VirtualBox/Preparing a disk image

Instructions for preparing a VirtualBox disk image from a SoaS iso image file.

• (Taken from Dave Bauer's posting at http://schools.sugarlabs.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=27.)
• Updated 21 May 2010 with VirtualBox 3.2.0 and 64-bit Fedora.

Installing SoaS iso image

1. Create a new VM, choose a name such a Mirabelle
2. Choose Linux for the Operating System and Version Fedora (64 bit)
3. Choose Base Memory Size: 256 MB to match an XO-1, 512 or 1024 MB to match an XO-1.5
4. Create a new virtual hard disk image with dynamically expanding storage of 2 GB
5. Finish.
6. Download the lastest SoaS, http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/nightly-composes/soas/, for Fedora 13.
7. Mount the SoaS .iso image file as a CD-ROM in the newly created VM.
8. Change the Network Attached to: Bridged Adapter (This allows for networking with the host computer.)
9. Start the VM
10. Enter an account name and startup Sugar.
11. Open Terminal.
12. su -
13. parted /dev/sda
14. mklabel msdos -- make partition table
15. mkpart primary ext2 0 2048
16. toggle 1 boot
17. quit
18. mke2fs /dev/sda1
19. /LiveOS/livecd-iso-to-disk --overlay-size-mb 200 --home-size-mb 200 --delete-home --unencrypted-home /dev/live /dev/sda1
    (for earlier versions of SoaS

    Blueberry - use /media/soas-2-blueberry/LiveOS/livecd-iso-to-disk
    Strawberry - use /mnt/live/LiveOS/livecd-iso-to-disk)

    • the --overlay-size-mb NNN and --home-size-mb NNN options creates space for persistence of changes on the disk; otherwise, a liveOS disk is read-only. See LiveOS image.

    
    The following optional parameters seem to be incompatible with soas-1-strawberry and soas-2-blueberry released versions. (The script completes successfully, but the virtual machine startup process has trouble finding the home directory and fails to complete.)

    • the --home-size-mb NNN option creates space for saving the /home/liveuser folder if you want to update the OS image while keeping the user files. (In this case, skip the new disk creation and parted steps and leave out the --home-size-mb NNN option at this step and continue on.)
    • the --unencrypted-home option prevents password protection and encryption on the /home/liveuser folder. This releaves the overhead on the compressed squashfs and should be more robust to file system failures (outside of security).
    • the --delete-home option is used to avoid an error message while requesting both a new home (with --home-size-mb) and a persistent home (with--unencrypted-home). You wouldn't use this option on an upgrade.
20. shutdown -h now

Installing VirtualBox Guest Additions

1. Unmount CDROM in VirtualBox settings
2. Mount VBoxGuestAdditions.iso in its place.
3. Boot VM
4. Open Terminal
5. su -
6. yum install dkms gcc make

   (Other dependencies will be called into the installation.)

