QEMU Launcher + 32 bit QEMU pet and sfs

Virtual machines, emulation, etc.
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mikeb
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QEMU Launcher + 32 bit QEMU pet and sfs

#1 Post by mikeb »

This provides a simple light front end to Qemu.
It includes the most commonly used parameters for use with or without kernel acceleration.
A work in progress so feedback is welcome.
You can find a guide to QEMU usage here
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 447#775447

Updated to v0.7
Note... due to the simplicity of this pet its safe to simply install over the top of an older version.

Merged the launcher with a 32 bit build of QEMU 2.0.0 with the launcher and made a sfs and pet . Not sure what 32 bit pups have KVM included or whether it could be built independantly...slax 7 does but thats not much use here.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2z7eu45p5096r ... 4.sfs?dl=1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m01td6ns8rf16 ... 0.pet?dl=1

If your pup lacks libcurl-gnutls and your full repository also does then ln -s /usr/lib/libcurl.so.4 /usr/lib/libcurl-gnutls.so.4 might get you happy...after all its not like gnutls is actually as safe as once considered :D

Mike
Attachments
qemugui.png
(63.81 KiB) Downloaded 1869 times
Qemu_Control_Center-0.7.pet
(7.95 KiB) Downloaded 1194 times
Last edited by mikeb on Wed 20 May 2015, 12:16, edited 14 times in total.

musher0
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Location: Gatineau (Qc), Canada

#2 Post by musher0 »

Hi, mikeb.

I'm an ignoramus when it comes to QEMU. A few questions, if I may:
* What's so good about it?
* How does it compare to DOSBox?
* Is there a manual or how-to somewhere?
* What's your context? I mean: why did you feel the need to "knock up" this script?

Thanks in advance.

musher0
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

gcmartin

#3 Post by gcmartin »

Installed Launcher on LightHOuse64-602 (LH64). Menu>Utility>QEMU Launcher to desktop as shown below. I left if on desktop for several minutes and when I returned I got an authority request as shown below.

Clues why the Launcher sitting empty on the desktop would cause this message to occur with no activity from keyboard/mouse? Also, message refuses to die, an immediately regenerates when killed from HTOP. The killer of this was to stop the desktop (Ctrl-Alt-Bksp) and restart.

Reconnection to LAN and simple restarting the Launcher as the ONLY desktop activity, I am NOT able to recreate the problem. Any ideas pro/con would be helpful.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.
Edit: I have been able to have this problem resurface. It seems that there may be something happening when the browsers are open when this occurs. I am still trying to gather more information.
Attachments
Error message pops minutes after Launcher sits open on desktop.png
Erroneous message pop-up. Unable to kill it!!!
(8.53 KiB) Downloaded 3738 times
QEMU sits open on LH64 desktop.png
Launcher sitting with NO desktop changes or user touches
(43.82 KiB) Downloaded 3548 times

gcmartin

#4 Post by gcmartin »

QEMU is a subsystem for describing a PC virtually for running on your desktop. It describes PCs...NOT distros. With a virtual PC you can boot any distro you choose.

QEMU tells your system what that virtual PC is to look like by providing mandatory and optional items used in a PC. The mandatory description is the type CPU (32/64/AMD), amount of RAM, and the LAN card. The optional items are the DVD, the HDD, and etc. Once defined, QEMU Launcher will initiate the sequence you specify so that the virtual PC boots in a window (the virtual PC display) on your desktop

Here's a diagram useful as an example in understanding the kind of service QEMU sets up where it has not one but 2 virtual PCs active with their own PUP distros, along side your running PUPPY desktop.
Image
Image: Compliments of Puppy member @Rufwoof
Here to help
Last edited by gcmartin on Thu 01 May 2014, 23:14, edited 3 times in total.

