This is the first in a series of posts outlining the feature, methods and ideas surrounding the tool: Ubuntu-VM-Builder.

Ubuntu-VM-Builder

Caution, security warning:
These are default settings for a new virtual machine, you will want to change them immediately or better idea would be to set them during build, for more information keep reading after the break.
Default fullname: Ubuntu
Default username: ubuntu
Default password: ubuntu

Here is some quick information on what Ubuntu-VM-builder is:

ubuntu-vm-builder provides a method to quickly create a clean testing environment, a way to automate the virtual machine installation process, and for software developers, the ability to integrate the creation of a virtual machine into the build process of an application. If using a local mirror the virtual machine creation process can take less than two minutes from start to finish. (source)

Step 1. To install Ubuntu-VM-Builder on your linux workstation, requires 8.04 or greater

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-vm-builder

ubuntu-vm-builder Depends on:
Depends: debootstrap
Depends: kpartx
Depends: parted
Depends: qemu

These will automatically be installed by apt-get during the installation, no other installation is required.

Step 2. To build a virtual machine, first move into the directory where you will want the vm folder to be created
mkdir ~/virtual-machines
cd ~/virtual-machines

Step 3. Run Ubuntu-vm-builder, with the required flags and options
sudo ubuntu-vm-builder kvm hardy

For more flags, options and some examples keep reading.
Read more »

Open VMware Tools, Installation Instructions Step by Step

What are VMware Tools?

They are a collection of software and drivers which enhance and improve the virtualization experience for the guest operating system. They include shared folders, heartbeat drivers, enhanced network drivers, and mouse and video drivers to allow seemless migration between guest and console operating systems.

Where can I get VMware tools?

Currently there are 2 sources, the first source is with VMware workstation or VMware Server Products (including VMware Server and VMware ESX). If you are running VMware player the expectation is that you are only going to be using prebuilt Virtual Machines which have the tools previously loaded.

What are Open VMware Tools (open-vm-tools)?

The Open Virtual Machine Tools (open-vm-tools) are the open source implementation of VMware Tools. They are a set of guest operating system virtualization components that enhance performance and user experience of virtual machines. As virtualization technology rapidly becomes mainstream, each virtualization solution provider implements their own set of tools and utilities to supplement the guest virtual machine. However, most of the implementations are proprietary and are tied to a specific virtualization platform. (About Open-VM-Tools)

Where can I get Open-VM-Tools?

The open tools are available currently in the source format only currently. For a limited time they where available as part of the Ubuntu repository, but due to their alpha stages they have been removed. More info about the removal can be found here at launchpad bug # 217254 To dowload a copy of the source files or learn more about the project visit the open-vm-tools sourceforge page.

Keep reading to see step by step installation instructions
Read more »

If you are running on the cutting edge, with Ubuntu Hardy 8.04, and recently decided to install VMware Server Console on that machine you may have gotten a very strange error message, something along the lines of this:

/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0: no version information available (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0' not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0: no version information available (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0' not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/libpng12.so.0: no version information available (required by /usr/lib32/libcairo.so.2)
/usr/lib/vmware-server-console/bin/vmware-server-console: /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/libgcc_s.so.1: version `GCC_4.2.0' not found (required by /usr/lib32/libstdc++.so.6)

This is caused by VMware Server Console being compiled with an older version of those libraries then included in Hardy. To resolve this problem I found a variety of solutions on multiple sites, but the simplest and one which worked for me is the following:

$ sudo cp /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libgcc_s.so.1/
$ sudo cp /usr/lib/libpng12.so.0 /usr/lib/vmware-server-console/lib/libpng12.so.0/

The explaniation, in French is:

Il s’agit du bug #189250 is not in libcairo (Ubuntu) recensé sur le launchpad Ubuntu, lié au fait que VMWare Server a été compilée avec une version plus ancienne de GCC que celle intégrée nativement dans Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. Pour fixer ce bug, il faut copier quelques librairies spécifique (on va d’abord sauvegarder les anciennes…) (source)

