Recommended Virtual Machine Software

[malonn]

I'm just curious what VM software people recommend? Merits of this software? I've used VirtualBox from Oracle (and thought it was pretty slick), but there are other options out there. I've heard of Qemu... thinking I may give that a go, as I've heard it's sort of the Linux thing (?).

So, what do the experienced Linuxers recommend? Some things just don't work as well under Linux. I mean, Wine is great, but a Windows VM is better sometimes.

 

[osprey]

KVM with qemu are the native linux virtualisation solution developed within the linux biosphere and built into the kernel. It's robust, mature and totally open source. In my experience it's faster and smoother than the other virtualisation software I've tried, xen and vmware. This thread may be worth a browse: https://linux.org/threads/qemu-installation.44765/#post-189911.

 

[malonn]

I'll check that thread out. Thanks.

 

[Condobloke]

How to Install KVM on Linux Mint 21?

KVM is a virtualization solution that helps create Virtual Machines just like VMware or VirtualBox. This article explains KVM installation on Linux Mint.

linuxhint.com

That link will save you a tonne of reading etc

The instructions are fairly straightforward to follow...just copy and paste in the commands to check system compatibility, if it gives an output above 0....you are all set.
Again copy and paste the commands shown there to add your user and libvirt etc etc.....just copy and paste the copmmands in Black....ignore the second command in maroon/red (i have no idea why it is shown twice)

bit late for me to say this...but...make sure you have an .iso file on your desktop or somewhere easy to access.

And....before you create the virtual machine...reboot.

Then....Find Virtual machine Manager in yur menu...open it....click on File....click on New Virtual machine....if yiou have an .iso on your desktop etc....select Local install media (iso image or cd rom).....when asked to select the operating system you are using...it may be in the list there...or it may not be. I had an iso on desktop for a thing called 'Kumander" linux....so I just typed Linux into the box....it didn't seem to like that so I typed generic Linux.....it accepted it.....choose how memory you are going to give it...I have 32 gb of memory so I gave it 20000 MB..(note:..memory there is in MB...not gb)...my cpu is a quad core, so I gave it 4.

My nvme ssd has 200 gb free (approx ) so I gave it 30gb to play in....I think there is a spot there to give it a name if you wish
..Hit the next button or finish...i forget what it was called...

it will finish the process of creating it.

 

[malonn]

I'm on Fedora 38 KDE. Instructions transferable?

 

[KGIII]

I've used VirtualBox from Oracle (and thought it was pretty slick), but there are other options out there.

I use VirtualBox. It's quick, easy, doesn't consume much resources, has the options readily available, and is a good interface for working with multiple virtual machines.

 

[z7vl7abxc]

I'm on Fedora 38 KDE. Instructions transferable?

i'm not a fedora user, but these look like comparable installation and setup instructions for kvm, qemu and virt-manager from the fedora docs: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/getting-started-with-virtualization/

 

[f33dm3bits]

I'm on Fedora 38 KDE. Instructions transferable?

Getting started with virtualization

Fedora uses the libvirt family of tools as its virtualization solution. Enabling hardware virtualization support This section covers setting up libvirt on your system. After setting up libvirt, you can…

docs.fedoraproject.org

 

[f33dm3bits]

i'm not a fedora user, but these look like comparable installation and setup instructions for kvm, qemu and virt-manager from the fedora docs: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/getting-started-with-virtualization/

lol jinx, we posted at the same time.

 

[malonn]

Thanks fellas.

 

[wendy-lebaron]

So, what do the experienced Linuxers recommend? Some things just don't work as well under Linux. I mean, Wine is great, but a Windows VM is better sometimes.

Maybe Condobloke should have said it, at least he hinted that it will require a lot of RAM, the more the better. Otherwise this discussion is not practical.

Not everybody could just download a Windows ISO because it's not free, also have to pay for the license and even if it could be used without phoning M$ it's not right doing that. I have found, for what I like to do as hobby and lofty expectations that not even Windows10 is good enough at this point because I'm going to need freeware which uses copy protection. It sucks. Otherwise Wine is great and good enough for my purposes. I wish it went a bit further so I could give up Windows completely.

