running commands directly from grub

arun_maurya · #1 6th February 2009, 03:58 AM

Dear Sir/Madam,

I don't know whether I should ask this question in this forum or not, but as I discuss all my linux issues in this forum only I am posting this question here.
I am able to run my VirtualBox machine using this command.
VBoxSDL -vm "MyOS" -fullscreen

I am little bit confused that can I run this command from grub or not.

I want to know can I specify commands in grub, ofcourse after mentioning kernel, initrd etc. so that i can boot and run that command directly as in this case booting vms.

thanks.
regards,
Arun Maurya

stoat · #2 6th February 2009, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arun_maurya

I want to know can I specify commands in grub, ofcourse after mentioning kernel, initrd etc. so that i can boot and run that command directly as in this case booting vms.

GRUB, grub.conf, and the GRUB shell will execute only a specific set of GRUB commands. Anything else will produce only an error message. Maybe you can launch your application automatically with a script after the Linux OS boots.

arun_maurya · #3 7th February 2009, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoat

GRUB, grub.conf, and the GRUB shell will execute only a specific set of GRUB commands. Anything else will produce only an error message. Maybe you can launch your application automatically with a script after the Linux OS boots.

Thanks, I know that grub has some limited commands only.

we want to boot a virtual OS without completely booting the host os. i.e. directly from grub. may be we need some intermediate utility(having light kernel) to provide the environment. coz if sometimes we want to use the virtual os only, why should host os consume the resources?

regards,

scottro · #4 7th February 2009, 12:09 PM

Let me make sure I understand the question.

You have HostOS and GuestOS. GuestOS runs in VirtualBox. Let's say, for example, HostOS is Fedora, GuestOS is Ubuntu.
What you would like to do is boot the machine, and then, rather than boot into Fedora itself, start Ubuntu without completely starting Fedora, as, in this case, you just want to run Ubuntu for this session, and feel that there's no point in using the machine's resources to run Fedora.

Is this correct?

If so, I don't think it can be done, but I could be wrong. (The reason I make this post, even though it gives you no real answer, is simply to clarify the question, which isn't yet quite clear to me.)

arun_maurya · #5 11th February 2009, 07:10 AM

Thanks scottro,
Yes thats what I want as if I have installed 4-5 diffrent VMs in virtual box and currently running HostOS Fedora 10. but sometimes I want to run Guest OS without wasting my resources.

I know it is not possible without doing something...else I need to Install some very small linux distro as HostOS which can run VirtualBox directly.
regards,

davidvandoren · #6 11th February 2009, 08:09 AM

maybe you want to look into "moka5 bare metal"
its linux based
or splashtop and see what these guys are up to right now.
moka5 bare metal starts straight into an user interface from which you can start your vms

scottro · #7 11th February 2009, 11:56 AM

I wasn't familiar with moka5 which sounds very interesting. VMware is now offering a free version of its ESX system as well, which installs a minimal Linux kernel into which you can install various VMs.

arun_maurya · #8 24th February 2009, 11:26 AM

Thanks for your kind suggestions. but I love to use opensource softwares. i.e. using a light kernel for booting and starting Virtualbox or qemu.
regards