Possible to run SageTV V9 Linux build on Hyper-V VM?

[jmv]

Hi, I am preparing to migrate my venerable SageTV 7 to SageTV 9 with the EPG shutdown.

My current build is running SageTVserver service on a Windows Server 2012 R2 box and also using this as my front end with the client loaded with SageMC as the touchscreen GUI in the kitchen.

I am considering installing the SageTVserver V9 to a Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V VM on the server if this gives me the ability to take advantage Javaheap size increase and leverage the more vibrant Linux open source SageTV developer community...

Does anyone know if the SageTV v9 Linux version can be run in a Hyper-V VM?

If so, what version would I need to use? My encoders are all Network based...3 HDHomerun, 1 HDHomerun Prime.

[Narflex]

I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work in a VM when all the tuners are network based. I know many people run that way. But I don't know anything specifically about Hyper-V VM.

[jusjoken]

I run my prod sagetv system v9 under Linux ubuntu in a hyper-v vm and have done so for over a year without issue. I am in every way NOT a linux guy . My base server was 2012r2 for most of that until i switched to 2016 about 2 months ago but either worked fine.

If you use a Gen 1 vm with ubuntu 12 or 14 it is faily simple. There are added steps for a gen 2 vm...they are well documented but IMHO add little value.

k

[jmv]

thank you for the replies!

If I am migrating from Windows Server 2012 R2 SageTV v7 to Hyper-V hosted Linux/Ubunto V9 VM, what are the steps I need to follow to migrate my existing windows V7 configuration to Linux V9?

mv

[bcjenkins]

Why would you run such an old version of Ubuntu?
You might want to consider running unRAID instead of Ubuntu which seems to be what the most active developers are using.

[wayner]

He is running in a VM - can you even install unRAID in a VM?

[egeller]

Originally Posted by wayner

can you even install unRAID in a VM?

You CAN, but the setup is tricky / complex. I looked into running a Xenserver (as hypervisor) machine for my test machine. After many tries of various combinations, I gave up on hypervisors and set up a second instance of running Unraid natively (the machine in my sig, below, is my Production machine).

Regarding Microsoft's Hyper-V and running SageTV - Yes, it should run OK. I ran such a machine about a year ago, when I investigated VM alternatives. In fact, each time I started the Win10 desktop that was running Hyper-V, SageTV would start right up without problems.

[Fuzzy]

At this point, I'd be asking what Hyper-V gets you that unRAID doesn't. Seems to me with the docker on unRAID, it can serve so many more functions with less virtualization, it might win out.

[wayner]

This is a bit of a side issue, but the one thing that I would like to get working under unRAID is automated backups of all of the client PCs on my LAN. I started trying to set up WHS 2011 in a VM under unRAID but was not successful in getting it working properly. In an ideal world I would run a docker under unRAID that would be able to do these backups and store them on my drive array. These backups would allow bare metal restores of the OS, which for me is Windows, on the client PCs over the network.
This would allow me to shutdown my WHS box.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by wayner

This is a bit of a side issue, but the one thing that I would like to get working under unRAID is automated backups of all of the client PCs on my LAN. I started trying to set up WHS 2011 in a VM under unRAID but was not successful in getting it working properly. In an ideal world I would run a docker under unRAID that would be able to do these backups and store them on my drive array. These backups would allow bare metal restores of the OS, which for me is Windows, on the client PCs over the network.
This would allow me to shutdown my WHS box.

Just about any bare-metal capable backup software could run on the client, and store its images on the unRAID server, which really is all that would be required I'd think.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Just about any bare-metal capable backup software could run on the client, and store its images on the unRAID server, which really is all that would be required I'd think.

Would they be able to run on an automated basis without requiring a system reboot? I will have to look into the Windows System Image tool as that may do the job that I need if I set up to run on a cron (aka Scheduled Task) job on a nightly basis.

