[gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Helmut Jarausch]

Hi,

I've been running a Windows 7 (professional)guest  with Virtualbox on my
GenToo system for some years.
But recently I have a broken network either due to Virtualbox or due to  
some
(automatic) Windows updates.

The situation is more than strange.

Sometime using a backed up Virtualbox image the network seems to work  
but only for
a very short time (some minutes?)

Windows error analyzing tools don't see any network problems but it  
does not work.

Trying ping -n 100 <IP>  only a few packets come back but with a large  
delay (40-50 times
larger delay compared to ping on the GenToo host)

I've tried the most recent Virtualbox 4.2.16 as well the oldest one (in  
the tree) which is 4.1.26

So probably it looks best to me to change to a different (free) VM.
What do you recommend?

Many thanks for a hint,
Helmut

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Randolph Maaßen]

2013/7/30 Helmut Jarausch <jarausch@igpm.rwth-aachen.de>:
> Hi,
>
> I've been running a Windows 7 (professional)guest  with Virtualbox on my
> GenToo system for some years.
> But recently I have a broken network either due to Virtualbox or due to some
> (automatic) Windows updates.
>
> The situation is more than strange.
>
> Sometime using a backed up Virtualbox image the network seems to work but
> only for
> a very short time (some minutes?)
>
> Windows error analyzing tools don't see any network problems but it does not
> work.
>
> Trying ping -n 100 <IP>  only a few packets come back but with a large delay
> (40-50 times
> larger delay compared to ping on the GenToo host)
>
> I've tried the most recent Virtualbox 4.2.16 as well the oldest one (in the
> tree) which is 4.1.26
>
> So probably it looks best to me to change to a different (free) VM.
> What do you recommend?
>
> Many thanks for a hint,
> Helmut

Hi,

I'm using qemu-kvm for hoisting a Windows 7, but always typing the
long commandline is anoying, so I wrote a little script to start the
VM. I recently switched to libvirt and virt-manager, which do the
commandline work for me, and creatting new VMs or starting them is
quiet easy. This system also supports running the VM in background, if
this is important to you. It needs a couple of kernel modules to work,
but emerge will promt to you what it needs.

I'm not on my gentoo machine at the moment, so I can't provide you
details on USE-flags, but I can say I have the QUEM_TAGET varables set
to i386, x86_64

HTH

-- 
Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best regards

Randolph Maaßen

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Helmut Jarausch]

On 07/30/2013 10:11:54 AM, Randolph Maaßen wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm using qemu-kvm for hoisting a Windows 7, but always typing the
> long commandline is anoying, so I wrote a little script to start the
> VM. I recently switched to libvirt and virt-manager, which do the
> commandline work for me, and creatting new VMs or starting them is
> quiet easy. This system also supports running the VM in background, if
> this is important to you. It needs a couple of kernel modules to work,
> but emerge will promt to you what it needs.
> 
> I'm not on my gentoo machine at the moment, so I can't provide you
> details on USE-flags, but I can say I have the QUEM_TAGET varables set
> to i386, x86_64
> 

Is it possible to convert the VirtualBox VDI file to one used by  
qemu-kvm?

Thanks,
Helmut

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Randolph Maaßen]

2013/7/30 Helmut Jarausch <jarausch@igpm.rwth-aachen.de>:
> On 07/30/2013 10:11:54 AM, Randolph Maaßen wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm using qemu-kvm for hoisting a Windows 7, but always typing the
>> long commandline is anoying, so I wrote a little script to start the
>> VM. I recently switched to libvirt and virt-manager, which do the
>> commandline work for me, and creatting new VMs or starting them is
>> quiet easy. This system also supports running the VM in background, if
>> this is important to you. It needs a couple of kernel modules to work,
>> but emerge will promt to you what it needs.
>>
>> I'm not on my gentoo machine at the moment, so I can't provide you
>> details on USE-flags, but I can say I have the QUEM_TAGET varables set
>> to i386, x86_64
>>
>
> Is it possible to convert the VirtualBox VDI file to one used by qemu-kvm?

If youn want to give qemu a try, you can open the VDI directly, or
convert it as described here http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/QEMU/Images

>
> Thanks,
> Helmut
>
>



-- 
Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Best regards

Randolph Maaßen

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Tanstaafl]

On 2013-07-30 4:11 AM, Randolph Maaßen <r.maassen60@gmail.com> wrote:
> It needs a couple of kernel modules to work, but emerge will promt to
> you what it needs.

Side question...

I want to run the vmware tools on my gentoo VM (so the host can safely 
power it down), but it also requires modules.

