Small Virtual Machines
Overview
Shows how to create small ReactOS and Debian virtual machines using Qemu on Ubuntu, and then compile and run a Free Pascal program.
The small virtual machines should serve two purposes:
1) They show how a "standard PC" can be used to run a program. So if you are having problems running the program on your PC you can see how it works on a different PC.
2) If the small VM is easy to download and run then you can simply do that. The LevinUx stuff below shows how easy that could be.
Windows WSL and WSL2
Note that at this time hardware and GUI will not work!
If upgrade to Win10 Insider Preview can install WSL2: wsl2 install but be aware that other virtual machine software (like VMware, Parallels) may no longer work (may eventually work they are working together).
Note that the WSL command may not work in Powershell but might work in Command Prompt. After exit from the terminal (in Linux) do WSL --shutdown to free lots of memory.
On July 29, 2019 I've installed Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Debian (stretch = 9). sudo apt install fpc on Ubuntu gets 3.0.4 whereas the same on Debian only gets 3.0.0 .
Optional below for FPC 3.2 Beta:
Enter the command below (to determine your CPU type):
neofetch (see CPU specs)
Next we'll download the appropriate zip file (from here):
(need to get appropriate fpcup release for your CPU type below)
sudo wget https://github.com/LongDirtyAnimAlf/Reiniero-fpcup/releases/download/1.6.2v/fpcup-x86_64-linux
sudo chmod 755 fpcup-x86_64-linux
sudo apt install subversion zip unzip build-essential libx11-dev
sudo ./fpcup-x86_64-linux --fpcurl=https://svn.freepascal.org/svn/fpc/branches/fixes_3_2 --verbose
Can run "./fpc" or "./fp" when done if go to: root/development/fpc/bin/x86_64-linux
Levinux virtual machine
Levinux is a small (~20 MB) QEMU download for x86 PCs (Windows, macOS, Linux) that provides a small Tiny Core Linux VM. You can visit the two links below to read more about it, or just follow the simple instructions below (on Windows) to try it out with Free Pascal.
http://mikelev.in/ux/ http://levinux.com (just a 21 page JavaScript slideshow about it)
Tried on Windows XP in May 2016
Go to https://github.com/miklevin/levinux and click the Download Zip or Clone or download button near the upper-right corner.
Unzip the small (18.6 MB) file levinux-master.zip and run WindowsLevinux.vbs (may need to unblock for the firewall). If you need to learn how to operate things in Windows to do this you might want to read a tutorial that introduces the Pascal programming language, file managers, the command prompt, the Free Pascal compiler, and the minimal files needed to compile a program. The Win32 Hello World Tutorial is available in three formats: doc - PDF - web
Select 2 - Exit to Console then log in (tc and foo, do sudo poweroff later to shut down)
Do these steps only if want a simple test
See http://turbocontrol.com/helloworld.htm if more information is needed.
Note that Linux is case sensitive (unlike Windows) so you must type the letters as shown below!
In the VM terminal do: (Note that we are renaming the filename by using the capital Oh parameter)
wget http://turbocontrol.com/HelloWorld-fpc-2.2.2.i386-linux.tar.gz -O hello.tar.gz
tar xzvf hello.tar.gz
./ppc386 hello
tce-load -wi binutils.tcz
./ppc386 hello
./hello
Do these steps if want a FPC 3.0.0 compiler (doesn't work yet)
In the VM terminal do:
tce-load -wi svn.tcz
tce-load -wi zip-unzip.tcz
tce-load -wi compiletc.tcz (larger)
wget https://github.com/LongDirtyAnimAlf/Reiniero-fpcup/releases/download/1.4.0k/fpcup-i386-linux?raw=true --no-check-certificate -O fpcup
chmod u+rx fpcup
./fpcup --verbose Then "y" but this doesn't work
I'd like to change levinux to have all the files and tools needed to pull the latest source code and cross-compile FPC (also with Debian instead of Tiny Core?).
ReactOS virtual machine
Built (on Ubuntu 16.04 on 1 June 2017) a minimal i386 VM with QEMU with ReactOS 0.4.5.
Download ReactOS-0.4.5-iso.zip (103MB)
qemu-img create -f qcow2 reactos045.img 8G
qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 512 -hda reactos045.img -cdrom ReactOS-0.4.5.iso -boot d -net nic,model=rtl8139 -net user
For the install just press <Enter> for everything. When it reboots (twice) don't hit any key so it won't boot from the CD.
Shut down ReactOS. The QEMU image file is 349MB.
