It would be "bare metal"...
I figured once I got it booted on VM, I could diskimage it onto a 1 or 2GB drive and try to boot it up on an old pentium 100 or something.
I'd like to stay away from ecomstation, but maybe I have no other choice.
Well, you could simply install v4 on the Pentium 100. Or you could tell your employer to spend a few bucks on eCS so it runs on a modern machine. I get so very very very very very pissed when I see companies that spend next to NOTHING on an OS/2 install that has run for a decade or more, and then needs to replace failed hardware and cant spend the money on a license that will run on it - yet spends TONS on Windows support. It makes no darn sense.
So... those are your best bets... Pentium and Warp 4, or eCS. Considering how much the specialized software must have cost, and the obvious intent to keep it running without migration costs, it should be a minor cost to keep the machine running another decade on new hardware and eCS.
Sorry for venting... just recently dealt with helping one guy who is contracted for a big big big company that probably spent lots on his consulting fees... but nothing towards a new license for the hardware they had which would have alleviated their situation at far less cost, in FAR less time. I figure he coulda been done in a day... instead of a week plus. You do the math... They coulda bought an entire new system and an eCS license long before the 10 or so days they paid him to avoid going that route. Makes no sense.