VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
multiOS
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by multiOS »

@Stuart,

I believe (and it's also my experience) that the two messages prior to yours give a fair assessment of the current position with regard to running VirtualBox VMs with Hyper-V Active. However, also IME, having Hyper-V active does not have a direct effect on the creation of new VM's. That's far more likely to be caused by not allocating sufficient resources when setting up the VM as many installers seem to look at their minimum resource requirements during installation. Allocating 2CPUs, 2GB RAM & 128MB Video Memory seems best for most 64-bit OS Installers.

You are unlikely to be in a happy place (currently) if you try to run WSL2 and a VirtualBox VM together. You could, of course use the original WSL which does not depend on Hyper-V. Or consider setting up a 'dual-boot' style system with and without Hyper-V active, which enables you to make a choice at at each startup. Linux Mint (Cinnamon Desktop) also needs 3D activated, or it has to use software rendering mode which also causes some slowdown.
daviessd
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by daviessd »

Hi.

Thanks for the reply.

The Settings had loads of resources, 8gig memory, two processors, 32gig Fixed size disk. I tried 'everything'.

I used VirtualBox for many years developing web servers for a large communications company using Centos (and earlier virsions of Mint) on VirtualBox. We did this because the Windows 8 dev tools were 'poor' and we deployed to Linux (and Solaris) so we thought it a good idea to develop on Linux.

Now I work for myself so I thought I would use VirtualBox again to run a Mint dev environment, what could be easier !

Ah well, back to WSL2 with Ubuntu and VSCode remote... It's just sooo messy :-{

Any way thanks for you comments.

Stuart
Aren Cambre
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by Aren Cambre »

Last edited by Aren Cambre on 1. Dec 2020, 17:24, edited 1 time in total.
shawnz
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by shawnz »

Note that WSL1 works just fine running together with Virtualbox, since it does not require Hyper-V. Only WSL2 (which uses Hyper-V) exhibits the compatibility issues
Aren Cambre
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by Aren Cambre »

shawnz wrote:Note that WSL1 works just fine running together with Virtualbox, since it does not require Hyper-V. Only WSL2 (which uses Hyper-V) exhibits the compatibility issues
For those wishing to run Docker, WSL2 appears to be a requirement.
shawnz
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by shawnz »

It is indeed a requirement to use the new "Docker Desktop" software, but there is also the option of using the older "Docker Toolbox" software which is powered by Virtualbox instead of Hyper-V.

"Docker Toolbox" is no longer being updated but it works fine for my use cases, for now.

See: https://github.com/docker/toolbox/releases

EDIT: It is also possible to just install Docker yourself in a Linux VM, and then connect to it from WSL by setting the "DOCKER_HOST" environment variable. Docker Toolbox and Docker Desktop are basically just automated ways of doing this.
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by Hawkeye08 »

I wonder if Windows Hypervisor Platform is still required?
For this feature to work, you need to make sure you're on Windows 10 1809 (or later), and that you have the Windows Hypervisor Platform optional feature enabled.
  1. Image : Some Hyper-V component is active, VirtualBox tries to use the Native Execution Manager (NEM) mode.
  2. Image : VirtualBox is using native hardware virtualization.

see post
I've only enabled Virtual Machine Platform (required to run WSL2, which I use to run Docker Desktop) on Windows 10 20H2 and disabled all other Hyper-V components.
VirtualBox runs in Green-Turtle mode, but it runs stable and without any problems (except very high cpu load, see thread VirtualBox and Hyper-V - Performance tips?)

The full list of enabled optional Windows features:

Code: Select all

PS C:\Windows\System32> Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online | Where-Object State -eq "Enabled" | Select FeatureName

FeatureName
-----------
Printing-PrintToPDFServices-Features
SearchEngine-Client-Package
MSRDC-Infrastructure
TelnetClient
TFTP
Printing-Foundation-Features
Printing-Foundation-InternetPrinting-Client
NetFx4-AdvSrvs
NetFx4Extended-ASPNET45
WCF-Services45
WCF-TCP-PortSharing45
MediaPlayback
WindowsMediaPlayer
SmbDirect
Windows-Defender-Default-Definitions
WorkFolders-Client
Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux
VirtualMachinePlatform
Windows-Defender-ApplicationGuard
SMB1Protocol
SMB1Protocol-Client
SMB1Protocol-Server
SMB1Protocol-Deprecation
Last edited by Hawkeye08 on 6. Dec 2020, 12:29, edited 2 times in total.
peter
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by scottgus1 »

