Running virtual winxp on Linux

Stevetgn · 08-25-2005, 06:10 AM

Is there any open source virtual machine software that will allow me to run windows xp on linux. Will Xen do this and if so how?

Thx in advance

Steve

LinuxSeeker · 08-25-2005, 08:35 AM

VMWare should work.

lefty.crupps · 08-25-2005, 09:49 AM

"open source virtual machine"
"VMWare should work."

vmware isn't open source, is it? is it even free as in freeloader?

dub.wav · 08-25-2005, 10:54 AM

Qemu is quite good, I'm not sure about the XP support though. 2K works fine.
http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/

lefty.crupps · 08-25-2005, 01:45 PM

dub.wav--
i am interested in this qemu since i read about it in Linux Journal (I believe). But, like the way I find most CLI programs, it is way too complex to be useful to the average user!

Do you use it for Win2k? If so, how? Does it install win2k or do i need that installed first (on a seperate drive/partition)? What is this "image" that the Documentation discusses?

Code:

3.2 Quick Start

Download and uncompress the linux image (`linux.img') and type:
qemu linux.img
Linux should boot and give you a prompt.

where am I downloading this image from!? (I'm pretty sure they don't mean an .iso image)

Code:

3.3 Invocation
usage: qemu [options] [disk_image]
disk_image is a raw hard disk image for IDE hard disk 0.

General options:
`-fda file'
`-fdb file'
    Use file as floppy disk 0/1 image (See section 3.6 Disk Images). You can use the host floppy by using `/dev/fd0' as filename. 
`-hda file'
`-hdb file'
`-hdc file'
`-hdd file'
    Use file as hard disk 0, 1, 2 or 3 image (See section 3.6 Disk Images).

so that means that I would type:

Code:

qemu -hda 6 linux.img

to boot a linux distro that resides on my hda6 partition, yes?

Code:

3.6.1 Quick start for disk image creation

You can create a disk image with the command:

qemu-img create myimage.img mysize

ooh, it appears that i first must MAKE this image (3.6.1), NOT download it as the Documentation suggests, which means that it probably doesn't install win2k for/with me...

OK, so I install win2k (and make sure my grub is happy) and then
I go into win2k and install all of the progs that I want to use,
and then making this image grabs that and I can run it?
Can I still install a program through qemu, into the image?
Will doing so make it available in a normal win2k boot-up?
Can I just find *.img files somewhere on the net, and really download them like this documentation suggests, or must I actually make them (and continue to have the software installed)

hmm, how nice would it be to have a program/script that would make this program easy to use (just like linux, relying on another program to run the first

)...

Code:

click here to install Win2k in your Linux box...
$sudo password:
$which partition? HDA6
$making win2k.img image, this may take a moment
##################
$Would you like a desktop icon for win2k? [Y/n]
$Win2k successfully qemu'ed!

wow that would be nice. Any ideas? I think I need to learn some about this program, and some scripting...

dub.wav · 08-25-2005, 02:43 PM

It really isn't very difficult.

A quick how-to follows.

First, you have to create a hard disk image.
You have the choice between a few different image types, of which the two most notable are 'raw' and 'qcow'.
I usually use qcow, it is convenient because the image grows as data is added. On the other hand, you can't mount a qcow image from linux.

Create a image like so: qemu-img create -f qcow hd.img 5G
Then, tell qemu to use the HD image and to boot from the win2k installation CD: qemu hd.img -cdrom /dev/cdrom -boot d

When you have installed win2k, remove '-boot d' to boot from the HD.

A couple of more things:

Networking works out of the box. Win2k can get to the internet with DHCP. Just one drawback - you can't ping from qemu.
If you need to share files between the guest and the host, qemu has a -smb option, but I prefer just to use ssh.
The guest sees the host as 10.0.2.2. Just set up a ssh server and use WinSCP or something like that.

lefty.crupps · 08-25-2005, 02:57 PM

cool, I'll have to try that!! tonight!!

how does one go about "setting up an SSH server" on a linux box (or any box)? once I've ssh'ed in, can the files transfer both ways? its not graphical, so I do that via the cmd.com

Code:

 C:\> ssh 10.0.2.2

and then what?? password is my linux login password? can I startx? whats the point of all this, I cannot just drag-and-drop files from Konqueror to Explorer?

thanks maan, I need to learn this stuff!

i know, i know, RTFM, but

dub.wav · 08-25-2005, 04:53 PM

Setting up a ssh server is usually done as easily as /etc/init.d/sshd start, if it isn't already running.
Note that if your system is open to the internet and you don't have a firewall, you should make sure you don't have any weak passwords.

To upload/download files from the guest, I recommend WinSCP. You can find it here: http://winscp.net/eng/index.php
It is a free client for the SCP and SFTP file transfer protocols over SSH.

lefty.crupps · 10-14-2005, 04:19 PM

I have DSL on a USB key and I'd like to transfer files to/from the Windows host computer. Any ideas on how to do that? Does Windows need a special way to get SSH to work and accept files, etc? Or can I mount the window's C:\ drive some how, maybe within the bootup line?

My boot line currently looks like this:
qemu.exe -L . -m 192 -hda dsl.img -boot c -enable-audio -localtime

anything that i can add to this line (which i run from a batch file in XP) that will make the host machine's hard drive mountable?