Make a backup copy then restart:
qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 512 -hda reactos045.img -boot c -net nic,model=rtl8139 -net user
To see that networking is working, in the VM double-click on the Command Prompt and run ipconfig.
As a simple test, install PeaZip (a Lazarus application) from the Application Manager in the Tools section, then in command prompt do:
cd \
md test
cd test
dwnl http://turbocontrol.com/HelloWorld-fpc-2.4.2.i386-win32.zip
unzip HelloWorld-fpc-2.4.2.i386-win32.zip
ppc386 hello
hello
On 1 June 2017 I updated text below for the image file name (to reactos045.img) but did not test anything else!
Needs more work but getting there! In command prompt do:
cd \
md test
cd test
This whole line is a comment! dwnl http://downloads.sourceforge.net/gnuwin32/wget-1.11.4-1-setup.exe wgetsetup.exe didn't work
This whole line is a comment! so I download and put here (which does work):
dwnl http://turbocontrol.com/wget-1.11.4-1-setup.exe wgetsetup.exe
wgetsetup
"c:\program files\gnuwin32\bin\wget" https://github.com/LongDirtyAnimAlf/Reiniero-fpcup/releases/download/1.4.0k/fpcup-i386-win32.exe?raw=true --no-check-certificate -O fpcup.exe
dir (verify that fpcup.exe is about 1.09 MB)
Exit the command prompt, shut down ReactOS, make a backup copy then restart:
qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 512 -hda reactos045.img -boot c -net nic,model=rtl8139 -net user
fpcup --verbose then y to continue
Stops progressing while compiling jwawindows.pas (with 100% CPU usage, can't Ctrl-C to stop)
Ctrl-Alt then stop QEmu, replace with backup copy, restart (with much larger memory):
qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 4000 -hda reactos045.img -boot c -net nic,model=rtl8139 -net user
Stops compiling with error, restarted the VM, and did just fpcup several times (no --verbose) and it finished!
This works!
I used dwnl to download the 6 arm-embedded-*.exe files and ran fpcup to compile for arm-embedded (see the Windows XP VM section below and everything seems to work.
Made folder c:\development\cross\bin\arm-embedded and copied 6 files
dwnl http://svn2.freepascal.org/svn/fpcbuild/binaries/i386-win32/arm-embedded-ar.exe then similar for other 5 files
Did: fpcup --ostarget=embedded --cputarget=arm --subarch=armv7em
No, you don't want to use ReactOS for your desktop operating system, but it might be good enough to use for some specific things (like putting in a small VM or in a single-app kiosk or embedded device).
WinXP virtual machine
Temporarily I used a 32-bit WinXP VM (3.8GB) on VMware and got this to work for Teensy:
- (do this if want trunk Lazarus) Copied in fpcup.exe and ran as (~35 minutes, VM increased to 7.3GB): fpcup --skip=lhelp --fpcURL=trunk --lazURL=trunk
- (do this for only FPC) Copied in fpcup.exe and ran as (~11 minutes, VM increased to 5.0GB): fpcup --only=FPC --fpcURL=trunk
- Made folder c:\development\cross\bin\arm-embedded and copied 6 files from here
- Did (~2.5 minutes): fpcup --ostarget=embedded --cputarget=arm --subarch=armv7em --only=FPCCleanOnly,FPCBuildOnly --fpcURL=trunk
- Made folder and copied in test.pas, ppcrossarm.exe (from c:\development\fpc\compiler), system.o & system.ppu & mk20d7.o & mk20d7.ppu (from c:\development\fpc\units\arm-embedded\rtl), and the as.exe, ld.exe, and objcopy.exe from the arm-embedded folder (and renamed those 3 after copied).
- Get teensy.exe and copy in.
- Compile: ppcrossarm -Oonostackframe -Parm -Tembedded -Cparmv7em -Wpmk20dx256xxx7 test.pas
- Run teensy.exe and load test.hex
- Repeat the last 2 steps while varying the timing (2666666 to 0666666) to show that you are changing the program!
Files released here
Debian console virtual machine
Built (on Ubuntu 16.04 on 1 Aug. 2017) a minimal i386 VM with QEMU with Debian (new version 9.1 release) stretch.
Dowload from Debian debian-9.1.0-i386-netinst.iso (375 MB) and rename to debstr.iso
qemu-img create -f qcow2 debstr.img 8G
qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 512 -hda debstr.img -cdrom debstr.iso -boot d
Networking worked without having to add other command line parameters! Remove the 3 default software collections (near the end of the install). The QEMU image file is about 1.3 GB.
