Discuss VirtualBox FAQ

This is for discussing general topics about how to use VirtualBox.
TerryE
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Discuss VirtualBox FAQ

Post by TerryE »

This topic is so that you can discuss of new Virtualbox FAQ and propose new Q&As to be included.
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Martin
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Post by Martin »

Typo: video card is VESA not VEGA

Edit: Done TE
philippe44
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Post by philippe44 »

Just one quick comment on the "high CPU topic"
- at each boot whenever you have switched between single and multi core, XP will "pretend" to have installed new hardware and need to reboot - this is not necessary, don't do it
- the statement I made on the default-named HAL and KERNEL is useless because after any boot-switched (see above), Windows will restore these default-named while it "pretends" to have installed new hardware – so removing it is better
- Finally, maybe the raw disk access could be FAQ as I found it little bit painful to do so it might help other people

Q: How can I have raw disk access and boot the same Windows either native either under VB ?
- Advice : do an image of your partition !
- Create another hardware profile in windows (under "hardware" of "system properties") – it is recommend, although optional that you boot this profile natively and remove at least the native video driver as it might create problems while booting the windows in VB.
- Advice : using no timeout in hardware profile selection at boot time is a good idea to avoid silly mistakes like booting the wrong profile and having all hardware re-detected ...
- Create a .vmdk container in Linux.
  • - Advice : do not use whole disk access, only use the "windows" partitions you really need (do an “fdisk” to identify them)
    - Advice : use another IPL, not the original disk boot loader otherwise every boot will ask you if you want to boot Linux or Windows and when you boot under VB this is stupid and dangerous (you might VB boot the same raw Linux under itself)… So, use any IPL (you can extract it yourself from ayour disk using MBRFix (eg) and copy the IPL to some file
    - Create the .vmdk container : sudo VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename <full path of your .vdmk> -rawdisk /dev/<your linux disk device> -partitions <your windows partition(s) by number> -mbr <your IPL file>
    eg : sudo VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename /home/user/myvmdk.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sda -partitions 1,5 -mbr winXP.mbr
    - Make yourself the owner of the .vmdk (chown)
- In your virtualbox, choose IO APIC, otherwise your windows will not be happy when booting as I assume it has previously started with IO APIC.
- In case you have a multicore, see the FAQ on “high cpu”

[sorry for not providing a better edited text]
TerryE
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Post by TerryE »

Phillippe, We've got posts all over the place on this. We need to have this discussion in the right place and the FAQ is a high level document so I don't think it belongs here. I've just suggested to Sasquatch that we create a dedicated working topic to the whole issue of configuring Windows for dual bare/VM boot.

Unfortunately in phpBB V2 I can only split topics and not merge them. So I can't pull all of the posts together, but give me until the morning and I'll create a place-holder topic in Windows Guests, which is probably where this topic belongs. Keep an eye out for it. The easiest thing to do then is to copy any existing posts by going to them; selecting edit; Ctl+A, Ctl+C; then switch to the new topic; select PostReply and past this in and submit; you can then switch back to the original and abandon the edit or replace it with a placeholder reference.
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Phobos
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Post by Phobos »

I have seen that lately these things have been asked too much on the forums and in some cases, things I think help solve those cases:

- making vbox a type-1 hypervisor => maybe the difference between a type-1 like ESX and type-2 like Fusion should be explained

- using compiz and/or 3D accelerated games => talked a lot in various threads, but reaffirming constantly that as of now this doesn't work wouldn't hurt

- running mac os x as a guest => aside from the actual technical difficulties of doing so, apple's EULA conflict must be explained

- mounting VDI on the host => there are various threads were solutions to this are given or are being worked on

- guest additions => for some reason, as fool-proof as this seems, people still have problem installing GAs

- moving the snapshots folder / using the same VMs on different hosts / using the same VDI disk on different machines

- running 64 bits guest => a little how to... like, activating the checkmark options: PAE, VT-x, etc

