||<>|| = Introduction = Ubuntu is a great OS for use in both virtualization hosts and in guest virtual machines and software appliances. Virtualization simply means the running of another OS within a '''host''' OS, through the usage of a special "hypervisor" application which handles everything about how the guest OS operates within (and with) the host system. "Guest" OSes are typically installed to virtual drives; large and expanding (typically) files to which a the guest OS is installed in the same way that one would install the same OS to a hard disk. The guest OS then runs from that virtual drive. Another configuration, not recommended for beginners or those with high-value systems (always backup your data), is the running of a guest OS from another hard drive partition. This mode is called "raw disk" and requires special setup; using a small virtual "drive" file (for example in vmdk format) as an interface to the hard disk, and special commands which handle certain aspects of that system's startup. = Hosts = There are quite a few virtualization platforms you can use a Ubuntu host with: == Open Source == * KVM (Kernel Virtual Machine) - the officially maintained choice * [[https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/serverguide/C/virtualization.html|Official documentation]] * [[KVM|Community documentation]] * [[http://wiki.openvz.org/|OpenVZ]] * [[http://www.qemu.org|Qemu]] * VirtualBox * [[Xen]] == Proprietary == * Parallels * VMware (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/VMware) * [[http://www.jumpbox.com/|JumpBox]] uses Ubuntu as the OS in their guest appliances. = Guests = * Ubuntu can be used as a guest OS in all of the above virtualization environments. * [[http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/serveredition/jeos|Ubuntu Server Edition JeOS]] is a specialized version of Ubuntu to create Virtual Appliances for KVM or VMWare. * python-vm-builder is a tool which allows you to automate the creation of virtual machine. See the [[JeOSVMBuilder]] tutorial for more information. = Links = * https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CategoryVirtualization ---- CategoryVirtualization