To have several operating systems at hand with a separate workspace and applications, you do not need to buy a second (third, fourth, etc.) computer. Because all this will fit in your only PC. How? Thanks to virtual machines (VMs) − special programs, which create (emulate) imaginary (virtual) computers inside the main operating system.
Virtual PC is almost like a real one. It has its own processor, memory, hard drive, network adapter and everything else. Of course, these are not physical devices, but they are made in such a way that operating systems consider them to be exactly that - real.
On one physical computer Several virtual machines can work at the same time. How much depends on hardware resources: the faster the processor, the larger the RAM, the more spacious the drive, the more. A typical home PC with average performance on Windows base 10 handles simultaneous work three to five lightweight operating systems (eg Windows XP, Android and Lubuntu + main system). Or two or three relatively heavy ones (for example, the main Windows 10 + virtual windows 7 and Mac OS X). As you already understood, virtual desktop emulator applications allow you to install and run a wide variety of operating systems on them.
General-purpose virtual machines (as opposed to specialized ones, such as, for example, Java VMs), use:
- To run applications that the main system does not support.
- To protect the system from potential harm from unverified programs.
- As an additional barrier against viruses when visiting dubious web resources.
- To create an isolated environment for studying malware activity.
- As a testing ground for debugging your own developments.
- To master the technologies of building networks.
- For double authorization on some game portals and much more.
And of course, virtual machines are widely used to distribute the working resources of servers.
Today we will not touch on the industrial use of VMs, but will only consider what may be useful to home users of Windows.
Oracle Virtual Box
Consider the process of creating a new virtual machine and starting the installation in her Windows 10.
- Click the "Create" button on the top bar.
- In the first window of the VM creation wizard, specify the OS name (it will be displayed in the list of guest systems), its type (Windows, Linux, etc.) and version. In our example, this is Windows 10 32 bit (you can also install 64 bit, but it will require more resources). To go to next step click Next.
- Next, specify the size of the VM RAM. By Windows default 10 x86 is 1 GB, but you can increase this amount by moving the slider to the right. If your PC does not have a lot of RAM, do not give the VM more than 2-3 GB, otherwise the main system will slow down due to lack of memory.
- Next we create virtual hard disk. If you are installing the system for the first time, select the "Create new" option.
- Leave the virtual disk type as default.
- A storage format is an area on your computer's physical storage that is allocated to a VM. It can be fixed or dynamically expandable within the limits you define next. To save space, we will choose a dynamic format.
- Next, specify the name of the volume (virtual disk C) and its size. The default is 32 GB.
- After clicking the "Create" button in the last window, a new virtual machine will appear in the list. The frame on the right shows its parameters.
- To proceed to the installation of Windows, click the "Run" button in the top panel.
- In the window that opens after that, the window "Select a boot disk" will appear. Click on the folder icon and specify the path to the system distribution kit. This can be an .iso image or physical medium(DVD, flash drive). Once you've selected your distribution, click Continue.
- The further course of installing the OS into a virtual machine does not differ from installing it on a physical computer.
Some VM and guest system settings
A click in the virtual machine window captures the mouse cursor (i.e. it will only move within virtual screen). To return the cursor to the main OS, press the Ctrl + Alt combination.
To access the entire feature set of the guest OS, you need to install special add-ons. Go to the "Devices" menu, click "Mount Guest Additions Disk Image" and follow the instructions.
To connect a folder to the guest system for exchanging files with the main one, click the “Shared Folders” item in the “Devices” menu. Click on the “folder+” icon in the window that opens and, through the “folder path” field, specify it in Explorer (it shows the directories of the main system).
If you want the setting to work all the time, check "Auto-connect" and "Create a permanent folder". shared folder will be available from the virtual machine explorer as a network one.
To change the polling order boot devices(for example, to boot a virtual machine from a DVD), shut down the guest OS, open its settings (in the main Virtualbox window) and go to the first tab of the "System" section. In the "Load Order" list, check desired media and use the arrow buttons to move it up.
VMware Workstation Pro
Some options for Hyper-V virtual machines
To take a snapshot of a running guest OS, Open Top Menu its Action window and click Breakpoint. Or press the combination Ctrl+N.
Access to the settings of an individual virtual machine is opened from its context menu in the list of the main dispatcher window and is hidden behind the "Settings" button.
Other features of the program are also very straightforward and mastered without much difficulty.
Virtualization allows you to encapsulate internal organization operating systems or parts thereof within virtual hardware and software. In other words, to create a virtual space that will be real, from the point of view of the operating system running in this space. This is exactly what virtual machines for Windows 7, Linux and Mac OS X do. Virtualization also allows you to simulate devices that are not even on your computer.
Note A: In a sense, virtual machines allow you to create a computer within a computer.
