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Linux-Setup-Guide

README.md

Linux Development Environment Setup for .NET Developers

Introduction

This guide describes a robust and flexible development environment setup for .NET developers transitioning from Windows to Linux.

In the modern .NET ecosystem, while .NET 6+ and Avalonia UI allow for native Linux development, many developers still maintain legacy .NET Framework 4.8 (WPF/WinForms) applications. This creates a dilemma: stick with Windows and lose the benefits of a Linux dev environment, or switch to Linux and struggle with legacy support.

This setup offers the best of both worlds:

  • Native Performance: Run modern .NET Core/Avalonia projects, VS Code, and tools directly on the Linux host.
  • Legacy Support: Run a Windows 11 Virtual Machine (VM) for Visual Studio and legacy .NET Framework projects.
  • Integration: Seamlessly run Windows apps (like SSMS or Visual Studio) via RDP "Seamless Mode" alongside Linux apps.
  • Isolation: Use lightweight Linux System Containers (LXC) for VPN clients (FortiClient, SonicWall, etc.) to keep the host clean and avoid conflicts.
  • Flexibility: Run SQL Server instances in Docker containers within a Linux container, facilitating easy version management.

We use Incus as the virtualization manager because it unifies the management of Virtual Machines (KVM/QEMU) and System Containers (LXC) under a single, powerful API and CLI.

Advantages

  • Clean Host: No more "DLL hell" or conflicting VPN network adapters on your main workstation.
  • Security: Risky proprietary software and VPN clients run in isolated containers.
  • Resource Efficiency: Linux containers have near-zero overhead compared to full VMs.
  • File Sharing: A shared directory mount allows you to edit code on Linux and compile/debug on Windows without duplicating repositories.
  • Open Source Freedom: Leverage the power of the Linux ecosystem while maintaining productivity.

Table of Contents

  1. Prerequisites & Basic Tools - Setup of Incus, basic utilities, and the Incus Web UI.
  2. Windows 11 VM Setup - Installing Windows 11 in Incus, VirtIO drivers, and optimizations.
  3. Network Configuration - Bridging, NAT configuration, DNS resolution, and Firewall settings.
  4. Seamless RDP Integration - Running Windows applications (VS, SSMS) as if they were native Linux windows.
  5. SQL Server Setup - Running SQL Server in Docker containers with persistent storage.
  6. VPN & Security - Isolating VPN clients (OpenVPN, FortiClient, etc.) in containers.
  7. Developer Tools - Git configuration, VS Code, and .NET SDK setup.
  8. Extra Utilities - Wine, Teams, Thunderbird.
  9. AI Server Setup - Setting up a local AI server with Lemonade, ROCm, and GPU passthrough.
  10. Waydroid Setup - Running Android on Linux for testing .NET MAUI and Avalonia apps.

This guide was motivated by the need for a stable, high-performance environment for developing the open-source iplus-framework, ensuring that proprietary client requirements (VPNs) do not interfere with the development stability.