Current Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.3.6 very stable on Linux

[angryChineseKahanist]

Last year I had to reboot my virtualbox on linux once every 6 to 9 days because of the 100% CPU/ load of 9+.

The current version, so far its been running 40 days and just 3% CPU/ load of:
 00:11:58 up 46 days,  2:35,  16 users,  load average: 0.11, 0.32, 0.17

I just rebooted because I upgraded to 4.3.6 from 4.3.4.

[angryChineseKahanist]

Running headless of course. No monitor/keyboard/mouse connected.

[muman613]

WOOOT!

My Ubuntu VirtualBox at work is pretty stable. There are times I have CPU hogging issues, but mostly I have issues with memory resources at work (only have 4gig). At home with Ubuntu 12.10 and i7 w/32g memory my VM's are very stable.

We are running a Centos 5.6 VM in Shanghai which has been up over 2 months now..

[briann]

WOOOT!

My Ubuntu VirtualBox at work is pretty stable. There are times I have CPU hogging issues, but mostly I have issues with memory resources at work (only have 4gig). At home with Ubuntu 12.10 and i7 w/32g memory my VM's are very stable.

We are running a Centos 5.6 VM in Shanghai which has been up over 2 months now..

Not that I am an expert on linux.... but the reliability of my Centos VPS has been incredibly rock solid....  no complaints here.

[Zelhar]

The guest OS can only be as stable as the host. I have also the problem of insufficient memory (I have 6gb), and if I launch virtualbox guest os when there isn't enough free memory then I have to wait minutes until the host OS finishes dumping used memory to the swap. But the good side is that OpenSUSE 13.1 is pretty stable and I don't think it has ever hung ever since I upgraded to it.

I don't run a headless guest but the full OS and I think that it is running way too slow i.e. launching a web browser can take way too much time. I don't see it hogging on CPU though. So stability perhaps is good but the performance penalty for running on a full OS on virtualbox is too great and hasn't significantly improved between the last few iterations.

[muman613]

On my 32g memory system I can run Windows 7 with a 4g vm along with a Centos vm with 4g without any problem.

At work I do ocassionally run into memory issues which bring my system to a standstill for several minutes.

[angryChineseKahanist]

6GB is fine. At work, I have a 2GB PC.

The virtualbox host server should be headless.

If you insist, you can still have a keyboard, mouse and a monitor, but just don't start Xwindows.

Then use a head somewhere. This could be your phone, laptop or tablet. Or for me a raspberry pi.

But if you only have on pc and you want to virtualize all on the same pc then run it on windows. Or if you wish to run it on Linux, expect an unreliable system.

BTW try installing mint linux.

[muman613]

I have no problems running multiple VM's using an Ubuntu 12.10 host system. As I said my system is pretty hefty (i7 w 32g mem). But I really run Windows 7 and several Linux VM's simultaneously.

For me the issue boils down to whether the host has sufficient memory to avoid swapping problems. I monitor my memory usage at work with HTOP utility and when I see that memory is running low (usually due to running about 14 different chrome windows on four desktops) I start KILLING the chrome processes like ducks. If I am lucky I avoid having my system performance impaired.

Some people say, "Why do you run so many different Chrome windows (each with 5-10 tabs open)?" and I say, "Because!"... I suppose I should just run one chrome window with multiple tabs, but I do use multiple desktops at work to keep different projects separate.

[muman613]

6GB is fine. At work, I have a 2GB PC.

The virtualbox host server should be headless.

If you insist, you can still have a keyboard, mouse and a monitor, but just don't start Xwindows.

Then use a head somewhere. This could be your phone, laptop or tablet. Or for me a raspberry pi.

But if you only have on pc and you want to virtualize all on the same pc then run it on windows. Or if you wish to run it on Linux, expect an unreliable system.

BTW try installing mint linux.

Hey ACK,

I am going to try Mint Linux on a VM on my Ubuntu Host... This is how I usually evaluate distributions...

[Zelhar]

ACK can you explain your system architecture and its purpose? I think what you do is run vbox on a linux server with no GUI, then access the guest OS from remote connection.

