Virtual Machine help

hi, i need an emulator to run on Windows so i can run Linux in it, what should i get? i did try the free VMware Player but it wouldn't install properly, there's a new version out so i might try it. i think i used QEMU in the past to run .iso's when i couldn't burn them to disc. what do you recommend? thanks

edit, i can't get to the QEMU for windows download page can you get there?
http://free.oszoo.org/download.html

 

.....not working here either Ice.

 

thanks Brad, i have download VMware Player, but i don't think it will install for me, i'll try.

 

You might try Cygwin. I haven't used it myself, so can't really help you with it, but have heard many good things about it.
http://www.cygwin.com/

 

Cygwin is great, but it's not a virtual machine, just an emulator of a Unix/Linux shell/environment for Windows. I've been using it for years, it's extremely well done. But it's very far from what you can get using Linux in VMware; running in Windows, Cygwin it has all the drawbacks Windows has, for instance when handling very big text files. Also, its speed (though acceptable for most uses) it's not even comparable from what you get running a real Linux shell.

EDIT: it should be also noted that, unlike in VMware, you won't be any more (or less) secure using Cygwin than using Windows itself, as Cygwin is nothing else than an application running on Windows (although one that works a lot like Linux ); and also, although it's possible to run Xwindows with Cygwin, I've never tried it as really what I needed was the shell and its various text processing commands like sed, perl, awk, etc. For that matter, I don't think running Xwindows in Cygwin makes much sense.

 

What kind of problems did you experience with VMWare player?

 

i installed it but now it wont run because it says it needs the "VMware Configuration Files". it's ashame it didn't make any configuration files, if it had i might be able to use it. oh well maybe i'll install QEMU instead, i'll just wait for the site to reappear.

 

You have to create the configuration files. Here's info http://www.virtualization.info/2005/10/create-vmware-vmx-configuration-files.html
If you use the Ubuntu Linux browser appliance available on their site, there's a configuration file ready for use.

 

thanks, i did a very quick search for the config files and didn't find much so i just thought they should have been made during the install. do you have a link for the Ubuntu files? thanks

 

http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/vm/browserapp.html

 

Wow thanks. i'm going to try it out after i redownload the VMplayer

 

hi, i'm downloading the 200MB "Browser Appliance (.zip)" now. i already have a copy of Ubuntu.iso, i thought i could download a small config file. is there a way to do that? or do i have to download this big archive? thanks

 

hi, TNT, and Notok thank you for helping me, it worked! but, it seems to be a slightly older version of Ubuntu. i have the latest version in .iso format, is there a way to use that version instead?

also, when using Ubuntu, how do i access my C drive? because i have some files i need to run inorder for my modem to work.

how do i run Windows? do you know where i can find some of those .vmx files so i can run windows?

are there any other good .vmx files i can download? i'd like to run some other OSs inside windows.

what do i search for if i want to try and find OSs to use?

Thank You

 

Wow, thanks again to the great folks in this here forum!! I cruised the VMWare forums, but those guys already know a LOT more than I do about virtual machines etc. All I got this for was "secure browsing".

Somehow I missed the part about getting the browser appliance installed before I tried to use the VMPlayer. Sounds like that will be the cure for where the "configuration files" are.

I'm hoping I can eventually put this on my laptop and use it instead of my "real" computer for connecting when I'm traveling. ?? Any tips about how to go about that? Like do I need a firewall on the virtual machine?