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mikeb
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#5 Post by mikeb »

that drive manager ...is it a barry thing or gnome?
Qemu uses /dev/shm so the gui alters the size of that to suit the size of virtual ram .. only thing that might cause a warning that I can think of but then again it may be unrelated. Also of course if you request 1GB virtual ram and there is only 512MB that could pose a problem....
Could also be the USE of /dev/shm conflicting with another app...

interesting questions....
* What's so good about it?
* How does it compare to DOSBox?
* Is there a manual or how-to somewhere?
* What's your context? I mean: why did you feel the need to "knock up" this script?
QEMU is a virtual; machine emulator in the same way that virtual box is. QEMU is pretty simple in use though it might be a case of who came first. Might be faster but I am not sure on that.
Nothing to do with DOSbox... I prefer DOSemu by the way :D
Manual...well I suppose the QEMU website might help...this is just an add on for QEMU users so I assume they would already be familiar or have a suitable reference.
I knocked up the script as I often do to make it easier to use rather than remembering/creating a long command line which is the usual way QEMU is used so making it hopefully more user friendly like Virtual Box is.
Context...gcmartin requested I made a thread of it as he thinks I should and to perhaps help develop it which seemed a good idea.

Hope that makes sense

mike

gcmartin

#6 Post by gcmartin »

@Musher0 poses a good question. And the diagram I provided, although at the time seemed like a good picture, could probably be adjusted to give a little better reflection of what this Launcher makes representing a PC's hardware, virtually.
Edit: I added additional info to assist understanding what the Launcher does for any user....below, here. Its one manner of viewing its benefit.

Launcher makes "visual" what is contained in a QEMU command-line (cli) setup of any virtual PC. Another one of its benefit is to reduce cli typos that are often made when typing any long command. And, it makes easier for anyone to understand what they do to setup and boot another distro while the main distro is running.

Hope this is helpful

gcmartin

QEMU Launcher tested

#7 Post by gcmartin »

Thanks @MikeB for this utility

QEMU Launcher tested in the following LiveDVD booted-running systems:
  • FATDOG where I booted Slacko570 ISO in a guest (vPC)
  • LightHouse64 where I booted Slacko570 ISO in a vPC
  • Slacko64 where I booted Slacko570 ISO in a vPC
Environment
  • Real PC
    • AMD X2
      4GB RAM
      Single LAN housing a 8 year old NAS containing the Slacko570 ISO
  • Virtual PCs
    • 8GB Swap partition on the local HDD
      Guest assigned 512MB when booted
      No vHDD assigned to guest for any testing. All guest operations run in its RAM
Great job in simplifying the ability to boot and test ISOs in seconds without the need for creating CD/DVDs. Also for this ability to run several distro side-by-side simultaneously as native speeds.

Here to help

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Ted Dog
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Location: Heart of Texas

#8 Post by Ted Dog »

what did you use to run qemu.. on fatdog64 630 would you have a link method?

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neerajkolte
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Location: Pune, India.

#9 Post by neerajkolte »

Hi mikeb,
Just downloaded and installed the pet but couldn't run qemu.
So replaced /usr/bin/qemu_nim script with the hacked one given by you on other thread by Pentium44. It works nicely.
Comparing both script I could see the original uses kqemu while hacked one uses kvm.
My question is can those two scripts be combined so that they can work with both systems, either which have kqemu module or which have kvm support built in kernel and uses qemu.
"One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code."
- Ken Thompson

“We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.â€￾
- Amara’s Law.

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mikeb
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#10 Post by mikeb »

My question is can those two scripts be combined so that they can work with both systems, either which have kqemu module or which have kvm support built in kernel and uses qemu.
well that is partially the idea ...just at the testing stage for now.
Not sure about the older qemu / kqemu if no one is using it though its not a major headache to include both.

The pet just adds a convenient menu entry so we will be testing just the script for now...once finalised a fresh pet will be made.

mike

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mikeb
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#11 Post by mikeb »

Why not simply use this
https://packages.debian.org/squeeze/qemu-launcher

after all size is not an issue here since 90% of the qemu package is redundant on puppy why not add a few hundred k for the official gui?

mike

gcmartin

Run different PUPs on yur desktop without ever shutting down

#12 Post by gcmartin »

The Puppy Linux QEMU Launcher is great utility providing a simple function to boot other PUPs while running your main PUP. It disappears from RAM after its use. It is a quite simple tool.

A guide showing its use, in action, can be found here.

The debian tool is a fuller offering, yet a good representation to ALSO get subsequent distro booting on the PC while running the main distro.

Maybe this implementation can be termed "Light for Puppy" while Debian is "Full" (assuming the name in this thread's title remains).

Thx @MikeB for what you have done to assist multiple distro operations on a PUP desktop using the Linux Kernel Virtualization Mechanism.

