Using a virtual environment in web development

Question

PHP

Hello.
I am doing web development in PHP under Windows (Apache, MySQL, PHP installed by themselves, no denvers, etc.). One project uses Linux applications, so I can't fully test it on Windows. Therefore, I decided to transfer it to VirtualBox, but I thought it might make sense to transfer all projects there and abandon the server software on Windows. I suppose to mount project files and databases from the host system, and develop in Windows.

Has anyone done similar? What are the advantages, disadvantages?

Answer 1

I recommend switching completely to linux.
Advantages:
1. You work in the same environment as your web server.
2. There are enough development tools for linux and they are in no way inferior to windows applications.
3. On a remote web server you will feel "at home".
4. Installing software for web projects takes a minimum of time.
PS If you are not familiar with linux, start with Ubuntu.

Answer 2

We use Vagrant with VirtualBox for development. Host: Mac OS, Guest: Ubuntu. Convenient for several reasons:
— all virtual machine settings are collected in one file in the project folder;
- it is easy to reset the development environment, since the reference image is always untouched;
- setup and installation of software is at the mercy of scripts (bash, puppet etc.).
Of the minuses:
- NFS did not work under Windows;
- the file synchronization mechanism built into VirtualBox for some reason ignores file access rights.

Answer 3

Raise a virtual machine, put Linux on it (I put ubuntu-server). Raise lamp+git|svn|hg. clone now .
You develop in your usual environment, most editors support svn out of the box, you just need to specify the server. Edited - pushed to linux.
If another environment is needed for the next project, copy the virtual machine from the clone.
And there, you see, you will crawl completely on linux :)
Virtual machines rule, only it is desirable to have more operatives and an ssd screw, so that there is absolutely fire. But I also started on a laptop.

Answer 4

Here, of course, fans transfer data via ssh or git, I'm probably stumbling, but IMHO you can just raise samba and connect it as a network drive in Windows and calmly open and work files.

Answer 5

Switch to Linux in VirtualBox, if the computer has an i5 processor and 4GB+ memory, then you can install a full-fledged GUI on the virtual machine, the same Gnome2 and Eclipse and all the necessary software there, if you select 2GB RAM virtual machines, then everything will work quickly.
At one time I switched to virtualBox (console) because of a cargo project, it worked 3 times faster under Linux. Now I removed Windows and fully sat down on Linux Mint due to the presence of Gnome 2.

Answer 6

But for us it’s the other way around, the project is on Linux, and one necessary feature only works in Windows, you have to use windows(

Answer 7

It is worth remembering that your installation of Linux in a virtual machine can be very different from Linux on hosting servers in the direction of cutting off available modules and security permissions, but this is better than keeping everything on Windows. although on WIn hosting it is now possible to install both mysql and php and wordpress via MS Web Platform Installer

Answer 8

We have been using vmware with HGFS for many years.
Files are stored on Windows, the folder is rummaged through HGFS.
Sphere at the kernel level, faster than virtualbox.
If you need to test the processing speed, the files are copied to the VM, because HGFS is slower.
Interested in something more - ask.