For security reasons I have never enabled modules on my servers, but...

Is there a way to do this securely, so that *only* the necessary modules 
could ever be loaded?

Thanks

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Alan McKinnon]

On 30/07/2013 12:36, Tanstaafl wrote:
> On 2013-07-30 4:11 AM, Randolph Maaßen <r.maassen60@gmail.com> wrote:
>> It needs a couple of kernel modules to work, but emerge will promt to
>> you what it needs.
> 
> Side question...
> 
> I want to run the vmware tools on my gentoo VM (so the host can safely
> power it down), but it also requires modules.
> 
> For security reasons I have never enabled modules on my servers, but...
> 
> Is there a way to do this securely, so that *only* the necessary modules
> could ever be loaded?


No.

The best you can do is to is to limit the modules you have to those you
want to use.


-- 
Alan McKinnon
alan.mckinnon@gmail.com

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Kerin Millar]

On 30/07/2013 11:36, Tanstaafl wrote:
> On 2013-07-30 4:11 AM, Randolph Maaßen <r.maassen60@gmail.com> wrote:
>> It needs a couple of kernel modules to work, but emerge will promt to
>> you what it needs.
>
> Side question...
>
> I want to run the vmware tools on my gentoo VM (so the host can safely
> power it down), but it also requires modules.
>
> For security reasons I have never enabled modules on my servers, but...

It doesn't enhance security unless additional measures are taken (see 
below).

>
> Is there a way to do this securely, so that *only* the necessary modules
> could ever be loaded?

You can use gsecurity (which is in hardened-sources). With 
CONFIG_GRKERNSEC_MODSTOP enabled, you will be able to run:

# echo 1 > /proc/sys/kernel/grsecurity/disable_modules

After that, no further modules can be loaded. However, you would also 
need to disable privileged I/O and the ability to write to /dev/kmem, 
both of which grsecurity also facilitates.

--Kerin

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Walter Dnes]

On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 06:36:57AM -0400, Tanstaafl wrote

> Side question...
> 
> I want to run the vmware tools on my gentoo VM (so the host can safely 
> power it down), but it also requires modules.

  Why do you need vmware tools?  From the host, execute...

ssh root@<guest> /sbin/poweroff

...or, if you have sys-power/hibernate-script installed, and want to
hibernate...

ssh root@<guest> /usr/sbin/hibernate

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Tanstaafl]

On 2013-07-30 8:30 PM, Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 06:36:57AM -0400, Tanstaafl wrote
>
>> Side question...
>>
>> I want to run the vmware tools on my gentoo VM (so the host can safely
>> power it down), but it also requires modules.
>
>    Why do you need vmware tools?  From the host, execute...
>
> ssh root@<guest> /sbin/poweroff

Two reasons this isn't sufficient...

1. Extended power outage

If my UPS sends a shutdown command to the host, I (obviously) want it to 
safely shutdown ALL running VMs.

2. Manual host shutdown

I have my hosts configured so that if I press/release the power button, 
the host goes through a full power down process. I (obviously) want this 
process to also initiate safe shutdowns on all running VM's.

I do not want to have to SSH in and manually run a command to 
uncooperative VM's first, I want to just be able to press/release the 
power button, and have the host safely shut down all running VMs, then 
itself.

> ...or, if you have sys-power/hibernate-script installed, and want to
> hibernate...

This is a server. I always completely disable hibernation on servers 
(doesn't everyone?)...

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[William Kenworthy]

On 31/07/13 19:40, Tanstaafl wrote:
> On 2013-07-30 8:30 PM, Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org> wrote:
>> On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 06:36:57AM -0400, Tanstaafl wrote
>>
>>> Side question...
>>>
>>> I want to run the vmware tools on my gentoo VM (so the host can safely
>>> power it down), but it also requires modules.
>>
>>    Why do you need vmware tools?  From the host, execute...
>>
>> ssh root@<guest> /sbin/poweroff
> 
> Two reasons this isn't sufficient...
> 
> 1. Extended power outage
> 
> If my UPS sends a shutdown command to the host, I (obviously) want it to
> safely shutdown ALL running VMs.
> 
> 2. Manual host shutdown
> 
> I have my hosts configured so that if I press/release the power button,
> the host goes through a full power down process. I (obviously) want this
> process to also initiate safe shutdowns on all running VM's.
> 
> I do not want to have to SSH in and manually run a command to
> uncooperative VM's first, I want to just be able to press/release the
> power button, and have the host safely shut down all running VMs, then
> itself.
> 
>> ...or, if you have sys-power/hibernate-script installed, and want to
>> hibernate...
> 
> This is a server. I always completely disable hibernation on servers
> (doesn't everyone?)...
> 

Actually there are some good reasons to do it in certain cases,
especially on servers not up 24/7 (backup systems/cool standbys, fast
shutdown required, ...).  You can bring systems down or online a lot
faster.  Not everyone has/needs 24/7, or wants to pay the power bills
for running a machine that may have no users/work for over a weekend or
longer, but wants it up and running on demand.

