[NTLUG:Discuss] VM Ware Questions

[Chris Cox]

Robert Pearson wrote:
> Chris Cox wrote:
> 
>>All of the engineers at VMware will tell you that VMware under
>>Linux is the RIGHT way (well... apart from ESX Server).
>>
>>I run several VMs using VMware at the same time.  At work my
>>WinXP SP2 is up 24x7 (hosted on SUSE 8.2 and a 2x2.4Xeon with 2.5GB)
>>At home I use either a dual Opteron with 2G (Suse 9.2)
>>or a dual Xeon 3.2 with 2G (Suse 9.1).
>>
>>My laptop also uses VMware and it just has 512M.  I can run
>>about 4 VM's there (one Windoze, others are Linux or Solaris).. but
>>that's pretty tight.
> 
> 
>  It would be a big help to me to get a little clearer picture of
> actually using VMware before I download it and install it.
> It looks like the sequence to install and use VMware is---
> (01) Install a Linux of choice (compatible with VMware) on the hardware
> (02) Install VMware
> (03) Install Windows
> (04) Install Solaris?

Yep.

> (05) Boot the machine
> (06) Select session(s)? I could have everything up at once?

Each session can either be in separate windows or via tabbed
dialog.

> (07) Do I hotkey between sessions?

You can take any session out of full screen mode and get to
the menus.. or there are some hotkey things you can do...
I usually run 1024x768 clients on a 1280x1024 or larger
host with each in a separate window.

> (08) Are just move the mouse to the desired session window?

While I think the mouse/keyboard grabbing feature is risky, it
is supported.  I usually configure mine to force a click to
gain focus and then you just use Ctrl-Alt to release focus
back to the host.

> (09) Some way to end session and start session - shutdown and boot?

These are virtual PCs.. so they have power on buttons and power off
buttons... You can start them up and shut them down.  However,
to have the session end cleanly when you do a host shutdown (when you
don't cleanly shutdown each guest)
I believe requires GSX.... there used to be suspend on signal
that used to work, but for some reason I think it has been removed
(only in GSX).

Btw, the suspend VM feature is really nice.  Allows you to quick
suspend the VM, power it off and resume at the point you left
off (a fast boot if you will).  Of course YMMV with regards
to networking, etc when you do something like that.

> (10) Is memory the limiting resource?

Primarily.

> (11) Can sessions talk to each other like separate platforms can with
> IP or Samba?

Yes.  Lots of options here.  You can used bridged networking so that
the guest vm's and the host are all on the same net... you can use
a "host only" network, which is a private net to isolate your guest
vm's from the host network (you can have several of these if you
like), you can run a dhcp'd/NAT network with a virtual dhcp for just the
VM's (won't interfere with your standard dhcp).

> (12) If file systems are compatible can the same file be open for
> writing in more than one session? Like SUSE and Solaris at the same
> time? Or a text file in Windows, SUSE and Solaris?

No.  No magic/instant/free cluster-like filesystem support yet :)
However, the guest VM's can see your host filesystem if you like
and you can transfer files using that if you wish.  Or you can
setup whatever file sharing protocols on the various guests (or
even on the host... if bridged or NAT'd)

Though I don't recommend it, it's even possible for a VM to
use your existing install (e.g. a dual boot install).  The
problem is that the VM will present different hw from the
native install... so you either plug and play a lot.. or
worse, you get the evil re-registration message (WinXP or
higher).  You can use this quite effectively by specifying
multiple HW profiles.. I've done it with Windows 98 2nd Ed.
with no problems.  But again, it's better to install into
a virtual disk.

> 
> Any VMware users worried since EMC bought VMware?

Yes.  There was certainly a time when Microsoft was pulling EMC's
strings (so to speak).  It was believed that Microsoft had
EMC do this deal so MS could eliminate a competitor while staying
under the Fed radar.  Perhaps honest people at EMC prevailed though??

Of course.. that could all be conspiracy theory.