There are two important aspects of machine virtualization:
- interaction between a physical host (computer) and a virtual host
- interaction between the operating system running in the virtual space and the hardware used
Virtualization software, namely virtual machines for Windows 7 (Linux, Mac OS X), is usually a regular operating system application or service that allows you to create hosts. A host is any physical machine(a computer). Inside the virtualization software, the operating system runs in a similar or identical real host, called a virtual machine. For convenience, the operating system running in a virtual machine is called a guest operating system.
In addition, there are various virtualization methods that affect not only the implementation of applications for creating virtual machines, but also the features provided for guests. There is the usual emulation, in which hardware and software calls pass through an intermediate layer. There is also para-virtualization, where part of the actions inside the virtual machine takes place on real hardware, while the other part goes through an intermediate layer. And there is also virtualization at the system level, when each guest system is loaded in a special kernel, which allows you to run only similar versions of the operating system.
Some of these methods can be performed on the fly without significant changes to the actual host and its operating system. Others require the host to be rebooted into a special instance of the operating system that supports virtualization. Others use special hosts that support and are designed for virtualization at the hardware device level. The latter are also known as virtualization methods on pure iron(although this is not entirely true, since some software kernel is still used).
The virtualization software that manages the creation and operation of virtual machines, as well as the distribution and limitation of the resources provided, is often called a hypervisor. Some virtualization applications may also use special extensions processors to improve the performance of virtual machines. The presence of such extensions is called hardware support for virtualization. Examples of this support are VT-X (Intel) and AMD-V (AMD) technologies.
What is not virtualization and virtual machine?
Some people like to call virtualization programs (virtual machines) anything that creates an abstraction layer between the operating system and some of the running processes. For example, there is Sandboxie, which allows you to isolate browsers from the system (see browser security utilities). Some programs allow you to freeze the state of the system so that it cannot be changed. Others also allow the use of the so-called shadow mode in which all programs run normally, but any changes are undone when the computer is restarted.
Of course, all of these programs provide various benefits, but they are not considered virtualization technologies and are not virtual machines, because they do not simulate system calls, and they do not allow guest operating systems to run on top of the current system. Such programs only create additional layers of separation, mainly to increase the level of security. Continuing on the subject of safety...
Why use virtualization and virtual machines?
If security is your top priority and is the first thing you think about in any situation, then virtualization (the use of virtual machines) can certainly help you with this. But, you should not assume that virtualization is mainly used for security. Its initial goals are: testing, cost reduction, flexibility, old product support, and education. Increasing the level of security is only nice bonus, which has many of its pitfalls.
Note: Although virtualization allows you to isolate one operating system from another, there are still ways to get from the guest system to the main one.
What do you need to run virtualization technology and virtual machines?
The first thing to consider is the physical host. Depending on the type of virtualization software (virtual machines), completely different hardware and different operating systems may be required. Virtualization does not imply any one solution that will run wherever needed. Virtual machines need to be selected for the system (Windows, Linux, Mac) and for hardware (hardware). In addition, the host must have the necessary .
So if you are going to run guest operating systems on top of your system, you will need additional resources to run them, such as CPU and RAM. For example, if your computer only has 2 GB of RAM and you want to run a guest system on Windows 7, then you will have to severely limit the use of resources on the real system in order for the virtual machine to function properly. Of course, unless you are trying to run Windows XP with 256 MB of memory. However, if you have 16 GB of RAM, then you can run far more than one guest system without feeling any lack of resources.
Pros: Easy to install and use.
Cons: Limited functionality. Doesn't support snapshots general access to directories.
Virtual Machine for Windows 7, Linux and Mac OS X - VirtualBox
VirtualBox is another cross-platform virtual machine software for Windows 7 and above, as well as Linux and Mac systems, currently owned by Oracle. VirtualBox is like VMware Player, but has more features, including more advanced network stack, unlimited snapshots, some support for OpenGL and DirectX, and much more. The app is easy to install and just as easy to use. You can also use the command line for automatic deployment. VirtualBox also supports USB and shared directories. In addition, there is portable version virtual box. However, there are also disadvantages. You cannot take screenshots of guest systems. Disk management is somewhat confusing.
Audience: Beginners and experienced users.
Pros: Easy to install and use, lots of features.
Cons: No screenshot support, import existing machines complicated, non-intuitive disk management.
VMware ESXi hypervisor for creating virtual machines
ESXi is a bare-metal hypervisor with reduced functionality compared to ESX. The application requires a host and can be controlled from the console (the console is disabled by default, but you can enable it manually). You will not be able to take screenshots or capture video from the screen of your virtual machines. Transferring and cloning guest systems is done only manually. But, but you get sharing memory for more efficient use of RAM, powerful control and management, and command line access via SSH (when unlocked). You can also install VMware Tools to improve the performance of virtual machines. Para-virtualization is also supported by ESXi.
Pros: Powerful, advanced virtual machine capabilities.
