Virtual Varia : Vista on Virtual PC / Virtual Server

Not a fan of the Virtual Server Web Application? Try VMRCPlus!

mikekol — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 00:59:00 GMT

Sorry for the prolonged period of silence on my blog, everyone. I can assure you that all is still well in the world of Virtualization. I'm working on a series of posts that will focus on the Virtualization technologies in Longhorn Server, but we're not ready to talk about it quite yet. When we are, though - I promise you that I will be back, and talking your ear off :)

Anyway, on to the topic of this post.
One of the really interesting things about talking with customers is the wide range of responses you get to the same questions. In this case, I've talked to quite a few people about whether or not they liked the web-based management tool for Virtual Server. It's something that a lot of people feel passionate about, but the wierd thing is that it's pretty much half-and-half.

Half of the people prefer a web-based management story to a Windows-based application, and the other half prefer the exact opposite.
Of course, there's no pleasing all of the people all of the time, but it just so happens that there's a way to ease some of the pain.

An application called VMRCPlus has just been released (consider it a PowerToy, which means that there is no support for it) that lets you manage a Virtual Server and it's VMs from the comfort of a Windows application. We've been using VMRCPlus for a while internally, but it's really been cleaned up quite a bit for the public release.

If you're one of the people who prefers Windows-based management applications, check out this blog post for more information.

And I promise - I'll be back soon.

Virtual PC 2007 has been Released To Web!

mikekol — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 22:38:00 GMT

The updated version of Virtual PC has finally been released, and is free. If you're planning on running Windows Vista in a VM (or really - if you've got a computer with Virtualization Extensions in the processor and you plan on virtualizing *anything*), go get this new version.

It's over on the updated Virtual PC website.

Enjoy!

Using Vista RTM with Virtual PC or Virtual Server

mikekol — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 00:30:00 GMT

Well, at last we've come to this. It's been almost a year since my first post to this blog, and look how far we've come! Windows Vista has RTM'd and is now available to Volume Licensing customers and to MSDN and Technet subscribers. Looks like I'm going to have to change my blog's tagline!

So, how do you get Vista running in a Virtual Machine?

If you're using Virtual PC, you should be using the VPC 2007 Beta - the additions that ship with that product work just fine in Vista.

If you're using Virtual Server, you should use the VS 2005 R2 SP1 Beta - those additions work with Vista as well.

If you're not into using a beta product right now, it's still possible to run Vista in a VM, but I would definitely recommend using the additions from the products above - you'll get a significant performance increase.

Virtual PC 2007 public beta is now available!

mikekol — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 00:52:00 GMT

As of this morning, a beta version of VPC2007 is now available to the public. Head on over to Microsoft Connect and pick up a copy (look for available connections - the VPC beta program should be listed).

What does VPC 2007 give you?

Well, for one, it adds Vista as a supported host *and* guest.
It's also got hardware assisted virtualization, so if your processor supports VT or Pacifica extensions, virtualization will run significantly faster.

This comes with Mikey's seal of approval, so seriously - if you're running Vista as a host or a guest, you need to check this bad boy out.

Using Windows Vista RC2 under Virtual PC and Virtual Server

mikekol — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:09:00 GMT

I'm happy to announce that nothing has changed, folks. The VM Additions that ship with Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Beta 2 (... was there a "niner" in there? Am I on a walkie-talkie?) still work with the "RC2" release of Windows Vista.

Check out the original post here.

Getting the new VM Additions for non-Connect members

mikekol — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 02:22:00 GMT

I saw that someone over on ActiveWin posted a concern that CTP users weren't able to get the new Additions that we've posted over on Connect.

The truth is, anyone can get the new Additions, even if you aren't currently a member of Connect. To get them, follow these steps:

Go to http://connect.microsoft.com, and sign in with your Passport.
Click on Available Connection in the left-hand navigation pane.
Scroll down to the bottom of the screen to where the Beta for Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 is. Click the Apply link.
Fill in the requested information, and submit it. You'll be given immediate access to the bits.
Click on the Downloads link in the left hand pane, and download the Additions from the list of available downloads.

