Solved VMware vs. Vbox?

Hi,

Which is better to run custom iso, Linux flavors.

I tried VMware work station player 16....only key board commands no mouse.

Is Vbox better?

Thanks and hoping to hear from you.

I've had no problem with running Linux distros with VMware, did you allow it to install the appropriate drivers? The only difference between VMware and VirtualBox is preference, some people claim to find VirtualBox easier to use but I find VMware tends to have less problems.

x BlueRobot said:

I've had no problem with running Linux distros with VMware, did you allow it to install the appropriate drivers? The only difference between VMware and VirtualBox is preference, some people claim to find VirtualBox easier to use but I find VMware tends to have less problems.

Click to expand...

Shall give it a retry....It won't respond to mouse command, just keyboard.

Thanks.

I also prefer VMware. I've ran Win 7, Ubuntu and Mint on it and had no issue with a Bluetooth mouse.

Fabler2 said:

I also prefer VMware. I've ran Win 7, Ubuntu and Mint on it and had no issue with a Bluetooth mouse.

Click to expand...

I don't have neither the option for BT mouse. My laptop has a Dell Wireless KB mouse combo and BT Edifier speakers.

Thanks, I'll go with VM Player16, since the expert has recommended.

Hi there
In the days before I started using KVM on a Linux host I found the easiest way to get Linux VM's running quickly from Windows Hosts was to use VMWARE.

If the keyboard / mouse etc isn't working properly on the linux VM ensure you've either installed the vmware tools package for linux from the vmware site or often better these days is the open-vm-tools package (or similar name) usually available in the relevant repository of the linux distro you are using. Just install with the package manager -- e.g apt install, pacman -S, dnf or whatever.

For debian Buster / bookworm in your VM open the console and type sudo apt install open-vm-tools.

(note to get automatically added to the sudoers file in debian -- at install leave the root password blank. Afterwards you can add a root password if you want to).

HYPER-V is also much better these days at running Linux VM's but having to use RDP to access the target VM isn't my favourite system and it doesn't always work for a full desktop GUI.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
In the days before I started using KVM on a Linux host I found the easiest way to get Linux VM's running quickly from Windows Hosts was to use VMWARE.

If the keyboard / mouse etc isn't working properly on the linux VM ensure you've either installed the vmware tools package for linux from the vmware site or often better these days is the open-vm-tools package (or similar name) usually available in the relevant repository of the linux distro you are using. Just install with the package manager -- e.g apt install, pacman -S, dnf or whatever.

For debian Buster / bookworm in your VM open the console and type sudo apt install open-vm-tools.

(note to get automatically added to the sudoers file in debian -- at install leave the root password blank. Afterwards you can add a root password if you want to).

HYPER-V is also much better these days at running Linux VM's but having to use RDP to access the target VM isn't my favourite system and it doesn't always work for a full desktop GUI.

Cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

Thanks @jimbo45 , appreciate your sharing your expert experience.

Alexey2912 said:

Thanks @jimbo45 , appreciate your sharing your expert experience.

Click to expand...

Note also the open-vm-tools will usually fix things too like missing video resolution modes, Often the common 1080p HD is missing (1920 X 1080).

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Note also the open-vm-tools will usually fix things too like missing video resolution modes, Often the common 1080p HD is missing (1920 X 1080).

Cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

I shall, thanks @jimbo45 for the extra info provided.

I use VMware 16 on my laptop to run Linux Mint and haven't had any problems. I don't remember when installing Linux Mint if I had to choose my mouse and keyboard. I'm thinking that they just worked.

And just as a personal challenge (and to confirm to myself that it's possible) the image below shows Windows Apps being installed using WINE in a Linux Mint VM using VirtualBox on a MacBook Pro.

As mentioned earlier in this thread the choice of a Virtualisation application is largely down to personal preference/experience. They all have very similar capabilities, but in my case I'm happy with VirtualBox, which is totally free to use, because it is a cross-platform (Mac, Windows, Linux, BSD and Solaris) application and can run/network multiple live VMs (depending on the Host Machine's capability), whereas, if I remember correctly, the free VMWare Player (Windows only) version is limited to running one VM at a time, so it's not a viable choice for testing networking with VMs, unless you purchase the commercial version.

Or you can try the other way around -- i.e using a Linux host with KVM/QEMU as the VM software is 100% Free and can run concurrent VM's (including Windows).

