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virtualbox [2010/10/12 23:09] aorthvirtualbox [2011/06/03 12:52] aorth
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 ====== VirtualBox ====== ====== VirtualBox ======
-VirtualBox is a free/opensource Hypervisor from Sun Microsystems.  It has performance on par with VMware and is very mature.  We have two virtualization servers, [[biovbox]] and biovboxtesting.+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.
  
   * [[http://www.virtualbox.org|VirtualBox homepage]]   * [[http://www.virtualbox.org|VirtualBox homepage]]
   * [[http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=646613|Tips to optimize Linux guests and hosts]]   * [[http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=646613|Tips to optimize Linux guests and hosts]]
-====== Create a VM ====== 
-Copy an ISO to your home directory: 
-<code>$scp ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso alan@172.26.0.200:~/</code> 
-  * SSH to VM server: 172.26.0.200 
-<code>$ ssh alan@172.26.0.200</code> 
-  * start the virtualbox application 
-<code>$ VirtualBox</code> 
-  * Follow the wizard to create a VM with the following properties: 
-      - Base Memory: less than 512 MB 
-      - Network : NAT 
-      - Hard disk size: less than 30Gb 
  
 ====== Networking ====== ====== Networking ======
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 ====== Updating VirtualBox ====== ====== Updating VirtualBox ======
-===== Stop any running VMs =====+=== Stop any running VMs ===
 Either shut down or "save state" for any running VMs.  First, find any users who have "headless" 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 <code># ps aux | grep -i VBoxHeadless
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 As the user who owns the VM, save the VM's state: As the user who owns the VM, save the VM's state:
  
-# su - jmagochi+<code># su - jmagochi
 $ VBoxManage controlvm nobu savestate $ VBoxManage controlvm nobu savestate
-Oracle VM VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 3.2.8 
-(C) 2005-2010 Oracle Corporation 
-All rights reserved. 
- 
-0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100% 
 $ VBoxManage controlvm lims savestate $ VBoxManage controlvm lims savestate
-Oracle VM VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 3.2.8 
-(C) 2005-2010 Oracle Corporation 
-All rights reserved. 
- 
-0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100% 
- 
 $ exit $ exit
 # su - aorth # su - aorth
 $ VBoxManage controlvm b0237553-9653-4461-bd0e-d4d316c16d4f savestate $ VBoxManage controlvm b0237553-9653-4461-bd0e-d4d316c16d4f savestate
-Oracle VM VirtualBox Command Line Management Interface Version 3.2.8 
-(C) 2005-2010 Oracle Corporation 
-All rights reserved. 
- 
-0%...10%...20%...30%...40%...50%...60%...70%...80%...90%...100% 
 $ exit</code> $ 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//