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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Questions about running Linux in a VM on Windows (lemm.ee)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi, I'm an old windows user who have played with linux* a few times, but never commited to it.

I want to dive deeper and I though about installing linux in a VM. Some basic questions:

Is that a good idea? / Anything I should take into account?
Is there any preferred VM manager for this? Windows comes with Hyper-V, but I remember reading about how Hyper-V is not ideal (I could be wrong).
Do different distributions work better or worse on VMs?
Are there any major differences when using linux in a VM compared to a bare metal installation?

And some not-so-basic ones:

Is there any [dis]advantage to "Linux VM on Windows" VS "Windows VM on Linux"?
If I start with "Linux VM on Windows", would it be possible to swap them in the future? What I mean is:
- Virtualize the Windows installation so it can be run as a VM.
- Un-virtualize the Linux VM (with all its contents and configuration) and move it to bare metal.
- Run Windows VM on linux.

Notes:

I did a quick search and, although I found multiple articles about the topic, the ones I've read just show one way to do it without comparing it to the alternatives.
I'm aware of WSL(2), but I would like to be able to decouple from Windows in the future.
EIDT: I tried dual booting in the past. The main problem is that I'm too lazy to reboot every time I want to try something in linux and I end up not using it.

Thanks!

* Mandatory linux = GNU/Linux

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[–] melechric 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I think it's far less invasive to setup a Linux VM that can be thrown away vs. setting up dual booting.

With Hyper-V or Virtualbox the OP can have a Linux distribution installed and booting very quickly without fear of disrupting his current Windows installation.

[–] Jestzer 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

You’re right, but is it easy to convert a VM to a physical machine? I’ve never tried, so I’m genuinely asking.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I've always gone the other way, and ran my dual booting capable install in a virtual machine

I think if you can convert the virtualhard disk into raw files it should work the other way.

[–] Jestzer 2 points 1 year ago

I would think so too, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if there was a catch.

[–] melechric 2 points 1 year ago

It's definitely possible to convert in both directions. I've never done it though. The technical hurdles made it unpalatable. My main method of moving back and forth was to keep my personal data on a separate disk from the OS disk. That way I could always take my data with me when I changed OSes or VMs.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Generally yes, but I've been working with VMs on various platforms for a very long time, so I'm probably not the best to qualify on what easy is. How easy will depend on what software you are using.

I've done many physical to virtual, and the very rare virtual to physical. Both can have problems you may need to work through (almost always driver related).