Windows Hypervisor Platform, Virtual Machine Platform and WSL2 all depend on Hyper-V, which causes the green turtle and can interfere with or impede Virtualbox. Hyper-V has never been required for Virtualbox to run. So far Virtualbox runs better without Hyper-V. But the goal is to get Virtualbox to run on top of Hyper-V when the user requires Hyper-V to be operational.
Hawkeye08
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by Hawkeye08 »

Yes, I know.
But my question was, if the requirements to run VirtualBox with Hyper-V (from the very first post of this thread: "Make sure that you have Windows Hypervisor Platform enabled") are still correct?
peter
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by multiOS »

Peter,

I think you are possibly misreading that first post. There is no requirement and never has there been a requirement to have Hyper-V active in order to run VirtualBox. In fact it was and is still the case that, for most people, it's best to not have Hyper-V installed or activated when they want to see VirtualBox VM's performing effectively.

The original post was about the VirtualBox developers' early attempts to try to get VirtualBox working on a Windows PC that did have Hyper-V activated. At that time no-one was reporting any success with such an arrangements, hence the oft repeated (and still current) forum advice to deactivate Hyper-V; and more recently Windows features that now make use of the inbuilt Windows Hyper-V architecture such as WSL2, when problems are experienced.

As you will see from more recent comments there have been some improvements, but these, from reports received, are only apparent when running 32-bit VMs and there are less and less of those available. To my knowledge; and from my own attempts, running 64-bit VirtualBox VMs alongside Hyper-V is still a 'no-go' area. Most people think (and report) their VM's have 'crashed'/locked up when attempting this, whereas, in reality, they are usually experiencing an 'extreme' slowdown within the VM.
scottgus1
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by scottgus1 »

OK, Hawkeye, I think I understand now. The name of that setting may have been changed by Microsoft since about two years ago when that post was started (I can't determine when the red mod edit was made, though it has been there as long as I can remember).

Suffice it to say that if your computer has any Windows feature that uses Hyper-V enabled (see I have a 64bit host, but can't install 64bit guests posts 2 & 3 for the things we know of) then Hyper-V, a type-1 hypervisor, has first control of the hardware and that Virtualbox is running on top of Hyper-V. Any of these things, not just "Windows Hypervisor Platform", can enable Hyper-V.

The suggestion to have "Windows Hypervisor Platform" enabled to cause Virtualbox to run on Hyper-V is just one of many ways to get Hyper-V enabled. And it could be possible that Microsoft might and maybe has changed the name of the feature.

If your Virtualbox window shows the green turtle, then Hyper-V is running. You don't specifically have to enable "Windows Hypervisor Platform" or whatever Microsoft calls it now to get Hyper-V and the green turtle.
Hawkeye08
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by Hawkeye08 »

Thanks for your answer, scottgus1.
I thought, from the red mod-edit, that it is necessary to activate a certain optional feature for VirtualBox to work with Hyper-V. Your answer clarifies that this is not the case, what matches with what I experienced.

Btw. Microsoft did not rename Windows Hypervisor Platform, it is still there. Virtual Machine Platform is a new additional optional feature (I think it has been introduced with WSL2).
peter
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by BillG »

They have if fact changed it yet again. In my Windows 10 Pro version 20h2 build 19043.662 there are two headings under Hyper-V, each with two subheadings.
Hyper-V.PNG
On my other machine also running the latest build, but the standard edition, not Pro, it still shows just the two headings.
Standard.PNG
Bill
shawnz
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by shawnz »

BillG, on Pro you should see all three of the options. Scroll down and you should see the other two (Virtual Machine Platform and Windows Hypervisor Platform) near the bottom.

But the difference between them is not relevant to Virtualbox. Activating any of those components will enable Hyper-V to load at boot, and if Hyper-V is loaded, you will get the green turtle.
scottgus1
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Re: VirtualBox 6.0 and Hyper-V

Post by scottgus1 »

shawnz wrote:the difference between them is not relevant to Virtualbox. Activating any of those components will enable Hyper-V to load at boot, and if Hyper-V is loaded, you will get the green turtle.
You're preaching to the choir there, brother! :lol:
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