The advantage also is that it's (Like HYPER-V) a Hypervisor so very little OS overhead and if you have sufficient hardware VM's can run at or near native speed as you can pass thru real hardware rather than relying on a VM's "Virtual Bios" for paravirtualising the hardware --in a sense running some sort of emulation.

Passthru makes really good sense if you can pass thru graphics and Disk I/O. Networking is not such a problem - especially if you can use bridged networking for the Guest. Disk I/O is a key as it's usually better to use the target Guest's own I/O and file system rather than have the Host intercept I/O calls. Same with Graphics especially as a lot of graphics processing is done with separate processors these days anyway.

Note if you use any sort of Passthru even on Windows Hosts for VM's you need to have IOMMU enabled in the real machine's Bios.

@LeLibran

I gave up on Wine years ago -- good idea back in the time of XP days and earlier but it's so easy and hassle free to create a Windows VM so why bother. Cross Over Office I believe was a good app back then on Wine but it's too much trouble with trying stuff that works and stuff that doesn't.

cheers
jimbo

@jimbo45

I have contact with a number of Linux (and macOS) users who have no interest at all in running a full Windows installation, but still want/need to run a few specific Windows software applications, because they have realised that there is no equivalent macOS/Linux application that can fully meet their needs, or because they need to maintain full data compatibility with other Windows-only users by running the same software, so I tend to keep track of WINE's capabilities, which have improved rapidly in the last few years and offer direct hardware access to the Host system without having to manage any convoluted hardware emulation or pass-through processes, i.e. once installed, the use of the Windows software on Linux/macOS can appear to be close to using a native application.

I tend to be OS agnostic (no one system is perfect - all have advantages/disadvantages; and I have little regard for 'fan-boy' Windows/Apple/Linux haters), so I do often favour using VMs to keep pace with change, and occasionally simply to relive 'past' OS experiences. There's nothing quite like occasionally revisiting DOS/Windows 3.x etc as a reminder of how much change has taken place. One of the reasons that I chose, just over ten years ago, to make my primary system macOS-based was that Intel Macs were the only option that could legitimately run macOS, Windows, and *nix virtual machines; sometimes all at the same time, so software testing/support could be carried out efficiently on the same hardware eco-system. However, running 'foreign' software and managing the data natively on Linux and macOS under WINE was/is often far quicker to launch than having to start up a Windows VM and then launch the native application. Now, with Apple again firmly set on a path towards hardware incompatibility and having declared that they no longer have any in-house interest in supporting virtualisation, I'm having to rethink my needs.

LeLibran said:

@jimbo45

Now, with Apple again firmly set on a path towards hardware incompatibility and having declared that they no longer have any in-house interest in supporting virtualisation, I'm having to rethink my needs.

Click to expand...

This article contradicts what you say. Apple Extends macOS Virtualization Capabilities and Introduces Rosetta for Linux Binaries

I do not understand it but they seem to be adding another layer - this seems a bit like using type 2 hypervisors instead of type 1 in Windows to me, but I have no idea if I am remotely correct.

@cereberus

Yes, this new feature has been announced for the next version of macOS (Ventura), but what you have to listen very carefully to is that the only virtualisation options that are supported are the recent versions of macOS which run natively on M1/M2 ARM Processors and Linux distributions which provide M1/M2 ARM compatible versions of their releases. Anyone who wants to run Windows 10/11 for ARM will still be in a no-go situation, unless they run third-party virtualisation software. Currently those options are limited to Parallels (for running Windows/Linux for ARM only); and UTM. UTM can supposedly create/run both ARM and x86 OSs but, as it relies on QEMU to emulate non-native hardware, performance is expected (and is reported by the developers) to be between slooooooow and unusable.

Linux on Mac shouldn't really be that difficult for Apple to support as macOS is built on a foundation of BSD, although this is the first time they have offered an in-house option. However, there is no mention that this new virtualisation feature will ever be developed to run Windows VMs; and, as Apple has ceased the development of Bootcamp and there is no support for dual-booting an ARM-based Macs, I believe they have made it quite clear that they have no interest in supporting those who want/need to run both MacOS and Windows, which presents problems for both users and cross-system software developers/testers.

Older macOS versions, i.e. any that only run on Intel Processors, are not possible as Rosetta is only a translation layer which allows x64 applications to run on the ARM CPU, not Operating Systems. 32-bit apps are of course not possible as Apple blocked the use of any 32-bit code several versions ago. And as one of the main reasons users have for running an older macOS versions is to keep 32-bit code alive.....

