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Virtual Machine inside a Virtual machine?

seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Virtual Machine inside a Virtual machine?

I know this is possible in some cases because I have successfully ran a Windows XP instance inside Virtualbox inside a Windows 7 VM on a Citrix Server.
What I am aiming to do is to run a Windows XP VM inside a CentOS VPS powered by Open VZ.
I have already tried and failed with XEN and Virtualbox.
Will VMware work? Can anyone point me to a good tutorial for installing?
I have a small project involving Umedia Server (umediaserver.net). I have already tried using Wine and after many hours and much research I have came to the conclusion that this software will just not work with Wine.
I don't want to pay for a Windows VPS as this is just a small project for my own interest and I already have a spare CentOS VPS that does very little else.
5 REPLIES 5
pnf
Grafter
Posts: 269
Registered: ‎07-11-2007

Re: Virtual Machine inside a Virtual machine?

I don't know anything about CentOS VPS or Open VZ but I can confirm that it is possible to run a Windows XP VM within a Linux VM on a Linux PC using VMware Player - see screen shot attached.
I would give it a try to see if it works in your case.  VMware Player is free and can be downloaded from http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/desktop_downloads/vmware_player/3_0
After downloading the relevant 'bundle', VMware Player is simply installed by running the installer as root (./VMware-Player-3.1.3-324285.x86_64.bundle)
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Virtual Machine inside a Virtual machine?

That looks promising, thanks, I am giving it a go.
Can you NAT/port forward to the virtual box in VMWare player?
pnf
Grafter
Posts: 269
Registered: ‎07-11-2007

Re: Virtual Machine inside a Virtual machine?

A virtual network adapter can be configured as bridged, NAT or Host-only - see screenshot attached.
It is also possible to use a USB wireless network adapter via a virtual USB port, if preferred.
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: Virtual Machine inside a Virtual machine?

The USB adapter might be a problem, the VPS is in Florida  Grin
I have Vmware player now installed, now installing GCC as VMware says I need it.
pnf
Grafter
Posts: 269
Registered: ‎07-11-2007

Re: Virtual Machine inside a Virtual machine?

To get the best performance from a VM in VMware Player, VMware Tools should be installed into the guest operating system.
To do this, once you’ve got Windows XP up and running as a VM, click on the Virtual Machine tab at the top of VMware Player and then select Install VMware Tools.  The installation process should then start.  Just follow the on-screen prompts to complete the process.  After rebooting the VM, there should be an entry for VMware Tools in the Control Panel.
You may need to adjust the screen resolution after installing VMware Tools as it installs drivers that support accelerated 3D graphics.
I hope it all goes well.