Cons: Requires a host and a lot of resources. Not easy to install and run.
Virtual machine for Unix/Linux - Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM)
KVM only supports virtualization for UNIX-like operating systems (Linux). The application can be run on any hardware or in emulation mode, but without processor extensions, performance will be terrible. KVM is designed to be used through the console. But, it does have a decent management interface that lets you start and stop virtual machines, take screenshots, and more. The interface is known as Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) and is also used to manage Xen virtual machines (see below). Support for local and remote control. There is a known conflict with VirtualBox, but it can be resolved relatively easily
Audience: advanced users and professionals.
Pros: Full control and flexibility, very high performance, under appropriate conditions.
Cons: Only UNIX-like systems. Requires virtualization hardware extensions for normal execution. Emphasis on the command line. Not easy to install and run.
Virtual machine for Unix/Linux - Xen
Xen is another application for virtualizing UNIX-like operating systems (Linux). It must be loaded in its kernel instance. The emphasis is on the command line. But, you can also use VMM. Officially, Xen has been supported by OpenSUSE for many years and was recently added to the kernel release upstream. Xen can run in hardware-assisted or para-virtualization mode. However, for para-virtualization, Xen is extremely problematic to install and run. In addition, Xen has limited support for cd-rom and network devices. It is also available as a bare metal virtualization hypervisor on a Live CD. There are numerous third party extensions for managing Xen.
Audience: advanced users and professionals.
Pros: Full control and flexibility, very good performance, native kernel support.
Cons: Only UNIX-like systems. Para-virtualization mode is buggy. Emphasis on the command line. Multiple Utilities command line which can be misleading. Not easy to install and run. You need to load your own kernel instance.
Other solutions for creating virtual machines
There are many other solutions not listed here such as Parallels Virtuozzo, OpenVZ and VirtualBox based on VMLite. There are also a number of reworked solutions, including examples of crossing virtualization and thin clients. Linux also has a huge number of its own modifications. And don't forget about cloud technologies with their virtualization applications.
However, if you are a novice user, then you should not chase the features and colorful modifications. Otherwise, trying to create a virtual machine to run a couple of three programs can turn into several sleepless nights.
A few words about virtualization programs
This review will be useful not only for novice users, but also for experts. The listed products cover wide range virtualization technologies at all levels. All solutions described are free for personal use. Choose what you want or need based on the hardware you have, your requirements for ease of setup and launch, and availability. required set functions.
As a rule, most people start learning about virtualization with VMware Player or VirtualBox. Linux users may prefer KVM and possibly Xen. Experienced users might want to take a look at ESXi.
Sometimes it becomes necessary to get a second computer on which you can install a different operating system or safely test programs. A virtual machine will help you with this task. In this article, we will look at what a virtual machine is, why a virtual machine is needed, how to install and configure a virtual machine.
Virtual machine- a program that emulates a real (physical) computer with all its components (hard disk, drive, BIOS, network adapters, etc.). You can install an operating system, drivers, programs, etc. on such a virtual computer. Thus, you can run several more virtual computers on your real computer, with the same or a different operating system. You can easily exchange data between your real and virtual computer.
Why you need a virtual machine
Not every PC user needs a virtual machine, but advanced users use it quite often. A virtual machine is used for various purposes and tasks:
- Installing a second / other operating system;
- Software testing;
- Safe launch of suspicious programs;
- Computer network emulation;
- Launch applications that cannot be launched from your operating system.
For clarity, I will give a few examples.
Windows 7 operating system can be installed on your real computer, and Windows XP, Windows 8 or Linux can be installed on a virtual machine.
If you need to choose a program (for example, a video player) you need to install several similar programs, and determine which one you like best. Whatever clutter up your computer, test programs on a virtual machine.
I often use a virtual machine when I write an article for a website. Before writing the material, I personally check everything. When I do a software review, I have to install a lot of various programs, from which there is excess garbage in the system. Yes, and unsuccessful encryption or hiding data can lead to unpleasant consequences. It's better to protect yourself and experiment on a virtual computer.
Overview of virtual machines
There are a large number of different programs for creating and managing virtual computers. Now we will consider the 3 most popular programs.
Virtualbox virtual machine
- a free virtual machine on which you can install all the most popular operating systems. VirtualBox supports Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS.
VirtualBox supports both 32 and 64 bit versions operating systems. VirtualBox supports working with virtual computers created in a paid program VMware Workstation.
Setting up and working with VirtualBox is very convenient and simple. The program is quite productive and stable.
VirtualBox has wide functionality, specific interface and it is completely free. VirtualBox is the best virtual machine for home use.
VMware virtual machine
vmware- the most famous and widespread virtual machine. VMware tends to be used by large sites or corporations.
VMware comes in two flavors: Workstation and Player. VMware Workstation is great, but it's a paid virtual machine. VMware Player is a free stripped-down version of VMware Workstation.
