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virtualbox [2009/10/28 13:00] – alanvirtualbox [2011/06/03 12:52] – aorth
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-===== VirtualBox tips/tricks =====+====== VirtualBox ====== 
 +VirtualBox is a free, open-source hypervisor from Oracle.  It has performance on par with VMware and is very mature.  We have two virtualization servers which run VirtualBox on top of CentOS, [[biovbox]] and biovboxtest.
  
-==== Commonly-used commands ==== +  * [[http://www.virtualbox.org|VirtualBox homepage]] 
-To change between "not attached", NAT,Bridged,internal network and host olny adapter:  +  * [[http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=646613|Tips to optimize Linux guests and hosts]]
-<code>VBoxManage modifyvm <uuid|name> [--nic<1-N> none|null|nat|bridged|intnet|hostonly]</code> +
-Set the boot order: +
-<code>VBoxManage modifyvm <uuid|name> [--boot<1-4> none|floppy|dvd|disk|net>]</code> +
-Add a shared folder: +
-<code>VBoxManage sharedfolder add <vmname>|<uuid> --name <name> --hostpath <hostpath> [--transient] [--readonly] </code> +
-Acpi Vm: +
-<code>VBoxManage controlvm  <uuid>|<name>pause|resume|reset|poweroff|savestate|acpipowerbutton|acpisleepbutton| </code> +
-Change rdp address: +
-<code>VBoxManage modifyvm <uuid|name> [--vrdpaddress <host>]</code> +
-Change the Authentication type:  +
-<code>VBoxManage modifyvm <uuid|name> [--vrdpauthtype null|external|guest]</code> +
-**Note**: option "external" will limit access to individual users, The user will be required to use rdesktop-vrdp with username and password: +
-<code>rdesktop-vrdp -u <username> -p - <host ip address>:<vrdp port></code> +
-Change rdp port: +
-<code>VBoxManage modifyvm <uuid|name> [--vrdpport <port>]</code> +
-List all VMs in the server: +
-<code>VBoxManage list vms</code> +
-List all running VMs: +
-<code>VBoxManage list runningvms </code>+
  
-PORT FORWARDING!! +====== Networking ====== 
-<code>$ VBoxManage setextradata b3924a0c-70a1-4890-8dff-3cc308cdaf28 "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/ssh/HostPort" 2223 +===== Bridged Networking ===== 
-$ VBoxManage setextradata b3924a0c-70a1-4890-8dff-3cc308cdaf28 "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/ssh/GuestPort" 22 +If your guest is using bridged networking you MUST use this command to allow other users to use the host's physical network card.  Make sure your virtual machine is shut down and then run this command: 
-$ VBoxManage setextradata b3924a0c-70a1-4890-8dff-3cc308cdaf28 "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/ssh/Protocol" TCP</code>+<code>VBoxManage setextradata MyMachine VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/RestrictAccess 0</code> 
 +Each and every VM using bridged networking must use this command.  If you are seeing errors like ''VERR_PERMISSION_DENIED'' regarding the network interface, this is the cause!
  
-List guest properties: +As of VirtualBox 3.1.2 this is still a [[http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/2852|known issue]].
-<code> VBoxManage list -l  vms </code> +
-Note: All the guest parameters(configuration) are in <guestname>.xml+
  
-===== Create a VM ===== +===== Port Forwarding =====
-Copy an ISO to your home directory: +
-<code>$scp <dist>.iso <username>@172.26.0.205:~/</code> +
-  * SSH to VM server: 172.26.0.205 +
-<code>$ ssh <username>@172.26.0.205</code> +
-  * start the virtualbox application +
-<code>$ VirtualBox</code> +
-  * Follow the wizzard to create a VM with the following properties: +
-      - Base Memory: less than 512 MB +
-      - Network : NAT +
-      - Harddisk size: less than 30Gb+
  
-==== Port Forwarding ====+If your guest OS is using NAT for networking and you want to access services like Apache or SSH, you will need to enable port forwarding.  There is no GUI for this in VirtualBox, but you can use ''VBoxManage setextradata'' to make the required changes.  If you want to SSH to your VM, for example: 
 +<code>$ VBoxManage setextradata Ubuntu "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/ssh/HostPort" 2223 
 +$ VBoxManage setextradata Ubuntu "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/ssh/GuestPort" 22 
 +$ VBoxManage setextradata Ubuntu "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/ssh/Protocol" TCP</code> 
 +Then you can log in to the VM from your own computer using the port you've forwarded above: 
 +<code>$ ssh -p 2223 username@172.26.0.200</code>
  
-If your guest OS is using NAT for networking you will need to enable port forwarding.  There is no GUI for this in VirtualBox, but you can use ''VBoxManage setextradata'' to make the required changes.  If you want to SSH to your VM, for example: +====== Commonly-used commands ====== 
-<code>$ VBoxManage setextradata <uuid>|<vmname> "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/ssh/HostPort" <0-65000> +===== List your VMs ===== 
-$ VBoxManage setextradata <uuid>|<vmname> "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/ssh/GuestPort" 22 +<code>$ VBoxManage list vms</code> 
-$ VBoxManage setextradata <uuid>|<vmname> "VBoxInternal/Devices/pcnet/0/LUN#0/Config/ssh/Protocol" TCP</code>+===== List your running VMs ===== 
 +<code>$ VBoxManage list runningvms </code>
  
-Then you can log in to the VM from your own computer using the port you've forwarded above: +====== Updating VirtualBox ====== 
-<code>ssh -X -p <port> <username>@172.26.0.205</code>+=== Stop any running VMs === 
 +Either shut down or "save state" for any running VMs.  First, find any users who have "headless" VMs: 
 +<code># ps aux | grep -i VBoxHeadless 
 +jmagochi  4939  3.9  3.5 759372 72268 ?        Sl   Oct05 402:13 /usr/lib/virtualbox/VBoxHeadless -s nobu 
 +jmagochi  4991 12.5  3.2 621588 67632 ?        Sl   Oct05 1281:41 /usr/lib/virtualbox/VBoxHeadless -s lims 
 +aorth    18431  9.7  1.7 998940 36160 ?        Sl   Oct11 129:54 /usr/lib/virtualbox/VBoxHeadless -s b0237553-9653-4461-bd0e-d4d316c16d4f -v off</code> 
 +As the user who owns the VM, save the VM's state: 
 + 
 +<code># su - jmagochi 
 +$ VBoxManage controlvm nobu savestate 
 +$ VBoxManage controlvm lims savestate 
 +$ exit 
 +# su - aorth 
 +$ VBoxManage controlvm b0237553-9653-4461-bd0e-d4d316c16d4f savestate 
 +$ exit</code> 
 +=== Update VirtualBox === 
 +<code># yum update VirtualBox-3.2</code> 
 +=== Resume VMs === 
 +<code># su - jmagochi 
 +$ VBoxHeadless -s nobu & 
 +$ VBoxHeadless -s lims & 
 +$ exit 
 +# su - aorth 
 +$ VBoxHeadless -s b0237553-9653-4461-bd0e-d4d316c16d4f -v off &</code> 
 + 
 +====== Optimal settings for Linux guests ====== 
 + 
 +  * Set the IO scheduler to ''noop'': 
 +    * Edit the grub command line to set the default IO scheduler, usually in ///etc/default/grub//: ''elevator=noop'' 
 +  * Install guest additions (VirtualBox or VMware) 
 +  * Run a virtual machine-specific kernel: 
 +    * Ubuntu: linux-image-virtual 
 +  * Mount filesystems with ''noatime'' in ///etc/fstab//