UPDATE: 64 bit users, there is a second step required to get Server Console Running on Ubuntu 8.04

sudo ln -s /usr/lib32 /usr/l32
sudo sed -i -e 's/usr\/lib/usr\/l32/g' /usr/lib32/gtk-2.0/2.10.0/loader-files.d/libgtk2.0-0.loaders
sudo sed -i -e 's/usr\/lib/usr\/l32/g' /usr/lib32/libgdk_pixbuf-2.0.so.0.1200.9

Take from: vmware-server in hardy - Ubuntu Forums and vmware-server-console on Hardy 64-bit - Ubuntu Forums

For information on fixing VMware server on 8.04 or more information on this issue visit these sites:
VMware Server 1.0.5 sur Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron - Taltan.blog.bkp
VMware Server, Ubuntu “Hardy Heron” 8.04 and Linux 2.6.24 « Federkiel
vmware-server in hardy - Page 4 - Ubuntu Forums
Bug #177869 in ia32-libs (Ubuntu): “vmware-server-console broken after 2.2ubuntu2”
Bug #193692 in ia32-libs (Ubuntu): “[hardy] ia32-libs_2.2ubuntu6 failure when running VMWare”

Here is a screenshot of VMware Server Console 1.0.5 running on Hardy:

Have you been following the news surround Ubuntu release of JeOS? Want to try it out, but not sure where to start? Build an Apt-proxy, quick simple and very helpful.

The power behind JeOS, Just Enough Operating System, is that you only get the minimal packages you need to get the job done. Current versions of JeOS, 7.10 and 8.04 are both designed to work on the VMware Server and VMware ESX platform. For help setting up VMware server on Gutsy Gibbon check out this step by step guide, part 1 (Gutsy Server Install) and part 2 (VMware Server Install).

Once you have VMware server setup and running you are ready to build your first virtual machine. There are a ton of great guides out there for all aspects of this process, but since we are working with JeOS, you need to take a few precautions that normally you could skip.

Currently Hardy JeOS doesn’t include (or I couldn’t get it to work) SCSI drivers, so you need to use an IDE drive when you make your virtual machine.

If you need more detailed instructions on how to setup the virtual machine, I’m going to refer you to this article, published by linux-mag.com, Their article “How to Develop Virtual Appliances Using Ubuntu JeOS | Linux Magazine“. Note: this article refers to JeOS 7.10, which is close enough to 8.04 at this level.

Read more »

Recently while visiting relatives for the holidays I got to play around with Windows Media Center for the first time. It really isn’t much but a clean simple interface for watching “media” on a windows XP system. I personally have always been a fan of Winamp, even though it is owned by AOL, but it is a great platform with tons of options.

So, the idea came to me, that if I virtualized Windows Media Center I could hook up a USB HDTV tuner and map it to the virtual machine. With all the specials at Best Buy this weekend it was really promising, until I actually tried it.

As you can see, from the image it doesn’t support the media center inside of the virtual machine. So I decided not to purchase the HDTV tuner, so there may be ways to get it to work, but it really seems unlikely.

Vista Ultimate Media Center in Virtual PC Form - Not Great
Virtual PC Guy’s WebLog : Windows Media Center 2005 under Virtual PC
Microsoft Announces New Media Center Extenders
Microsoft’s Virtual PC 2004 is now FREE - Does it work from MCE 2002? | Ask MetaFilter

Sources:
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005: Frequently asked questions

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/onthego/default.mspx
http://www.mce-components.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_Media_Center_Edition
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1741030,00.asp

Buy a copy of Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 OEM

Here are 5 virtual machines some are even prebuilt, for uses that you wouldn’t normally expect to see a virtual machine made for. x86 has chosen virtual machines for all aspects of life, beyond the normal workstation and server virtualization needs. The collection includes gaming, entertainment, science, voip and a few more unique ideas.

1. Mythtv: Linux based home entertainment console, inside a virtual machine

NOTE: Virtualization doesn’t allow direct access to PCI cards, so there is no way to access ANY pci turner cards. But usb devices can be passed through to the linux host with virtualization software such as VMware Workstation 6.0.