- NATs problems

- using vmdk and vhd disks on vbox => vmdk should be a single file, etc

some of these points are touched on the FAQ, others aren't, I think they should... but for me, the link to the FAQ should be visible from every page... maybe adding it as a link on phpBB's header would help

also, it would help if a link to the FAQ was found in vbox main page... maybe by compiling it all in a single PDF would ease this...

my point is that people is proving too lazy to do a little search and reading... so even if the information is there, it's like it wasn't... it's like you have the put the food in their mouth or else they won't eat...
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Post by TerryE »

I was thinking about this myself and what I am going to do is to add a READ ME FIRST - <forum name> to each forum given an overview, some standard pointers like to the Posting Guide and list off the FAQs for that forum. If you want to propose Q&As then do so here. Thanks
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Post by Sasquatch »

Phobos, as it is also stated in the FAQ, you are free to add questions and the appropriate answer for it in this topic. We will then add it to the FAQ.
Like you also stated, some questions are mentioned (like Compiz and 3D games) and some aren't (like the MAC OSX EULA). It does have a link to Wikipedia stating what VBox really is for kind of hypervisor.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

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Phobos
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Post by Phobos »

Sasquatch wrote:Phobos, as it is also stated in the FAQ, you are free to add questions and the appropriate answer for it in this topic. We will then add it to the FAQ.
Like you also stated, some questions are mentioned (like Compiz and 3D games) and some aren't (like the MAC OSX EULA). It does have a link to Wikipedia stating what VBox really is for kind of hypervisor.
hehe... true, but if the laziness won't let them read the FAQ, I doubt they will go read wikipedia

ok, I'll try to do some of them... please correct anything that's wrong

Q: Why don't you make VirtualBox so it can run without a Host OS like VMware ESX?
A: VMware ESX, like Xen, is a type-1 hypervisor, also known as a bare-metal hypervisor, meaning that it's a "thin" OS that only does basic functions, like managing hardware resources and controlling the Virtual Machines.
VirtualBox, like VMware Workstation/Fusion, is a type-2 hypervisor, also known as a hosted hypervisor. It's an application that runs above an existing OS, which in this case is the one that manages the resources.
Sun Microsystems is already working on it's own type-1 hypervisor, named xVM Server.

(the following one would be repeating the 3D Q on the FAQ, but I think it might be needed)

Q: I tried running Compiz Fusion / Aero on my guest and I got an error, what's the problem?
Q: I tried to play a game that requires DirectX / Direct3D / OpenGL and it doesn't work, what should I do?
A: VirtualBox as of this moment doesn't support 3D acceleration for the Guests, only basic VESA video cards. 3D support is being worked on, but there's no defined date for this feature.
For further information, refer to the following thread: http://forums.virtualbox.org/viewtopic.php?t=16


Q: Can I run Mac OS X as a Guest on VirtualBox?
A: For now, no. Aside from missing features in VirtualBox to allow this, Apple's End User License Agreement (EULA) states that Mac OS X must only be installed on real Apple hardware. Only Mac OS X 10.5 Server's EULA states that one copy may be installed on Apple hardware, even if virtualized.
To read Apple products EULA, please refer to their legal page at http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/


Q: Can I use 64-bit Guests on VirtualBox?
A: Yes, if your CPU has 64-bits too and supports the hardware virtualization extensions.
You need to check the "Enable VT-x/AMD-V" checkbox on the Advanced tab of you VM general options. For some server versions you also need to activate the "Enable PAE/NX" checkbox, and also some Linux Kernels under certain AMD Processors (Like Barcelona and Phenom) require the "Enable IO APIC" to be checked too.
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Post by Sasquatch »

Thanks. I could have taken some of the questions, but as I had a lot to do on the forum about answering questions, it would be nice to have someone take some load off of me (and the other moderators ;)). I will add the questions that are not yet answered, and some parts that need updating with your answers. Thanks.

