Running Klipper in a Virtual Machine (VM)
Klipper’s Requirements
- Klipper does not need nor profits from high power CPUs or Giga-Bytes of RAM
- Klipper requires near-realtime scheduling down to some 100 ms
- Klipper requires direct and undisturbed hardware access
Virtual Machines Offer
- Scheduling Fairness: Each VM shall have respective resources, access etc
- Lots of “house-keeping” in the background
- Abstracted access to USB or other hardware
Result
- It is not secured that Klipper’s requirements are fulfilled in a VM
- Running Klipper under a VM may lead to subtle, intermittent and hard to diagnose issues, e.g.
Timer too close
errors - Running Klipper in a VM is generally not recommended or supported
- It could work but potential issues will only be followed up when proven to happen in a standard (i.e. non VM) setup as well