LinuxVirtualization - Revision history

Jamie: /* KVM & QEMU - The "Built-In" Virtualization Tools Which are Built Into the Linux Kernel by Default! */

2025-08-15T21:22:16Z

KVM & QEMU - The "Built-In" Virtualization Tools Which are Built Into the Linux Kernel by Default!

Jamie: /* KVM & QEMU - The "Built-In" Virtualization Tools Which are Built Into the Linux Kernel by Default! */

2025-06-01T00:15:37Z

KVM & QEMU - The "Built-In" Virtualization Tools Which are Built Into the Linux Kernel by Default!

Jamie: /* VirtualBox - Oracle's Totally FREE Virtualization Software Tools */

2025-05-20T05:16:55Z

VirtualBox - Oracle's Totally FREE Virtualization Software Tools

Jamie: /* Linux Virtualization - Using Linux to Host Other Operating Systems on Top of Linux! */

2025-05-20T05:13:55Z

Linux Virtualization - Using Linux to Host Other Operating Systems on Top of Linux!

Jamie: Created page with "= '''Linux Virtualization - Using Linux to Host Other Operating Systems on Top of Linux!''' =

Linux is such a powerful operating system that is already has virtua..."

2025-05-20T04:57:49Z

Created page with "= '''Linux Virtualization - Using Linux to Host Other Operating Systems on Top of Linux!''' = Linux is such a powerful operating system that is already has virtua..."

New page

= '''Linux Virtualization - Using Linux to Host Other Operating Systems on Top of Linux!''' =
 
Linux is such a powerful operating system that is already has virtualization built into the Linux Kernel! This makes setting up virtualization on a Linux machine very simple, and easy to setup. Even the commercial virtualization softare often is based on the Linux Kernel, even VMware ESXi and vSphere is based on a heavily modified Linux kernel.
 

There are many options when using Linux to host virtual machines. For beginners, I find that the easiest route is by using the FREE virtualization software tools by Oracle, called VirtualBox. I LOVE VirtualBox, and used it for many years to quickly and easily create virtual macines, not only an a Linux host, but also on Windows and MAC host machines! And yes, it's TOTALLY FREE for all versionks of VirtualBox. I have created hundreds of custom shell command-line scripts over the years to manage over 100 virtusla machines running on top of VirtualBox
 

Here's an example of a very basic, simple shell script that starts up a Linux VM(Virtual Machine) from the command line, in headless mode:
<pre style="color:blue">
#!/usr/bin/bash

# Jamie - 10-03-2020
# FreeIPA_Server1-startvm - Start FreeIPA Server #1 on CentOS 8 in Headless mode
# Now starts the RockyLinux I now have from migrating the original CentOS 8

echo ""
vboxheadless --startvm FreeIPA_Server-1 &
echo "Please stand by while the VM starts up..."
sleep 20
echo ""
echo "The FreeIPA Server takes a LONG time to start up..."
echo ""
echo "Please be patient and stand by..."
echo ""
sleep 90
echo ""
echo "Almost there..."
echo ""
sleep 20
echo ""
echo "The FreeIPA Server VM is now running!"
echo ""
</pre>
 
This, like all shell scripts, just have executable permissions in order to run from the command-line. The easiest way to ensure and/or change the permissions of the script file is to use the chmod command, like this:
<pre style="color:blue">
[jamie@server.dawgland.com:~$ sudo chmod 755 ansctrl8-StartVM
[jamie@server.dawgland.com:~$
</pre>

@@ Line 46: / Line 46: @@
 <br /><br />
-=== '''Before installing virtualization software, or any software on any Linux distribution, it's best practice to first '''ALWAYS''' update the local cache of available software packages from the configured software repositories.  In the case of Fedora Linux, here is an example of the command, using the current "DNF" software package management tools, instead of the previous old RPM tools we used to use on RPM packages.
+=== '''Before installing virtualization software, or any software on any Linux distribution, it's best practice to first '''ALWAYS''' update the local cache of available software packages from the configured software repositories.  In the case of Fedora Linux, here is an example of the command, using the current "DNF" software package management tools, instead of the previous old RPM tools we used to use on RPM packages.''' ===
 <pre style="color:blue">
 [jamie@server.dawgland.com:~]$ sudo dnf check-update --refresh

@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 KVM & QEMU are built into the Linux kernel, making it the most efficient method of virtualization on a Linux host machine!  Usage of KVM & QEMU are for more advanced users, as unlike VirtualBox, which has a user-friendly Graphical User Interface(GUI), KVM & QEMU don't automatically come with a graphical interface, and instead is used from the command line, most of the time, to create and manage virtual machines.  There are numerous add-on software tools available for free to make it easier to create and manage VM's using KVM & QEMU, most notably "Virt-Manager", which provides a nice graphical interface to the KVM & QEMU tools.  These tools require advanced knowledge of Linux networking in order to create and manage "bridged networks" and "NAT'd Networking".
 <br /><br />
 The easiest way to install all of the required software tools, including the optional ones, which I recommend, is a one-liner command line command, as shown here:
 <pre style="color:blue">
@@ Line 51: / Line 74: @@
 <br /><br />
-Often times, some of the virtualization software tools are already installed by default on your system, which the above command will find and not re-install if already installed.  In my case, some of the tools were installed, but many were not, as seen in this scroll-back of my most recent installation of the entire virtualization tools package.
+Often times, some of the virtualization software tools are already installed by default on your system, which the above command will find and not re-install if already installed.  In my case, in which I was already starting with a new fresh installation of Fedora Linux 42 Desktop edition on my new Dell Laptop, some of the tools were installed, but many were not, as seen in this scroll-back of my most recent installation of the entire virtualization tools package.
 <pre style="color:blue">
 jamie@dell16fc42:~$ sudo dnf group install --with-optional virtualization

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 <br  /><br />
 There are many options when using Linux to host virtual machines.  For beginners, I find that the easiest route is by using the FREE virtualization software tools by Oracle, called VirtualBox.  I LOVE VirtualBox, and used it for many years to quickly and easily create virtual macines, not only an a Linux host, but also on Windows and MAC host machines!  And yes, it's TOTALLY FREE for all versionks of VirtualBox.  I have created hundreds of custom shell command-line scripts over the years to manage over 100 virtusla machines running on top of VirtualBox
 <br /><br >
@@ Line 38: / Line 39: @@
 [jamie@server.dawgland.com:~$ sudo chmod 755 ansctrl8-StartVM
 [jamie@server.dawgland.com:~$
 </pre>
 <br /><br />

LinuxVirtualization - Revision history

Jamie: /* KVM & QEMU - The "Built-In" Virtualization Tools Which are Built Into the Linux Kernel by Default! */

Jamie: /* KVM & QEMU - The "Built-In" Virtualization Tools Which are Built Into the Linux Kernel by Default! */

Jamie: /* VirtualBox - Oracle's Totally FREE Virtualization Software Tools */

Jamie: /* Linux Virtualization - Using Linux to Host Other Operating Systems on Top of Linux! */

Jamie: Created page with "= '''Linux Virtualization - Using Linux to Host Other Operating Systems on Top of Linux!''' = Linux is such a powerful operating system that is already has virtua..."

Jamie: Created page with "= '''Linux Virtualization - Using Linux to Host Other Operating Systems on Top of Linux!''' =

Linux is such a powerful operating system that is already has virtua..."