VMware Workstation supports 32 and 64 bit systems, USB 3.0, installation of various operating systems.
VMware Workstation is by far the best virtual machine used by large companies, but its cost reduces its popularity among ordinary users.
Microsoft Virtual PC virtual machine
Microsoft Virtual PC- Another free virtual machine. It has wide functionality and user-friendly interface, but it has one big disadvantage- It only works with Windows operating systems. It cannot run Linux or Mac OS.
Summing up, I would like to note that VirtualBox is best suited for home use. Next, we'll look at how to install and configure a VirtualBox virtual machine.
Installing the VirtualBox virtual machine
Of the virtual machines discussed in the previous section, it is best to use VirtualBox. Now we will look at how to install VirtualBox, and in next section its setting will be described.
Download the latest version of the program from the official site. Download program
Run the installer and see the welcome window. Let's move on to the next stage.
At the second stage of the installation, you can see all the program components that will be installed and the directory where the program will be installed. You can change the installation directory, but I recommend installing all the components. You may not need all the components now, but if you need them in the future, you need to install the virtual machine again. Move on.
Here you need to note where you want to place the program shortcuts.
At the next stage, a warning will appear that during the installation, your computer will be temporarily disconnected from the network. If you are downloading something important from the Internet, then wait for the download to finish and only then click the “Yes” button in the installation window.
Then you will be told that if you are ready to start the installation, then click the “Install” button, and if you want to change any parameters, then go back. Click "Install" and wait for the installation to complete.
During the installation process, pop-up windows may appear that say “Install software for this device?” Click the "Install" button.
Installation completed. We press the “Finish” button. The virtual machine will automatically start after installation is complete.
We proceed to the creation and configuration.
Creating a VirtualBox Virtual Machine
To create a virtual machine you need in the window VirtualBox programs click on the "Create" button (in the left upper corner).
At the first stage, you need to enter the name of the machine to be created and select the type of operating system. For example, we will create a virtual machine with an operating Windows system 7. Let's move on.
At the second stage, you need to set the amount of RAM that will be allocated to the virtual machine. You need to choose based on the needs of the operating system. IN system requirements Windows 7 states that you need at least one gigabyte of RAM. I specified 1.5 GB. Windows XP requires less RAM. In general, we take the minimum that is indicated in the characteristics of the operating system + a small margin. At the same time, keep in mind that you can’t give a virtual machine more than half of the computer’s RAM, of course, if you don’t have much powerful computer which has 8 or more gigabytes of RAM.
You can attach a virtual hard disk to a virtual machine. Let's create it. Check the box “Create a new virtual hard disk” and click on the “Create” button.
Now you need to specify the type of hard drive. If you do not know the formats that are described there, leave it as it is and click “Next”.
Next, you need to specify the format for storing data on the virtual hard disk. A dynamic virtual hard disk can expand, while a fixed one has a strictly defined size. See how you feel more comfortable.
Specify a name virtual hard disk and its size. Click "Create".
Setting up the VirtualBox virtual machine
Let's get acquainted with the settings of the virtual machine. Click the "Settings" button in the upper left corner of the program.
The settings window will appear. By changing the settings, you can change various parameters of the virtual machine (for example, the amount of RAM, device boot order, enabling 2D acceleration, etc.)
All settings are divided into several sections. IN current version programs 9 sections. We will not go into each section in detail. Visually, you will master the settings much faster than reading extra text. At the same time, pointing at any item of the settings, a window will appear in which it will be described why this or that parameter is needed. I will briefly describe what features can be found in each section.
Basic settings by section:
- General - machine name, OS type, clipboard, removable media;
- System - Basic virtual machine hardware settings: RAM, chipset, processor, acceleration, device boot order;
- Display - Video memory settings, number of monitors, 2D and 3D acceleration, remote display connection, video capture;
- Carriers - Rigid controllers disks and their settings;
- Audio - audio driver and controller;
- Network - configure network adapters;
- Com ports – enable and configure COM ports;
- USB - Turn on the USB controller and USB setup– filters;
- Shared Folders - Create and manage shared folders.
If you make a mistake in the settings, the program will inform you about it. “Incorrect settings detected” will appear at the bottom of the settings window. By hovering over the exclamation mark, you will see a pop-up panel in which you will find out what you did wrong and how you can fix it.
For an ordinary user, the first 3 sections of the settings are enough. If the virtual machine will run slowly, you can increase the amount of RAM or use more processor power.
After completing the settings, click the “OK” button. To start (turn on) the created virtual machine, you need to click on the “Start” button. Now we insert the installation disk with the operating system into the drive, install and configure the operating system and your virtual computer is ready for use.
Conclusion
In this article, we looked at what a virtual machine is, why it is needed, how to install and configure a virtual machine. Installing and configuring a virtual machine is easy.
