that you can set the HD size to something like 15 or 20GB but the actual space seen on the Linux HD won't be any bigger than the size of the OS and apps you installed... usually around 2 GB, which makes it easy to back up the ~/.virtualbox subdirectory onto a DVD or USB stick.

EDIT:
P.S. - I forgot to mention that I am running XP as a guest OS under Virtualbox-OSE, the one that doesn't support USB sticks. But, it does support CDROM and subdirectory sharing.

EDIT-EDIT:
Here is a thread which shows how to install Windows from an ISO made from an install CD or from where ever:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1450722

[Kyuuketsuki]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Hi Fintan,

Thanks for the welcome

It may have been a bad decision (installing a beta) but I read somewhere that someone was using it on a laptop AOK and I have a couple of Acer 3000 laptops (well 1½ really since the 1Gb of memory I have between them isn't all that much) because for the weirdest reason the XP image on them just screws up (not blaming MS … Acer is a long way from being my favourite PC manufacturer) whilst Linux doesn't … of course it might do if I manage to get the on-board wireless working (it doesn't under OpenSUSE). Do you recommend I re-install with the latest stable version? If so, now's the time to do it as I haven't got far in the configuration process.

The reason I wanted to use Sun VB is because it is (as far as I can tell) the only other virtualisation system that supports the USB integration I need (at least to begin with).

My machine specs are reasonable:

• Asus P5B motherboard (1Gb NIC's)
• Core 2 Duo CPU
• 4GB memory (planning to take it to 8Gb)
• Radeon HD 3450 512Mb
• 24” wide primary screen (DVI), 22” wide secondary (VGA)
• 2 x 320Gb SATA drives
• DVD (and usually a USB lightscribe DVD rewriter … on my XP media PC until I figure out this system).
• 1TB external USB drive (NTFS format … no idea how to access that).
• USB SATA docking station
• Canon LIDE20 scanner.

Everything in my house is networked , so 6 PC's, 2 laptops (plus the two Acers), games consoles & a JetDirect attached laser all attached to a central LG NAS … all the PC's (mine being the current exception) have XP, Vista or Win 7 on them.

So anyway, yeah … I have installed Synaptic but not played with it yet; I think I need VB but I have downloaded VMWare Player as you suggest and I will check out the links (bit of a learning curve here)

My two current issues are sound and display … my sound has stopped working in applications like Firefox and Konquerer (I know it IS wiorking because I get sound at logon and shutdown) and my system keeps forgetting the dual screen configuration I have set up meaning I have to set it up each time I switch on (not crucial but irritating).

Thanks for replying (GreyGeek … will reply a bit later, it's breakfast time in the UK)

Kyu

[Kyuuketsuki]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Hi GreyGeek,

Sun's VirtualBox has an advantage over it's OSE offering in that the Sun proprietary version allows USB connections while the OSE version does not.

On my installation VirtualBox can be found under Kgear --> Utilities --> VirtualBox

OK … I installed it (http://download.virtualbox.org/virtu...armic_i386.deb) but I can't find a shortcut or the executable to make it run. Any idea how I get it to run?

Thanks for the howto info (I know about snapshots, VMWare does it and I'm a certified VMWare ESX 3.x engineer, don't think my employer's will pay for 4.x certification) and I have DVD's for both 32 & 64 bit Win 7 Pro … dynamic HD's seems a good idea. Any idea if I could store the VHD on my NAS (gigabit networking) or would that just make it too slow? I ask because that would allow me a great deal of flexibility with my client machine.

Kyu

[Fintan]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Hi kyu,
well I haven't had any problems with usb on vmware and sound works fine as well.

I used both vm and vb for a while and then decided which I like better.

I see you have plenty of ram so you shouldn't run into problems at all.

As for getting 9.10 I really couldn't tell you. 10.4 final is coming up soon and will be LTS.
My lucid works fine except for some small stuff not related with lucid (well not really )

I also cannot tell you if dual monitor support will work with vmplayer as I only have a single monitor (slightly jealous ) You might want to check the vmware support site.

You will find synaptic very easy to understand.

My two current issues are sound and display … my sound has stopped working in applications like Firefox and Konquerer (I know it IS wiorking because I get sound at logon and shutdown) and my system keeps forgetting the dual screen configuration I have set up meaning I have to set it up each time I switch on (not crucial but irritating).

I would suggest starting a separate thread for sound and display.

Keep us posted and have a nice ashy weekend

[GreyGeek]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Did you install the GuestAdditions?

VirtualBox should be at /usr/bin/virtualbox

Open a Konsole and issue
locate virtualbox | less

(or bin/virtualbox)
and look for the executable.

[Kyuuketsuki]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Hi Fintan,

The sound actually recovered (or I got it somehow wrong) … I think it was just to quiet when running the application )(Firefox) which is weird because it was perfectly loud enough on boot and shutdown. Still … I have it solved for now

I will probably stick with what I have and try an upgrade when the stable release comes out (never done one of those).

