Posted
by
Bink on
on July 15 2008, 8:05 PM
with no comments
How hard is it to get various Linux distributions up and running in Hyper-V?
The official list of supported operating systems on Hyper-V is available here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/hyperv-supported-guest-os.aspx. While there are a ton of supported Operating Systems, you will notice only one supported Linux distro:
Linux Distributions (VMs configured with 1 virtual processor only)
-
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Service Pack 2 x86 Edition
-
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Service Pack 2 x64 Edition
-
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Service Pack 1 x86 Edition
-
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Service Pack 1 x64 Edition
Before we go any further, I want to clarify "supported" (and this is my own paraphrasing, not the Official Microsoft Support Policy). Supported means that we have thoroughly tested a specific configuration. If you have a problem, you can call up Microsoft Support, and we will troubleshoot and resolve the problem, and release a fix if necessary. If the problem is with somewhere in SUSE, we can work with the fine folks at Novell to have a fix released on their end. In other words, if you are running SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 on top of Hyper-V and encounter a problem, between Microsoft and Novell, we will support you. If you are running your company on Hyper-V virtualized instances of BeOS or Ubuntu... you do so at your own risk. Is it because we hate BeOS or Ubuntu? Heck No! It's just that we can't do a whole lot to fix a problem when a linux kernel update breaks compatibility. Can you imagine the slashdot story if we released updates to the Linux kernel? Good grief!
<double-negative alert!>
Just because something isn't "supported", however, doesn't mean that it won't work.
</double-negative alert!>
If you are running servers in a production environment, you want to be in a supported configuration (see above). If you are a an IT-Pro geek that just likes playing with things to see how they work, then you can throw caution to the wind and try things out that haven't been tested :) With that... let's load a few distros up on Hyper-V!
(by the way, Hyper-V has a really cool "Capture screen" option that is awesome for taking screenshots :)
On Virtual PC 2007, OpenSuse 10.2 installed like a champ. OpenSUSE 11 was somewhat touch-and-go. On Hyper-V, OpenSUSE 11 installs and runs like a champ. The following screenshots are all from the installation:
Continue at source:
5585 Views