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mikeb
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#13 Post by mikeb »

Well a package built especially for the job might in this case make more sense plus I am a little out on a limb here not being able to test current qemu for whatever reason. I could still see what I can do as is...

Main thing with the debian/ubuntu set might be if puppies cut down perl is sufficient enough.... from a quick look I don't think the result would be too large.

mike

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mikeb
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#14 Post by mikeb »

Ok well life has allowed me to do a bit on this...

Here is an update to test out....

Changes include
  • determination of qemu binary...its assumed that if 64 is present its a 64 bit system....some packages throw in the lot so gets a bit silly...
    Adjusted KVM detection and selection... if kvm is not present option is disabled and enabled with option if available.
    Silently boots from optical drive if no hard drive image is present.
    Added 2048 virtual memory for the big boys
    Added version number to avoid mixups.
    Slight gui rearrangement.
    Renamed to qemu_gui
There were other items to do but better to check this lot works I think first.

mike

edit...removed thee totally buggy efforts
Last edited by mikeb on Sat 10 May 2014, 17:22, edited 2 times in total.

gcmartin

#15 Post by gcmartin »

Hello @MikeB. Should the old Launcher be un-installed before adding this or can this install on top of the old?

Thanks in advance for advice.

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mikeb
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#16 Post by mikeb »

Ok name has change so perhaps just unpack and click on it.

If it goes well the original pet will be updated and it might qualify as a beta release then :)

mike

gcmartin

#17 Post by gcmartin »

Without uninstalling the existing PET, I moved the qemu_gui from /root/spot to /usr/bin. Here are the results:

Code: Select all

bash-4.1# which qemu_gui
/usr/bin/qemu_gui
<root> ~
bash-4.1# qemu_gui
/usr/bin/qemu_gui: line 4: =/usr/bin/qemu-system-i386: No such file or directory
/usr/bin/qemu_gui: line 5: =/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64: No such file or directory
<root> ~
bash-4.1# echo "edit both lines 4-5 removing the '=' signs"
edit both lines 4-5 removing the '=' signs
<root> ~
bash-4.1# qemu_gui
<root> ~
bash-4.1#echo "No messages, BUT, no Menu. AND the utility opens a virtual PC without parameters. When guest is closed, a 2nd guest is opened. Closing a 2nd, returns to terminal."
No messages, BUT, no Menu. AND the utility opens a virtual PC without parameters. When guest is closed, a 2nd guest is opened. Closing a 2nd, returns to terminal.
 <root> ~
bash-4.1#
Editing the file and removing the "=" signs, it immediately goes directly to booting a virtual PC without any apparent parameters....twice! before returning to original terminal window.

Launching from the Menu>Utility>QEMU ... continues to execute the old version window with window titlebar and options in the window, still showing same as before.

Need review.

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mikeb
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#18 Post by mikeb »

OK should have been QEMU= and not $QEMU= .... mornings are not my strong point and blind testing means things like this slip by...
I reuploaded in the post so redownload for retest

Mike

gcmartin

#19 Post by gcmartin »

Problem with latest version 0.2:
  1. Downloaded Launcher
  2. extracted Launcher
  3. moved Launcher to /usr/bin
  4. Open terminal and typed /usr/bin/qemu_gui
  5. filled in the ISO name, selected RAM, and clicked to run.
  6. Error without booting ISO (see below)
Your review.
Attachments
Latest Launcher GUI.png
Line 18 errors out
(184.59 KiB) Downloaded 633 times

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mikeb
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#20 Post by mikeb »

Right then .. no mysterious bugs going on so I have a clear head...helps a lot.

Made a logical blunder with qemu binary detection...2 for 2 :D

While I was in there I redid the /dev/shm setup especially as most pups now have it anyway.

Now its only created if there is none and its only resized if not sufficient for the virtual ram requested.

This and a couple of other things should stop any bogus error messages,

Since its modded it gets a new number and hopefully THIS TIME all runs and we can progress to other matters and make a fresh pet of it

if not I wish to move to a deserted island and write my memoirs

Also I think incorporating kqemu and kvm in the same gui might get confusing so will probably keep separate.

mike
Attachments
qemu_gui-0.2.1.tar.gz
(1.75 KiB) Downloaded 540 times
Last edited by mikeb on Sun 11 May 2014, 12:43, edited 1 time in total.

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