I built my PC nearly a year ago, primarily for Gaming and Digital Art. After watching someordinarygamers, it got me wondering what a virtual machine is and how I would make one. From my very limited understanding, my guess is that it’s a sort of box you can run things in like viruses that technically shouldn’t escape the box? Anyway, there’s been a few mods, a few things on github and a couple chrome extentions I’ve wanted to try but they seem kinda dodgy, in that not many (or no) people use it or have reviewed it and as I’ve just built my system I dont want to jeopardise it. I know Muta has a whole video showing you how to set one up but last time I watched it was like a week after building and I didn’t understand what he was talking about.

So just wondering if anyone can explain what it is, is it safe to run chrome extentions and github code in? And how do I set one up if so? Thanks

  • Naetharu@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    A virtual machine is just a logical computer that is distinct from the physical hardware. There are a few different ways you can run them. If you are using Windows, then you can enable Hyper-V (I believe you will need Pro, but this might have changed). You can also use third party tools like VirtualBox or VMWare.

    They all work a little different, but in effect what they allow you to do is to install operating systems and run computers as if they were applications. Common uses for this include running test labs for ICT work, security sandboxes (which is what you’re referring to) and perhaps the most common running servers in industry.

    I’m a developer. When I make some software we have to get it out there for people to use. And this means deploying it into a cloud like AWS, Azure, Firebase &c. To do this you’ll pop the software onto a virtual machine from where it will run. Sometimes you’ll use special VMs for this like the Azure App Services, and often you’ll use some more fancy VM technology like Docker and Kubernetes.

    But the code idea is all the same. You’re creating a full computer with an operating system and its own software, but in a way that is abstracted from the underlying hardware.

    Do be aware that VMs can be safe as sandboxes but you do need to set them up properly for this to be the case. It is quite possible to configure them so that they do have access to networks and the host OS, so running virus infected software on them can be dangerous if you’re not sure that you have properly configured them to be secure.