virtualization

OS Installation on USB drive with VirtualBox

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VirtualBox virtualization software allows you to install any operation system directly to any attached block device such as USB stick/drive etc. This is actually a cool way to create you personalized Live Linux USB stick. This short “howto” describes how it works.
For the sake of this tutorial we will be using block device file name /dev/sdb to refer to our attached USB drive. First we need to create a raw vmdk virtual file disk linked to our /dev/sdb USB drive. As a privileged user execute the below command:

# vboxmanage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename linux-live.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sdb

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KVM virtualization on linux

Virtualization solutions on Linux systems – KVM and VirtualBox

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Introduction

Virtualization packages are means for users to run various operating systems without “bare-metal” hardware – basically, you can run more than one operating system on a single computer without dual-booting or similar approaches. Virtualization software emulates a real machine and “fools” the guest operating system into thinking it’s running on a real computer. Besides the more obvious advantages, virtual machines help create a greener and easier to administer computing environment. Looking at the trends in the IT industry, virtualization has seen quite a boom in the last few years, because it fits the concepts of utility computing and/or software as a service. Virtualization can be useful to you if you are an enterprise architect, developer, a home user or basically everything in between. We will begin with a short introduction about virtualization in general, then we will specifically treat VirtualBox and KVM as they seem to be most popular open source full virtualization solutions. You are expected to know your way around Linux systems, how to install a Linux distribution and how to install software on it, although we will show you how to install the two aforementioned virtualization packages on some of the popular Linux distributions.

There are two types of virtualization : one that can run the guest system as-is (as in, unmodified) and another that request a modified kernel on the guest’s side in order to run. The first category is named full virtualization, because it emulates a complete hardware environment, the second is named paravirtualization , because it doesn’t emulate hardware and hence needs special modifications at guest level, a good example of this type of virtualization being Xen. These are part of a bigger category named hardware virtualization, but there are also other (software, network or storage, amongst others) virtualization types, which we will not detail here. The two pieces of software we will talk about fit into the full virtualization category. Other popular hardware virtualization technologies include QEMU, Bochs, VMware, Parallels, HyperV or OpenVZ.

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How to instruct XenServer’s host virtual machine to boot from ISO CD/DVD image

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Objective

Here we assume that you have already created VM’s device to link to desired ISO image you wish to boot from. The objective is to instruct XenServer’s host virtual machine to boot from ISO CD/DVD image instead of default VDI disk. Failure to do so may result in following error message:

The bootloader returned an error
msg: Unable to find partition containing kernel

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Install Arch Linux in VMware Workstation

Install Arch Linux in VMware Workstation

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Arch Linux is a powerful and customizable operating system with a minimal base install. If you are a newer Linux user then you may be interested in installing Arch Linux, but have been reluctant to do so because of the learning curve that is sometimes associated with the process. If that is the case then it is a great idea to first install Arch Linux as a virtual machine and take it for a test drive. This tutorial will guide you through the steps of installing Arch Linux as a guest machine in VMware Workstation. Following this guide will leave you with a very minimal base Arch install which you can choose to customize however you would like.

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Installing Manjaro inside VirtualBox

Install Manjaro in VirtualBox

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Installing Manjaro inside a VirtualBox virtual machine is a great way to give the operating system a test run or to install some Linux software that you don’t want to run on your main system. If you’re a Windows user, this is also a convenient way to stick a toe in the water with Linux, with the other option being to dual boot Windows 10 and Manjaro.

Manjaro is a user friendly Linux distribution with a lot of features to offer. In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the installation of Manjaro on a virtual machine and show you the best configuration options to get the most out of the VM.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to install Manjaro in a VirtualBox virtual machine
  • Optimal settings for a Manjaro VM

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Mount and install VirtualBox Guest Additions on Redhat 7 linux

RHEL 7 VirtualBox Guest Additions installation

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In this short tutorial we will show you how to install VirtualBox Guest Additions on RHEL 7 gnome desktop. To start simply boot to virtual RHEL 7 system. First we will install all prerequisites. To do that open terminal and enter following linux commands:

[root@rhel7 ~]# yum groupinstall 'Development Tools'

as well as we will need kernel development package:

[root@rhel7 ~]# yum install kernel-devel

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Default Network Interfaces Ubuntu 18.04

Install And Set Up KVM On Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux

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Objective

Install KVM with bridged networking and virt-manager on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

Distributions

Ubuntu 18.04

Requirements

A working install of Ubuntu 18.04 with root privileges

Conventions

  • # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
  • $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Other Versions of this Tutorial

Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa)

Introduction

KVM is the Linux kernel’s own answer to virtualization. As a result, it’s the lightest, most stable, and most universal virtualization option for Linux systems. While, KVM isn’t as simple to set up as packaged solutions like VirtualBox, it’s ultimately more efficient and flexible.

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How to install Ubuntu 20.04 on VirtualBox

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In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to install Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa in a VirtualBox virtual machine. You’ll be able to follow along with this guide whether you are using Windows, Ubuntu, or some other Linux distribution. Configuration of VirtualBox and the installation of Ubuntu 20.04 itself stays very consistent across various platforms.

Installing Ubuntu in a virtual machine is a great way to test out applications without having to install software on your host system. It’s also an excellent way to test out Ubuntu itself, if you aren’t already running it. If you’re a Windows 10 user, you also have the option to install Ubuntu 20.04 alongside Windows 10 (dual boot), if you’d prefer that to a virtual machine.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to configure VirtualBox to host Ubuntu 20.04
  • How to create a Ubuntu 20.04 virtual machine

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