Kubuntu 6.10 in a Virtual Machine

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

Having read an interesting article on the subject recently, I experimented with a couple of pre configured Virtual Appliances, courtesy of VMware.

Am I right in thinking (or have I got the wrong end of the stick) that it is possible to run Kubuntu 6.10 (not a pre configured Virtual Appliance) directly from the .iso file, via VMware Player as a Virtual Machine (I am aware the '.iso' can be burnt to disc and run; separate issue)?

Assuming I'm on the right track, I realise it's not quite as simple as that and that EasyVMX, or something similar, comes into the equation. If I'm right up to this point (probably not) I've not had much luck with the interaction of the three; .iso/VMware Player/EasyVMX configuration file.

Thanks.

[Mac the Knife]

Originally Posted by BLUE SKY THINKER

Am I right in thinking that it is possible to run Kubuntu 6.10 (not a pre configured Virtual Appliance) directly from the .iso file, via VMware Player as a Virtual Machine ?

Unfortunately not. Unless there's a Kubuntu Virtual Appliance that you can run under VMWare Player, you'll have to fork out $189 for VMWare Workstation

That's not so bad. I suspect that's going to be my Xmas present to me so I can run XP under Linux



PS: I don't know how good easyVMX is

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

Thanks Mac; thought this one was for you.

I knew it was too simple!

[Mac the Knife]

Like I said, I'm not familiar with easyVMX

As as I can see, you download a small prebuilt vmx environment more or less specific for the OS you want to install and then install the guest OS as you normally would into that environment.

Looks interesting. It might work well or it might not. For sure cheaper than VMWare Workstation but likely less easy/customisable.

Why don't you give it a whirl and report back?

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

Mac . . . . .

I think you are right, there is definitely some scope with the previous, but I can't fathom out where I am going wrong.

However, no need to be despondent; I've just achieved it by a similar but different route, following this LINK religiously. Only one hiccup, until I eventually realised that the quoted 'Kbuntu.vmx' file is for version 6.06 and needs amending to play the v6.10 iso download.

And here we are: last weeks v6.10 release in its virtual world on a Windows XP Pro host laptop...



Very clever. Can we do this with a Mac!?!

Thanks on a related front; your recent Linux posts sent me down this road.

BST.

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

PS:...

Originally Posted by BLUE SKY THINKER

.............Can we do this with a Mac!?!

After a bit of investigation, I gather the answer is 'YES'

[Mac the Knife]

Very very nice. I love it. Brilliantly done for figuring it out and getting it working. I shall try it soonest.

Can you go into any more details about the problems you had with easyVMX? Did you try the "advanced" autocreate as well as the simple?

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

Mac . . . . .

I feel sure that if you spend some time with EasyVMX it will probably mean more to you, but this is all a bit new to me; down an avenue I haven't been before.

But to answer the question: the previous successful route generates two very specific files, a .vmdk virtual disc file and a .vmx configuration file. The latter is a very simple 1kb affair only requiring a v6.06 to 6.10 edit. By contrast, the EasyVMX - trying both 'easy' and 'super simple' - generates five or six different files, including a much more involved configuration file. Because of my experience level of this (or maybe because of limited sleep over previous 48 hours) I couldn't get my head around the interaction of all these files, latterly coming to the conclusion that I was probably only supposed to use some of them. Either way, no luck.

Anyway, I shall look forward to my first experience of Linux over the next few days. Very interested to have ago at the Mac, via PearPC, if I can lay my hands on a Mac disc. Bit of a novelty to have the three main OS's on one laptop, but only one of them on the hard drive.

Anything else on this whole subject would be very interesting.

[Mac the Knife]

MS Virtual PC

Interesting. MS Virtual PC 2004 is now free - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

MS bought Connectix in '03, renamed Virtual PC to MS Virtual PC, it sold for $129.

I've managed to get some Linux isos running and most will boot & run from CD (horribly slow).

There's a good comparison of MSVPC and VMWare in ars technica from 2004 - http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/vm.ars/2 - essential reading.

They have a good tip - "However, it is possible to further tweak VPC by editing the .vmc file installed (by default) in \My Documents\My Virtual Machines. The .vmc file is actually an XML preference file for Virtual PC. Open it up in your favorite text editor and you can do things like edit the MAC address of your network adapter and make other tweaks not possible via the program itself."

VMWare obviously offers far more control and can be made compatible with most distros, which MSVPC can't, but when it works well it's outstanding - MEPIS (which works) runs almost at native speeds.

I'll probably get VMWare Workstation for Linux (I'll try Xen first) because it seems silly to run a proper OS like Linux under a VM on Windows, rather the other way around.

My "solution" to the Windows/Linux dichotomy is to run two separate machines at my desk - Windows has a dual monitor setup and I use a KVM switch to alternate the second monitor between Windows and various Linux boxen. The only real annoyance is that I can't cut and paste between machines.

I know that there are other alternatives, vnc, rdp and ssh and I'm tinkering with them.

Heyho

Hmmm. Got rdesktop working. I'm in fact writing this in an XP window on the SuSE machine. Only 16-bit colour, but I think that's the highest Windows will go on rdp. Can even cut and paste.

So it goes...

Got vncviewer working now with XP running a TightVNC server - kinda wobbly but works. Some fine tuning called for I think.