KVM without X?

Josh000 · 10-20-2009, 11:04 AM

Hi guys.

I would like to know, if it is possible to start and manage KVM virtual machines without X, from a text console. Some reading up on this seems to indicate that it is.

In which case, I would then like to know if it is possible to start X from within a VM, started from a host not running X?

Or would X have to be running on the host?

Thanks

dyasny · 10-20-2009, 03:18 PM

yes, it is possible to run and manage VMs, whether by using virsh from the libvirt package, or directly interacting with kvm/qemu

yes it is possible to start a VM with X on top of a server that doesn't have X. The VM is separate from the host machine, and can run whatever you install on it

Josh000 · 10-20-2009, 06:28 PM

Hi,

Thanks for your answer.

So I can have 3 or 4 different virtual machines, each running on a different tty terminal, each running X, without X running on the host?

How does xen compare?

Thanks

dyasny · 10-21-2009, 02:43 AM

you can run as many VMs as the server can hold, with or without X

XEN and other virtual solutions can do the same

Josh000 · 10-21-2009, 05:35 AM

OK, thanks for your answers.

Now I am just looking at which is better, Xen or KVM. Can you reccomend any good comparison guides for them both?

dyasny · 10-21-2009, 06:38 AM

no, but here's a good insight about why KVM is the right choice:

http://blog.codemonkey.ws/2008/05/tr...m-and-xen.html

Josh000 · 10-21-2009, 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dyasny

no, but here's a good insight about why KVM is the right choice:

http://blog.codemonkey.ws/2008/05/tr...m-and-xen.html

I actually read that just a while ago before you replied.

I really don't care about the political side of things, I am interested in what is most stable, best performing, compatible etc.

At the moment, and evena ccording to that article, the answer appears to be xen. Which is why I continue to look for informed comparisons.

dyasny · 10-21-2009, 07:53 AM

KVM came a long way since 2008. Currently it's the preferred Linux hypervisor, Red Hat already switched, Debian is probably about to...

zhjim · 10-21-2009, 08:41 AM

Guess the choice between Xen and KVM is just how old your hardware is. KVM need a processor which supports virtualisation.. Take a look at the cpu flags of /proc/cpuinfo. dunno anymore which one is for amd and which one is for intel processors.
Also have in mind that KVM needs qemu as a underlying system. Not that much of a problem.
Nother thing that you need to have special kernels for xen to work. That's the diffrence between para and full virtualisation.

I also find networking a bit easier under Xen but thats mostly cause I'm used to it.

Cheers Zhjim