The concept of a virtual machine (from the English. Virtual Machine) is understood as a software or hardware system that emulates the hardware of a certain platform (guest platform), executing programs for the guest platform using the host platform.
Also, a virtual machine can virtualize a certain platform, creating on it independent, isolated environments for operating systems and programs.
Virtual machine for Windows 7 - we offer you an overview popular programs.
In simple terms, a virtual machine provides the ability to create several virtual computers on one real, physical computer, install various operating systems, programs, etc.
This technology came to the masses from the world of server infrastructure, where virtual machines are used to create maximum load server and reduce equipment downtime.
Virtual machines are used to solve a range of tasks such as:
- Optimizing the use of server resources.
- Information protection, as well as limiting the capabilities of some programs, the so-called sandbox idea.
- Research into new computer architecture or software.
- Emulation of various computer architectures (for example, to emulate game console PlayStation by Sony).
- Creation malicious code.
For example, the SubVirt rootkit created in 2006 by Microsoft Research (MSR), created a virtual working environment, in which the user's operating system was placed along with antivirus, firewall and other software, (software) designed to protect your PC.
At the same time, the rootkit itself remained outside and therefore did not fall into the scope of antiviruses, providing remote control over the virtual machine to the attacker. - Modeling of computer networks.
- Software testing and debugging.
We bring to your attention a brief overview of the most popular virtualization programs.
Virtual Machine for Windows 7: Virtual Box
Oracle virtualization software for operating systems Linux, Mac OS X, MS Windows, etc.
The program is quite popular and below we will not consider everything, but only its key advantages:
Free.
Cross-platform.
Support for 64-bit guest systems on 32-bit host platforms. To do this, the host platform must support virtualization technology at the processor level.
Support for audio devices and various kinds network interaction.
The ability to create a chain of backup states (backups), to which you can return in case of problems with the guest system.
Russian-language interface.
Important! The disadvantages of the program are not significant, but for the sake of objectivity of the assessment, they should also be mentioned - VirtualBox is poorly compatible with Win 95/98 (slow system operation is noted) and Mac OS X (problems with sound).
As you can see, the shortcomings of the program are not significant and rather nominal.
Virtual Machine for Windows 7: Xen
Virtual machine monitor (hypervisor), developed at the University of Cambridge and distributed open source source code(GPL license).
Using paravirtualization technology (PV mode), Xen achieves very high performance by emulating real hardware platforms.
A feature of the PV mode is the absence of the initial moment of booting the computer (imitation of the BIOS code, bootloader) and the guest OS kernel starts immediately in desired mode like regular programs.
It is worth noting that Xen can be compared to software corporate level due to its rich functionality.
Advantages:
Free.
Cross-platform.
High performance of running virtual machines, which is very close to the performance of real systems.
Ability to migrate running virtual machines between physical hosts.
High degree of support for emulated hardware.
Perhaps the only drawback of the program is its relative complexity compared to similar software from other companies.
Virtual Machine for Windows 7: Virtual PC
Initially this program was developed by Connetix for Mac OS, back in 1997. After 4 years, a version for Windows was released.
Later, in 2003, the rights to the program were acquired by Microsoft Corporation, and in 2006 the program became free.
In the future, Virtual PC has not received development and currently contains the functionality of 2007.
Advantages:
Free.
Simple, user-friendly interface.
Disadvantages:
The program works only in the Windows OS environment, but is not compatible with Windows 8 and above.
The program, unlike Virtual Box, not compatible with AMD processors.
Virtual Machine for Windows 7: VMware Player
A product from the largest American developer of virtualization software Vmware.
Vmware products are primarily aimed at the corporate segment of the market, therefore full version programs - VMware Workstation - paid.
The license price is about $250. For non-commercial use, the manufacturer offers a program with limited functionality VMware Player.
It should be noted that the restrictions generally apply to software developers and IT specialists; the program is quite functional to perform the tasks of an ordinary user.
Advantages:
Free.
Fast.
Simple, user-friendly interface.
ThinPrint technology allows you to print any document opened in the guest OS without installing additional drivers.
Working with multiple monitors in the guest OS.
File exchange between guest systems using Drag & Drop technology (drag and drop).
Disadvantages:
Limited functionality of the free version.
Installing Windows 7 x64 on VirtualBox (virtual machine)
Virtual machine for Windows 7: multiple operating systems on one machine
What do you think is the most best virtual machine?
I will not invent a bicycle and retell others. I'd rather suggest you read an article from the Linux Format magazine. in which the experts made comparative review five popular virtual machines in the hope of finding the one .., the best virtual machine. By the way, for those who renounced and were able to escape from the captivity of Windows, I highly recommend .
- What is a virtual machine
- Why you need a virtual machine
- How We Tested Virtual Machines
- Performance
- Functionality
- Compatibility and snapshots
- Desktop integration
- Graphics Acceleration
- Verdict
What is a virtual machine
If plain language, no tediousness, then a virtual machine is an operating system within an operating system.
