Ubuntu Linux Toolbox: 1000+ Commands for Power Users, 2nd Edition

15

Setting Up a Virtualization Host and Virtual Machines

IN THIS CHAPTER

Checking your computer for virtualization support

Installing virtualization software

Creating and managing VMs with virt-manager

Working with VMs from the command line

By using your Ubuntu system as a virtualization host, you can run multiple computer operating systems on a single computer. The systems you create on the host are referred to as virtual machines (VMs). A VM can be running Microsoft Windows, Fedora, another Linux system, or just about any operating system that can run directly on the computer architecture of the host.

Once a VM is installed, you can work with it in much the same way as you would work with operating systems installed directly on computer hardware. However, with VMs, it's easier to duplicate them, migrate them to other virtual hosts to improve performance, or configure them to failover to another host when a host becomes inoperable. With VMs, you can make more efficient use of your computer infrastructure.

There are lots of reasons for setting up a virtual host. For example, you may want to:

• Try out a different operating system without consuming a whole computer.
• Run an application that requires a specific operating system version and configuration that's different from what you normally run.
• Configure a system to test a new application, without interrupting the other work on your computer.
• Create a copy of an installed operating system and quickly spin off a new version from ...