Also, you don't need to have the Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 beta to use these Additions. They work on Virtual Server 2005 R2 and Virtual PC 2004 SP1 (and possibly on older versions of the software as well... I don't know, I haven't tried).

New VMAdditions build available!

mikekol — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 22:13:00 GMT

The title pretty much says it all - we've released updated VM Additions that are compatible with the July EDW build of Windows Vista that was released recently (it's build 5472.5, for those of you keeping score at home). As an added bonus, these Additions also work with Beta 2, and the June EDW build.

The updated Additions are available over at Connect, under the Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 beta.

Enjoy!

Vista Beta 2 and Sysprep: Hey, what the heck happened to the VM Additions?

mikekol — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 22:04:00 GMT

If anyone has tried syspreping Windows Vista Beta 2 inside a VM, you may have noticed that the VM Additions are still installed but not functional afterwards (this only happens if you use the /generalize switch). This is because of the way that the new Sysprep Generalization phase works. The idea here is that the system starts with a totally clean slate, and PnP detects the "best" driver for the hardware all over again.

For some reason, the drivers included with the Additions are not detected as the "best" fit. I'm not on the setup team, so I'm not sure why, but that's what seems to be happening.

There are a few ways to work around this. The first, and most obvious way, is not to use the /generalize switch on Sysprep. While this has the pro of not breaking our Additions, there are a lot of cons involved with doing this. The big one is that the unique information about the system's identity (the system's SID, for example) aren't reset if you don't generalize, which causes a boatload of problems if you want to deploy the VM to multiple people/places.

The other - and preferred - way to do this is to provide an answer file to Sysprep when you run it. You'll need to set the PersistAllDeviceInstalls flag to "true" in the "generalize" pass. Here's a sample unattend file which contains that information:

Assuming you've named this file sysprep.xml, you'd tell Sysprep to use this as an answer file with the following command:

sysprep /generalize /unattend:sysprep.xml

(of course, you can throw in any other switches that you need, too.)

FINALLY: Virtual Machine Additions for Beta 2 are available

mikekol — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 22:03:00 GMT

We've finally released the Microsoft Virtual Machine Additions for Windows Vista Beta 2!

You can download the additions here:
http://connect.microsoft.com

Log into the site, and sign up for the Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Beta if you're not already in it. In the downloads section, you'll see the Additions for Beta 2.

To install them run the MSI installer from the download site (yeah... that should be pretty obvious, actually). The installer will ask you where you want to put the new Additions, but will default to %SystemDrive%\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual Machine Additions.

To install the Additions in your Vista VM, just mount the VMAdditionsforVistaB2.iso file in your Virtual Machine, and run the installer as normal.

Enjoy!

Update - It's been confirmed that these additions do not work on the Beta 2 Refresh that was released recently. We're looking into this.

Running Windows Vista 5365 under Virtual PC or Virtual Server

mikekol — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 23:18:00 GMT

It's that time again (though I'm a little late to the game on this one... sorry for the delay)! Let's get right down to it, shall we?

There are two significant changes when running this build in a Virtual Machine:

You no longer need to prepare your own Virtual Disk. Windows Vista Setup can now install itself on to a completely blank disk, so there's no more special steps that need to be done ahead of time.
The Virtual Machine Additions performance enhancements from Virtual Server 2005 R2 no longer work in Windows Vista. To get better performance, you'll need to download the Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 Beta and use the additions that ship with that.

Some quick reminders:

If you're using Virtual PC, remember that VPC can't mount ISO files larger than 2.2GB. You'll need to burn the ISO to physical media - or get some VirtualCD software and mount the ISO as a CD-ROM drive - and have Virtual PC pass it through to the guest. Virtual Server 2005 R2 fixed this.
Virtual Server 2005 R2 is *free* download now. Give it a shot!
Your Virtual Hard Drive should be at least 16GB.
You're insane if you try to run Windows Vista in a Virtual Machine with less than 512MB of RAM allocated to it.
Sound won't work in Windows Vista if you're running it in Virtual PC or Virtual Server.