Why do I need a virtual machine
In our case, a virtual machine is primarily a platform for checking programs. Among which, as you understand, there may be. Another virtual machine is used by hackers to test their own and other people's Trojans, and other miracle files. No matter which group you belong to, you will still be interested in learning more about virtual machines and how they work.
How we tested virtual machines
First, we took a dual-core computer (due to budget constraints) with fresh Arc Linux. In addition to the proprietary VMware (version 7.1.0 Player and 30-day trial period of Workstation 11), we used the official Arch packages, which very closely follow the releases of the developers. Each machine had 2 GB of system RAM and 128 MB of video memory (256 MB if needed).
We tested each candidate on different guest OS: Mint 17.1 and Kubuntu 15.04 beta, as well as different non-Linux OS versions under Windows name. To evaluate performance, we compiled the main Mint kernel, ran the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark, and played a variety of games from our Steam library. To test real options, we ran them on an 8-core machine with 16 GB of RAM and 4 GB Nvidia GTX but then we were forced to return it.
Virtualization technology has fundamentally changed the computing landscape. We'd be embarrassed to say this is a new invention (early mainframes used it as a means of providing resources), but decade-old CPU innovations mean you'll only get near-native performance with x86 code. And now we manage to cram dozens of machines (easily copied and restored) into one building, and the work of data centers has become much more efficient. It is also possible to imitate another architecture, say, ARM, which is convenient for embedded system developers.
This is also good for ordinary users: familiarity with the new OS no longer has to be such a time-consuming exercise in constant fear of ruining your system. Even if you just want to test new program, it's much safer to do this in a virtual machine instead of risking your current setup. Support for virtualization within the kernel (via KVM) and the Qemu emulator means that Linux users there is no longer any need to resort to proprietary tools.
In the old days, Sun's VirtualBox (once owned by Innotek, now Oracle) was the only real option. But times have changed, so let's look at other virtualization applications.
Both VMware and VirtualBox use kernel dependent modules that are loaded to work their magic. VMware will need to compile them, which will require installing the kernel header packages and all the compiler stuffing. Then you will get an init script to load specified modules, although it will be useless for Systemd users. If this is your case, you may wish to create your own init file instead of running this script as root all the time (or seeing the same error messages). At the time of writing, the 3.19 kernels required patching up the VMware sources, but I hope this will be fixed by the time the magazine is published. VirtualBox packages are available in most distributions, and if you have a standard kernel, you don't have to worry about anything.
Virt-Manager requires the libvirtd service to be running on your system before it starts, which you will be kindly notified, and if you are using a full desktop environment, it will do this for you; you will only have to enter the root password.
Both VirtualBox and VMware Workstation are pretty straightforward, unless you want to get distracted by every option. VMware Player, on the other hand, doesn't have too many options, and you'll get your machine up and running in no time. But if you are determined to use all these options to the maximum, you will have to install guest additions.
The Linux Guest Additions for VirtualBox are much easier to install (the CD will run automatically) than the VMware "tools" that require you to copy programs from an imaginary CD, change permissions, and then run a script. Is it really 1999? But by doing all this, you will be rewarded with improved graphics and a number of additional features, which we will discuss next.
The easiest to use of our selection is Boxes, even though it only provides the bare minimum of Qemu/libvirt features. VMware Player and VirtualBox come in second, followed by their paid rival (nominally they are more difficult due to more options). Virt-Manager isn't particularly difficult to use, but it has just enough of Qemu's labyrinth of settings to overwhelm a beginner. In addition, the mechanism for managing storage is rather confusing, especially if you are going to store your virtual disk in a non-standard location: then you first need to add the required directory as a "storage pool". However, your own distribution will provide all the necessary exotic modules, in which case why not take a chance.
Performance
Will they create a slow or agile VM for you?
Thanks to hardware enhancements and paravirtualization technologies, it has become possible to perform some tasks at speeds close to the speed of real hardware.
However, the way it is, there is usually some performance hit. Pretty much every configuration we tested the guest desktop on showed some sort of stuttering. But you get used to it, and you can turn off all sorts of prettiness or turn on the appropriate mode of neutralization of faults, if it bothers you.
We're not taking 3D performance into account here - that wouldn't be entirely fair, and it has its own category across the page. However, for everyday tasks using Terminal, you are unlikely to notice much difference between our candidates. Kernel compilation experiments have shown that VirtualBox is well behind in the competition. Comparison test JavaScript SunSpider confirmed this conclusion: both tasks completed 20% slower than the others. Disk input / output (I / O) (especially if you have an SSD drive) and network traffic were fast for all of our candidates. Ultimately, VMware secured the upper hand with support for newer Intel processors.
Functionality
What can each candidate offer?
