Virtual machine questions - I think I got it....

[IbChristian]

I'm thinking of using a virtual machine for that one program that has no Linux (or any other) equivalent. I've tried Wine and it's various derivatives, but they didn't want to play well with it. A virtual machine should have no such compatibility problems, as it is actually running the operating system the program was designed for. I looked into VirtualBox, as it is easily installed from the software manager, but are there others?

1. I want something easy to set up and operate, that won't get in the way.
2. It has to be able to run Windows 7 (or XP) as those are the OS's the program was designed for.
3. I would like there to be an easy to understand online tutorial for it, so I (hopefully) won't have to bug y'all on how to set it up/use it (i.e.; not full of advanced technobabble).
4. Said tutorial MUST include instructions on how to load programs into the completed VM. Everything I could find stops at the successful installation of the virtual OS.

The Distro I'm running is in my sig. The laptop I'm currently using* has the following:
129GB hard drive
8.1GB RAM
Intel Core i7CPU 2.67GHz (dual core)

Hope that's enough info
.


*I eventually hope to use this on my Desktop machine, which is more powerful.

 

[IbChristian]

Additional note, so y'all don't have to ask, I will not be using it for gaming or graphics programs.

 

[dos2unix]

Just about any Linux distro can do this. VirtualBox is reasonably easy to setup. I would probably recommend it for a beginner.

Your hard drive and RAM should be enough for at least one VM at a time. The dual core makes it a bit tight, but it can work.

 

[Trml]

I suggest you install virt-manager, which is a GUI to setup KVM/qemu virtual machines. It's the Linux kernel default virtualisation, you will have best support and portability of the VMs in case you change distro/host, and don't rely on any proprietary add-ons. Have a look here: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=428069
This tutorial appears good, but I doubt you need to follow all the steps. You should be able to create a first VM to get your feet wet right after installing the GUI (according to the first forums post, I'm not a Mint user).

 

[APTI]

have to agree. I use gnone-boxes which is a front end for qemu. you can use virt-manager for it and it is fairly easy to set up. Just make sure you have enough ram to run the VM and your linux. I usually suggest 12G ram for this. 8 for the VM and that leave linux 4 to operate. Although you can get by with 8G ram and 4 for the VM 4 for linux but not the best performance.

 

[NicWelds]

I use qemu/KVM with virt-manager and it's been working quite well. I use it to run Windows 98 to play old Magic Schoolbus games with my kids that Wine won't run properly.

I also used VirtualBox for this before switching to qemu. The VirtualBox setup was a bit easier but qemu performs a bit better.

Either way worked well for me.

Once the virtual machine is installed, you install programs in it much the same way that you regularly would on that operating system. If you have a disk image, you can mount it and run it basically like a CD/DVD. If you have an installer, you can transfer it into the VM through a shared folder. There's plenty of documentation online for both qemu/KVM or VirtualBox.

 

[bob466]

I've been using Virtualbox for many years...I have a w7 VM but I have a 500GB SSD and 16GB of Ram.

My w7 VM is 50GB and I gave it 6GB of Ram. Your Drive might be a little on the small side...I think Virtualbox would recommend a VM of 35GB or more...which doesn't leave much room for everything else.

Here's my w7 VM...note the settings...

I also at the moment have Cinnamon 22.3 which is 25GB but on a 500GB SSD...there's plenty of Disk space left.
My w7 VM was installed from my windoze 7 Disk...10 years ago and is not connected to the Net...so the evil can't get in.

Here's some reading that might help...
https://www.linux.org/threads/create-a-shared-folder-in-mint-cinnamon.56913/
https://www.linux.org/threads/export-and-import-your-virtual-machine-in-virtualbox.56881/
https://www.linux.org/threads/virtualbox-for-lmde.56055/
https://www.linux.org/threads/virtualbox-7-2-linux-guests-keep-freezing.60006/#post-288139
https://www.linux.org/threads/how-to-install-a-virtual-machine-in-virtualbox.56334/

 

[Rocketing-warp9]

Also, for better graphics compatibility, There are guest additions you can add to your VM to make things a little smoother after install. If I can get my old Vista VM that is putting around working, I'll try to show how it's done. (This would be done on OSX, but it should be the same between linux and that).