Good luck!

Virtual Server for Free? Totally...

mikekol — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 22:55:00 GMT

Microsoft just announced that Virtual Server 2005 R2 (Enterprise Edition) is now available as a *FREE* download for x86 and x64 systems! Hot!

Head on over here to pick up your copy.

There's also news about Linux Additions... you know... if you're interested in that sort of thing ;)

Having sound issues with Vista in VPC? Here's why.

mikekol — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 01:32:00 GMT

In my post on getting Glass working for a Virtual Machine, I spent a little bit of time discussing the graphics card that we emulate, and the reasons why Glass isn't possible on that hardware.

There's a similar issue in Vista with the sound card that we emulate. As you may have noticed if you've installed Vista in VPC, there's no audio support. This is due to the audio card that we emulate - an ISA-based SB16 card. Vista has dropped support for ISA-based hardware all together, so our emulated card simply won't work. Unfortunately, there's no way around it.

This will be addressed by emulating a different kind of sound card in a future version of Virtual PC.

The other way around: Running VPC in the February CTP

mikekol — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 22:43:00 GMT

Interested in changing things up and using Virtual PC in the February CTP of Vista?

The Virtual PC Guy's got you covered!

There's nothing like teamwork...

mikekol — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 02:28:00 GMT

Just wanted to give a quick heads up - yours truly isn't the only blogger on the Virtual Machine team, so you should make some more room on your blogroll.

Ben Armstrong (The Virtual PC Guy) maintains an amazing blog here. If you've ever wondered how to get Netware, OS/2, or <insert your favorite operating system or old-skool game here> working on Virtual PC or Virtual Server, Ben's blog is where you go to read about it. Ben is a PM on the Virtual Machine team, and will have his own series of posts about the Vista February CTP soonish.

Mike Sterling is another PM on our team, and is starting his blog over here. Head on over and see what he has to say!

Update:
It looks like John Howard is joining our team as PM as well. Welcome aboard! The Virtualization bloggers just keep on coming!

Glass in a VM? Sort of...

mikekol — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 01:07:00 GMT

One of the things that a lot of people have asked us about, both inside and outside of Microsoft, is whether or not we're going to support Glass running in a VM. So here's the scoop: the answer is 'sort of'.

Here's how it breaks down:

Virtual PC and Virtual Server both emulate the same graphics adapter - an S3 Trio32/64 which is (if I'm not mistaken) 1996-era hardware. Back in good ol' 96, there wasn't a great deal of processing power built into graphics adapters; certainly not as much as there is now. As such, any card of that era - including the card that we emulate - will not be able to render any of the Glass effects. Also, there are no plans to modify Virtual PC or Virtual Server to emulate a different graphics adapter. In short, the S3 is where it's at, as long as "it" doesn't refer to anything graphically spectacular.

But fear not.

There's an interesting little trick that you can perform to get Glass in a VM. Sort of. One of the coolest features of Vista that has been introduced in the February CTP is Desktop Composition Remoting (or Avalon Remoting). Generally speaking, this will allow some of the uber-cool Desktop Compositing effects to be rendered over Remote Desktop. And yes, cats and kittens, this includes Glass.

To get it working, you'll need

Windows Vista installed on the machine you're remoting into (the VM)
Windows Vista installed on the machine you're remoting from (the host, for example)
The Vista build on both machines must be the same to have any reasonable expectation of this working correctly.
The machine you're remoting from must have a graphics adapter that is capable of, and IS CURRENTLY running Glass. If it can't support Glass, you're out of luck.
Network connectivity between the two computers.

On the VM, enable Remote Desktop (Remember to set the port exception in the firewall...)
From the Host, launch the Remote Desktop Client and enter the name or IP address of the VM. If you'd like to adjust the window size, color depth, or experience level, go ahead.
Click Connect, and log in.

The Remote Desktop session will launch, and the VM's desktop will be drawn with the DWM effects.

So, strictly speaking, no - Glass does not work in a VM, but it's possible to make it look like it does with a little bit of pixie dust from Remote Desktop team.