All of our candidates are designed for different use cases and therefore each has its own individual benefits. Of course, the presence of some standard features is certainly implied: these include, for example, the ability to create snapshots, support for Intel VT-x and AMD-V processor extensions, and flexible configuration of virtual hardware. All this is offered by everyone, however, some applications are capable of more heroic deeds.
A caveat here is that Gnome Boxes and Virt-Manager are just interfaces to Qemu (via the libvirt abstraction layer). And Qemu is essentially a CPU emulator that is capable of virtualization via KVM, but is a whole world nonetheless.
So let's take a look at our candidates one by one.
Gnome Boxes ★★
When called from the command line, Qemu supports a lot of options, most of which are not in Gnome Boxes: its goal (implemented) is simplicity and clarity of appearance and operation. Through its user-friendly wizard interface, you can set up a virtual machine in just three clicks - just point it to the appropriate ISO. Boxes abstracts away the difference between a virtual machine and a remote machine, and you can connect to both via VNC, SPICE (which allows audio to work over a network), or OVirt.
Gnome Boxes
Boxes does not offer special opportunities control your virtual machine over the network, but at least provides all the NAT magic you need to ensure your virtual machine communicates with the world. The rest of the candidates successfully set up NAT, network bridges or host-only networks, and all this can be very convenient in certain circumstances.
Virt Manager ★★★★
Virt-Manager (aka Virtual Machine Manager) offers many more Qemu features (but again, not all). It seems to have overdone it with its list of supported x86 operating systems, in particular from the Linux family.
Virt Manager That aside, Virt-Manager makes it relatively easy to set up a machine of any complexity - you can add any hardware, including multiple network interfaces. In addition to KVM VMs, Virt-Manager can use Qemu/libvirt support for Xen guests and LXC containers. Optionally, it can also poll guest resources and thus provide very nice graphs (like those in the Performance section on page 25, which takes about 30 seconds after Windows startup 10). In addition, Virt-Manager uses Qemu's recently added USB 3.0 support.
Compatibility and snapshots
Is it possible to move virtual machines between real ones?
Sometimes it may be necessary to move a VM between hypervisors. All of our programs can import machines stored in the Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) format, which is simply a tar archive with a VMDK (VMware) disk image, and virtual hardware data. VirtualBox allows export to this format, but also has its own - Virtual Disk Image (VDI), and also copes with all the others.
The qemu-img command can be used to convert formats. Of particular note is his favorite QCOW2 format, which allows multiple system snapshots to be stored internally using the excellent Copy On Write (COW) technique.
Boxes, Virt-Manager, VirtualBox, and VMware Workstation support system snapshots, saving different states your VM. VMware Player allows you to have only one snapshot per machine in addition to its current state. So deep regression testing is excluded.
VirtualBox and VMware Workstation are also capable of "cloning" VMs, and this effective method system snapshots: data is written to the corresponding clone only if its state differs from the state of the parent. VMware allows you to mount a guest VMDK image on the host, which is also handy, although the same trick can be done by converting to a raw disk image and using standard tools Linux and arithmetic to calculate partition offset.
VirtualBox ★★★★
Originally a desktop virtualization client, VirtualBox is still probably the go-to tool for many. This program has a clear structure, which makes it easy to set up a virtual machine, and many useful options. In addition to limiting the number of CPU cores that the guest OS has access to, VirtualBox allows you to specify a limit CPU usage guest as a percentage. VirtualBox also supports video recording, so you can record a Windows manual for your YouTube channel in an evening.
virtual box It can import any virtual drives but only offers support USB host controller 2.0, and even then only if you install the proprietary Oracle extension pack. The shared clipboard and drag-and-drop options (in one or both directions, as you wish) are quite handy. VirtualBox has handy indicators for network and disk I/O and for CPU usage.
By the way, in the article "" we talked in detail about how to install and properly configure the VirtualBox virtual machine.
VMware Player ★★★
The free offering from VMware has come a long way since its introduction in 2008. The most remarkable thing is that this is no longer a player: it is more than capable of creating a high-quality virtual machine for you.
VMware Player In addition to supporting a number of network configurations (NAT, bridged, host-only, etc.), it offers very nice shaping options network traffic, which is quite handy if you are testing latest version, say, a DDoS client or see how much malware you can hang on your Windows XP virtual machine until it bursts. VMware also supports USB devices 3.0, and installing guest tools will allow for brilliant graphics, shared clipboard and shared directories. Player is somewhat inferior when we are talking about snapshots(it allows you to do only one), but we criticized it in the previous section.
VMware Workstation ★★★★★
There is a non-free version of VMware Player (VMware Player Pro), but we thought it would be more appropriate for this comparison to use the higher quality Workstation instead. This application has many additional features for developers, including the ability to group virtual machines into a kind of virtual phalanx so that you can make them all go into action at the same time with a single click.
