[Windows developers] Linux virtual machine for Boost developers
In another thread, Anthony Williams wrote:
... I'll open a trac ticket, and fix it when I'm next using my linux box.
I develop on Windows, and used keep a Linux box around for developing Linux specific code. But lately I've switched to using VirtualBox (www.virtualbox.org) for Linux development. It's free, open source, is a lot easier to use and maintain than separate machines or dual boot configurations, It is also easier to use than other virtualization approaches I've tried, which tended to be fragile. VirtualBox seems particularly well suited for developers who don't want to invest a lot of time to set up a sophisticated virtual environment. Works great with the current Ubuntu distribution. And because it runs as a regular Windows program, it has no impact whatsoever on performance when it isn't running. Works well even on a Windows laptop machine. I'm mentioning this because I'm guessing that Boost has a number of developers who usually develop on Windows, but would occasionally like to work on their libraries in a Linux environment. It can also be hosted on Linux, Mac, and OpenSolaris, and run a variety of guest operating system, but I suspect the Windows host / Linux guest configuration is the one that might particularly benefit several Boost developers, and its the one that I've actually used. --Beman
On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 6:41 AM, Beman Dawes <bdawes@acm.org> wrote:
In another thread, Anthony Williams wrote:
... I'll open a trac ticket, and fix it when I'm next using my linux box.
I develop on Windows, and used keep a Linux box around for developing Linux specific code. But lately I've switched to using VirtualBox (www.virtualbox.org) for Linux development. It's free, open source, is a lot easier to use and maintain than separate machines or dual boot configurations, It is also easier to use than other virtualization approaches I've tried, which tended to be fragile.
I second what Beman said, VirtualBox is the way to go. I would add that it also lets you directly mount windows foldes, so once you get it up and running, you can edit the source code in Windows and just build/test in Linux. Finally, saving the current state of the box works great, so it takes no time to bring it up when you need it and close it when you don't. I am pretty sure however that VirtualBox doesn't expose the multiple cores of the CPU. So in terms of testing multi-threading code, which is what Antony typically does I suppose, it's use is rather limited. Emil Dotchevski Reverge Studios, Inc. http://www.revergestudios.com/reblog/index.php?n=ReCode
on Fri Sep 26 2008, "Emil Dotchevski" <emil-AT-revergestudios.com> wrote:
On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 6:41 AM, Beman Dawes <bdawes@acm.org> wrote:
In another thread, Anthony Williams wrote:
... I'll open a trac ticket, and fix it when I'm next using my linux box.
I develop on Windows, and used keep a Linux box around for developing Linux specific code. But lately I've switched to using VirtualBox (www.virtualbox.org) for Linux development. It's free, open source, is a lot easier to use and maintain than separate machines or dual boot configurations, It is also easier to use than other virtualization approaches I've tried, which tended to be fragile.
I second what Beman said, VirtualBox is the way to go. I would add that it also lets you directly mount windows foldes, so once you get it up and running, you can edit the source code in Windows and just build/test in Linux. Finally, saving the current state of the box works great, so it takes no time to bring it up when you need it and close it when you don't.
I am pretty sure however that VirtualBox doesn't expose the multiple cores of the CPU. So in terms of testing multi-threading code, which is what Antony typically does I suppose, it's use is rather limited.
For multicore VMs, you can get VMWare Server free from http://www.vmware.com/download/server/ As the industry's leading VM technology, you can expect support for most of the same things that VirtualBox supports. Snapshots, for sure. -- Dave Abrahams BoostPro Computing http://www.boostpro.com
On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 12:17 PM, David Abrahams <dave@boostpro.com> wrote:
For multicore VMs, you can get VMWare Server free from http://www.vmware.com/download/server/
As the industry's leading VM technology, you can expect support for most of the same things that VirtualBox supports. Snapshots, for sure.
I used to have VMWare but I find VirtualBox easier to use; overall it feels simpler and lighter. Also, maybe they've fixed this but the last time I tried VMWare, it would annoyingly restrain the mouse within the boundaries of the virtual machine window and would require you to hit a keyboard key to free it. With VirtualBox, when you cross the window boundary the mouse cursor changes, but other than that it looks and feels like a native Windows window. Emil Dotchevski Reverge Studios, Inc. http://www.revergestudios.com/reblog/index.php?n=ReCode
"Emil Dotchevski" <emil@revergestudios.com> writes:
On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 12:17 PM, David Abrahams <dave@boostpro.com> wrote:
For multicore VMs, you can get VMWare Server free from http://www.vmware.com/download/server/
As the industry's leading VM technology, you can expect support for most of the same things that VirtualBox supports. Snapshots, for sure.
I used to have VMWare but I find VirtualBox easier to use; overall it feels simpler and lighter.
Also, maybe they've fixed this but the last time I tried VMWare, it would annoyingly restrain the mouse within the boundaries of the virtual machine window and would require you to hit a keyboard key to free it. With VirtualBox, when you cross the window boundary the mouse cursor changes, but other than that it looks and feels like a native Windows window.
