[Chester LUG] virtualisation questions

[Ben Arnold]

On Friday 12 June 2009 22:28:42 Paul Williams wrote:
> Ok.  I fancy playing around with virtualisation again.  Only this time, I
> plan to get it right.  Hopefully.
> 
> A few questions though:
>
> Has anyone got the full virtual desktop working without missing stuff like
> USB support or the like, without laying out hard currency or extensively
> using the command line to construct it?  If so, how?

Yes. I've a Fedora 10 desktop (P4 @ 3Ghz dual core, 1.5GB RAM) with does the 
job fine.

I have VirtualBox set up with many Linux distros and Windows installs 
(specifically Slack, Ubu, OpenSolaris and FreeBSD; Windows XP) without any 
problems. This was done simply by creating a new machine and hard disk within 
it, and installing a OS by mounting the installation media (i.e. CD/DVD) 
inside the machine) and completing the installation. These use the VirtualBox 
extensions (packages/exe) which link with the host's VirtualBox system to 
allow transparent network usage etc. 

Within Windows, Seamless Mode gives the taskbar and windows a place within the 
Linux (host) desktop as if they were regular programs. he Windows desktop 
disappears and you are left with a hole to see thorough to your Linux desktop. 
If you use Linux in a VirtualBox, I think the extensions don't quite line up 
as one would expect but everything is contained properly. This is all done 
within the individual setup of each virtual machine by mounting the VirtualBox 
Guest Extensions CD image and running the installer from within the machine.

The USB support does depend on whether you download the full VirtualBox 
installation or the 'open-source' version or whatever it's called, Because of 
license issues, the fully open-source version can't be shipped with full USB 
support. I believe this is detailed on the website.

> Virtualbox suggested 10GB for virtualisation, then loaded an ISO of the OS
> I wanted to virtualise (XP at the time).  Can I use the same 10GB for every
> virtual desktop, loading from a different ISO each time, or will that cause
> problems?  Or do I need a separate 10GB (or whatever size) for each virtual
> desktop?
>
> Can I use a flash drive as my virtual desktop space?

I'll answer these in one blow.

Virtual hard drives are contained in the same way that CD ISOs are: that is a 
hard disk is one file, with various compression and construct algorithms that 
make it contain a partition table and data you store. Just as a hard drisk 
takes up one physical media, one image takes up one file.

This means each partition a whole disk is stored in one file, stored anywhere 
you like on your system. There are issues such as UUIDs being saved to 
identify each drive but that is beyond scope.

> My laptop uses 2 partitions for XP (something to do with restore)

If it is bought from a certain manufacturers, this partition could contain 
bootable files or such that could make system restoration easier. I know from 
experience with my dad's work that HP give restore CDs with boot and use files 
on said partition. I believe Dell do the same.

> and 2 for
> Ubuntu (/ and swap).  I was told that 4 was my limit.  True / false?  if
> true, why and is there a workaround?

This would be because IDE drives have a limit on the partition table: 
specifically, no more than 4 primary partitions can be made. It is true, 
though, that three primary and one extended can be made, the extended 
containing many (IIRC up to 99) partitions with whatever you like.

> Cheers
>
>
> Paul
>

Please bear in mind this is very late in the night (or early in the morning); 
I can reply with clearer answers tomorrow!
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 198 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part.
URL: <http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/chester/attachments/20090613/d57d7e0e/attachment.sig>