31 Oct 08 Linux test environments

Setting up a Linux test environment is quite fun and easy.  My favorite tool is VMWare Player (Windows) or VMWare Fusion (Mac).  VMWare player is free, while VMWare Fusion, now in version 2.0+, is inexpensive for the functionality that it provides.  I only use VMWare since I have paid for Fusion on Mac, however, there are free alternatives like VirtualBox (backed by Sun Microsystems) and KVM.  Those are currently a bit harder to setup and do not have well established production solutions like VMWare and Xen.

I find the portability of the VMWare images very handy when going back and forth on Windows and Mac. There’s also easy downloads of different OSs at VMWare Appliances and VMPlanet.net.

One quick way to get setup on VMWare for free on Windows, is to register on the VMWare site and download the VMWare Player for free.  Then go and download an appliance from the VMWare Appliances page.

So what’s something fun to download?  Definitely Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Desktop.

You’ll find the best support out there, i.e. you can google anything if you need help.  It’s based off of Debian Linux, so it’s using a great package manager (aptitude).   The help site for Ubuntu Server and Desktop is great too.

Tags: apt-get, aptitude, desktop, help guides, linux, lts, server, sun microsystems, ubuntu, ubuntu 8.04 lts, ubuntu help site, virtual machines, virtualbox, virtualization, vmplanet, vmplanet.net, vmware, Xen