User Mode Linux

by Jeff Dike

With User Mode Linux you can create virtual Linux machines within a Linux computer and use them to safely test and debug applications, network services, and even kernels. You can try out new... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0131865056
• ISBN13: 9780131865051
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

solid book, about much more than just UML

I've read several of the books in Bruce Peren's Open Source Series, and this is by far the best. I read it cover-to-cover and enjoyed the author's relaxed and informative writing style. The book does a good job of describing UML configuration options and facilities. But where it really shines is in the ancillary material, covering the whys and hows of other subsystems that work in conjunction with UML. For example, I found the treatment of network trouble-shooting that is interspersed with the UML networking section to be very well-done and useful beyond UML alone. Another high point is the information about kernel memory management (in conjunction with the discussion of tt, skas0 and skas3). But by far, the most enjoyable and impressive section of the book is the last two chapters in which the author challenges the reader to think about the wider implications of OS virtualization - for example why you might want to embed an instance of Linux inside another application that is in turn running on Linux (or even inside another UML). I agree with the comment made by another reviewer that it would have been helpful to spend more time covering how to bootstrap a UML instance. (Hint: Chapter 1.5 - The transition between chapter 1 and chapter 2 is somewhat abrupt.) However, there are numerous other resources covering how to get UML running initially, and the author more than makes up for this short-coming with other (and in my opinion, more interesting) topics. In summary, it's much more than just another dry, narrowly-focused subject treatment, and I found the author's style and open discussion of design decisions refreshing.

Learn User Mode Linux from its developer

UML is a great tool for all sorts of applications and projects, but the biggest attraction for me is the opportunity to learn more about the Linux kernel itself. This book covers UML in depth, but also includes the thinking process Jeff Dike went through in its development and discusses the mistakes and trade-offs he made. You'll learn quite a bit about the kernel just from reading this and of course once you have it running, you can learn even more. I thoroughly enjoyed this. My only complaint is that the book assumes your Linux came with UML installed and doesn't even tell you what RPM you need if it didn't - it's user_mode_linux and you can find that and everything else you need at [...]