[Fwd: Re: What VM technology to use?]

[Daniel Mons]

Cary Bielenberg wrote:
> My references to it being a pig to install is borne out of frustration, 
> I didn't articulate my feelings well! What I was trying to say is that 
> unless you are dedicated to learning the intricacies of the software it 
> is a struggle to grasp & install. 

Again, I can't see where the problem lies.

Installing the "python-virtinst" package gives you the "virt-install" 
command.  Run it, and it starts a simple wizard prompting you for the 
name of your virtual machine, how much RAM and disk you want to give it, 
where the boot/install device lives (typically a CDROM or ISO for a 
Windows install), and whether you want GUI capabilities or not 
(necessary for Windows and Linux GUI installs).  Answer these simple 
questions, and it creates your virtual machine and config files for you, 
booting into the system to do the initial install and reboot to live system.

Said config files are plain text, and very easily modified if you want 
to change things like adding extra disks, changing how many CPUs the VM 
can access, etc.

No, it's not a point and click GUI.  But GUIs don't necessarily make 
things easier by virtue of being graphical (try using some of the GUI 
SAN management tools or 3D modelling programs out there and you'll see 
what I mean).  A 10 line text config file generate by a wizard is what 
you get, and starting/stopping the virtual machines are one-line 
commands.  Dead simple stuff.

At my previous job myself and another sysadmin consolidated two server 
rooms full of physical servers down to 6 physical boxes running 
Xen/QEmu.  We both left the role within a month of each other (long 
story, which I won't go into here), but I was charged with training the 
existing helpdesk staff on how to use the virtualisation systems before 
I left.  I took two helpdesk-level staff there, and gave them a two hour 
lesson on the complete ins and outs of how to use the system, and that 
was enough for them to maintain the existing infrastructure and create 
new systems as needed.  Six months later the both of them are still 
maintaining and extending the system without problems.

If you are still finding frustration, I suggest reading a few articles here:

http://www.virtuatopia.com

VirtuaTopia is one of the better virtualisation communities, and their 
articles are simple, no-BS walkthroughs on how to build and maintain VMs 
under various virtualisation systems.  They cover a variety of 
distro-specific examples and methods of installation (either via the 
virt-install commands, or by manual installation via 
dpkg/debbootstrap/rpm, which is what I prefer).  They also cover a few 
of the gotchas inherent in all virtualisation systems, and tips and 
tricks on how to maximise performance and resource allocation on heavily 
utilised systems.

-Dan