Linux VM host with GUI

[Dujith]

As someone who dabbles in linux at times i have no idea what kind of VM hosts there are.

Googling it just confuses me more, seems like there is KVM and Qemu, but those require a separate piece of software for a GUI? (Virt Manager)

And i also saw Gnome Boxes which is all in 1? And UCS and Mist.io? to many options  

 

What i require:

- Ability to click the VM and interact with it as if i were on the machine (like HyperV)

- Automated backup ability

- Pref. all this in 1 packet and not a collection of different software.

 

I will be running this on an Intel NUC with: Freepbx, Nextcloud and Unifi Controller 

[Eigenvektor]

VirtualBox comes to mind. Runs on Windows, Linux and Mac. Not sure about automated backups, but it does support snapshots and you can export machines and move them to other hosts. I personally find it easier/more comfortable to use than KVM/Qemu.

[Eigenvektor]

UCS isn't what you need. Its mostly a custom Linux distribution with a web interface. You can use the web interface to enable various services (mail, file server, ...) which then run as docker containers on the machine. It's basically a Linux server with a pretty interface for small/medium companies to enable services they need. It's really not intended to run a Linux VM with a GUI that you can then connect to.

 

Haven't heard of mist.io before, but sounds more like a web based management interface on top of existing virtual machines/containers that run in the cloud somewhere. So basically you have one centralized hub to manage all of your virtual machines that run wherever. Doesn't sound to be geared towards home use either.

 

You can use KVM/Qemu/libvirt to run virtual machines. You can use Virt Manager or Gnome Boxes as a GUI on top of that (remote or local). Or, as I said, you can use VirtualBox which also does VMs and comes with a GUI included.

 

Do you have a mouse/keyboard/screen attached to the NUC or do you intend to use it more like a server that runs the VMs and you connect to the VM from somewhere else?

[Dujith]

44 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

VirtualBox comes to mind. Runs on Windows, Linux and Mac. Not sure about automated backups, but it does support snapshots and you can export machines and move them to other hosts. I personally find it easier/more comfortable to use than KVM/Qemu.

 

19 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Do you have a mouse/keyboard/screen attached to the NUC or do you intend to use it more like a server that runs the VMs and you connect to the VM from somewhere else?

I want to avoid running those 3 on windows via Hyperv or virtual box as in the past this could cause some issues when updating Freepbx and nextcloud.

Plus it made more sense to me to run 3 linux environments on a linux server.

 

The NUC will be in the server room and i will connect to it on the local network only, prob VNC.

[Eigenvektor]

in your use case, if it were me, I'd install Debian or CentOS without a UI, use SSH to manage it and run those services either directly or on Docker.

[Madgemade]

8 hours ago, Dujith said:

KVM and Qemu, but those require a separate piece of software for a GUI? (Virt Manager)

QEMU doesn't require any GUI. I have used QEMU a lot and have never used Virt Manager. You can just type a command and QEMU will open the VM window.

Something like this:

./qemu-system-x86_64 -cdrom install-x86.iso -smp 8 -m 2G

Which starts the 64bit x86 emulator with that iso as boot cd, 8 CPUs and 2GB of RAM. To use KVM in QEMU (turn it from emulator to Virtual Machine) you use "-enable-kvm"

[Dujith]

3 minutes ago, Madgemade said:

QEMU doesn't require any GUI. I have used QEMU a lot and have never used Virt Manager. You can just type a command and QEMU will open the VM window.

Something like this:

I need a GUI  i realize that they run perfectly without them. Its the person behind the monitor thats the problem... me.

Ideally i'll set this up once and only have to interact with it once a month or so. And i will forget those console commands  

 

[Madgemade]

28 minutes ago, Dujith said:

And i will forget those console commands

That's why I put my in text file, along with an explanation of what they do

I doubt Virt Manager is much work to get running. Probably just install it from software center.

[Bacon soup]

I use virtual machine manager. It can manage a remote host. Right now I am using an intel NUC to host pihole and nextcloud. I think its the easiest VMM to set up on linux.

[Dujith]

@Eigenvektor @Madgemade In the end i got VMWARE Esxi installed and its working with a nice GUI to add and manage the VM's

Plus i get to use VEAAM we already have running for the HyperV server for this too it seems  

 

Thanks for the input!