During the Linux install, is it possible to mount a VHDX virtual disk on local storage and then install the Linux Distro to that virtual disk?
In Windows, you can press Shift F10 during the install/setup, then mount the Virtual Disk using the Diskpart utility, which makes the virtual disk available as an option to install the OS to.
Just wondered if it is possible to do this with a Linux distro.
Thanks
Not something I have tested but I think the libguestfs-tools will allow you to do that. But what are you trying to do?
Hi Tom, I have a small YouTube channel (side hobby at the moment).
I’m doing an updated video of how you can install multiple versions of Windows on a single system by installing each Windows OS to individual VHDX files. It works great for Windows and you end up with a Windows Boot Manager menu where you can choose the OS to boot into.
It’s great for separating a Work PC and a personal PC but using the same machine (NSFW, optimised for gaming, sandbox for testing software etc).
Original video here: https://youtu.be/7JBFJuA5QsM?si=yow2vYi4oQBAyWg6
The first video has been quite popular and by far the most frequently asked question in the comments was "Can you install Linux to a VHDX using this method.
I know I can combine a traditional install of Linux with this method by using a separate partition then using the UEFI boot options (Use Grub for Linux, or the Windows Boot Manager for the Windows OS’s) which would be half decent workaround but the perfect solution would be if you could add a Linux OS entry to the Windows Boot Manager and boot into Linux (stored on a VHDX).
A compromise might be somewhere in between where you can install Linux to a separate partition but use the Windows Boot Manager to boot all OS’s including Linux (and not use Grub).
I’m updating my previous video as in that one, it uses an existing Windows OS (traditional install on a partition) as the host OS and additional instances of Windows get installed to VHDX files.
In the new video we are going one step further by not having a host OS at all and every install will be to a VHDX file.
However, I want to include some info about Linux as I know 90% of the comments will ask that question again.
Thanks for getting back to me.
Welcome fellow creator and that is a clever way to setup multiple versions of Windows on a single system, but because VHDX file is a Microsoft format I am not really sure if you will find good Linux support, or at least I don’t know how to do that.