BillK

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Walter Dnes]

On Wed, Jul 31, 2013 at 07:40:36AM -0400, Tanstaafl wrote
> On 2013-07-30 8:30 PM, Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org> wrote:
> >
> >    Why do you need vmware tools?  From the host, execute...
> >
> > ssh root@<guest> /sbin/poweroff
> 
> Two reasons this isn't sufficient...
> 
> 1. Extended power outage
> 
> If my UPS sends a shutdown command to the host, I (obviously) want it to 
> safely shutdown ALL running VMs.
> 
> 2. Manual host shutdown
> 
> I have my hosts configured so that if I press/release the power button, 
> the host goes through a full power down process. I (obviously) want this 
> process to also initiate safe shutdowns on all running VM's.
> 
> I do not want to have to SSH in and manually run a command to 
> uncooperative VM's first, I want to just be able to press/release the 
> power button, and have the host safely shut down all running VMs, then 
> itself.

  ***IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE MANUAL*** I have a 1-line script that shuts
down my hot-backup machine, which I bring up once a month for updates.
Here it is...

#!/bin/bash
ssh waltdnes@d531 sudo /sbin/poweroff

...with an appropriate entry in /etc/sudoers.d.  In your case, you can
have your script run like so (assuming the VM's port 22 is redirected to
60022)

#!/bin/bash
ssh -P 60022 root@localhost /sbin/poweroff

  I repeat, this is scriptable, and does not have to be manual.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Walter Dnes]

On Wed, Jul 31, 2013 at 09:40:04PM -0400, Walter Dnes wrote
> 
> ssh -P 60022 root@localhost /sbin/poweroff

  Oops... that should read...

ssh -p 60022 root@localhost /sbin/poweroff

  scp uses uppercase "P" for port number.  It goes without saying, but I
probably should say it; ssh needs to have login via keyauthentication
enabled, and the appropriate key set up.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Alan McKinnon]

On 30/07/2013 08:45, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I've been running a Windows 7 (professional)guest  with Virtualbox on my
> GenToo system for some years.
> But recently I have a broken network either due to Virtualbox or due to
> some
> (automatic) Windows updates.
> 
> The situation is more than strange.
> 
> Sometime using a backed up Virtualbox image the network seems to work
> but only for
> a very short time (some minutes?)
> 
> Windows error analyzing tools don't see any network problems but it does
> not work.
> 
> Trying ping -n 100 <IP>  only a few packets come back but with a large
> delay (40-50 times
> larger delay compared to ping on the GenToo host)
> 
> I've tried the most recent Virtualbox 4.2.16 as well the oldest one (in
> the tree) which is 4.1.26
> 
> So probably it looks best to me to change to a different (free) VM.
> What do you recommend?
> 
> Many thanks for a hint,
> Helmut


Your post is a bit vague, what outcome are you looking for?

Do you want to fix the VirtualBox setup and carry on as always?
Just looking for a change from VBox and this latest is a good excuse?

I have Win7 pro running on virtualbox 4.2.16, no issues here.
Host kernel is 3.9.11-gentoo-r1, and the NIC presented to Windows is a
nat'ted Intel PRO/1000

-- 
Alan McKinnon
alan.mckinnon@gmail.com

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Helmut Jarausch]

On 07/30/2013 10:20:22 AM, Alan McKinnon wrote:
> On 30/07/2013 08:45, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I've been running a Windows 7 (professional)guest  with Virtualbox  
> on my
> > GenToo system for some years.
> > But recently I have a broken network either due to Virtualbox or  
> due to
> > some
> > (automatic) Windows updates.
> >
> > The situation is more than strange.
> >
> > Sometime using a backed up Virtualbox image the network seems to  
> work
> > but only for
> > a very short time (some minutes?)
> >
> > Windows error analyzing tools don't see any network problems but it  
> does
> > not work.
> >
> > Trying ping -n 100 <IP>  only a few packets come back but with a  
> large
> > delay (40-50 times
> > larger delay compared to ping on the GenToo host)
> >
> > I've tried the most recent Virtualbox 4.2.16 as well the oldest one  
> (in
> > the tree) which is 4.1.26
> >
> > So probably it looks best to me to change to a different (free) VM.
> > What do you recommend?
> >
> > Many thanks for a hint,
> > Helmut
> 
> 
> Your post is a bit vague, what outcome are you looking for?
> 
> Do you want to fix the VirtualBox setup and carry on as always?