EDIT: To the OP: if you had chosen the "regular" Fedora, with GNOME it should have come with a program called Boxes but I don't know a lot about that, since I cannot do virtualization. I have only 4GB RAM on my computer.

Boxes

help.gnome.org

 

[malonn]

Maybe Condobloke should have said it, at least he hinted that it will require a lot of RAM, the more the better. Otherwise this discussion is not practical.

Not everybody could just download a Windows ISO because it's not free, also have to pay for the license and even if it could be used without phoning M$ it's not right doing that. I have found, for what I like to do as hobby and lofty expectations that not even Windows10 is good enough at this point because I'm going to need freeware which uses copy protection. It sucks. Otherwise Wine is great and good enough for my purposes. I wish it went a bit further so I could give up Windows completely.

EDIT: To the OP: if you had chosen the "regular" Fedora, with GNOME it should have come with a program called Boxes but I don't know a lot about that, since I cannot do virtualization. I have only 4GB RAM on my computer.

I have 16GB of RAM and a valid copy of Windows. Prior to installing Fedora KDE, I was on the regular version of Fedora, so had loaded up Boxes once or twice, but never really used it per se.

By the way, I much prefer KDE over GNOME.

 

[PuppyHome]

KVM with qemu are the native linux virtualisation solution developed within the linux biosphere and built into the kernel. It's robust, mature and totally open source. In my experience it's faster and smoother than the other virtualisation software I've tried, xen and vmware. This thread may be worth a browse: https://linux.org/threads/qemu-installation.44765/#post-189911.

^This

 

[sphen]

KVM with qemu are the native linux virtualisation solution developed within the linux biosphere and built into the kernel. It's robust, mature and totally open source. In my experience it's faster and smoother than the other virtualisation software I've tried, xen and vmware. This thread may be worth a browse: https://linux.org/threads/qemu-installation.44765/#post-189911.

^This

I watched part of the video, and it appears that you install and run KVM with qemu on a regular Linux distro.

Which distro do you recommend to host KVM with qemu?
Debian?
Rocky / Alma Linux or another RHEL type?
Something else?

 

[bob466]

I've always used Virtualbox to test Distros and have w7 installed on it which I can Export to an External HDD.

Sometimes I'll test a Distro on my spare SSD...as for wine and bottles it's a hit and miss affair.

 

[Condobloke]

When I bottle, I find myself a bit hit and miss, too

 

[PuppyHome]

I watched part of the video, and it appears that you install and run KVM with qemu on a regular Linux distro.

Which distro do you recommend to host KVM with qemu?
Debian?
Rocky / Alma Linux or another RHEL type?
Something else?

In my case that would be Parrot Home (Debian based) and it works very well. On my MacbookAir I have Mint installed and on that machine QEMU/KVM is also running smoothly.

NOTE: QEMU might have some sound issues on distros running Pulse Audio. Read this bit

I couldn't say what the "best" distro is to run QEMU/KVM as I've installed it on many and never encountered any major issues.

 

[sphen]

In my case that would be Parrot Home (Debian based) and it works very well. On my MacbookAir I have Mint installed and on that machine QEMU/KVM is also running smoothly.

NOTE: QEMU might have some sound issues on distros running Pulse Audio. Read this bit

I couldn't say what the "best" distro is to run QEMU/KVM as I've installed it on many and never encountered any major issues.

I will try it on a minimum server installation of Debian 12 first to see how it works. I am not concerned about sound.

This affects a separate research project I started a few weeks ago, related to how those KVM guests operate. I had assumed that the low cost KVM virtual private servers that I rent were running on some kind of ultra-efficient bare metal hypervisor, not an ordinary Linux distro installation. Apparently I was wrong about that. There is always more to learn. Thank you for that valuable input.

 

[Condobloke]

FWIW....Mine is running on LM 21.1 with 32 gb of ram and an 8 core cpu

I allow the virtual machine manager, 15000 mb of ram, and around 35gb of space

Runs like an absolute dream.....and i can still access my LM for passwords etc etc if/when I need them

 

[z7vl7abxc]

I will try it on a minimum server installation of Debian 12 first to see how it works. I am not concerned about sound.

in addition to using it on mint, i have it set up and working well on mx linux 21 which is also debian (11) based.