[Nix-dev] Running NixOS in VirtualBox

[Sander van der Burg - EWI]

I don't really believe that either of the qemu_kvm or VirtualBox is the better VM solution. They have a lot of features in common, but also some differences. According to some benchmarks on the internet they also don't differ that much performance-wise.

qemu_kvm uses the KVM subsystem to implement virtualization, so it requires a guest OS supporting it (or otherwise it will fallback to full emulation). VirtualBox uses its own virtualization method not based on KVM and also does not use the virtualization properties of the CPU.

I find VirtualBox very convenient to use, because it has a very nice gui that integrates nicely with KDE. Moreover, all the stuff that you need to setup virtual machines are present in the GUI and easy to use. Furthermore, it supports the most common operating systems (Various Windows editions, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, OpenSolaris, OS/2) out of the box and can be easily setup by following some steps in the wizards. All these features are in VirtualBox, because it is also commercial software (dual licensed under the GPL and a commercial license).

kvm_qemu in contrary is missing a nice GUI, but does not really lack the same features. In my experience qemu is also better scriptable than VirtualBox.


-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: nix-dev-bounces at cs.uu.nl namens Marc Weber
Verzonden: wo 9-12-2009 19:56
Aan: nix-dev
Onderwerp: Re: [Nix-dev] Running NixOS in VirtualBox
 
Hi Sander,

does using virtualbox have any advantages over using qemu_kvm?
If so which ones?

Marc Weber

Excerpts from Sander van der Burg - EWI's message of Wed Dec 09 16:45:40 +0100 2009:
> I just noticed that somebody wrote a wiki page about how to install NixOS in
> VirtualBox. I've updated the instructions a bit, since I managed to get the
> guest additions working (some of you may not have noticed this and it isn't
> mentioned elsewhere on the NixOS website).
> 
> In order to use the VirtualBox video driver (which offers faster display
> operations and to have an integrated mouse cursor) this property can be used:
> 
> services.xserver.videoDriver = "virtualbox";
> 
> and to use additional properties in KDE (e.g. Host-Guest clipboard support,
> on-demand resizing of the X display) this package can be added: (I haven't
> investigated integration of these tools with other WMs):
> 
> environment.kdePackages = [ kernelPackages.virtualboxGuestAdditions ];
> 
> These properties will make using NixOS in VirtualBox much more convenient to
> use :-)
> 
> The only thing I didn't manage to get working is OpenGL rendering support in
> guest VMs, but I don't think this will have much priority for now :-)
> 
> Best,
> 
> Sander van der Burg
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