If you install VMWare tools in the guest OS then this constraint goes away. When it works, VMWare is really nice. Unfortunately, my installation has gone belly up and refuses to run my Linux VM any more. I even tried building a new one but it hung the Kubuntu installer :-( Anthony -- Anthony Williams | Just Software Solutions Ltd Custom Software Development | http://www.justsoftwaresolutions.co.uk Registered in England, Company Number 5478976. Registered Office: 15 Carrallack Mews, St Just, Cornwall, TR19 7UL
on Fri Sep 26 2008, "Emil Dotchevski" <emil-AT-revergestudios.com> wrote:
On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 12:17 PM, David Abrahams <dave@boostpro.com> wrote:
For multicore VMs, you can get VMWare Server free from http://www.vmware.com/download/server/> As the industry's leading VM technology, you can expect support for most of the same things that VirtualBox supports. Snapshots, for sure.
I used to have VMWare but I find VirtualBox easier to use; overall it feels simpler and lighter.
Maybe, but if you need multicore support, you need something else.
Also, maybe they've fixed this but the last time I tried VMWare, it would annoyingly restrain the mouse within the boundaries of the virtual machine window and would require you to hit a keyboard key to free it. With VirtualBox, when you cross the window boundary the mouse cursor changes, but other than that it looks and feels like a native Windows window.
That's been fixed with VMWare "forever." You may need to install VMWare Tools on the guest. -- Dave Abrahams BoostPro Computing http://www.boostpro.com
Emil Dotchevski <emil <at> revergestudios.com> writes:
On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 12:17 PM, David Abrahams <dave <at> boostpro.com> wrote:
For multicore VMs, you can get VMWare Server free from http://www.vmware.com/download/server/
As the industry's leading VM technology, you can expect support for most of the same things that VirtualBox supports. Snapshots, for sure.
I used to have VMWare but I find VirtualBox easier to use; overall it feels simpler and lighter.
(Okay, I'm a little biased on this...so I'll try to stick to the free products ;-) As Dave points out, VMware Server is free and works well, but if you just want to run a VM and want something really light try VMware Player. http://vmware.com/products/player/ It also supports 2-way SMP, and includes "Unity" view so that you can just have your Linux apps appear to be running on your Windows desktop. It's nice for development. If you want to create new VM's, though, you'll want to use VMware server (or Converter to P2V a machine or backup-image, which is built into Player.)
Also, maybe they've fixed this but the last time I tried VMWare, it would annoyingly restrain the mouse within the boundaries of the virtual machine window and would require you to hit a keyboard key to free it. <snip>
Yeah, as Dave mentions in another message, you just need to install VMware Tools. I'm not sure how you setup your system in VirtualBox but if it did some sort of easy install for you then it probably installed its own guest tools without you realizing it. VMware has some great community forums in case you ever have any issues. http://communities.vmware.com/index.jspa
Emil Dotchevski Reverge Studios, Inc. http://www.revergestudios.com/reblog/index.php?n=ReCode
-Ryan VMware Inc.
on Fri Sep 26 2008, Ryan Gallagher <ryan.gallagher-AT-gmail.com> wrote:
(Okay, I'm a little biased on this...so I'll try to stick to the free products ;-)
As Dave points out, VMware Server is free and works well, but if you just want to run a VM and want something really light try VMware Player.
http://vmware.com/products/player/
It also supports 2-way SMP, and includes "Unity" view so that you can just have your Linux apps appear to be running on your Windows desktop. It's nice for development. If you want to create new VM's, though, you'll want to use VMware server (or Converter to P2V a machine or backup-image, which is built into Player.)
Good point. And you can easily download free pre-built linux VMs so if you're on windows there really shouldn't be any need to create one yourself for testing purposes. -- Dave Abrahams BoostPro Computing http://www.boostpro.com
Hello, I personally use VMWare to run Windows under Linux. I have parallel snapshots, one for each version of MSVC. It solves the troubles that one can encounter when installing different versions of MSVC on the same machine due to their difficulties to coexist. This finally makes virtual machines useful not only for Linux developers who want to ensure Windows compatibility of their programs, but also for Windows developers who don't want to pollute their system with 3 or 4 different MSVCs. Bruno
How does this compare with coLinux? Robert Ramey Emil Dotchevski wrote:
On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 6:41 AM, Beman Dawes <bdawes@acm.org> wrote:
In another thread, Anthony Williams wrote:
... I'll open a trac ticket, and fix it when I'm next using my linux box.
I develop on Windows, and used keep a Linux box around for developing Linux specific code. But lately I've switched to using VirtualBox (www.virtualbox.org) for Linux development. It's free, open source, is a lot easier to use and maintain than separate machines or dual boot configurations, It is also easier to use than other virtualization approaches I've tried, which tended to be fragile.
I second what Beman said, VirtualBox is the way to go. I would add that it also lets you directly mount windows foldes, so once you get it up and running, you can edit the source code in Windows and just build/test in Linux. Finally, saving the current state of the box works great, so it takes no time to bring it up when you need it and close it when you don't.
I am pretty sure however that VirtualBox doesn't expose the multiple cores of the CPU. So in terms of testing multi-threading code, which is what Antony typically does I suppose, it's use is rather limited.
Emil Dotchevski Reverge Studios, Inc. http://www.revergestudios.com/reblog/index.php?n=ReCode _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe & other changes: http://lists.boost.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/boost
participants (7)
-
Anthony Williams -
Beman Dawes -
Bruno Lalande -
David Abrahams -
Emil Dotchevski -
Robert Ramey -
Ryan Gallagher