where should Win7 go when installing using virtual box?.. probably anywhere in a Fat32 or in an NTFS partition I would guess… but would like to dbl-check, to make sure.
Ref. Current setup:
dan@A105-S4134:/windows/D/Nts/linux/mndmnls> df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda2 9.7G 6.5G 2.7G 71% /
udev 1.5G 732K 1.5G 1% /dev
/dev/sda8 43G 1.2G 40G 3% /home
/dev/sda1 40G 17G 24G 42% /windows/C - has Win XP
/dev/sda5 196G 77G 120G 39% /windows/D - FAT32 Notes and Win apps
In VBox, “disks” are simulated inside files of the host system. It is possible to use raw partitions, but putting in a file on the host OS has the advantage that you can easily back up the whole guest OS. There are also other advantages such as being able to take snapshots. When you install the guest OS in VBox, it will become clear.
If you prefer a seperate partition - thats fine. One thing to remember RE sda5 - some older FS’s have limations i.e. FAT32… You cannot create/have a filesize larger than (2^32)-1 bytes (this is one byte less than 4 GiBi) on a FAT32 partition ← MS Quote.
Another thing is you cannot format a volume larger than 32GiBi in size using FAT32 [if you choose to have multiple guest OS’s]. If you happen to put your virtual OS/disk[s] on sda5, then you could be looking for trouble it one happens to grow more then 4GiBi in size.
I agree fully wih ken_yap too above. You could also create a backup script to run every-so-often to backup your vBox virtual OS’s/disk[s] from anywhere i guess, including different partitions, as long as you have access.
You install and boot into the Xen environment and start creating your Virtual Machines.
You can then install an OS (Win 7) using the DVD/CD or ISO image of the DVD/CD as the source.
You will also need to aside file of enough hard disk space to install the OS (Win 7) and anything else you will install on the Virtual Machine. Suggest 8Gb or more.
That hard disk space by default is created in /var/lib/xen/images meaning you need to make sure there is space on / (root) .
You can also change where that hard disk space is created, ie, /home/userid/xen/images/Win7/disk0 where you have lots of free space.
BTW, the hard disk space used by the virtual machine is dynamic, ie, does not allocate all the specified space on creation but expands as necessary to the fill the allocated space. Because of this, it’s not recommended to use NTFS-3G free space for the your virtual machine disk space.
> Another thing is you cannot format a volume larger than 32GiBi in size
> using FAT32 [if you choose to have multiple guest OS’s]. If you
> happen to put your virtual OS/disk[s] on sda5, then you could be
> looking for trouble it one happens to grow more then 4GiBi in size.
If I recall correctly, vmware is able to divide the image in several
chunks smaller that the 4GiB limit. VB could do the same.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.2 x86_64 “Emerald” GM (Minas Tirith))
You guys are great! Thank you for your replies. I, however, am remiss to tell you that things have come up… I’ll revisit this topic later as time permits.
Vista doesn’t allow any other filesystem other than NTFS while installation (Yes it wont install the Vista system files on a FAT32 partition)…
And if you’re using a virtual machine - better install it into a virtual disk instead of the physical disk… Like others pointed out it is easy to back up…
There was a Youtube video where it was sent to /dev/shredder. I think that was Vista though, not surprising since it raised the temperatures of many people.
I’ve been a programmer for 20 years, and installing Win7 in a VBox on Linux is one of the most wildest things I’ve ever done with a computer. I am installing Win7 into a file on my PC, that works like it’s own OS, while browsing the news via Mozilla on a different desktop. It’s crazy! I’m laughing w/delight the whole time.
ken_yap wrote:
When you install the guest OS in VBox, it will become clear.
very true! well said advice from a sage.
Win7 on a stick… (on a steeeeeeik!!), with ketchup and mustard please. Thank you.
