Jamie wrote: ↑Sun Jan 09, 2022 1:57 pm
Paul. Has this changed?
No changes!
I've just been real busy. You have reached the limits of my knowledge in a few areas, but not my willingness to help.
Manni wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 8:09 pm
Going forward, I'll follow his suggestion and will post generic Unraid support questions in the relevant Unraid forum
Not trying to dissuade any conversation here. Simply trying to make sure you get the help you need for topics beyond my knowledge. There are thousands of helpful Unraid users that hang out on the Unraid forums (plus, Lime Tech themselves). You only get me here, which makes for a poor substitute.
Manni wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 8:09 pm
I don't think the VM can start if the array doesn't start, as the VM is still on the array
I believe this is correct. Starting the array also starts up lots of sub-services, including the Docker and VM images. You don't need a big complex array, but you do need one to start up before you get VM capabilities.
Jamie wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:55 pm
1. Does unraid have a default VNC or do I have to install one?
There's on built-in, and you access it via the Unraid GUI/web page. On a fresh install, it can be a bit trickier to use, as you have to be quick to see the BIOS screen so you can tell it to use your install media. Hit Start, them immediately launch the VNC session and respond to the prompt to use install media.
Jamie wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:55 pm
2. The videos say you should only make your vdisk 70 GB at the most. I want to have a 2 tb of space for my VM. I need room for my surveillance as well as other software. What is your recommendation? how much space do you recommend for the vdisk? Is the vdisk like the c: drive or is it like a dedicated windows OS partition?
Personally, I think you can make VM's any size you want, but most of mine are around 50-100 GB depending upon needs. What you DON'T want to do is to make it really big and store your media inside of it. Instead you want to create a network share on your array to write the media to. You can simply access the share from inside the VM, or pass it through as if it was a local disk/directory. Much of this capability is built into the VM/Docker setup. For example, I use a Shinobi_Pro Docker to do my video surveillance recording, and in the Docker config I set the "video storage location" to "/mnt/disks/cctv/", which is the path to my Unassigned Devices drive share. Even if the Docker (or VM) goes belly up, my video is safe outside of them.
For my MyMovies VM, I gave it 75G. That provides enough space to install Windows updates, My Movies updates, the My Movies DB itself, and a few My Movies DB backups. That size feels about right.
Jamie wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:55 pm
3. The videos and documentation recommend you use an IDE bus for the OS Install CDRom Bus and the VirtIO Driver CDRom Bus. I was wondering whether it should be sata instead?
It's all virtual, so don't get hung up on the technologies thinking it will make a performance difference. Follow the recommendations, because it is what works.
Jamie wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:55 pm
4. Also where do you get the windows 10 pro iso download? I used the windows 10 creation tool to create the iso. Is this the right thing to do?
Yep, that's what I've done. Once you have the ISO, just put it out in the ISO folder on your Unraid server, then configure it to mount inside the VM. Then launch the VNC session immediately after starting the VM, and press the key to start from your disc media.
Jamie wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:55 pm
5. Can I restart the vm from the vm tab now and will the install continue, or should I remove the VM and start over with the vm creation? What is the best way to remove the VM? Just the vm or the disks too? I think in my case i should do both.
Not sure why you'd want to start over, unless you aren't happy with your configuration. I believe you can delete from the VM manager if needed/wanted. Based upon your questions, I'm thinking you have a virtual machine with nothing installed yet, so not much need to delete and try again, almost nothing to delete, unless you've changed your mind on the disk sizes.
Jamie wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:55 pm
6. Can I create the VM remotely or should I go to my machine and use the monitor there at least for the install? If I could remotely create a windows VM with my laptop it would help me a lot. I have to stand at my unraid machine and I have a bad back.
Definitely remotely using VNC, much easier than trying to do hardware passthrough to use a physical monitor. Remember, you are creating a Virtual Machine - it doesn't really exist - so to use physical items (keyboards/mice/monitors/etc.) with a VM you have to pass them through to the VM, which is extra config. The easiest way is to just access it via VNC during initial software install, then enable RDP and access via RDP from that point on.
Jamie wrote: ↑Sat Jan 08, 2022 7:55 pm
7. Also, My monitor is not the best? It is a VESA monitor, so should I be using QXL for the vnc video driver? I am using integrated graphics too. I think this is why my vm won't start right now because I am using a VESA monitor and QXL. I could probably swap it out for a LCD monitor and try that monitor instead. I think I will swap them out, But I would like to know your viewpoint on when to use QXL, or Cirrus?
Again, you are confusing physical with virtual. This PC doesn't actually exist. Your choice of fake hardware (QXL vs. Cirrus vs. whatever) is only for the benefit of Windows or Linux or whatever OS you install. Different OS's prefer different hardware out of the box, so you are choosing what virtual hardware that is presented to Windows. Windows will think you have a QXL video device, even though there is no physical equivalent of this.
Since I've already worked through these choices, here's my config for your reference. Note, after installing Windows and drivers, I remove the OS Install ISO and VirtIO Drivers ISO, since these are no longer needed. This is the equivalent of ejecting a physical DVD. I could have left them configured, but that just makes them visible inside the VM as inserted discs which I no longer need, so that's why they aren't configured in my screenshot below.
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