Member Avatar for JustmeVSI

Hey guys.
(not sure if I'm posting in the right part of the forum but didn't know where to do it)

I have a windows operationg system runing VMware Workstation and on it I have a Ubuntu virtual instance. Is there a way to to install that virtual instance as my main or besides my windows installation.

Thanks guys.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 349 Views
  • 8 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by JorgeM

Dani AI

Generated

Short answer: yes — but not as a magic "boot this VMware VM on the metal" trick. For ’s situation (company PC that will be wiped) there are two reliable routes: (A) do a fresh Ubuntu install on the machine and migrate the VM’s data/configs (recommended), or (B) perform a virtual‑to‑physical (V2P) conversion by imaging the VM disk onto the physical disk and then repairing boot and drivers. ’s point about hosted hypervisors and ’s note about host vs guest are both relevant: VMware Workstation won’t simply “make the VM the host” without conversion.

Practical, low‑risk workflow (recommended)

  • Export important data and configs from the VM: home directories, /etc (sources, service configs), web projects, databases.
  • Save a list of installed packages:
    dpkg --get-selections > ~/packages.list
  • Install the same Ubuntu release on the physical machine, copy the tarball of /home and relevant /etc files, restore files with correct ownership, then reapply packages:
    sudo dpkg --set-selections < packages.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dselect-upgrade

    This avoids driver/firmware mismatches and gives a clean GRUB/UEFI setup.

Imaging approach (V2P) — more fragile but possible

  • Shrink VM partitions (gparted live) so the image will fit the target disk.
  • Convert VMDK to a raw image and write to the target disk, or use Clonezilla to image/restore.
    qemu-img convert -f vmdk -O raw vm-disk.vmdk disk.img
sudo dd if=disk.img of=/dev/sdX bs=4M conv=fsync status=progress
  • Boot a live USB on the physical machine, mount and chroot to update GRUB and fix /etc/fstab UUIDs (use blkid/lsblk to refresh UUIDs).

Cautions and troubleshooting

  • Check BIOS vs UEFI and Secure Boot; allow unsigned modules if needed or disable Secure Boot. Update /etc/fstab UUIDs after cloning. Remove stale persistent net udev rules if network names change. Proprietary drivers (NVIDIA, Broadcom) often must be reinstalled. Always make full backups and, where possible, test the process on spare hardware or an external disk before changing company equipment.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for rubberman

It depends upon the CPU you have in the system. Current/recent Intel chips have the ability to support virtual machines at the hardware level, allowing you to install/run them directly on the hardware. However, VMware Workstation does not support that as far as I am aware. Some of their higher-end enterprise products may support it, as does (I think) Xen. All that aside, I have never done this. I normally run an enterprise class of Linux as a host, and run other systems in virtual machines on top of that.

So, my question for you is, why do you want to do that? What benefit do you think it will provide?

Member Avatar for JustmeVSI

I recently stared work at a company and I has given a PC with sedulously a clean install of windows 7. But it was not. I had information of the previous user as well as a lot of his settings. I work as a software developer and had to install and configure a lot of stuff on the windows but I also set up a ubuntu instance with all that I need. I still need to add new configurations on my machine but due to the error of the technical team my machine will be reinstalled in the coming days. And the more I wait the more the more work I will have to repeat. If I could do what is said in the title it will save me a lot of work and headaches.

If you have any ideas years are open.

Member Avatar for JorgeM

I think what you are asking is for "parallel" operating systems running on the same hardware. You can do this with a hypervisor, if your hardware supports it. VMWare and Xen both have products that do this. Windows has it as well (hyper-v), but it runs ontop of a full installation of Windows Server. However, its not common to run this type of configuration for a workstation. Generally, you would install a host OS, then run a VM appication such as VMWare or Virtual PC, or Virtual Box to host your guest VMs.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.