0

tl;dr

Is it possible to run a Linux as a VM guest on top of Windows, where the Linux and Windows are dual-boot (grub) "siblings" so to say?

Why?

Sorry if this seems unnecessarily hairy. Justification is as follows:

I am a teacher of programming etc; Much prefer to teach from Linux than from Windows.

HOWEVER!!...

Zoom is not negotiable nowadays; I must teach over zoom.
And Zoom-Linux invariably crashes in the middle of my classes (typically when I am trying to change screens I am sharing)

What

So I am wondering if I can run Zoom from Windows and for the rest live inside Linux...
As follows:

So right now

  • Linux root is /dev/nvme0n1p4 — short p4 — on /
  • p6 on /home
  • ... some others
  • p1 on /boot/efi

At the same time:

  • p2 is Microsoft reserved
  • p3 is the Windows C: — both unmounted in Linux

Configuration I want

  • Boot Windows (p3)
  • Have a VM running in Windows
  • Run the Linux on p4 on that VM

This way then:

  • Normal mode of use: Switch on machine, choose Linux at grub; use as usual
  • Zoom class mode of use: Switch on machine; choose windows; start zoom; start VM (pointing to p4 Linux)

Personal Note

  • I've used some kind or other of *nix for 35 years.
  • Never used VMs though I saw some of my students using Linux inside them
  • Its a headache setting up Haskell, Python, Gcc etc under Windows...
  • But zoom is crashing so relentlessly that if (something like) the above is not possible I'll have to migrate to Windows

PS

I thought to ask this on Unix-SE but I see that this one has more virtualization questions (and I assume experts!). But I don't see a dual-boot tag... Strange... The grub tag is the nearest approx I could think of

Rusi
  • 144
  • 5
  • The question about where a question is put best is not where you find the most questions about a topic. This site is about business environments. Your question is better suited for [su] or [unix.se]. – Gerald Schneider Feb 02 '22 at 13:21
  • 4
    Does this answer your question? [Use physical harddisk in Virtual Box](https://superuser.com/questions/495025/use-physical-harddisk-in-virtual-box). On a personal and off-topic note; if you're a programming teacher and have used Unix for the past 35 years, you should _really_ get on the virtualisation bandwagon. It's such an essential part of computing nowadays, you really should know at least the basics. Most enterprise applications and this Cloud™ thing run on virtualisation and there are software design considerations to make when your applications run inside VMs. – mtak Feb 02 '22 at 16:02
  • 1
    @mtak Seems in the direction of what I want... Requires some study! Tnx anyway – Rusi Feb 02 '22 at 16:08

0 Answers0