Differences

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--- virtualbox [2011/01/19 11:54] – aorth
+++ virtualbox [2011/06/03 13:02] – aorth
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== 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://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=646613|Tips to optimize Linux guests and hosts]]
-====== Create a VM ======
-Copy an ISO to your home directory:
+====== Optimal settings for Linux guests ======
-<code>$scp ubuntu-9.04-desktop-i386.iso alan@172.26.0.200:~/</code>
+Guest operating systems are not like host operating systems.  These settings are generally regarded as improving the performance of guest virtual machines.
-  * SSH to VM server: 172.26.0.200
-<code>$ ssh alan@172.26.0.200</code>
+  * Set the IO scheduler to ''noop'':
-  * start the virtualbox application
+    * Edit the grub command line to set the default IO scheduler, usually in ///etc/default/grub//: ''elevator=noop''
-<code>$ VirtualBox</code>
+  * Install guest additions (VirtualBox or VMware)
-  * Follow the wizard to create a VM with the following properties:
+  * Run a virtual machine-specific kernel:
-      - Base Memory: less than 512 MB
+    * Ubuntu: linux-image-virtual
-      - Network : NAT
+  * Mount filesystems with ''noatime'' in ///etc/fstab//
-      - Hard disk size: less than 30Gb
 ====== Networking ======
@@ Line 40: / Line 39: @@
 ====== 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:
 <code># ps aux | grep -i VBoxHeadless
@@ Line 55: / Line 54: @@
 $ VBoxManage controlvm b0237553-9653-4461-bd0e-d4d316c16d4f savestate
 $ exit</code>
-===== Update VirtualBox =====
+=== Update VirtualBox ===
-==== CentOS ====
 <code># yum update VirtualBox-3.2</code>
-===== Resume VMs =====
+=== Resume VMs ===
 <code># su - jmagochi
 $ VBoxHeadless -s nobu &
@@ Line 65: / Line 63: @@
 # su - aorth
 $ VBoxHeadless -s b0237553-9653-4461-bd0e-d4d316c16d4f -v off &</code>
-===== Mount a CD to a running VM =====
-Attach an ISO to a running VM.  The CD/DVD device is on the Secondary IDE controller (--port 1), and it is the slave device (--device 1).
-<code>VBoxManage storageattach "Debian 504" --storagectl "IDE Controller" --port 1 --device 1 --type dvddrive --medium /usr/share/virtualbox/VBoxGuestAdditions.iso</code>
-===== Optimal settings for a guest =====
-  * Notes about ''divider=10'': [[http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1006427|VMware]], [[http://www.arrfab.net/blog/?p=62|Blog article]]
-  * Set the IO scheduler to ''noop''