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.

-- AndrewPickford - 12 Aug 20009