[libvirt-users] [Spice-devel] [virt-tools-list] Is virsh supposed to work on Windows?

[i iordanov]

Hey Fernando,

1) As a possible workaround, can't you put a Linux server with virt-manager
installed somewhere, and then have the Windows sysadmins use it through X11
forwarding (with Xming, or Cygwin installed on the Windows machines)?

2) Also, if virt-manager can run under Cygwin, you can use it directly on
the Windows machines that way (I don't know if it does).

Cheers,
iordan




On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 3:01 PM, Fernando Lozano <fernando at lozano.eti.br>wrote:

> Hi,
>
>> I'm trying to use virsh and virt-viewer on Windows.  I'm running the
>>>>> latest binaries from http://spice-space.org/**download.html<http://spice-space.org/download.html>,
>>>>> that is,
>>>>> virt-viewer-x64-0.5.7.msi on a Windows 7 64-bits computer.
>>>>>
>>>> I am willing to help all I can to test, but I'm not a Gnome developer. I
>>>
>>> have not coded a single line in C for more than 10 yeas. :-(
>>>
>> You are lucky! :) libvirt is not a gnome technology. If you have some
>> developper experience, it might not be so hard to fix some of the issues
>> (like the paths).
>>
>
> If I were compiling and running on Linux, I'd give it a try despite my
> outdated C coding skills. But the current process of cross-compiling on
> Linux then running on Windows is not an easy one. Heck, if you readhatters
> and fedoraers who are used to do it doesn't do frequently, and have
> frequent dependency problems, what hope do I have to being able to do this
> -- even if I get approval from my boss? ;-)
>
> The ultimate goal is running virt-manager from Windows (but I found no
> port yet to test). It would be enough for the short-term being able to run
> at least virsh and virt-viewer so Windows syasdmins doesn't complain so
> much and doesn't tell my boss we should buy XenServer. (not kidding)
>
> It looks like the paths are not the issue with the code -- they were not
> easy to find, but this is a documenation probem. :-) I already send
> feedback to the lists about the correct paths for windows users.
>
> Sysinternals ProcessMonitor is a freeware windows tool that provides
> strace-like features, and from it I can tell reading the certificate files
> is not the problem anymore. It also shows no network errors and no other
> windows systemcalls issues.
>
>
>  If it's just accessing remote display, you could stick to remote-viewer?
>> Yes you need to know the port though.
>>
> If it were just for me I'd live with that. But other TI people here are
> complaining about "not user friendly" running remote-viewer directly and do
> not want to use Xming. So I need to provide an "easier" way to remote guest
> console access from windows, and also a way to run some kvm administration.
> As I said, they are already lobbying to move from KVM to something else. :-(
>
>
>  What version of virsh is included in that msi?  Maybe it's just a case
>>>> of a stale build, for something that has been fixed upstream?
>>>>
>>> C:>virsh -V
>>> Virsh command line tool of libvirt 0.10.2
>>>
>> See my previous reply. You can check the $prefix\deps.txt file for the
>> build versions.
>>
>
> As expected, deps.txt agrees with virsh -V:
>
> mingw32-libvirt-0.10.2-3.fc19.**noarch
> mingw32-libvirt-static-0.10.2-**3.fc19.noarch
>
> Same contents for both x64 and x86 virt-viewer 0.5.7 msi's from
> spice-space.org.
>
>  Do you know who built the Windows port? I know someone is doing that,
>>> because the binaries are updated every few months. :-)
>>>
>> Daniel & me? It's useful, since you found bugs. I could eventually fix
>> them, but libvirt on windows is probably not a priority...  I would start
>> by filling bugs.
>>
> As a Linux user myself, I would't care less about the windows port ;-) But
> as an IT consultant, I see most potentical RHEL+KVM or RHEV users (and KVM
> + CentOS, Fedora, Debian, etc users) have windows workstations and no
> knowledge, worse yet, no interest in using X remote displays. Not to
> mention there are times you need the guest console, X remote won't be
> enough.
>
> Besides it's very very inefficient accessing a guest console from
> virt-manager using Xming or other X server for Windows, with or without
> ssh. You are on an end-to-end 1Gbps LAN but feels like an ADSL connection
> or worse. :-(
>
> I'd argue to the Red Hat managers that windows ports of virt-manager and
> etc needs a higher priority if they want to grab market share from vmware,
> hyper-v or xenserver.
>
>
>  Again, I'm willing to help any way I can, but I can be only a tester,
>>> and a documentation writer. I won't be able to help as a developer. :-(
>>>
>> I would say hacking on libvirt windows is easy, as long as you have a
>> windows (to run) & a fedora (to build). Some issues could even be debugged
>> with wine (yes!)
>>
> The few docs I saw about porting Linux software for windows (like gimp)
> makes it look very hard, involving a significand investment in time just to
> get started and a deep knowledge about both platforms. Would you be able to
> provide a HOW-TO for virsh and maybe virt-viewer? I'm not telling I'd be
> able to spare the time, but I'd give it a try before calling defeat.
>
>
> []s, Fernando Lozano
>
>
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