one option is to run a Linux or FreeBSD X server in a VM, tell it it has a very dumb frame buffer, and emulate the frame buffer.
We did this for megatux, using the KVM Tool, and it turns out we have the person who did it on this list (Floren) On Fri, Jun 13, 2025 at 2:57 PM David Leimbach via 9fans <[email protected]> wrote: > Very interesting. > > If we had a X server (we do don’t we) can I run a web browser through this? > > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Jun 13, 2025, at 10:59 AM, ron minnich <[email protected]> wrote: > > > In my IWP9 talk I mentioned the linux vm appliance we built for akaros, > when I was at google, and I've got a very simple version working on 9front > vmx now, tested on my t420. > > It needs a kernel, and a u-root (github.com/u-root/u-root) initramfs, > with my sidecore command (github.com/u-root/sidecore) > > sidecore is a modified cpu client which provides, to the cpu server, over > 9p or nfs, a union of the client namespace (as in cpu) and a cpio archive. > The cpio is typically a flattened docker container, created using a tool I > wrote in github.com/u-root/sidecore-images. > > I did all this work, while at Samsung, so we could have cpu in Windows. > Windows does not have things linux wants, like symlinks, device specials, > and so on; sidecore provides them via the cpio file. > > So, to make this work, you need a kernel, an initramfs, usually compiled > into the kernel, and the sidecore command, which runs in Plan 9. I can > provide more instructions to interested parties, but overall, it's > pretty easy. What it lacks is polish. > > There is an rc script, appliance, which does this: > vmx -c /fd/0,/fd/1 -M 1024M -n ether1 /usr/glenda/plan9cpulinux > Once that starts, in the guest, you need to do something like this: > ip addr add 192.168.0.187/24 dev eth0 > ip link set dev eth0 up > cpud > > Then the appliance is ready for use. > On the plan 9 side, there is a command, linux, which looks like this: > > ramfs -S sidecore > mount -ac /srv/sidecore / > mkdir -p /home/glenda > bind /usr/glenda /home/glenda > > SIDECORE_ARCH=amd64 > SIDECORE_DISTRO=py3-numpi > SIDECORE_KEYFILE=/usr/glenda/.ssh/cpu_rsa > HOME=/home/glenda > PWD=/home/glenda > > sidecore -sp 17010 '-9p=false' '-nfs=true' 192.168.0.187 $* > > The ramfs setup is so our home is /home/glenda, which linux distros seem > to want. > The various environment variables direct sidecore about where to get its > key, the architecture of the container, and the distro desired. > sidecore looks for a file of the form: > > $home/sidecore-images/$(SIDECORE_ARCH)-$(SIDECORE_DISTRO)@$(SIDECORE_VERSION).cpio > > so, a few things: works across architectures, you can have any distro you > want, and you can have different versions: default is latest. > > I've used this from osx, linux, and windows to risc-v, and now it works > from plan 9 to vmx guest. Note that, also, the guest can be freebsd. > > Now we get to the kind-of-crude part, sorry about this, the plan 9 support > is a little unbaked. > Part of the issue is ... ptys. Anyway ... > > I run the rc script: > linux > > # this gets you to a non-interactive shell with no prompt. Sorry. > # all the shells stat fd 0, and, if it is not a tty, assume they are > non-interactive. > # the golang cpu sets up the namespace in /tmp/cpu, not /mnt/term. > # Step 1: get device mounted into /tmp/cpu > mount --bind /dev /tmp/cpu/dev > # Step 2: chroot into the namespace provided by the sidecore command > chroot /tmp/cpu bash -i > # Step 3: run python3 > root@(none):/# python3 -c 'print("Hello!")' > python3 -c 'print("Hello!")' > # What is this stuff? I don't know. > 2025/06/13 07:11:38 [ERROR] failing create to indicate lack of support for > 'exclusive' mode. > 2025/06/13 07:11:38 [ERROR] Error Creating: permission denied > 2025/06/13 07:11:38 [ERROR] failing create to indicate lack of support for > 'exclusive' mode. > 2025/06/13 07:11:38 [ERROR] Error Creating: permission denied > 2025/06/13 07:11:38 [ERROR] failing create to indicate lack of support for > 'exclusive' mode. > 2025/06/13 07:11:38 [ERROR] Error Creating: permission denied > # python output > Hello! > > I have a cpio container image that provides python3 and numpy > > The big picture here: you can have linux programs easily. It should be as > easy to run these programs, in a vm, as it is to run any command. You can, > e.g., > du -a | linux wc # but why? :-) > and have that work. > > My next step is to finish up the "VMs via libthread" work, then get back > to smp guests, but I thought this initial work might be of interested. > > BTW, the golang root file system I use has been used in google and > bytedance firmware for 5+ years, and is load bearing on a few million data > center nodes. The golang cpu/cpud is an integral part of google and ARM > confidential compute stacks. It's pretty real, and now it's on plan 9 too. > > *9fans <https://9fans.topicbox.com/latest>* / 9fans / see discussions > <https://9fans.topicbox.com/groups/9fans> + participants > <https://9fans.topicbox.com/groups/9fans/members> + delivery options > <https://9fans.topicbox.com/groups/9fans/subscription> Permalink > <https://9fans.topicbox.com/groups/9fans/Td71c087b037b58f9-Mbc862ef48799530a2da39430> > ------------------------------------------ 9fans: 9fans Permalink: https://9fans.topicbox.com/groups/9fans/Td71c087b037b58f9-M837ccfd89b26f2f907b4a95c Delivery options: https://9fans.topicbox.com/groups/9fans/subscription