[Zelhar]

Is it possible to test a headless vm on the same PC? I can run the virtual machine headless but when I try to run it on krdc from the same computer I can't connect to it.
OK I justed needed to enable remote desktop option for the virtual machine. It works now.

[drlmg]

Why do you even need VM? I have used various forms of Linux for years and have never had the need for it.

To run Window programs I have always managed to get Wine to run them, although it was difficult with a few...

Is it so you can have MS and Linux running simultaneously? I don't mean simply to boot to one or another, I mean running at the same time.

[muman613]

Why do you even need VM? I have used various forms of Linux for years and have never had the need for it.

To run Window programs I have always managed to get Wine to run them, although it was difficult with a few...

Is it so you can have MS and Linux running simultaneously? I don't mean simply to boot to one or another, I mean running at the same time.

drImg,

My application for VM's is that I develop software for several platforms (including Windows XP, Win7, Ubuntu 10.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Centos 6.5, Debian 5, and I even support Fedora Core).... In order to be able to build my software to run on all these platforms either I would need several individual x86_64 boxes or one powerful box running each OS in its own VM...

Another reason people use VM's is because one machine can provide a variety of OS's to clients in an organization without having to have seperate boxes for each. The host server is pretty much stable, each OS can be restarted (rebooted) if it becomes corrupted without affecting the other VM's. At my company we do this to provide a VM to all users with all the system tools needed to build our embedded software (for our product). It makes the life of the system admin much easier to only install packages on the VM and not on each users client machine.

[drlmg]

OK.... I see that some of you are running Centos and OpenSUSE.... I have very limited experience with either, is Wine even available for them? I typically use only Debian based OSs. Currently I am using Linux Mint, some with Cinnamon UI and some with MATE UI.

I have had the better luck with Mint vs. any other OS..... Ubuntu is close but in my experience not as solid and reliable.

[drlmg]

drImg,

My application for VM's is that I develop software for several platforms (including Windows XP, Win7, Ubuntu 10.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Centos 6.5, Debian 5, and I even support Fedora Core).... In order to be able to build my software to run on all these platforms either I would need several individual x86_64 boxes or one powerful box running each OS in its own VM...

Another reason people use VM's is because one machine can provide a variety of OS's to clients in an organization without having to have seperate boxes for each. The host server is pretty much stable, each OS can be restarted (rebooted) if it becomes corrupted without affecting the other VM's. At my company we do this to provide a VM to all users with all the system tools needed to build our embedded software (for our product). It makes the life of the system admin much easier to only install packages on the VM and not on each users client machine.

Wow! I wish I could do that.... I do VERY basic programming at best.

I guess the main difference is I am playing around and you are actually doing something. Thanks for the response, and thanks for not belittling me as many would do.

[Zelhar]

Why do you even need VM? I have used various forms of Linux for years and have never had the need for it.

To run Window programs I have always managed to get Wine to run them, although it was difficult with a few...

Is it so you can have MS and Linux running simultaneously? I don't mean simply to boot to one or another, I mean running at the same time.

Yes, for me at least that is the main reason. I sometimes need to run windows, especially in order to connect my iphone to itunes. In the past I needed to load some webpages that only worked on IE. Anyways I don't want to reboot into windows just for a single task so I run it on a virtual machine when I need it. I believe it is also more secure to access suspicious sites especially if you are on windows through a virtual machine, that keeps the threat contained to the virtual volume.

Another reason is like Muman mentioned, to test other Linux distributions or versions (or BSD/Windows/Solaris for that matter) as well as testing changes I want to do on my existing system on a virtual machine running the same type of OS.

I might also run occasionally special purpose linux systems like gparted or clonezilla if I need to use them on a specific device.

[The Noachide]

Just in time for firefox os and linux smartphone base os to test out.

[angryChineseKahanist]

Wow! I wish I could do that.... I do VERY basic programming at best.

I guess the main difference is I am playing around and you are actually doing something. Thanks for the response, and thanks for not belittling me as many would do.

Its very easy to virtualize. You just need to understand the concept. That's the hardest part.
If you have different operating systems you like to tinker, virtualizing is a great way to do so.

The easiest that I know of thats also free is virtualbox. You install it like you install your favorite word processor or your favorite web browser.

Otherwise there are a million choices and complicated setups.