This article is a supplement to the three-part article entitled "TG Daily Special:  Virtualization".  In this article we'll go through the entire process of setting up a virtual machine.  You'll learn what software is required,  what hardware should be used and, as a companion to the three-part article, why it is desirable to do so.

Take some time to read through this article and prepare yourself to enter the exciting world of virtualization.  Possibilities abound.

Installing VMware

For our example we'll create a 10 GB virtual machine on an Ubuntu-based Linux box.  VMware is also available for Windows, but, in my personal opinion, it really defeats the purpose of running virtualized machines if you're going to do it in Windows. We are looking for an efficient foundation and Linux is a lot leaner than Windows.  I believe the better solution is to have a small footprint host, and leave extra resources for the multiple guests. In addition, Linux is free which means you can you have it on all of your pieces of hardware (desktops + notebooks machines) without having to use up your licenses.

In my experience, the amount of hard drive space you need to physically allocate for the virtual machine is limited only by the encapsulation you want.  If you want an open machine, then you really only need enough for the OS + apps.  But if you desire a fully encapsulated machine, then give it the full hard drive space you see yourself using with the OS, apps and data files (MP3s, videos, whatever else).

Using today's 500+ GB drives, virtual machines of 80 GB or larger are definitely possible.  Using those large drives won't notably slow the system down.  However, the bigger the virtual hard drive, the longer it takes to setup initially.  10 GB is pretty much a happy medium in my experience as the OS consumes about 2 GB or less.  That leaves plenty of room for installed software and some data files. Of course, adjust up or down as necessary for your needs.

VMware for both Windows and Linux is free, and it comes in two forms. VMware Server is the version you'll likely want to install as you can create virtual machines with it.  VMware Player is the other. It's a thinner, lighter version, but it only plays virtual machines and you cannot create new ones. However, this may not be a reason not to use it, if you can receive an already canned, empty-OS virtual machine (either by downloading or from a friend). Such a machine can be archived into a safe place, and then copied as needed to roll out new virtual machines.

Running a virtual machine requires two steps. First, you create the virtual machine. This only needs to be done one time and is somewhat time-consuming. Formatting the virtual disk will take about as long as it does to format a real hard drive. However, once a virtual machine is created, it is just a data file. It can be copied, archived, shared, or anything else you might like to do with it.  Just make sure all of your licenses are appropriate.  In my example, I have two physical machines I typically use - a desktop and a notebook.  After switching from Windows to Ubuntu Linux over a month ago, I now have VMware Server installed on both machines. I run Windows XP on my desktop and Windows 2000 on my laptop for the Windows versions.  I have done this because I have valid licenses for both. There's nothing to keep you from using multiple copies of the operating system on multiple computers.  It's just illegal to do so because of the licensing models in place.

VMware Server for Ubuntu Linux is available via the Synaptic Package Manager.  If you're running Windows, download from VMware's website and run.

Other packages may also be installed when installing VMware Server

Once installed, it will appear in the "Applications - System Tools" menu.  Go to "VMware Server Console," right-click and choose "Add to Launcher".  This will put a shortcut on the launcher which can be modified to run as sudo (which may not be required on some installations). 

To modify the launcher icon, right-click on it and choose "Properties".  Under Command change "vmware" to "sudo vmware".  Under "Type" change to "Application in Terminal".  This will cause VMware to ask for your sudo password each time you launch it, which will allow VMware to have access to everything it needs.

 If your machine is setup properly this will not be required, but, for the sake of this tutorial, it will make things a lot easier. Windows users should not have to do any of this.  But, of course, Windows users will have to reboot before the changes take effect.

Once launched, it will come up with a screen like this. The software will ask you where to connect.  Note that the ability exists to connect to remote servers.  Virtual machines that exist elsewhere can be managed from VMware Server.  However, for this tutorial, we will only be looking at local machines.

The ability to manage local or remote virtual machines exists in VMware Server.

Once loaded, click on the "Create a new virtual machine" button.  This will take you through an automated series of steps which basically asks you for everything you'll need to physically create the machine.  Remember again that the machine you're creating is just a hard disk file.  The settings you choose are encoded within that file, but the actual machine exists out there in the directory you will specify. It can be backed up, moved, copied, deleted, etc. - all from common file maintenance utilities like Nautilus or Windows Explorer.

I suggest that you choose the "Custom" option.  It's not that much more difficult and it will give you complete control over the machine's creation. And yes, this tutorial will take you through these custom steps.

Read on the next page: Operating system options