<yum.log from 21 May 2010:>

[root@localhost ~]# yum install dkms gcc make
Loaded plugins: presto, refresh-packagekit
fedora/metalink                                                           |  13 kB     00:00     
fedora                                                                    | 4.3 kB     00:00     
fedora/primary_db                                                         |  13 MB     00:18     
updates/metalink                                                          |  15 kB     00:00     
updates                                                                   | 4.5 kB     00:00     
updates/primary_db                                                        | 867 kB     00:00     
Setting up Install Process
Package 1:make-3.81-18.fc12.x86_64 already installed and latest version
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package dkms.noarch 0:2.1.0.1-1.fc12 set to be updated
--> Processing Dependency: kernel-devel for package: dkms-2.1.0.1-1.fc12.noarch
---> Package gcc.x86_64 0:4.4.4-2.fc13 set to be updated
--> Processing Dependency: cpp = 4.4.4-2.fc13 for package: gcc-4.4.4-2.fc13.x86_64
--> Processing Dependency: cloog-ppl >= 0.15 for package: gcc-4.4.4-2.fc13.x86_64
--> Processing Dependency: glibc-devel >= 2.2.90-12 for package: gcc-4.4.4-2.fc13.x86_64
--> Running transaction check
---> Package cloog-ppl.x86_64 0:0.15.7-1.fc12 set to be updated
--> Processing Dependency: libppl.so.7()(64bit) for package: cloog-ppl-0.15.7-1.fc12.x86_64
--> Processing Dependency: libppl_c.so.2()(64bit) for package: cloog-ppl-0.15.7-1.fc12.x86_64
---> Package cpp.x86_64 0:4.4.4-2.fc13 set to be updated
---> Package glibc-devel.x86_64 0:2.12-1 set to be updated
--> Processing Dependency: glibc-headers = 2.12-1 for package: glibc-devel-2.12-1.x86_64
--> Processing Dependency: glibc-headers for package: glibc-devel-2.12-1.x86_64
---> Package kernel-devel.x86_64 0:2.6.33.4-95.fc13 set to be installed
--> Running transaction check
---> Package glibc-headers.x86_64 0:2.12-1 set to be updated
--> Processing Dependency: kernel-headers >= 2.2.1 for package: glibc-headers-2.12-1.x86_64
--> Processing Dependency: kernel-headers for package: glibc-headers-2.12-1.x86_64
---> Package ppl.x86_64 0:0.10.2-10.fc12 set to be updated
--> Running transaction check
---> Package kernel-headers.x86_64 0:2.6.33.4-95.fc13 set to be updated
--> Finished Dependency Resolution

Dependencies Resolved

=================================================================================================
 Package                  Arch             Version                       Repository         Size
=================================================================================================
Installing:
 dkms                     noarch           2.1.0.1-1.fc12                fedora             95 k
 gcc                      x86_64           4.4.4-2.fc13                  fedora             10 M
Installing for dependencies:
 cloog-ppl                x86_64           0.15.7-1.fc12                 fedora             82 k
 cpp                      x86_64           4.4.4-2.fc13                  fedora            3.7 M
 glibc-devel              x86_64           2.12-1                        fedora            959 k
 glibc-headers            x86_64           2.12-1                        fedora            588 k
 kernel-devel             x86_64           2.6.33.4-95.fc13              updates           6.3 M
 kernel-headers           x86_64           2.6.33.4-95.fc13              updates           761 k
 ppl                      x86_64           0.10.2-10.fc12                fedora            1.1 M

Transaction Summary
=================================================================================================
Install       9 Package(s)
Upgrade       0 Package(s)

Total download size: 24 M
Installed size: 60 M
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
Setting up and reading Presto delta metadata
fedora/prestodelta                                                        |  419 B     00:00     
updates/prestodelta                                                       | 4.6 kB     00:00     
Processing delta metadata
Package(s) data still to download: 24 M
(1/9): cloog-ppl-0.15.7-1.fc12.x86_64.rpm                                 |  82 kB     00:00     
(2/9): cpp-4.4.4-2.fc13.x86_64.rpm                                        | 3.7 MB     00:06     
(3/9): dkms-2.1.0.1-1.fc12.noarch.rpm                                     |  95 kB     00:00     
(4/9): gcc-4.4.4-2.fc13.x86_64.rpm                                        |  10 MB     00:17     
(5/9): glibc-devel-2.12-1.x86_64.rpm                                      | 959 kB     00:01     
(6/9): glibc-headers-2.12-1.x86_64.rpm                                    | 588 kB     00:00     
(7/9): kernel-devel-2.6.33.4-95.fc13.x86_64.rpm                           | 6.3 MB     00:02     
(8/9): kernel-headers-2.6.33.4-95.fc13.x86_64.rpm                         | 761 kB     00:00     
(9/9): ppl-0.10.2-10.fc12.x86_64.rpm                                      | 1.1 MB     00:02     
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                                            718 kB/s |  24 MB     00:33     
Running rpm_check_debug
Running Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
  Installing     : cpp-4.4.4-2.fc13.x86_64                                                   1/9 
  Installing     : ppl-0.10.2-10.fc12.x86_64                                                 2/9 
  Installing     : cloog-ppl-0.15.7-1.fc12.x86_64                                            3/9 
  Installing     : kernel-devel-2.6.33.4-95.fc13.x86_64                                      4/9 
  Installing     : kernel-headers-2.6.33.4-95.fc13.x86_64                                    5/9 
  Installing     : glibc-headers-2.12-1.x86_64                                               6/9 
  Installing     : glibc-devel-2.12-1.x86_64                                                 7/9 
  Installing     : gcc-4.4.4-2.fc13.x86_64                                                   8/9 
  Installing     : dkms-2.1.0.1-1.fc12.noarch                                                9/9 