Just got back from a months-long illness and recovery. @jimbo45 is the most knowledgeable beyond question, but right at the moment, I can't use either Linux installation I have Ubuntu on my laptop and Manjaro on my desktop because (!) neither will accept my password - I have VMs I moved to Windows on my desktop which accepts my password (I have a uniform method of passwords - not the best but works for me. I am posting here to let folks know about the new versions of VMware and Vbox. Vbox 7 is available and made a VM of Manjaro easily. VMware experiment (what will become next year VMware 17 is free for over 100 days - I have to think twice about upgrading to 17 and, of course, cannot run either on Linux. Boxes on Linux are suitable for quick installs but not as powerful as QEMU/KVM. Is also a good virtualization choice for people just starting. I have not had a chance yet to update my specs, but I am running the last dev version. I happen to be comfortable with the latest version of Gnome, which just puts the Windows version of multiple desktops to shame. Sorry for the long and winding post but this is my first in many, many months. Happiness and good health to all.

martyfelker said:

Just got back from a months-long illness and recovery. @jimbo45 is the most knowledgeable beyond question, but right at the moment, I can't use either Linux installation I have Ubuntu on my laptop and Manjaro on my desktop because (!) neither will accept my password - I have VMs I moved to Windows on my desktop which accepts my password (I have a uniform method of passwords - not the best but works for me. I am posting here to let folks know about the new versions of VMware and Vbox. Vbox 7 is available and made a VM of Manjaro easily. VMware experiment (what will become next year VMware 17 is free for over 100 days - I have to think twice about upgrading to 17 and, of course, cannot run either on Linux. Boxes on Linux are suitable for quick installs but not as powerful as QEMU/KVM. Is also a good virtualization choice for people just starting. I have not had a chance yet to update my specs, but I am running the last dev version. I happen to be comfortable with the latest version of Gnome, which just puts the Windows version of multiple desktops to shame. Sorry for the long and winding post but this is my first in many, many months. Happiness and good health to all.

Click to expand...

Glad you're back.

BTW Debian bookwarm (will be rel 12) is also a good release -- choose the "stable testing" branch - if you use debian 11.5 - current) add the bookworm backports repo otherwise the emulated TPM (swtpm / libswtpm / swtpm-tools) package has gone AWOL and you need it to run Windows VM's with KVM/QEMU.

To avoid bloat - at install time unclick all the install options inc desktop GUI, GNOME, KDE or whatever, just choose the bottom 3 options (web server (that's Apache) system utilities and ssh server. You can then add GUI desktop manually without always drawing in the zillions of often unused apps that would be installed by default. Linux Mint is also a good lean distro.

I dislike a load of distros now installing SNAP and a whole load of those things by default. UBUNTU is particularly bad at that.

Also UUPDUMP ISO creation these days needs to be run from WITHIN WINDOWS unfortunately (you can do it from within a Windows VM too) as ISO's aren't created properly leading to weird and unpredictable effects when you boot up the Guest VM -- there are warnings posted now on the UUPDUMP site about that. Otherwise you might find many apps includung WD of all things give you the message : App xxxxx needs a new link to run -- or similar.

Don't forget if using WINDOWS GUESTS on KVM/QEMU get the win-virtio iso from the fedora site (free) as this has things equivalent to vmware-tools or vbox-additions which improve significantly the video, mouse, keyboard and diskio capability as well as the virtual NIC.

I prefer also where possible to pass thru real hardware rather than rely on a load of "Para-virtualisation" but that depends on your available hardware set. Graphis passthru is particularly good if you have dual port graphics etc. In this case IOMMU needs to be enabled BOTH ON THE HOST (in its BIOS / setup) AND ON THE GUEST - usually as a kernel or grub start up parameter (IOMMU=Y or ON depending on your distro)

If you are running "Unsupported hardware" as far as W11 is concerned-- if it's CPU -- then in the VM set the config to use "HYPERVISOR default "- and unnclick copy host topography. If it's video - spice driver will work (add the video driver in windows from the winvirtio-disk after Guest ist boot to change from Ms basic video driver), for TPM the emulated TPM works, and for sec boot choose that in the initial VM setup -- even on an MBR BIOS only machine you can create a virtual disk with an EFI partition and install Windows.

Have fun --

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Glad you're back.

