VirtualBox

VirtualBox is Sun's open source virtualization software. More information on the software itself can be found on the VirtualBox home page, http://www.virtualbox.org/. This twiki page describes the PPE group specific uses for VirtualBox, in particular how to install the prepackaged Scientific Linux virtual hosts.

Installing VirtualBox

VirtualBox is installed by default on the newer E5400 laptops, otherwise download the installation binary from http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads, run it and click through the setup dialog boxes keeping the default options.

Installing A Prepackaged Scientific Linux Virtual Machine

To import one of the prepackaged scientific linux virtual machines follow these steps:

1. access the PPE Samba server by doing Start->Run->\\ppesmb, (this will allow the VirtualBox program to access the required virtual machine files)
   
   
2. start VirtualBox and select 'Import Appliance ...' from the File menu.
   
   
   
   
3. select the appliance (prepackaged virtual machine) to import:
   
   
   
   \\ppesmb\ppemgr01\virtualbox\SL48\SL48.ovf for the SL4 virtual machine
   \\ppesmb\ppemgr01\virtualbox\SL53\SL53.ovf for the SL5 virtual machine
   
   
4. the default appliance settings for the virtual machine are fine, just select Import
   
   
   
   
5. wait while the virtual machine is imported over the network (this copies 2-6 GB of data so will take time)
   
   
   
   
6. to run the virtual machine once it is installed, select it and click 'Start':
   
   
   
   Note booting a virtual machine can take a few minutes. Scientific linux virtual machines can pause at early in the boot sequence at 'Red hat nash X.XX starting' for a minute or two.
   
   

Shutting A Prepackaged Scientific Linux Virtual Machine Down

A virtual machine can be shutdown either from inside the virtual machine (using /sbin/shutdown as root) or by selecting APCI Shutdown from the Machine pull down menu on the virtual machine window.

Changing The Screen Resolution On A Scientific Linux Virtual Machine

The following works on SL5 only: start up the virtual machine and edit the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf by default the last section should be:

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Videocard0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
#                Modes "1440x900"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     24
        EndSubSection
EndSection

uncomment the Modes line by removing the # and change the resolution as required. New laptops have a screen resolution of 1440x900, older laptops have 1280x1024 or 1024x768. After changing /etc/X11/xorg.conf reboot the virtual machine.

Accessing The Host Disc From The Scientific Linux Virtual Machine

Currently only the SL5 virtual machine is setup to access the host machine discs. This is enabled by:

1. with the virtual machine off right click on the virtual machine in the VirtualBox listing and select the 'Settings' menu.
   
   
   
   
2. from the settings menu select the 'shared folders' submenu.
   
   
   
   
3. then add a shared folder, sharing the 'C:\Shared' folder and giving it the name 'Shared'
   
   
   
   

Other shared folders with different names can of course be used, but the default SL5 virtual guest is setup to look for and used a shared folder called 'Shared'.

-- AndrewPickford - 12 Aug 20009