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As in the title:

Would using the virtual-kernel (instead of the vanilla) yield benefits for Ubuntu 8.04 server on Sun's latest VirtualBox?

Host OS: 32 bit Ubuntu 8.04 server (plain kernel)
Sun's Virtualbox 3.0.x (x=12 iirc)
Guest OS: 32 bit Ubuntu 8.04 server (plain kernel)

One thing to note is that the initial install/vdi file creation was done on 32-bit Windows XP (which was then copied over after which a new vm configuration was done on the Linux host using VBoxManage).

I had to turn on PAE to boot the kernel and also (this may seem strange) IO-APIC because otherwise I got scary kernel panics while booting.

Bonus question: any other obvious signs of non-optimal configuration / performance tips?

Please be gentle as this is my first serverfault question (I usually frequent stackoverflow more).

ChristopheD
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2 Answers2

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I haven't actually run it this way - so this is really probably more of a comment than an answer, but yes - it will probably make a difference, but not a huge one. In fact, I would wager that if you are doing more of a "desktop" virtualization, you are better off with a stock kernel.

That being said, if this is going to be a dedicated box for housing virtual machines, I would give a serious look at Ubuntu JeOS (pronounced Juice). It is a server edition tuned for running VMs and has benefits beyond just the kernel.

http://www.ubuntu.com/products/whatisubuntu/serveredition/jeos

Goyuix
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  • Thanks for answering! It is appliance like (server guest on server host -all without X) so JeOS seems very interesting for this particular purpose (running a BIRT runtime engine which is just a little more then a SUN JVM 6 & Apache Tomcat). Just not sure if the 'reinstall' for this particular VM is really worth it; but I'll be sure to keep JeOS in mind for future VM's. – ChristopheD Jan 21 '10 at 21:20
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Note that the JeOS notes mention "Optimised for VMWare ESX, VMWare Server and KVM", so you may run into driver gotchas with Virtual Box.

xenny
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