6 ms·

What alternatives do you recommend?

Scarbutt 7y ago
windows and linux have native solutions, for macos there's vmware and parallels, but really, virtualbox is fine too, unless your are this big company with hundreds of deployments and have to think hard about licensing.
- pbreit 7y ago
  Anything free or inexpensive?
  - Scarbutt 7y ago
    virtualbox is fine (but don't know your needs exactly).
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - Jonnax 7y ago
    If you're running Linux, virt-manager works fine for a lot of scenarios. If you want to provision a server as a VM host, Proxmox free version is pretty good but you have to manually update it.
  - OrangeMango 7y ago
    I've been running Multipass [0] by Canonical for the past few months and it has been great. [0] https://multipass.run/ https://multipass.run/
    - programd 7y ago
      Big caveat: multipass does not support bridged networking so you can't configure your VM as just another server on a local network. See this issue: https://github.com/CanonicalLtd/multipass/issues/118 https://github.com/CanonicalLtd/multipass/issues/118
briffle 7y ago
Are there any other cross-platform virtualization platforms nowadays? I need something to run Vagrant on that my team can use on mac, windows, and Linux. Ideally all using the same hypervisor, so I don't need to have 3 different sets of documentation for each thing..
- big_chungus 7y ago
  VMWare. I know, I know, proprietary bad and all that, but for just getting stuff done with minimal fuss and not yak-shaving (like, say, vagrant), vmware is good.
- stephenr 7y ago
  I think the real benefit of vagrant is that you don’t need to all use the same hypervisor. Maybe some little tweaks here and there to target specific ones in the vagrantfile, but otherwise I’ve found it to be largely a non issue to have different hypervisors, so long as you have a base box that supports all the ones you want to use (which is part of why my company builds base boxes - to have something reliable for client projects - either used as is, or where appropriate building on top of our box setup process to make customised boxes)
Natales 7y ago
Having ran my home (and work) lab environments with many different virtualization systems, in the end, I always keep coming back to VMware. ESXi in particular. These days, with GPU pass-through, you can make it a workstation and a server at the same time. It's free for personal use and it's rock solid.
- gschrader 7y ago
  In the same vein, Proxmox is another choice, it's open source (or you can pay for support), also allows for GPU pass-through.
  - close04 7y ago
    XenServer would be another similar choice that supports GPU passthrough. Depends a lot on what you're used to.
  - gnufx 7y ago
    Proxmox is a management layer over LVM (and LXC), not a different virtualization technology.
    - gschrader 7y ago
      I assume you mean KVM. Yes it's based on existing technologies, I wouldn't necessarily call it just a management layer however.
- nixpulvis 7y ago
  Any idea if one can emulate different versions of OpenGL too? I'm trying to figure out a sustainable way to test across versions without needing a lot of hardware.
- xemdetia 7y ago
  KVM and libvirt also support GPU pass through.
wazoox 7y ago
I've been using KVM with virt-manager UI (and virsh). Simple, solid, production ready, 100% free software. PCIe and USB passthrough work fine.
DoofusOfDeath 7y ago
The last time I looked into this, it was for running Linux VMs on my 2017 MacBookPro. I went with VMWare Fusion, and I've been pretty happy with it. I'm not sure if there's a better option today, and/or for different host/guest combos.
- kirb 7y ago
  Fusion has been amazing in my experience. Never had issues with my VMs being sluggish like with VirtualBox. Plus 100% compatibility with Workstation for transferring VMs between Windows/Linux and Mac hosts. Annoying that they have a paid upgrade yearly, but I’ll gladly accept that because the alternative is giving Oracle money. Older versions usually hold up fine for a few years anyway, so long as newer Windows or Linux releases don’t break anything.

windows and linux have native solutions, for macos there's vmware and parallels, but really, virtualbox is fine too, unless your are this big company with hundreds of deployments and have to think hard about licensing.

pbreit 7y ago
Anything free or inexpensive?
- Scarbutt 7y ago
  virtualbox is fine (but don't know your needs exactly).
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- Jonnax 7y ago
  If you're running Linux, virt-manager works fine for a lot of scenarios. If you want to provision a server as a VM host, Proxmox free version is pretty good but you have to manually update it.
- OrangeMango 7y ago
  I've been running Multipass [0] by Canonical for the past few months and it has been great. [0] https://multipass.run/ https://multipass.run/
  - programd 7y ago
    Big caveat: multipass does not support bridged networking so you can't configure your VM as just another server on a local network. See this issue: https://github.com/CanonicalLtd/multipass/issues/118 https://github.com/CanonicalLtd/multipass/issues/118

briffle 7y ago

Are there any other cross-platform virtualization platforms nowadays? I need something to run Vagrant on that my team can use on mac, windows, and Linux. Ideally all using the same hypervisor, so I don't need to have 3 different sets of documentation for each thing..

big_chungus 7y ago
VMWare. I know, I know, proprietary bad and all that, but for just getting stuff done with minimal fuss and not yak-shaving (like, say, vagrant), vmware is good.
stephenr 7y ago
I think the real benefit of vagrant is that you don’t need to all use the same hypervisor. Maybe some little tweaks here and there to target specific ones in the vagrantfile, but otherwise I’ve found it to be largely a non issue to have different hypervisors, so long as you have a base box that supports all the ones you want to use (which is part of why my company builds base boxes - to have something reliable for client projects - either used as is, or where appropriate building on top of our box setup process to make customised boxes)

Natales 7y ago

Having ran my home (and work) lab environments with many different virtualization systems, in the end, I always keep coming back to VMware. ESXi in particular. These days, with GPU pass-through, you can make it a workstation and a server at the same time. It's free for personal use and it's rock solid.

gschrader 7y ago
In the same vein, Proxmox is another choice, it's open source (or you can pay for support), also allows for GPU pass-through.
- close04 7y ago
  XenServer would be another similar choice that supports GPU passthrough. Depends a lot on what you're used to.
- gnufx 7y ago
  Proxmox is a management layer over LVM (and LXC), not a different virtualization technology.
  - gschrader 7y ago
    I assume you mean KVM. Yes it's based on existing technologies, I wouldn't necessarily call it just a management layer however.
nixpulvis 7y ago
Any idea if one can emulate different versions of OpenGL too? I'm trying to figure out a sustainable way to test across versions without needing a lot of hardware.
xemdetia 7y ago
KVM and libvirt also support GPU pass through.

wazoox 7y ago

I've been using KVM with virt-manager UI (and virsh). Simple, solid, production ready, 100% free software. PCIe and USB passthrough work fine.

DoofusOfDeath 7y ago

The last time I looked into this, it was for running Linux VMs on my 2017 MacBookPro. I went with VMWare Fusion, and I've been pretty happy with it. I'm not sure if there's a better option today, and/or for different host/guest combos.

kirb 7y ago
Fusion has been amazing in my experience. Never had issues with my VMs being sluggish like with VirtualBox. Plus 100% compatibility with Workstation for transferring VMs between Windows/Linux and Mac hosts. Annoying that they have a paid upgrade yearly, but I’ll gladly accept that because the alternative is giving Oracle money. Older versions usually hold up fine for a few years anyway, so long as newer Windows or Linux releases don’t break anything.