My implementation was to install OpenMediaVault (NAS) for file storage, then simply install roon server to it. Very simple solution as it does not require two vms running
everyopne else made some performence comparsions about speed?
Running on an ubuntu server vm atm, should i change to roon rock VM?
I havenāt run Roon server nor ROCK on ESXi but I have done in Parallels both of them, no difference with my library 40000+ tracks library, DB running in NVMe.
Currently using Multipass with vbox as hypervisor, same thing I feel.
Honestly I donāt understand the appeal of running ROCK in a virtual machine. ROCK is designed to insulate the user from the scary Linux experience and provide a turn-key, opaque server experience on specific hardware. This is diametrically opposed to the expectations and needs in a virtualized environment.
Firstly, because anyone even asking the question is not the type of user that needs to be protected from the Linux foundation underneath Roon core. And secondly because ROCK wants to keep you out of the core OS and will blow away any OS-level changes you might make, it means you will be perpetually fighting against ROCK to do even simple things like installing the VMware tools (or open-vmtools)
The goals of ROCK just seem in opposition to the needs of someone who wants a complicated, virtualized solution. Just my opinion, of course. Why add to your headaches by using an environment whose stated goal is to be inflexible in exactly this way?
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I am running ROCK in VirtualBox. The reason is that my desktop is running Windows 10 Pro and I didnāt want to shift it to Linux, neither buy another equipment such as a NUC.
My options were then either to run Linux in VM and run Roon Core in it or try directly ROCK.
The second option looked more simplier and elegant to me. I didnāt knew anything in virtualisation before starting. I am not an IT Guy. I struggled a couple of days with the learning curve. But now it is working since some months and stable with all the benefits of running a VM (full easy system Backupā¦)
I should add that I felt Roon Labs is more optimizing the software for Linux than Windows.
I had various issues with Roon Core on Windows. Nothing so far with ROCK in VirtualBox.
Thereās some logic to that, but itās worth keeping in mind that the official support for ROCK in a VM is that it could catastrophically stop working at any time in the future due to an incompatible change in a future update and thereās no recourse or help from Roon Labs when and if that occurs. That seems even less appropriate for a user without much experience with linux or virtualization.
Roon Labs may ā at their whim ā make changes to the kernel in ROCK or some other aspect of their custom distro of Linux that renders ROCK non-functional on unsupported platforms. Their ability to do that is part of why ROCK is such a stable and effortless experience when running on supported hardware.
Running ROCK in a VM reminds me a lot of the people who run macOS on unsupported, non-Apple hardware. Those āhackintoshesā work today. But youāre (potentially) never more than one software update away from tragedy.
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Hi @nugget,
Thanks for your concerns. Indeed this approach is not supported by Roon Labs and I did it with support from various communities including this one.
Just to be clear if any other people reading this thread:
- with a VM you can easely duplicate ROCK
- you can make snapshots
- the Roon Core database back ups ( I make four) are all outside ROCK as well as the music files themselves. So all accessible directly from Windows 10 main system.
Keyboard problem during Roon installation on ESXI anyone solved?
The solution that was suggested: sb.generic.allowHID = āTRUEā usb.generic.allowLastHID = āTRUEā in the thread does not work for me either.
Undated.
I installed Roon Rock on VMware Worstation on laptop with external USB keybord and I move it to ESXi.
Which version/flavor of Linux did you choose in VMware workstation?
To install ROON ROCK on Vmware workstation I create VM with guest operation system WINDOWS version Windows 10x64 not Linux. I also converted orginal ROON ROCK roonbox-linuxx64-nuc3-usb-factoryreset-100000227.img file to Virtual Disk with StarWind V2V Converter software.
Trying to figure out how to get VMW to recognize keyboard input in VM, Itās not pulling keystrokes from the USB keyboard attached to the machine.
In Virtual Machine Settings/USB Controller you must check option Show All USB Input Devices. After starting the virtual machine, you must connect to the USB keyboard from the menu VM/Removable Devices/{your kebord}.
Thanks for thatā¦that did the trick.
I hate to necro this, but I currently have ROCK running perfectly on ESXI, i unfortunately cant save music because it deletes it every reboot. I added another virtual disk, but I have no idea how to get ROCK to see it. Iām seeing on the NUC you get a storage tab, but its not showing. If anyone could point me in the right direction as Iād love to have my music in my VSAN setup.
Thanks
Did you add the virtual disk as an IDE device rather than SATA/SCSI/NVMe? Been a long time since I looked at this since it just works, but I think thatās what I needed to do 
How do i expand VM hdd storage in Roon Rock VM running on ESXi?
I can expand virtual hdd in esxi, thats not a problem. But how to make Roon Rock OS recognize additional partition space? Would it see it automatically? Do i have to do some fancy file system tricks?
Easiest way is to create a new HDD in place of the existing one and then go to http://rock.local/ and under āInternal Music Storageā, Format the new drive.
I understand you asked about increasing the size of the storage - this is something youād have to boot something other than Rock to change as it needs Partition Magic, BootIT, Clonezilla or something similar to perform the resize of the actual filesystem on the expanded VM disk.
Good luck 
If someone still need help installing ROCK on vmware ESXi - this article will help you with keyboard problem 
I just sucessfully installed it and everything works great!
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Thank you very much.