Help on virtualization without having X installed on the Host OS

papul1993 · 09-15-2010, 11:50 AM

Hi,
I run different OS on my system with the help of virtualization software. I have been doing this using VirtualBox till date. But are there any virtualization software available that dont require X to operate i.e they can be run completely via command line. Also will I be able to install X on the guest Os since host OS won't have X installed.

I actually plan to run a stable distro like Debian Stable as host OS and run other OS on top of it.

Thanks

serafean · 09-15-2010, 12:02 PM

Hi, you can use qemu (preferrably the KVM version) with the -nographic option.
With Xen there should also be the nographic option (in the configuration file this time) and combined with the vnc=1 option, you could connect a remote workstation. I suppose virtualbox can do it too but you'd have to adapt the guide to your distro.

Serafean

papul1993 · 09-15-2010, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by serafean

Hi, you can use qemu (preferrably the KVM version) with the -nographic option.
With Xen there should also be the nographic option (in the configuration file this time) and combined with the vnc=1 option, you could connect a remote workstation. I suppose virtualbox can do it too but you'd have to adapt the guide to your distro.

Serafean

but will i be able to run X on the guest OS if the host OS doesnt have X installed?

TobiSGD · 09-15-2010, 01:43 PM

You are able to run a X server, but the client have to run on another machine, connected through network. Try VMware Server.

Chuck56 · 09-15-2010, 02:23 PM

I think the OP implies that this should all take place on a single machine. How would the guest graphics be emulated to and displayed on a non-graphic screen? It would take some powerful Linux magic to make this happen!

serafean · 09-15-2010, 04:23 PM

Quote:

It would take some powerful Linux magic to make this happen!

a wild guess : framebuffer (through SDL)? though I have no idea how that would work.

Quote:

will i be able to run X on the guest OS if the host OS doesnt have X installed

As mentioned, you'd need a remote client (with X) with which you'd connect to your virtualized system (using X11 over ssh or VNC or anything else like this). Running X on the guest isn't dependent on running X on the host, Connecting from host to guest X is.

ashlyjay · 09-21-2010, 01:47 AM

i have tried centos without X and I use virtualbox as my virtualization software. Yes virtual box can also run X server when the hostserver is not.