Creating a Development Environment using Virtual PC

When I previously worked for Source Code Technologies, I learned to love Virtual PC images as my development environment.  The next few posts will layout exactly how I built my Windows Azure development environment using Virtual PC.  In these posts, I assume that you know some Virtual PC basics; however, I will try and walk through in as much detail as possible.

Download & Install VirtualPC 2007

Get the latest build from Microsoft at the Virtual PC download page.

 

Virtual PC can be a resource hog. Here are some recommendations for running Virtual PC (VPC).

• Run it on a different hard disk than the one your Host OS is running on, preferably an external Hard Drive.
• Dedicate at least 1GB of memory to the Virtual image, preferably 2GB.  However, make sure to leave enough memory for the Host OS.
• Defrag the hard disk where Virtual PC is installed.

Create a New Virtual Machine / Hard Disk

Start Virtual PC.  Select File -> New Virtual Machine Wizard.  Click Next twice. 

 On the Virtual Machine Name and Location screen, browse to the location where you will be saving your virtual machine.  Name the Virtual Machine (VM) something descriptive.  Since I’m creating a development environment for Windows Azure, I named my VM Azure Dev Environment.  Click Next when you’re happy with the name of your VM.  

Select the OS you will be installing.  In this case, select Windows Vista.  Click Next. 

 Select Adjusting the RAM and adjust to a comfortable level (1024MB if you have 2GB installed on your machine or higher if you have more RAM installed).  Click Next. 

 Select the A New Virtual Hard Disk option. Browse to the location that your Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) will be saved. Name the Virtual Hard Disk XXX_Base.vhd, replacing XXX with the OS that you will be installing.  I will be installing Vista Business, so my VHD is named VistaBusiness_Base.vhd.  Using this naming convention will allow you to keep better track of as your virtual images library grows.  Click Next and then Finished. 

 Your first Virtual Machine image has now been created.  Like any new computer, the virtual hard disk is empty and only contains a basic version of DOS.  We now need to install the Operating System.

Installing the OS

I installed Vista Business Edition for my development environment.  However, Windows Server 2008 will also work with the Azure SDK.  I originally installed Vista Ultimate but encountered problems installing SP1.  Since SP1 is required, I couldn’t install the Azure SDK.  I would be careful if you’re going to install Ultimate since there seems to be issues installing SP1.

 Select CD -> Capture ISO Image from the menu.  Browse to the location of the ISO image containing your Operating System and select it.  Select Action -> Ctl+Alt+Delete from the menu to reset the instance.  The VPC instance should now reboot loading from the ISO and starting the OS installation process.  From this point, follow all of the prompts to install the OS.

Wrap up

This entire exercise shoud take 1-2 hours at most.  Tomorrow I’ll look at steps to take when running the Virtual Image for the first time.