How can I find someone to set up QEMU/KVM for me?
 

Hello, I know nothing about Linux, need to hire someone to help me set up QEMU/KVM on a personal computer (or two) - but I have no idea how to find someone. When I call local computer repair shops they hang up on me...

Any ideas how I might be able to find someone?

Thanks a Million!

Do you already have Linux installed on a machine, or in a virtual machine?

The docs for a project is where to go to get information.

https://www.qemu.org/docs/master/
https://wiki.qemu.org/Main_Page
https://qemu.readthedocs.io/en/v8.1.0/

I don't have anything yet. I want to pay someone to build me a computer and put Linux and QEMU on it.

PLEASE do not post your address, but what part of the world do you live in?
If you have a local LUG (Linux Users Group) you might talk to them about this.
If you were within a few miles of my I would be glad to help, but the odds are VERY small that we are that close together.

I would second the recommendation to track down a Linux Users' Group (LUG) within driving distance and talk with them. However, if you can get a spare second hand computer then you can easily put a distro like Linux Mint on it. From there we can walk you through getting Qemu set up for your specific use-case.

I absolutely love the offer to help me out to walk me through it, but it seems pretty overwhelming... if someone doesn't know code or has never done anything on Linux - how big of a learning curve would it be?

The link below is to a Linux User Group in San Diego. I know nothing about the group.

https://www.meetup.com/kernel-panic/

Thank you so much yancek!

A couple thoughts on facilitating this...
 

IDK QEMU, but I have a couple ideas on what might facilitate this:

#2: specs: what do you want to run? Would it run on an OLD 32bit 2GB ram desktop / laptop that someone would love to find a new home for (rather than throwing away)? Slackware / Debian? I bet there's a LOT of LQ'ers who would love to find a new home for a 201x 64-bit 4GB PC, for a couple hundred dollars.

But, #1, I can't think of a way to direct message you. I don't think private messaging works for new users, and LQ doesn't advise people to post email addresses, nor any contact info.

Enabling this under profile options might work:But it doesn't seem to work for me, so IDK.
Maybe you could put some contact information in a LQ blog entry.

Or #2a, maybe (x-y problem) you just want to run a .iso
Virtualbox.org can easily do this on any PC / Mac!

Yes, I did enable the option to email me in the settings, so please anyone try that if you think you can help me!
"You can allow other members to send you email messages.
Receive Email from Other Members"

If that doesn't work maybe I can make a post on Craigslist and post the link here - that way you can safely email me without me having to put my email out here. Just let me know.

Ok, I have some questions...

Can you not use programs inside the Windows in the QEMU?


(I did find a video by Chris Titus Tech on YouTube - "Windows inside Linux" - where it appears he found a way to configure it to where he could use Windows without it lagging - but still not sure about if you can actually install & use programs in Windows?


Can I use a few different virtual machines to access YouTube in each - will it remember my preferences each time I come back?
i.e. could I 'train' each instance to remember which movies I like, and another which travel vlogs I like etc? Instead of mixing them all together like it is now... does that make sense? Or does a virtual machine forget all about my history when it's closed?

Presumably YouTube will see them as separate systems due to them really being distinct. However, although the systems running inside Qemu would be very separate, there is the matter of a shared external IP address which might cause some leakage via YouTube's surveillance and might cause it to mix content and recommendations. It might help to have separate YouTube logins for each such VM and never even once use the login outside its unique VM.

An additional step might be before connecting to YouTube that you might even configure each VM system with VPN access so that they get different IP addresses, or maybe even different countries.

Worth taking a few minutes to have a look....
 

I'm not sure if this would get you any of what you want:
https://www.osboxes.org/zorin-os/
But I think it would be worth taking a small fraction of an hour to do the few steps to get it running:
A few minutes to install virtualbox.org on your Windows PC
Download the zorin .7z & extract it's .vdi
Click New in Vbox & select 'Use existing .vdi'
Start the VM running and see if you like it.

Although I don't recommend it use rally the OP could look into getting a second hard drive and installing Linux on that second HDD. As for the virtualization platform I'd highly recommend that the OP grab a Intel nic as intel hardware is quite common and reasonably priced.

proxmox?