It looks like this post may describe how to do this: https://www.sevenforums.com/backup-r...tml#post366798

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by wayner

Would they be able to run on an automated basis without requiring a system reboot? I will have to look into the Windows System Image tool as that may do the job that I need if I set up to run on a cron (aka Scheduled Task) job on a nightly basis.

It looks like this post may describe how to do this: https://www.sevenforums.com/backup-r...tml#post366798

That I have no idea. I honestly have never cared about bare metal backups. On the rare instance I have a failure, I use it as an opportunity to start fresh anyway.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

That I have no idea. I honestly have never cared about bare metal backups. On the rare instance I have a failure, I use it as an opportunity to start fresh anyway.

I know - we have had this discussion before. I prefer to get everything back and running as it was previously, as quickly as possible. With WHS I could have everything back in about an hour, assuming that I had a spare Hard Drive (or in recent years SSD) on hand.

[KarylFStein]

I used to use Acronis True Image Home. It allowed scheduling on the client side, (so if you wanted to stagger backups you had to set different start times on each client), and wake from sleep. I moved to WHS because it was more integrated, handled staggering backups automatically, and was more efficient with disk space. Acronis did let you do incremental and full backups and cleanups.

Acronis is on one of those "every year" release cycles that push you to upgrade every year. I'm not up on its current capabilities, (and it seemed back when I used it that every other year was a buggy release). But I have been thinking about retiring my WHS VM as the backup is the only thing I use it for today. I still have a sour taste from some of the "buggy" releases, (never lost anything, but e.g. the full/incremental/cleanup cycle sometimes crapped out and you ended up with tons of files over time), but maybe it's gotten better. I actually still use it for some things.

One thing I still use Acronis to do is "Try and Decide". This is where you can turn on "try" mode and install something or make a change, and then decide later to keep it or revert to how things were before you turned on "try" mode. It's like a VM snapshot except it doesn't persist across a reboot.

Both Acronis and WHS have been pretty seamless with restores, although Acronis has other tools that I also still use like secure wiping and migration to larger/smaller disks. I think you can find free tools to do these things as well, though.

There's a thread on here about backups with some other ideas (most free).

[wayner]

I have used the Acronis disk tools before for stuff like partitioning but I didn't need the backup since I have been using WHS ever since it came out. Does Acronis let you do the backups "in situ" without having to reboot into a special OS to do the backups?

But it looks like Windows may have this stuff built in for Win 7 and beyond so I will check that out first.

[jusjoken]

Originally Posted by wayner

This is a bit of a side issue, but the one thing that I would like to get working under unRAID is automated backups of all of the client PCs on my LAN. I started trying to set up WHS 2011 in a VM under unRAID but was not successful in getting it working properly. In an ideal world I would run a docker under unRAID that would be able to do these backups and store them on my drive array. These backups would allow bare metal restores of the OS, which for me is Windows, on the client PCs over the network.
This would allow me to shutdown my WHS box.

Try Veeam Endpoint Backup. simple and free. It is standalone so needs setup per PC but so simple not an issue. Restores are also simple...even restore single files if needed. Backup runs on schedule and no reboot involved.

k

[wayner]

Thanks - I will look at that. In taking a quick look at the Veeam docs at one point it says that for a full metal restore: "You must have a successfully created recovery image on any type of media: CD/DVD/BD or removable storage device.". That would seem to exclude network backups. But then later on in the docs it does appear to talk about restoring from a network volume. Have you tried this?

[jusjoken]

Originally Posted by wayner

Thanks - I will look at that. In taking a quick look at the Veeam docs at one point it says that for a full metal restore: "You must have a successfully created recovery image on any type of media: CD/DVD/BD or removable storage device.". That would seem to exclude network backups. But then later on in the docs it does appear to talk about restoring from a network volume. Have you tried this?

Yes. You do need to create a boot media...CD or USB which is only that...a way to boot into the UI and locate your backup which can be on the network and then perform a restore.

I use this for all my PCs plus my host windows 2016 server. I use their Hyper-v version...also free if you use their piwershell script which i do...for all my vm's including my sagetv Linux server.

k