In the VM:
add sudo (There are instruction near the bottom of this page: Control Pascal PicoScope)
sudo apt-get clean
Do these next steps only if you want to minimize the size of the VM:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/mytempfile (note that this is very slow as it fills the entire 8G)
sudo rm -f /mytempfile
sudo halt
qemu-img convert -O qcow2 debstr.img debstrnew.img (reduces file to 595 MB)
Archive with 7z and the file is now 141 MB. Not very big for a nice new Debian console VM.
Make a backup copy then start like this:
qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 512 -hda debstrnew.img -boot c
Do these steps only if want a simple test In the VM do (see http://turbocontrol.com/helloworld.htm if needed):
wget http://turbocontrol.com/HelloWorld-fpc-2.2.2.i386-linux.tar.gz
tar xzvf HelloWorld-fpc-2.2.2.i386-linux.tar.gz
./ppc386 hello
sudo apt-get install binutils
./ppc386 hello
./hello
Do these steps if want a trunk FPC and then arm-embedded for Teensy In the VM do:
sudo apt-get install build-essential subversion unzip
wget https://github.com/LongDirtyAnimAlf/Reiniero-fpcup/releases/download/1.4.0k/fpcup-i386-linux?raw=true --no-check-certificate -O fpcup
chmod u+rx fpcup
./fpcup --fpcURL=trunk --only=FPC This works!
sudo apt-get install binutils-arm-none-eabi
./fpcup --ostarget=embedded --cputarget=arm --subarch=armv7em --only=FPCCleanOnly,FPCBuildOnly --fpcURL=trunk
The above (for Teensy) does work!
Need to find out how to copy files out of VM.
Debian LXDE virtual machine
Built (21 Sept. 2015 on Ubuntu 14.04) a minimal i386 VM with QEMU with Debian.
Dowload from Debian debian-8.2.0-i386-netinst.iso (315 MB) and rename to debjes.iso
qemu-img create -f qcow2 debjes.img 8G
qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 512 -hda debjes.img -cdrom debjes.iso -boot d
Networking worked without having to add other command line parameters!
For the software collections screen:
Remove Debian desktop environment
Remove print server
Add LXDE
Leave (keep) standard system utilities
When the VM restarts close the qemu window rather that restarting the install. The QEMU image file is now 4.0 GB.
Make a backup copy then start like this:
qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 512 -hda debjesnew.img -boot c -net nic -net user
In the VM in a (user) terminal:
su (and password for root)
adduser <user name> sudo
exit (exit su)
exit (exit user and terminal)
logout and login again
Reboot and choose recovery then enter root password:
apt-get clean
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mytempfile (note that this is very slow as it fills the entire 8G)
rm -f /mytempfile
halt
After this the new img file is 2.9 GB:
qemu-img convert -O qcow2 debjes.img debjesnew.img
Archive with 7z and the file is now 733 MB. Not very big for a nice new Debian LXDE VM.
Make a backup copy then start like this:
qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm -m 512 -hda debjesnew.img -boot c -net nic -net user
In the VM in a (user) terminal:
sudo apt-get install build-essential mingw32-binutils subversion unzip libgtk2.0-dev
cd Downloads
wget https://github.com/LongDirtyAnimAlf/Reiniero-fpcup/releases/download/1.4.0k/fpcup-i386-linux?raw=true --no-check-certificate -O fpcup
chmod u+rx fpcup
./fpcup --skip=lhelp --verbose then y to continue
This works! Other things (Teensy and Android [[1]]) to be continued ASAP!
Notes
On 32-bit Debian kvm runs qemu-system-x86_64 so get 64-bit which don't want. So changed all of the above calls to qemu-system-i386 -enable-kvm which still runs fast (due to kvm). If your linux system doesn't have kvm then you may need to leave -enable-kvm off.
On qemu-img create the 2G could be larger but then on linux it will be much slower to minimize the size. Any suggestions? (Look at zerofree and also consider wear on SD card)
To do
Add instructions on how to do this on Windows (not just Ubuntu)?
Original forum message where this got started.
Add instructions for macOS per discussion there?
Further Reading
What is the most simple way to compile an ARM Embedded compiler for Teensy? See this forum message for more details on Teensy.
Use fpcup?
See also
- ReactOS
- Qemu and other emulators
- TARGET Embedded
- Control Pascal Tutorial - where we hope this stuff ends up being used
- Docker Containerization