Edit:
I added most parts. Including the double (now triple) question about 3D.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

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TerryE
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Post by TerryE »

I reworded the advise on 64 bit guests to reflect the fact that we are now at 2.0.4 and this support is becoming more stable. I also added the Q to the network section:
Forum Moderators wrote:Q: I want to make my Windows guest a member of a Windows domain. Can I do this?
A: Perhaps the simplest approach is to use a bridged network. However, at least one member has reported getting this working with NAT. See Windows XP and Active directory GPO for more details.
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Post by TerryE »

Another new Q in the General section:
Forum Moderators wrote:Q: I am running Linux and my kernel has just been upgraded. Do I need to do anything?
A: VirtualBox links its device drivers against the kernel during installation. The drivers link into addresses inside the kernel. The correct addresses may change when your kernel is upgraded, and as a result VirtualBox can start to cause otherwise inexplicable errors. After kernel upgrade it is always sensible to relink your kernel drivers. This is by running vboxdrv with the setup option. The command that you will therefore typically run is sudo /etc/init.d/vboxdrv setup.
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TerryE
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Post by TerryE »

Another Q in the network section:
Forum Moderators wrote:Q: I have set up a VM with NAT networking, but it can't access internet while my Host system can.
A: NAT only translates TCP or UDP. One of the common reasons is that your task requires another IP protocol; for example ping relies on ICMP which is not translated. Some VPN protocols also use GRE which is also not translated.

Another common issues is that the DNS relay within the VirtualBox VMM only forwards all DNS queries to the first configured DNS server known to the host and does not search the entire DNS server list. If this DNS server is offline the hot will fail-over to the second server on the DNS list, etc., but the guest will effectively loose DNS. You can test this by checking to see if you can browse by IP from the guest (e.g. http://66.102.9.99/ gives you google) then it is a DNS problem. To avoid this problem you need to manually configure DNS on your guest OS. In the case of Linux guests see Can't connect to the internet for further discussion.
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Post by baf »

Q: Can I use 64-bit Guests on VirtualBox?
A: Yes, if your CPU has 64-bits too and supports the hardware virtualization extensions.
You need to check the "Enable VT-x/AMD-V" checkbox on the Advanced tab of you VM general options. For some server versions you also need to activate the "Enable PAE/NX" checkbox, and also some Linux Kernels under certain AMD Processors (Like Barcelona and Phenom) require the "Enable IO APIC" to be checked too.
Addition: But not on Mac OSX (yet , at least as of 2.0.4)
TerryE
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Post by TerryE »

Baf, you are quoting Phobos's draft. If you read what we've put in the actual FAQ, you will see that we've made it clear that only the 64bit versions of Windows Vista, Linux and OpenSolaris are currently supported.
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aea414
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Re: Discuss VirtualBox FAQ

Post by aea414 »

I am not sure if this thread is still used any more, but figured I would update some info since I found myself having to edit the XML to remove the 3.1.6 guestadditions.iso from a VM after upgrading to 3.2.4.

Here is the layout of my snapshots for this VM from vboxmanage.exe showvminfo
Snapshots:

Name: base (UUID: a4ced13f-e12f-4fb-b4e8-47a43f774e61) *
Name: snap1 (UUID: e4fb379f-2edd-4817-a468-e0bc23ad09a0)
Name: snap2 (UUID: 0e59b188-2533-452d-80e1-82eb80a100a3)

I got the attached error when starting Vbox because the files are located in "program files\oracle\virtualbox" instead of "sun\virtualbox". I could not simply remove the guest additions CD because the number of dependent snapshots on the base snapshot.



Suggested changing to FAQ: Update XML for DVD drive storage, since it seems they changed the layout of the XML:
Q: I get the error "PIIX3 cannot attach drive to the Secondary Master." when I start my VM. How do I solve this?
A: VB is not able to mount the CD for the VM. Release the ISO or physical drive from the VM settings. If you can't do that, edit the <machine>.xml file and remove the attached file/device. It looks like this, remove the line in the middle.

Code: Select all

<DVDDrive passthrough="false">
    <Image uuid="{4ea51667-6a4a-4954-b32f-855da6815fb2}"/>
</DVDDrive>
Proposed change to:

Code: Select all

<AttachedDevice passthrough="false" type="DVD" port="1" device="0">
   <Image uuid="{361e1c45-3136-4dcb-b358-08d771e2ee1c}"/>
</AttachedDevice>
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