How to test with low RAM and just one CPU core

[Jonathan Marsden]

On 05/31/2013 09:10 PM, Phill Whiteside wrote:

> you can also utilise the abilities built into the linux kernel.

Those kernel parameters *are* "abilities built into the Linux kernel",
aren't they? :)

> I know at times I seem like a fan boi of virt-manager, but it is a
> GUI that uses the kvm abilities that are in built to the linux
> kernel. I'm sure the purists will prefer using virsh exactly, but I
> do ask why we need to learn so much command line stuff :)

(1) When your machine doesn't boot, knowing enough to play with Grub a
little is something that suddenly seems well worth knowing :)  Grub is
command based and text-file-configured, so unless you can point me to a
100% GUI-configured boot manager to use instead of Grub, I think that
means learning a few keystrokes and config items, in order to understand
and manage how your PC boots.

(2) Creating a test VM and installing a fresh Lubuntu OS into it, then
booting the VM and testing, and then (if you have limited disk space)
deleting the VM afterwards, takes *way* more time and effort than
rebooting a PC with an existing Lubuntu installation on it and typing

  mem=512M nosmp

into one line of boot info and pressing Ctrl-X.

I was responding to someone who said they "couldn't" test a Lubuntu in a
low RAM low-CPU environment because they had a dual-core CPU and 1GB...
my point was and remains that they absolutely *can* do such testing on
that hardware, with minimal time investment and in a way that leaves
their PC "just like it was before" once they are done testing and reboot
normally.

Are you *sure* "use KVM to create a VM to test in" is an appropriate
response to a user with a Pentium D and 1 GB RAM?  I think it's possibly
more appropriate for users with later CPUs and 4GB or more.

Finally, even *if* the Pentium D the user concerned has supports VT-x
(which is needed for KVM, and the Smithfield Pentium D CPUs don't have
it, only the later Presler ones do!),
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/KVM says that KVM in Ubuntu is
intended for server, not GUI workstation virtualization, for which
Virtualbox is better suited... that info may be out of date now, but it
used to be valid...

Jonathan