 

[f33dm3bits]

I'm thinking of using a virtual machine for that one program that has no Linux (or any other) equivalent. I've tried Wine and it's various derivatives, but they didn't want to play well with it. A virtual machine should have no such compatibility problems, as it is actually running the operating system the program was designed for.

What's the name of the program you are wanting to use in a virtual machine?

 

[CaffeineAddict]

I will not be using it for gaming or graphics programs.

8.1GB RAM
Intel Core i7CPU 2.67GHz (dual core)

Just give up because it's going to be very bad experience.
You need much better computer than this for good GFX in VM.

 

[PuppyHome]

2. It has to be able to run Windows 7 (or XP) as those are the OS's the program was designed for.

Hmm. Well, you are good on the RAM side. You could give your VM 5GB to work with (for XP or 7) and 3G of RAM should be ok to keep the host running if you have a lightweight distro.

BUT your dual core is the bottleneck here. A quadcore at least is necessary to do whet you want to do here. The VM needs at least 4 CPU's (pref.5).
You could try to give it a shot with virt-manager (recommended) but I think you will run into a lot of frustration.

I run VMs a lot. Also 8G of RAM on the host but a quadcore. know what I'm talking about here. I allocate 5G of RAM and 5 CPU's to run my VMs and then use said VM as a daily driver. But no gaming of any kind because I know it will be a pain.

 

[Gerb]

I'm using Win7 and Win10 in Virt-Manager using 2 CPUs and 4 GB RAM for small programms very well. Try it, you'll find out.

 

[IbChristian]

What's the name of the program you are wanting to use in a virtual machine?

DeLorme TopoUSA (Ver. 8.0)

I'm only using the laptop to see how it works and to learn on. My desktop is where I intend to actually use it.

 

[f33dm3bits]

DeLorme TopoUSA (Ver. 8.0)

Does it need graphics hardware acceleration to work well, if it does running in a vm isn't going to cut it unless you passthrough a gpu to your vm and in that case you will need two gpu's in your host.

 

[APTI]

DeLorme TopoUSA (Ver. 8.0)

I'm only using the laptop to see how it works and to learn on. My desktop is where I intend to actually use it.

You are ok with a VM with what you have but it will not perform well. It will run slow. Windows likes 8G ram and best you can give it is 4G. If you can upgrade the RAM on your machine to 12 and set the VM with 8 you will be happy. That is the setup I have.

 

[IbChristian]

You are ok with a VM with what you have but it will not perform well. It will run slow. Windows likes 8G ram and best you can give it is 4G. If you can upgrade the RAM on your machine to 12 and set the VM with 8 you will be happy. That is the setup I have.

Windows XP needs 8 gigs of ram? I don't even think the first computer I had running it had that much! My current computer has 8 gigs and it's running Win-7 fine. Even when running my video editor (Shotcut).

 

[IbChristian]

I suggest you install virt-manager, which is a GUI to setup KVM/qemu virtual machines. It's the Linux kernel default virtualisation, you will have best support and portability of the VMs in case you change distro/host, and don't rely on any proprietary add-ons. Have a look here: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=428069
This tutorial appears good, but I doubt you need to follow all the steps. You should be able to create a first VM to get your feet wet right after installing the GUI (according to the first forums post, I'm not a Mint user).

Tried Virt-manager. It installed, I think, but when I tried to add the libvirt command line, it said that libvirt didn't exist.

 

[APTI]

Windows XP needs 8 gigs of ram? I don't even think the first computer I had running it had that much! My current computer has 8 gigs and it's running Win-7 fine. Even when running my video editor (Shotcut).

XP will do fine with 4, I was thinking win7 But 8 will do great if it is XP 64

 

[Trml]

It installed, I think, but when I tried to add the libvirt command line, it said that libvirt didn't exist.

I have no idea what command you refer to.

 

[osprey]

Tried Virt-manager. It installed, I think, but when I tried to add the libvirt command line, it said that libvirt didn't exist.

Perhaps you could try the command: virt-manager.