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tl;dr

Is it possible to run a Linux as a VM guest on top of Windows, where the Linux and Windows are dual-boot (grub) "siblings" so to say?

Why?

Sorry if this seems unnecessarily hairy. Justification is as follows:

I am a teacher of programming etc; Much prefer to teach from Linux than from Windows.

HOWEVER!!...

Zoom is not negotiable nowadays; I must teach over zoom.
And Zoom-Linux invariably crashes in the middle of my classes (typically when I am trying to change screens I am sharing)

What

So I am wondering if I can run Zoom from Windows and for the rest live inside Linux...
As follows:

So right now

  • Linux root is /dev/nvme0n1p4 — short p4 — on /
  • p6 on /home
  • ... some others
  • p1 on /boot/efi

At the same time:

  • p2 is Microsoft reserved
  • p3 is the Windows C: — both unmounted in Linux

Configuration I want

  • Boot Windows (p3)
  • Have a VM running in Windows
  • Run the Linux on p4 on that VM

This way then:

  • Normal mode of use: Switch on machine, choose Linux at grub; use as usual
  • Zoom class mode of use: Switch on machine; choose windows; start zoom; start VM (pointing to p4 Linux)

Personal Note

  • I've used some kind or other of *nix for 35 years.
  • Never used VMs though I saw some of my students using Linux inside them
  • Its a headache setting up Haskell, Python, Gcc etc under Windows...
  • But zoom is crashing so relentlessly that if (something like) the above is not possible I'll have to migrate to Windows

PS

I thought to ask this on Unix-SE but I see that this one has more virtualization questions (and I assume experts!). But I don't see a dual-boot tag... Strange... The grub tag is the nearest approx I could think of

Rusi
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  • The question about where a question is put best is not where you find the most questions about a topic. This site is about business environments. Your question is better suited for [su] or [unix.se]. – Gerald Schneider Feb 02 '22 at 13:21
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    Does this answer your question? Use physical harddisk in Virtual Box. On a personal and off-topic note; if you're a programming teacher and have used Unix for the past 35 years, you should really get on the virtualisation bandwagon. It's such an essential part of computing nowadays, you really should know at least the basics. Most enterprise applications and this Cloud™ thing run on virtualisation and there are software design considerations to make when your applications run inside VMs. – mtak Feb 02 '22 at 16:02
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    @mtak Seems in the direction of what I want... Requires some study! Tnx anyway – Rusi Feb 02 '22 at 16:08

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