Keeping VirtualBox *** if ***  I could fix it, is an option but I cannot
fix it. I've tried several NICs with no luck.
This was with 3.9.x as well as with 3.10.x
I'm at the end of my wits!

> Just looking for a change from VBox and this latest is a good excuse?

Probably. I had too many problems with VBox in the past, it's a  
complicated beast
and the documentation didn't help.

> 
> I have Win7 pro running on virtualbox 4.2.16, no issues here.
> Host kernel is 3.9.11-gentoo-r1, and the NIC presented to Windows is a
> nat'ted Intel PRO/1000

So, probably, you are lucky

If you could share your luck!

Thanks,
Helmut

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Alan McKinnon]

On 30/07/2013 11:28, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> On 07/30/2013 10:20:22 AM, Alan McKinnon wrote:
>> On 30/07/2013 08:45, Helmut Jarausch wrote:
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > I've been running a Windows 7 (professional)guest  with Virtualbox
>> on my
>> > GenToo system for some years.
>> > But recently I have a broken network either due to Virtualbox or due to
>> > some
>> > (automatic) Windows updates.
>> >
>> > The situation is more than strange.
>> >
>> > Sometime using a backed up Virtualbox image the network seems to work
>> > but only for
>> > a very short time (some minutes?)
>> >
>> > Windows error analyzing tools don't see any network problems but it
>> does
>> > not work.
>> >
>> > Trying ping -n 100 <IP>  only a few packets come back but with a large
>> > delay (40-50 times
>> > larger delay compared to ping on the GenToo host)
>> >
>> > I've tried the most recent Virtualbox 4.2.16 as well the oldest one (in
>> > the tree) which is 4.1.26
>> >
>> > So probably it looks best to me to change to a different (free) VM.
>> > What do you recommend?
>> >
>> > Many thanks for a hint,
>> > Helmut
>>
>>
>> Your post is a bit vague, what outcome are you looking for?
>>
>> Do you want to fix the VirtualBox setup and carry on as always?
> 
> Keeping VirtualBox *** if ***  I could fix it, is an option but I cannot
> fix it. I've tried several NICs with no luck.
> This was with 3.9.x as well as with 3.10.x
> I'm at the end of my wits!
> 
>> Just looking for a change from VBox and this latest is a good excuse?
> 
> Probably. I had too many problems with VBox in the past, it's a
> complicated beast
> and the documentation didn't help.
> 
>>
>> I have Win7 pro running on virtualbox 4.2.16, no issues here.
>> Host kernel is 3.9.11-gentoo-r1, and the NIC presented to Windows is a
>> nat'ted Intel PRO/1000
> 
> So, probably, you are lucky
> 
> If you could share your luck!


I wish I could :-)

I have nothing special, I just emerged virtualbox, the additions and
modules and made the VMs I need.

They work like they should just like it says on the box


-- 
Alan McKinnon
alan.mckinnon@gmail.com

Re: [gentoo-user] which VM do you recommend?

[Mick]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: Text/Plain, Size: 1435 bytes --]

On Tuesday 30 Jul 2013 07:45:39 Helmut Jarausch wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I've been running a Windows 7 (professional)guest  with Virtualbox on my
> GenToo system for some years.
> But recently I have a broken network either due to Virtualbox or due to
> some
> (automatic) Windows updates.
> 
> The situation is more than strange.
> 
> Sometime using a backed up Virtualbox image the network seems to work
> but only for
> a very short time (some minutes?)
> 
> Windows error analyzing tools don't see any network problems but it
> does not work.
> 
> Trying ping -n 100 <IP>  only a few packets come back but with a large
> delay (40-50 times
> larger delay compared to ping on the GenToo host)


Does ifconfig show dropped packets/errors?

Is the mtu the same on MSWindows and Linux host and router?

MSWindows can corrupt its TCP/IP stack, or if you try to modify its parameters 
too much (size of receive/send window et al) things could go wrong.  There is 
some Microsoft fix file for this (I recall one available for WinXP at least) 
which resets the stack to its default values.

On the odd occasion I had to stop/start an MSWindows connection which would 
not come up on boot up, but this hasn't happened for quite some time now.  It 
might have been dodgy firmware on my router; I don' know and never found out 
what was the cause of it, because it only happened a few times.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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