Ubuntu Core tutorial: Run IoT devices on Linux
The internet of things is one of the newest technology sectors that continues to grow. As a system of interrelated computing devices, it can be tough to find an operating system that can effectively manage and deploy devices from one unified console. Not only can vendor offerings be costly, but they might not suit your needs for a flexible software offering.
There are many OS types and Linux distros that run on a device that is considered an IoT device. Because Linux is open source and doesn't cost any more to test and use whatever the use case, it makes a perfect candidate to support IoT devices.
The five most common Linux distros for IoT include: Ubuntu Core, Windows IoT, Raspberry Pi OS, Zephyr and Android Things. Many of these OSes come from the Linux family, with only one dedicated IoT OS from Windows.
This Ubuntu Core tutorial demonstrates how to get an IoT OS up and online with Ubuntu Core on a virtual machine. To do this on Windows, a few components are required. The first thing you must do is confirm you have Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) up and running.
You then must confirm you have activated Hyper-V on Windows 10. Because Hyper-V is free and built into Windows 10, it is the best approach combined with Windows Subsystem for Linux. If it's not active, there are extra steps you must take to enable Hyper-V.
This video tutorial walks you through the preparation of an Ubuntu Core image for Hyper-V, once you've installed and enabled WSL and Hyper-V. Because Ubuntu Core is made specifically for a kernel-based virtual machine, there is a necessary conversion process. The conversion to a .vhdx extension to be usable in Hyper-V is done in WSL. Once that's complete, you can then create the new virtual machine in Ubuntu Core and connect your IoT device.