Virtualbox on xen Dom0 host

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Linux hosts.
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Colorado
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Joined: 20. May 2021, 07:59

Virtualbox on xen Dom0 host

Post by Colorado »

I am aware of the thread /viewtopic.php?t=20589 but it is mostly outdated. Currently virtualbox can run on hyper-v host (Windows 10). What is the current status of xen dom0 host? Is there any plan to support?
mpack
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Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: Virtualbox on xen Dom0 host

Post by mpack »

The devs don't reveal future plans to us users.

Total guess: they'll begin work on it the instant it becomes a priority for business (i.e. paying) customers.
Colorado
Posts: 2
Joined: 20. May 2021, 07:59

Re: Virtualbox on xen Dom0 host

Post by Colorado »

Does it work now? Also xen is deployed in business more than hyper-v afaik. But in tgat case xen itself is an option, also kvm.
scottgus1
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Joined: 30. Dec 2009, 20:14
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Re: Virtualbox on xen Dom0 host

Post by scottgus1 »

I would wager that if it did, it will be slow. There are hardware prerequisites to nested VMs, as shown in these, found in the first layer of Virtualbox's VM's vbox.log:
Intel:
VMX - Virtual-Machine Extensions # (#)
Ept - Extended Page Tables # (#)
UnrestrictedGuest - Unrestricted guest # (#)
VmcsShadowing - VMCS shadowing # (#)

AMD:
SVM - AMD Secure Virtual Machine extensions # (#)
SVM Feature Identification (leaf A):
NP - Nested Paging # (#)
VMSAVEVirt - VMSAVE and VMLOAD Virtualization # (#)
These were compiled by forum guru and hex whisperer 'fth0'. The #'s will be 0 or 1, and the number in () has to be a 1 in all items for the processor type. Then the processor will support nested virtualization.

However, Virtualbox does not support running in other hypervisors' VMs. Virtualbox has to be on the first-layer host OS to be supported, and the best support is for the second layer to be Virtualbox also. It may or may not be possible to run another hypervisor in a Virtualbox VM. But it is anyone's guess what will happen when Virtualbox runs under other-than-Virtualbox. A good guess is that performance will be poor.

One good thing, Virtualbox is free, so you could try it and let us know what happens.
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