Virtual Machine external drive

**Linux-Us** · 23-12-2009

Hello,
Is it possible to "install" an operating system or virtual machine on an external hard drive that I could then use wherever I go. Well, I do not think you can directly install the system on the external HD. I thought rather a solution with a virtual machine file on the HDD, and floppy virtual machine installed on the system which is connected to SD. Is this possible? If yes with which software virtualization, etc. Any help will be appreciated.

**Eric B** · 23-12-2009

Hi
VirtualBox allows you to use your VM to an existing partition (and thus a "true" disk drive) without the disadvantages of a virtual disk (especially slow). In addition, you preserved the possibility of running "natively" on the OS in question, still significant in some cases vicious incompatibilities with virtualization.
If you want to make a manip of this kind, you can do something in the following kind:
1) Cut your disk into two logical partitions: a small (say 20 MB to break everything), and the rest of the disc.
2) Small, formates you maximum portability (FAT16 or FAT32), and you put the unpacked executable VM (unlikely as it works ...), or at least the setup (that's guaranteed functional by cons).
3) Always on the girl, you put your files schedules for your VM (machine description).
4) On the big score, you installed your OS virtualized (or not!) Normally. To boot from it natively, utilities such as LILO help you, at least on your own machine.
5) On an external machine, you can then install the virtualization or even run it directly (be careful with network drivers, especially) and your VM will use directly the large partition as storage unit mass, with your OS already installed and everything.
The only problem I see with so running the virtualization directly on your external drive is the network driver. Apart from that, you should have no problems too great to make this manip.
For cons, I would tend to discourage VMWare for this, it is much harder to install / deploy VirtualBox that I found. On your own machine "fixed", no worries, but in mobile mode is not ideal I think.

**JonathanD** · 23-12-2009

Hi
Attention to the hardware profile- remember that for the OS installed, it will suddenly find themselves on a different hardware architecture, and this can raise concerns more or less heavy. Some will be solved simply with a new user profile and / or adjustment of the OS. Others may require a much more detailed knowledge and pointed to the administration of virtualized OS. Hope this will help you.

**Linux-Us** · 23-12-2009

Hi
Yes that's very important. I should have mentioned above. In fact I do not know what machines I'm going to meet. I think it will be roughly the desktops of HP brand based Pentium 4 with Windows 2000 or XP top. I think that a problem when the motherboard is not radically different? Otherwise, it can create multiple virtual machines based hardware profile that I could find. In fact it's not for me, is a colleague who needs to travel the country and make his demo application based on Oracle / Forms & Reports. To avoid having to install oracle at a time and not having to buy a laptop, we wondered if it was not possible to do that just with external HD.

**Eric B** · 23-12-2009

Hello,
Attention! You are confused with the host system and the virtualized system! Side host system (ie the OS that runs your virtualization), who cares as long as the material is sufficiently powerful. It is the virtualization that is responsible for the entrails, and not you, the exception being just the network driver. Side virtualized system that's another thing: on one side, in "native", it will really turn on the physical machine, and will therefore have to adapt (drivers particular). VM side, it would find material different, Which is emulated by the virtualization program. There it will manage hardware profiles. If you never count your OS to run natively, but only in virtualized, it poses absolutely no problem whatever the host machine, virtualized system is.

**Linux-Us** · 23-12-2009

Hi
I confess that I feel lost now. I already understood the difference between the host system and virtualized systems, but the concept of "running natively". Should I turn it natively as an unattended installation? It is used to improve performance I guess. In any case, this is not what we intended to do. This will be pure virtualized and it is likely that did not need the network. The application is already installed oracle as a local basis, so ... no problem still now.