Re: Alternative(s) to VirtualBox

[Carl Fink <carl@finknetwork.com>]

On Thu, Jul 05, 2012 at 08:43:28PM +0100, Chris Davies wrote:
> Carl Fink <carl@finknetwork.com> wrote:
> > I tried kvm, but virt-manager reports "Unable to connect to libvirt"
> > even though libvirtd is running.
> 
> Add yourself to the libvirt group.

Already in it.

> > If I start kvm from the command line I get:
> > WARNING: gnome-keyring:: couldn't connect to: /home/carlf/.cache/keyring-7jbXBL/pkcs11: No such file or directory
> > error: failed to get domain '/mnt/data/kvm-images/xp2'
> > error: An error occurred, but the cause is unknown
> 
> How are you starting kvm, and with what options?

Believe it or not that helped a lot.

I was using a command I found online somewhere:

virsh start /mnt/data/kvm-images/xp2

That produced the above-quoted error.

Inspired by your question I looked for alternatives. I found this one:

kvm -usb -m 512 /mnt/data/kvm-images/xp2

(I should clarify that I made a qcow2 image from a VB virtual hard drive and
named it xp2.)

This boots! Then it spontaneously bluescreens and reboots. Forever. Windows
reports a STOP error but it then reboots before I can transcribe anything.

If I replace kvm with qemu in the above and boot in safe mode, it takes much
longer to reboot. Then it reboots.

I'm going to try installing Windows on a fresh virtual machine and see what
happens.

I'd still like to know why virt-manager isn't working.

Thanks.
-- 
Carl Fink                           nitpicking@nitpicking.com 

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