lubuntu-qa team mailing list archive

[Nio Wiklund <nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Phill,

I'm quite happy running KVM. In some ways it is more powerful and
flexible than VirtualBox. Thank you very much for the tip :-)

Now what did you want to do with the OBI and KVM? Have you got any time
for it now? When will you need it?


[I'm including the following details hoping they might be useful for
several people, who have not yet used KVM]

I have installed a virtual machine using KVM, qemu, and virt-manager
according to this wiki page

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM/VirtManager

It works very well, for example it is easy to use USB pendrives, also to
boot from them, and to use image files (dd-cloned images) as virtual
disks. Select 'i', the tab with the setup information about the virtual
machine. Right-click in the window for specifications and select 'Add
Hardware'. Select 'managed or other existing storage', and click the
button 'Browse local'.

- Select the block device for the USB pendrive, for example /dev/sdb
(yes it is that simple),

or

- Select the file for the dd-cloned image, for example
dd_lubuntu-13.04-obi-sept1_4GB.img (This image file contains the One
Button Installer with the named tarball.)

The host machine must use either Intel VT or AMD-V chipsets that support
hardware-assisted virtualization, and it must be activated or possible
to activate in the BIOS, otherwise KVM will work but very slowly (qemu
software virtualization), and VirtualBox might be be faster. See this link

http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/lnxinfo/v3r0m0/topic/liaai.kvminstall/liaaikvminstallenable.htm

and this overview link http://www.linux-kvm.org/page/Main_Page

Best regards
Nio

On 2013-09-15 16:37, Nio Wiklund wrote:
> Enjoy the nature this Sunday afternoon :-)
> 
> I'm not in a hurry, do it when you have time at home.
> 
> Best regards
> Nio
> 
> On 2013-09-15 16:05, Phill Whiteside wrote:
>> I'm currently at the sea-side house on a 3g dongle. I'll do a conversion
>> and try it out when I return home.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Phill.
>>
>>
>> On 15 September 2013 14:55, Nio Wiklund <nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx
>> <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
>>
>>     Are you planning to have a virtual machine with the OBI in your server
>>     available via the internet for people to test?
>>
>>     Best regards
>>     Nio
>>
>>     On 2013-09-15 15:50, Phill Whiteside wrote:
>>     > I have the svm flag (AMD chipset). It certainly would be worth
>>     checking
>>     > your BIOS to ensure it is turned on. Mine just runs out of the
>>     box.. My
>>     > dedicated server is intel based and currently has 6 active VM's all
>>     > running happily.
>>     >
>>     > Regards,
>>     >
>>     > Phill.
>>     >
>>     >
>>     > On 15 September 2013 14:40, Nio Wiklund <nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx
>>     <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx>
>>     > <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx>>> wrote:
>>     >
>>     >     I don't think the graphics is the problem.
>>     >
>>     >     What do you think about this tip (My Xeons have the vmx flag)
>>     >
>>     >    
>>     http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/lnxinfo/v3r0m0/index.jsp?topic=/liaai/kvminstall/liaaikvminstallstart.htm
>>     >
>>     >     I intend to do it when the installation to the virtual disk
>>     has finished
>>     >     ... but it is so slow.
>>     >
>>     >     -o-
>>     >
>>     >     By the way, can you try to use the vbox vdi file (maybe after
>>     >     conversion) in your KVM?
>>     >
>>     >     Best regards
>>     >     Nio
>>     >
>>     >
>>     >     On 2013-09-15 15:31, Phill Whiteside wrote:
>>     >     > Hmm,
>>     >     >
>>     >     > not come across that issue, the only known bug I'm aware of
>>     is the
>>     >     > graphics emulation which I manually set to VMVGA instead of the
>>     >     default
>>     >     > (which I think is cirrus).
>>     >     >
>>     >     > If you go into the details part (under view when the VM is
>>     open) and
>>     >     > select Video, you can change it to VMVGA, then Apply). This can
>>     >     only be
>>     >     > done when the VM is not running. See if that helps. I only
>>     allocate 1
>>     >     > core and 512 Mb of RAM and have no problems even running Ubuntu.
>>     >     >
>>     >     > Regards,
>>     >     >
>>     >     > Phill.
>>     >     >
>>     >     >
>>     >     > On 15 September 2013 13:21, Nio Wiklund
>>     <nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx>
>>     >     <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx>>
>>     >     > <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx>
>>     <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:nio.wiklund@xxxxxxxxx>>>> wrote:
>>     >     >
>>     >     >     Hi Phill,
>>     >     >
>>     >     >     I made a virtual machine according to your link
>>     >     >
>>     >     >     https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM/VirtManager
>>     >     >
>>     >     >     and booted from the Lubuntu 12.04 iso file (to start with
>>     >     something
>>     >     >     which is likely to work). And yes, it works with
>>     graphics and
>>     >     looks
>>     >     >     good, live so far :-)
>>     >     >
>>     >     >     But it is extremely slow :-( VirtualBox is at least ten
>>     times
>>     >     faster.
>>     >     >
>>     >     >     I'm running it in my HP xw8400 with dual Xeon CPUs (4
>>     >     processors) and 4
>>     >     >     GB RAM. VirtualBox is at least ten times faster.
>>     >     >
>>     >     >     What should I do? How can I activate the virtualization
>>     extension
>>     >     >     (specifically Intel VT)? Are there some manual commands or
>>     >     settings that
>>     >     >     I need to do before starting VirtManager
>>     >     >
>>     >     >     sudo virt-manager
>>     >     >
>>     >     >     Hoping for help
>>     >     >     Nio