Thanks mucho.

callie

 

hi, j2callie. the vmware player it a timed what-ever-it's-called, it will stop working in about a month. if you want something for secure browsing you can use a livecd which won't time out! does Ubuntu work for you? i mean can you access the internet? if so you can just download the Ubuntu live CD which is alot better then the vmware version. it's the same difference as xp to vista.

other very good livecds are knoppix and a very lite one is Damn Small Linux. if you don't know, all you have to do is download the livecd version and burn the iso to cd/dvd making sure you pick the option to make it boot. (or you can buy a Linux magazine from a shop with a cover disc, just make sure it has a livecd - most of the time they do ) then boot from it. the whole thing will run in your PC's memory, meaning nothing is written to your HDD so it's all gone with you turn off the PC/session. if you have a lot of HDD space and about 1gig of memory you can even make your own livecd

you don't need a firewall because just about all Linux OSs come with a FW - IPTables

here's the Ubuntu LiveCD page - make sure you pick the LiveCD and not the Install CD

here are some videos about Ubuntu which might help you install it.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4362065063151952440
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5253052326994067125
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6104490811311898236

of course if you just want to use vmware, there's no pressure to download Ubuntu but in all seriousness, if the vmware Ubuntu worked for you then the Ubuntu livecd is very likely to work for you. Knoppix doesn't work for me with the default settings, but is maybe the best livecd

 

Hi.

I have been playing with the VMWare Player and the Ubuntu Browser Application for a bit. I can find no evidence that it is time-limited trial ware.

In the "Player" pop down menu, there is an "About VMWare Player" item. Open this and look at "Expiration." It says "No Expiration."

I hope I am reading this correctly. The VMWare Player is a lot of fun.

 

you mean you have a free version which doesn't expire? do you have a link for the download? when did you install it? because i installed mine about 2 days after it came out and it expired 1 month ago
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=112719

 

Hi,

I downloaded it from here:

http://www.vmware.com/products/player/

Note that there is also VMWare Workstation, a much more advanced product, which can be downloaded for a timed evaluation:

http://www.vmware.com/download/ws/eval.html

Of course the Workstation version is the one that would allow you to do what you seem to want to do, that is to create your own virtual machines.

With the player, I think you have to rely on third party creations. The Ubuntu Browser Application was created by Ubuntu. It is a considerably scaled down installation, but you can add to it somewhat. I haven't fully explored its limitations enough to comment more than this.

 

i don't know which version i used, it was the same domain but that's all i know. if you say you know it's free, as it's reported to be, i'll take your word for it, but i wouldn't bet on it, maybe someone else's money but not mine. however, i think there's a linux version that's probably similar to the windows version and that's free.

 

Have you tried the Metropipe Virtual Privacy Machine? It will even fit on a USB drive and runs a "live Linux" distribution" (actually a modified Damn Small Linux) within Windows. At http://www.metropipe.net/ProductsPVPM.shtml and worth a look for anyone tinkering with this sort of thing.

 

thanks, trickyricky. i'll probably give it a go. but, i have started to use Linux recently - infact i can't fault it and run it full time now. it really runs much better on my PC then windows ever did, there're no slowdowns and everything happens instantly. windows sometimes took a second or so to do things because of all the extra resources it needs. anyway, that's all because i managed to get a VM running when i didn't have a Linux install cd or a DVD rewritter.

i've made a note of Metropipe Virtual Privacy Machine, thanks.

can anyone say if houseisland is correct and there really is a free vmware? i have no idea but would like to know as i've seen lots of great hacks for it. but, what i thought was the free VM player timed out on my XP. so it would be really good if i can reinstall it again.

 

Hi,

http://i1.tinypic.com/mhg4dx.gif

Sorry for the quality of the screen shot. In a real hurry this AM. Used MS Paint.

 

thanks, houseisland. i totally believe you, but i'm 99% sure i downloaded the same thing epecially as i had problems installing it so i was very careful what i installed and it ended up timing out. how long have you had it for?

i'm just asking if anyone else knows if the free player times out?

 

look, i found breezy for it
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/vmware/

i'm tempted to boot into XP and try and install the free player again to see what happens. if it works i'll install breezy

 

what about this? it's the one year trial of VMware Workstation 4.5 for Windows and Linux
http://www.vmware.com/de/download/ws45_eval.html

here's the page i found the links on. Ubuntuforums has been down alot of the last week or so because of upgrade problems or something to do with software upgrades.
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:URi0Qiz_HIoJ:ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-81725.html