Installed:
  dkms.noarch 0:2.1.0.1-1.fc12                     gcc.x86_64 0:4.4.4-2.fc13                    

Dependency Installed:
  cloog-ppl.x86_64 0:0.15.7-1.fc12               cpp.x86_64 0:4.4.4-2.fc13                       
  glibc-devel.x86_64 0:2.12-1                    glibc-headers.x86_64 0:2.12-1                   
  kernel-devel.x86_64 0:2.6.33.4-95.fc13         kernel-headers.x86_64 0:2.6.33.4-95.fc13        
  ppl.x86_64 0:0.10.2-10.fc12                   

Complete!

1. cd /media/VBOXADDITIONS_3.2.0_61806/
2. ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-amd64.run
   • (This fails currently. More testing and debugging needed.)
   • If upgrading from one VirtualBox version to another, start with fresh virtual disks and machines built with the new versions to avoid breakage.
3. reboot

<Terminal log:>

[root@localhost ~]# cd /media/VBOXADDITIONS_3.2.0_61806/
[root@localhost VBOXADDITIONS_3.2.0_61806]# ./VBoxLinuxAdditions-amd64.run 
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing VirtualBox 3.2.0 Guest Additions for Linux........
VirtualBox Guest Additions installer
Building the VirtualBox Guest Additions kernel modules     [FAILED]
(Your system does not seem to be set up to build kernel modules.
Look at /var/log/vboxadd-install.log to find out what went wrong)
Installing the Window System drivers
Installing X.Org Server 1.8 modules                        [  OK  ]
Setting up the Window System to use the Guest Additions    [  OK  ]
You may need to restart the hal service and the Window System (or just restart
the guest system) to enable the Guest Additions.

Installing graphics libraries and desktop services componen[  OK  ]

Configure Screen

1. Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf to match the following section: (This is for 1200x900 (XO) and other resolutions.)

 Section "Device"
        Identifier "VirtualBox Video Card"
        Driver "vboxvideo"
 EndSection
 
 Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Default Screen"
        Device "VirtualBox Video Card"
        Monitor "Generic Monitor"
        DefaultDepth 16
        SubSection "Display"
                Depth 16
                Modes "1200x900" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        EndSubSection
 EndSection

Clear user data

Finally,

1. Open Terminal
2. Terminal
3. rm -rf ~/.sugar (if distributing image)
4. su -
5. shutdown -h now
6. Now you can share the VDI file.

Backup discs

It would be wise to maintain a clone of your virtual disk image to restart if the working copy is damaged:

1. From host command line (Windows cmd, or Linux terminal) See VirtualBox Help section 8.14.
   • VBoxManage clonehd <uuid>|<filename> <outputfile> [-format VDI|VMDK|VHD|RAW|<other>] [-remember]
2. Reclone any virtual hard disks you would like to archive.

SSH connections

To enable SSH communications, we need to permit no passwords in the ssh daemon configuration:

1. in Terminal,
2. su -
3. pico /etc/ssh/sshd_config
   1. [add] PermitEmptyPasswords yes
   2. ^O (WriteOut), <Enter> on File Name to Write: /etc/ssh/sshd_config , ^X (Exit)
4. service sshd restart