I only have two monitors because I gave my old one to my daughter … she then went to Uni and we bought her a laptop, she doesn't use her desktop machine much so I've “borrowed” her monitor until she's back again (it means I get to use it for several months at a time). My plan is to use the second monitor for running guest OS's … shouldn't be hard, all I have to do is drag the window across and expand it to full screen in it.

I'll start another thread for displays once I have some of the other basics sorted

I'm glad I'm not flying anywhere, LOL!

Kyu

[Kyuuketsuki]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Did you install the GuestAdditions?

The sun VB needs guest additions? Can't see a download for it! Makes sense ... I'll look into it

How do I create a shortcut?

Kyu

[GreyGeek]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Are you referring to what Windows calls "shortcuts", i.e., menu or desktop links to executables so one doesn't have to wonder around the file structure with Windows explorer looking for executables?

MOST of the time, when you install an app using apt-get from the konsole, or using Synaptic, such menu "shortcuts" are automatically installed. If not, then you can install menu shortcuts yourself. You have to know two things: where the executable is, and where its icon is. Usually, executables end up in either /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin or /usr/local/sbin or /usr/sbin. Most system executables are in /bin. If you install an app like SecondLife in your home account its executable will be under its directory structure.

To create the shortcut right mouse on the KIcon and chose "Menu Editor". Navigate to the directory in the menu structure under which you want to add your app. Click the "Add Item" icon. In the panel on the right side of the Menu Editor dialog will appear some text boxes, the labels of which are self explanatory. File in the name and description -- anything you want will be find. In the "Command" text box put the complete path to the executable, for example: /usr/local/bin/someapp
Click on the icon holder, which contains a question mark icon. Another file dialog opens. Navigate to the location where the icon files is and select it. Note: Linux executables do NOT contain the icon embedded in the executable, so selecting the executable again won't work. System icons are shown first. If you click on the "Application" icons in the dropdown combo box then you can navigate to where specific icons are stored. IF the app was installed under your home directory the icon will be somewhere under that directory. If it was installed in /usr/share/... or /usr/local then look under the apps directory tree under those subdirectories.

[Kyuuketsuki]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Thanks Guys,

I now have what appears to be a functioning Sun VB installation and have configured (though not built) several VM's (XP, Win7 & OpenSUSE) ... a couple of questions.

What's the "Home" key? I presume this is much like [Alt]/[Tab] on VMWare that releases my mouse and keyboard from the VM? But what is the key? I also assume that guest additions is like VM Tools that allows me to freely move between host and guest environments?

I can see that I *COULD* put my VM's on my NAS, but is it a good idea (we do it at work over 100Mb so logic tells me it should be workable over my 1Gb network)?

Thanks for all the help

Kyu

[Kyuuketsuki]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Can't seem to access my external USB drive from my virtual Windows 7 system... can't even seem to access it from Kubuntu (file system is NTFS).

Also, tried to make the W7 VM use the same IP range as on my home network (switched to bridged connection and eth1, the one in use according to "ifconfig" on my host) but it wouldn't play ball ... reports a startup error:

Failed to start the virtual machine VM-DRACO-W764.
Failed to open/create the internal network 'HostInterfaceNetworking-eth1' (VERR_SUPDRV_COMPONENT_NOT_FOUND).

Failed to attach the network LUN (VERR_SUPDRV_COMPONENT_NOT_FOUND).

One of the kernel modules was not successfully loaded. Make sure that no kernel modules from an older version of VirtualBox exist. Then try to recompile and reload the kernel modules by executing '/etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup' as root (VERR_SUPDRV_COMPONENT_NOT_FOUND).

Result Code: NS_ERROR_FAILURE (0x80004005)
Component: Console
Interface:   IConsole {6375231a-c17c-464b-92cb-ae9e128d71c3}

Any ideas?

On the plus side, even though it is only read only, I HAVE managed to get a VM to build using an ISO on my NAS.

Kyu

[GreyGeek]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Only the proprietary version of VirtualBox supports USB connections, the OSE edition in the Kubuntu repository does not.

Even with the proprietary version you have to install the GuestAddtions in order to access the USB ports, and only after you then do a search for hardware in Windows. (I am speaking only of XP. I have NO experience with Windows 7 and suspect I will never acquire any.)

[Kyuuketsuki]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

Only the proprietary version of VirtualBox supports USB connections, the OSE edition in the Kubuntu repository does not.

I'm using the Sun version not OSE (as far as I know)

Even with the proprietary version you have to install the GuestAddtions in order to access the USB ports, and only after you then do a search for hardware in Windows. (I am speaking only of XP. I have NO experience with Windows 7 and suspect I will never acquire any.)

OK (thanks) ... although I may well end up back there, I don't think you're missing all that much with Win7

Kyu

[GreyGeek]

Re: Creating A Virtual Host Station

The last time I used the free version of VMPlayer (using http://www.easyvmx.com/ to create the necessary virtual HD template) it included USB connections. The only problem I have with it is that it installs two virtual ethernet connections at boot time. VBox doesn't.

BUT, if it were a choice between using VMPlayer or going back to Win7, VMPlayer wins hands down!