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Ok, so I will try to be as detailed as I can in this post,

I have an external SSD that has an install of Ubuntu Server. I can boot the server directly using the boot menu if I shut down my Windows PC, and start it back up.

I want to be able to "connect" to my headless Ubuntu using a terminal in Windows. When I say "connect", I mean the exact way I would if I were to SSH into a Ubuntu Server, although, since it is on the same physical PC, I don't know if SSH is the optimal way to do this.

The part that's tricky for me to wrap my head around is how do I "power it on" from Windows? If I could even SSH into it, that would be a step forward.

Is there a way to do this without using virtualization (virtual box/ vm ware)?

Thanks.

For the end of this post, to clear up my goal for all of this, I want to be able to take this external SSD with me wherever I go, so that on any Windows PC, I can plug it in, and run Ubuntu commands/ use vim/ and have a portable environment where I can store config files, so I never have to use Windows command line ever again.

I see it working in a way that I partition the SSD into: A. the Ubuntu Server B. My portable terminal emulator, and the file I need to execute in order to boot up the server, and then remote into the server.

jonathan
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1 Answers1

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"Is there a way to do this without using virtualization (virtual box/ vm ware)?"

No: All solutions to the setup you describe --connection using a Windows terminal-- require some form of virtualization. (Including WSL, which seems to be some proprietary form of virtualization)

Whichever Operating System boots on the bare metal controls ALL hardware: The monitor, the keyboard, the disks, the network connection, everything. Only one Operating System can control the system at a time. Switching between Operating Systems in control of the hardware requires a reboot.

It is possible for the Operating System to present emulated hardware for a different OS to run upon and control...and that process is the very definition of virtualization.

To run a portable Linux server or Desktop natively instead of virtualized, consider starting with a LiveUSB, which contains a fully-featured "Try Ubuntu" environment.

user535733
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