KVM

KVM is a virtualization engine, like VirtualBox or VMWare. It is stripped down in that it does not have the fancy GUI to manage it. This makes it more suitable for use on servers. Along the same line, it automatically sets up a virtual console using SPICE or VNC.

I am testing it on Dart, a server that runs Debian 7.

I want to migrate wildsong.biz and hupi.org to virtual machines so that I can host them on Dart but still keep them walled off in their own worlds to make them easier to manage.

Also I need to be able to run Ubuntu to test out BigBlueButton. (It seemed the easiest path at the moment.)

I now have a virtual machine set up but don't have the network connection going yet. I don't have much experience using the bridged network.

I am also working out the best console connection to use, SPICE looks cool. Checking that out today. 2/15/14 On my Mac I found that the native VNC connection did not work but that Vine VNC does. I looked at NoMachine a bit but it's not free.

Set up

Package installation

sudo apt-get install qemu-kvm

Use

Create a new virtual machine, then start it.

mkdir /var/kvm
cd /var/kvm
qemu-img create -f qcow2 hupi.img 10G
kvm -hda hupi.img -cdrom ~bwilson/LinuxImages/debian-7.8.0-amd64-netinst.iso -boot d -m 2048 -vnc :0 &

Now connect via VNC client. On my Mac, last year I downloaded Vine VNC Client. It made me jump through hoops. I just tried Chicken of the VNC and it's fine. http://sourceforge.net/projects/chicken/

One thing about using VNC server on Dart, I can connect and disconnect any time without worrying about the session state as I do when using ssh.