BTW Debian bookwarm (will be rel 12) is also a good release -- choose the "stable testing" branch - if you use debian 11.5 - current) add the bookworm backports repo otherwise the emulated TPM (swtpm / libswtpm / swtpm-tools) package has gone AWOL and you need it to run Windows VM's with KVM/QEMU.

To avoid bloat - at install time unclick all the install options inc desktop GUI, GNOME, KDE or whatever, just choose the bottom 3 options (web server (that's Apache) system utilities and ssh server. You can then add GUI desktop manually without always drawing in the zillions of often unused apps that would be installed by default. Linux Mint is also a good lean distro.

I dislike a load of distros now installing SNAP and a whole load of those things by default. UBUNTU is particularly bad at that.

Also UUPDUMP ISO creation these days needs to be run from WITHIN WINDOWS unfortunately (you can do it from within a Windows VM too) as ISO's aren't created properly leading to weird and unpredictable effects when you boot up the Guest VM -- there are warnings posted now on the UUPDUMP site about that. Otherwise you might find many apps includung WD of all things give you the message : App xxxxx needs a new link to run -- or similar.

Don't forget if using WINDOWS GUESTS on KVM/QEMU get the win-virtio iso from the fedora site (free) as this has things equivalent to vmware-tools or vbox-additions which improve significantly the video, mouse, keyboard and diskio capability as well as the virtual NIC.

I prefer also where possible to pass thru real hardware rather than rely on a load of "Para-virtualisation" but that depends on your available hardware set. Graphis passthru is particularly good if you have dual port graphics etc. In this case IOMMU needs to be enabled BOTH ON THE HOST (in its BIOS / setup) AND ON THE GUEST - usually as a kernel or grub start up parameter (IOMMU=Y or ON depending on your distro)

If you are running "Unsupported hardware" as far as W11 is concerned-- if it's CPU -- then in the VM set the config to use "HYPERVISOR default "- and unnclick copy host topography. If it's video - spice driver will work (add the video driver in windows from the winvirtio-disk after Guest ist boot to change from Ms basic video driver), for TPM the emulated TPM works, and for sec boot choose that in the initial VM setup -- even on an MBR BIOS only machine you can create a virtual disk with an EFI partition and install Windows.

Have fun --

Cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

As far as ISO burning is concerted I only use Rufus. Is there a comparable in Linux? I will be running Manjaro for some time. Fedora Rawhide is good but chancy Manjaro Unstable is good enough for me. Wheter or not VMware will even recognize (compile) on Linux 6.0.1 is a very open question. They do have a 110+ day beta of WS 17 - I will download that. It will alsmot certainly fail to compile. FWIW I compiled kernel 6 will a great link I found 4-5 commands at most. Took 2 hrs + using 16GB + RAM on my dual boot system. I will try it on Ubuntu 22.10 - probably will compile? But booting is another matter. I will install Manjaro on my laptop (simplifyed Arch) but may will install the latest Debina.


Glad to be back Thanks

Cheers

mf

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
In the days before I started using KVM on a Linux host I found the easiest way to get Linux VM's running quickly from Windows Hosts was to use VMWARE.

If the keyboard / mouse etc isn't working properly on the linux VM ensure you've either installed the vmware tools package for linux from the vmware site or often better these days is the open-vm-tools package (or similar name) usually available in the relevant repository of the linux distro you are using. Just install with the package manager -- e.g apt install, pacman -S, dnf or whatever.

For debian Buster / bookworm in your VM open the console and type sudo apt install open-vm-tools.

(note to get automatically added to the sudoers file in debian -- at install leave the root password blank. Afterwards you can add a root password if you want to).

HYPER-V is also much better these days at running Linux VM's but having to use RDP to access the target VM isn't my favourite system and it doesn't always work for a full desktop GUI.

Cheers
jimbo

Click to expand...

Forget about VBOX. Toy Virtualization (Despite Oracle) vs VMware in business since the late 90's get the free version a beta of WS 17 free for over 100 days - it runs find under Windows 11 for Workstation dev channel.

martyfelker said:

Forget about VBOX. Toy Virtualization (Despite Oracle) vs VMware in business since the late 90's get the free version a beta of WS 17 free for over 100 days - it runs find under Windows 11 for Workstation dev channel.

Click to expand...

KVM u(virt-manager) under Ubuntu runs better and does not need to be compiled
I just installed under Ubuntu22.10 on a ZFS filesystem per @jimbo45