Virtual machine of a real installed system

Question

I have a dual boot Windows 10 / Ubuntu 19.04. Is it possible to setup a VM (or equivalent) of my Ubuntu system when Windows is booted ? The question could also work the other way, a VM of the Windows system when under Ubuntu.

EDIT : the main idea is to read/write the files on the real file system on the real partition and not copy it over to a vm hard disk which is not always possible

Yes, it's possible. I'm sure I have posted a lenghty writeup on how to do this a few months ago, but I can't find it right now... — gronostaj, Jul 30 '19 at 13:23
I've found it, [here you go](https://superuser.com/a/1434581/194694). This is not 100% identical as in this question OP doesn't want to boot from bare metal. It's possible though, you just need to add GRUB with proper config to ESP. It won't be trivial and will require knowledge of Linux boot process and UEFI boot setup in general. It's doable though, [I had it working](https://superuser.com/q/545303/194694). — gronostaj, Jul 30 '19 at 13:35

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 30 '19 at 20:24

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Yes you can create a VM image from a running Windows PC and run it in VirtualBox on Ubuntu. Reference

answered Jul 30 '19 at 20:24

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OP wants to still have all data on an actual partition, not disk image file. – gronostaj Jul 31 '19 at 13:18
Like Bootcamp on OSX? – bbaassssiiee Jul 31 '19 at 21:47
Bootcamp doesn't use a VM, it's a regular dual boot where you have either macOS or Windows. – gronostaj Aug 01 '19 at 04:28
Would a small system image that mounts the disk suffice? – bbaassssiiee Aug 01 '19 at 07:21

Virtual machine of a real installed system

1 Answers1