Run software on VirtualBox to work with host softwares

[SilvioS]

Hello,
I'm totally dumb in regards to virtual machines. I'm running short in money right now, so I which to run a trial for some months. What I want is to open a virtual machine, run the trial there and have it to work together with another softwares running on host. I play poker, the trial software is to scan tables. But the poker client must stay installed on host, so the trial inside the virtual machine needed to read and write on the host. Is it possible? I'm too dumb to explain?

[SilvioS]

Hi?
Sorry, I googled it before posting here but found nothing

[andyp73]

Not withstanding the fact that this looks like an attempt to scam the online poker provider you need to define what "the virtual machine needed to read and write on the host" means. Do they need to share files with each other? Do they need to communicate with each other in a specific way over a network connection? Do they need access to each others process and memory space?

-Andy.

[SilvioS]

Well, it's definitely a scam to use a trial period for 2 or 3 times.

It works like this (on my normal machine):
The trial software read non-stop my hands database (postgre), so he can scan the list of tables going table by table to find less skilled players (that I've played against, so I have their statistics). So the trial software reads the database and my poker client.
Besides scanning the tables, the trial software can also join me on the table or add me to the waiting list. This is legal.

That's why I wrote that it need (I think) to read AND write on the host, to being able to join me on waiting lists... Would run the poker client and database normally on my PC and would run the trial software in a virtual machine.

[mpack]

A virtual machine is the same as having a second physical PC next your first. Any communication between the two PCs is done using networking or a networking-like API, otherwise the guest OS software would have no idea what API it was looking at. If your software is written such that it can operate on a local network then it is capable of running in a VM.

Have you actually tried installing the trial yet? Much trial software can detect that you are trying to install in a virtual machine and will refuse. It's not like VMs were just invented yesterday, or that people willing to scam the trial period are in short supply.

[SilvioS]

A virtual machine is the same as having a second physical PC next your first.

Very nice way to put it... Now I understand how the virtual machine works. I've the trial installed and works perfectly, except that I can't test it on poker but everything else works normal.

After you made I realize how it works I configured for both to work in a network. I shared the postgreSQL folder but the trial software couldn't find it automatically (well, quite obvious but I had to try). I can't select where the software will look for the database, it does automatically so I'd had to have postgre installed on VM too I guess. Don't know if it's possible to have a shared postgre database so it will probably not work. Even if managed to make the database works, would still need to make it work with the poker software. When I click to scan the tables, the trial software first tries to identify an open poker software to then run its search. Way too complicated to make it work. Not worth the effort... But I've learned how VM works and I can use it for other things.

Thanks guys =)
Still accepting an unlikely solution

[mpack]

First, I know nothing about Postgre, so the following is based on general programming practices.

If by "sharing the postgre database" you mean two different applications having read/write access to the same file, I would not expect that to work. I would expect the host OS to refuse to open the same file twice, if the first instance asked for write access.

However, if Postgre can be run in server/client mode with only one instance (the server) having direct read/write access and providing an API for the networked client - that should work.