Using Virtual PC to run Fedora Core 4 on Windows

How do I install Virtual PC on Windows?

Get the Virtual PC SP1 CD from Alex or Shy in Room 216.
Insert the CD into your CD-ROM drive.
Virtual PC Installer will most likely pop-up automatically. If after a minute it does not, browse to 'My Computer' and double-click on your CD-ROM drive.
Installation is very simple. There are no options to configure. Simply click the 'Next' button, the 'I accept...' checkbox, the 'Next' button, the 'Next' button, the 'Install' button, and the 'Finish' button.

I have installed Virtual PC. Now how do I install Linux?

Before you begin, you're going to need an installation or rescue CD to boot from. We've tested this installation with Fedora Core 4—if you'd like a Fedora Core 4 CD, please ask Alex in room 216.
Start Virtual PC. You will see on your screen the 'Virtual PC Console'. From you you can manage your virtual machines as well as create new ones. Click the 'New' button to continue.
Click 'Next' and then select 'Create a Virtual Machine'. Click 'Next' again.
Choose a name for your Virtual Machine. This is only to help you identify the machine, so you can choose anything you like. "Fedora Core 4", "Shy's Supercomputer" and "I love NASA" are all acceptable Virtual Machine names. Click 'Next' to continue.
Virtual PC will now try and guess what Operating System you will be installing, guessing based on some fuzzy logic given your Virtual Machine name. It is almost always wrong. Choose 'Other' (Linux is not officially supported) and click 'Next'.
Virtual PC recommends that you assign 128 MB RAM to your Virtual Machine. Although Fedora Core 4 will indeed run with this little RAM, it is not recommended. I would suggest allocating at least 384 MB, but a general rule of thumb is to allocate no more than 1/3rd of your total RAM, especially if you would like to run multiple Virtual Machines simultaneously. To allocate additional RAM, click the radio button labeled, 'Adjusting the RAM' and use the slider or text-area to choose your desired RAM allocation. Please be aware that you can change this setting at any time after installation.
In the next step, you need to set up your Virtual Hard disk. This will be a large (6GB or more) file on your hard drive that acts as data storage for your emulated operating system. You will need to make sure you have a partition available with at least this much space, and more if you plan on storing a lot of files locally to your home directory. Choose 'A new virtual hard disk', and click 'Next'. Now, select a location for this virtual hard disk. Remember that you need at least 6GB available, and more if you need to store additional files. If your machine is configured with one large C:\ partition, the default location is fine. Click 'Next'.
Click 'Finish' to complete the 'New Virtual Machine Wizard'.
You are now back at the Virtual PC Console. It should look something like this:
You are now ready to begin installing Linux! Insert your Fedora Core 4 CD into your CD-ROM drive.
"Shy's Supercomputer" is my newly created Virtual Machine. Make sure your newly created Virtual Machine is selected, and click 'Start'.
As your system is booting, select the 'CD' menu, and choose 'Use Physical Drive X:'. If you reach a 'Valid Media Not Found' error, simply hir enter. Fedora Core 4 should begin to boot.
At the boot prompt, which will look like
boot:
Type linux ks=http://acs.pha.jhu.edu/~shy/vpc-windows/ks.cfg and hit enter.
Once packages start to install, which looks like the screenshot below:

You should remove your CD from the CD-ROM drive and take a nap. The installation may take several hours.
The first time your Virtual Machine boots, you will see a login prompt for approximately 1 minute. Do not attempt to login, but wait for X to try and start. Initially, X will fail to start. This is OK. Select 'No', hit enter, select 'No' again, hit enter, and select 'OK'. Log in as root from the commandline (the password is '123456') and follow the instructions below:
1. Change the root passwd. To do this do a commandline login as root on console and run passwd root.
2. Configure X11 using my pre-configured xorg.conf file by typing in the following commands:
```
# cd /etc/X11/
# mv xorg.conf xorg.conf.saved
# wget http://acs.pha.jhu.edu/~shy/vpc-windows/xorg.conf
# chmod 644 xorg.conf
```
3. Set the date using rdate -s ccntp1.pha.jhu.edu
4. Transfer acs:/usr/local/etc/skel/.* to /etc/skel
```
# scp -r acs:/usr/local/etc/skel/\* /etc/skel
# scp -r acs:/usr/local/etc/skel/.\?\?\* /etc/skel
```
5. Add a user account for yourself, and set a password using the following commands. If you do not know your NIS+UID, type 'id' into a terminal at your workstation. You will see a line like uid=1234(username). This number should replace NIS+UID in the following line:
```
# /sbin/service nscd stop
# useradd -c "John Doe" -m -n -g 128 -s /bin/tcsh -u NIS+UID jdoe
# passwd jdoe
```
6. Reboot your system using reboot as root, and then log in once as your user account. Failure to follow this step will result in misconfigured GNOME panels. Then switch back to a console (Ctrl+Alt+F1) and continue the installation procedure.
7. Update the system. Execute the following from the command line:
```
# rpm --import /usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY
# rpm --import /usr/share/rhn/RPM-GPG-KEY-fedora
# yum update
```
8. Reboot your system. The graphical login screen should appear. Just remember to remove the old kernel packages (except the kernel-headers) using rpm -ev kernel kernel-smp or similar.
9. Congratulations! You've successfully installed Fedora Core 4 with Virtual PC!

Tips and Tricks

You must click inside your Virtual Machine window to use your mouse cursor with Virtual PC. Hit the right 'alt' key to regain your mouse cursor in Windows.
What Works and What Doesn't in Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 is the definitive list of user submissions. It contains thousands of user reports on running 'Unofficial' Operating Systems within VPC. Want installation instructions for BeOS? FreeBSD? Minix? This is the place to go.
Robert Moir maintains an excellent Virtual PC 2004 FAQ in case you have additional questions.
A post on Back in Blog, lays out the correct xorg.conf settings for Linux. This may be useful if you are trying to run a version of Linux other than Fedora Core 4.