VMware Workstation also offers support for new commands for modern Intel processors, as well as the ability to configure machines with virtual CPUs, up to 16GB and 64GB of RAM. However, Workstation is heavily focused on integrating with the rest of the (rather hefty) VMware suite, and therefore will look more appropriate in an enterprise environment.
Desktop integration
Will they conflict with your color scheme?
Some users love the perfect harmony of virtual machine interfaces and their corresponding hypervisors with the host desktop, while others are confusing.
VirtualBox uses Qt4, which is especially annoying on the Qt-based Arch Linux desktop, where Qt5 is used everywhere, but that's just something of a niche drawback. Boxes fits perfectly with Gnome 3, which is to be expected; Virt-Manager and VMware use GTK3 and also pair perfectly with it.
All of our candidates allow us to switch the virtual machine to full screen mode, and fortunately they all allowed us to switch back using the appropriate keyboard shortcut.
The standout modes are Unity in VMware (no, that's not the way to make everything ubuntu-like) and Seamless in Virtual-Box - both display application windows directly from the guest on the host's desktop. This is very good for a Linux VM (avoiding potential confusion between guest and host windows), but trying to run
the preview was not very successful; Windows 7 with Aero turned on wasn't the most pleasant experience either.
All of our candidates support running a guest in full screen mode, and they can be configured to change the resolution when the window is resized. Appropriate hotkeys are provided to exit this scenario. The drag-and-drop capability on VMware machines is very handy, which is why VMware wins in this category.
Graphics Acceleration
Is it possible to avoid software rendering problems?
Any of our candidates would serve you well if you wanted to just set up a virtual machine with no intention of doing anything graphics intensive.
But if you need 3D acceleration, you need to take VMware or VirtualBox. Once you get past the installation of the Guest Additions (including VirtualBox's misleading double-negative question that tries to turn you away from its experimental WDDM support, needed for e.g. Windows interface 7 Aero), you will be able to enjoy 3D acceleration in VirtualBox and two VMware clients.
Boom boom, Maxwell's silver hammer landed on the, uh, beehive. He died shortly after this screenshot was taken in Don't Starve. VirtualBox allows you to allocate up to 256 MB of system RAM to a virtual graphics card, while VMware allows up to 2 GB. Note that these gigabytes are not taken from your actual graphics card, so you often won't see much improvement beyond 256MB. VirtualBox also provides 2D acceleration for Windows guests, which should help speed up video rendering, screen enlargement, and color correction, although this largely depends on the host configuration - a fast machine will not be affected much by this setting. A Windows VM probably won't run Battlefield 4 or Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (so we're pretty lucky they're ported to Linux) when everything is up to 11 but over older or less demanding games will do just fine: we spent a good hour playing the popular indie game Don't Starve, completely forgetting about our Comparison.
Everything worked better on VMware than on VirtualBox, but perhaps it was a more advantageous configuration - on Arch Linux we used the latest proprietary nvidia driver, which could lead to a preponderance of one over the other.
Verdict
Virtualization is a topic for Comparisons that is old and complex. If you want to run 3D games, you won't even look at Gnome Boxes or Virt-Manager, and unless you're better at VirtualBox than we are, you'll choose VMware as your hypervisor. But then again, this technology is by no means as mature as native DirectX 11. You might even have better luck playing games in Wine [Ed.: - Or not.] with some experimental performance patches. We don't really like VMware licenses, especially one that makes you pay after 30 days. trial period, however, for some, the enterprise-level features in Workstation will be a boon. In particular, if you use VMware's vCenter Converter to virtualize a machine with a single click - perfect if you want to test something new on your current system.
We haven't covered the masses of command line tools that come with all of our candidates, but they are, along with more than ample documentation. You can use them in your scripts when you go into all the heavy virtualization, pushing a whole host of virtual machines from safe environment command line. Perhaps hackers will prefer to work with Qemu directly, and those looking for a simple free solution with open source happiness will make Gnome Boxes.
Bubbles look good, if you don't see the effort that went into rendering them. But only one wins (a draw is a rare exception), and this time it's Virt-Manager - well, we couldn't let VMware win. Virt-Manager allows you to bridle most of Qemu's power without resorting to lengthy command-line spells. Virtual machines can be paused, reconfigured, moved, and cloned, all without much hassle. The only thing it lacks is graphics acceleration support, but who knows, maybe it will appear. VMware Player and Gnome Boxes are tied for second place as they both score high for their simplicity, and we love the Boxes icon that features a tesseract (or a hypercube or a cube within a cube, whichever you prefer).
Virt Manager ★★★★
All managers should do such a good job.
VirtualBox ★★
Once only decision and now on the sidelines.
VMware Player ★★★
Fast and convenient, but the license failed.
VMware Workstation ★★
Fast and full featured, but not free.
Boxes ★★★
The simplest way install and configure VM.