Sources:
http://www.mythtv.org/index.php
http://www.techwandering.com/…/how-to-run-mythtv-on-windows/
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/…/180429
http://www.opensolaris.org/jive/thread.jspa?messageID=130910
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/991

2. Asterisks: Voip phone server, to handle your voice mail and conference calls all preconfigured.
Asterisk-Skypho 0.9.1

This VM is a ready-to-go appliance with Asterisk 1.2.4 pre-configured to access italian VoIP operator Skypho (www.skypho.net). Once installed you will be guided in a simple installation process.
An integrated readme will help users configure asterisk files with their own phone numbers, username and password.
The VM has been tested with VMWare Server 1.2.
Note: for now the readme files and other documentation is only in Italian language.

sources:
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/800

3. Folding at home

Folding@home is a distributed computing project — people from throughout the world download and run software to band together to make one of the largest supercomputers in the world. Every computer takes the project closer to our goals. Folding@home uses novel computational methods coupled to distributed computing, to simulate problems millions of times more challenging than previously achieved. Help fight the war on cancer with this simple to run virtual machine.

sources:
http://www.planetamd64.com/index.php?showtopic=29163
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/963

4. Zoneminder

ZoneMinder is intended for use in single or multi-camera video security applications, including commercial or home CCTV, theft prevention and child or family member or home monitoring and other care scenarios. It supports capture, analysis, recording, and monitoring of video data coming from one or more video or network cameras attached to a Linux system. ZoneMinder also support web and semi-automatic control of Pan/Tilt/Zoom cameras using a variety of protocols. It is suitable for use as a home video security system and for commercial or professional video security and surveillance. It can also be integrated into a home automation system via X.10 or other protocols. If you’re looking for a low cost CCTV system or a more flexible alternative to cheap DVR systems then why not give ZoneMinder a try?

http://www.zoneminder.com/…a50c78df4edda9819
X10 + Linux + $50 = Automated lights | Hack Your World.com

5. Backtrack 2

BackTrack is the result of merging the two innovative penetration testing live linux distributions Auditor and Whax. Backtrack provides a thorough pentesting environment which is bootable via CD, USB or the network (PXE). The tools are arranged in an intuitive manner, and cover most of the attack vectors. Complex environments are simplified, such as automatic Kismet configuration, one click Snort setup, precompiled Metasploit lorcon modules, etc. BackTrack has been dubbed the #1 Security Live CD by Insecure.org, and #32 overall.

The Only Official Version of BackTrack2 as Virtual Appliance with Metasploit 3

The Ethical Hacker Network proudly releases this Official Version of BackTrack 2, so DL and start (ethical) hacking!

http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/1048

Runners Up:

RoboDeb A complete robotics simulation environment for teaching concurrency and parallelism.

MediaCenter: podcast-video-music

DNALinux VDE: Virtual Desktop Edition: Suite of Bioinformatics software
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/963

Nostalgia: Old DOS games from the early 90’s
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/126

Scientific Linux 5.0 Virtual Machine

Scientific Linux is a recompiled Red Hat Enterprise Linux put together by various labs and universities around the world.
Connie Sieh has announced the release of Scientific Linux 5.0, a distribution rebuilt from source packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and enhanced with a variety of additional applications: “Scientific Linux 5.0 i386 is now available.” Some of the extra applications include: “CFITSIO - a library of C and FORTRAN subroutines for reading and writing data files in FITS; FUSE - an implementation of a fully functional file system in a userspace program; Graphviz - graph visualization tools; IceWM - a lightweight window manager; Intel wireless firmware, MadWiFi and NdisWrapper; Java; MP3 support; OpenAFS; R - a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics.

sources:
http://www.mininova.org/tor/791643

OLPC: One Laptop Per Child

XO is built from free and open-source software. Our commitment to software freedom gives children the opportunity to use their laptops on their own terms. While we do not expect every child to become a programmer, we do not want any ceiling imposed on those children who choose to modify their machines. We are using open-document formats for much the same reason: transparency is empowering. The children—and their teachers—will have the freedom to reshape, reinvent, and reapply their software, hardware, and content.

Sources:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OS_images_for_emulation

Bit Torrent Client:
http://www.howtoforge.com/ubuntu_lamp_torrentflux_vmware

Want to build a safe secure redundant load balanced corporate infrastructure all inside one box?

Here are some simple DIY plans.

What is required is a dual nic server, with a installed virtual machine manager capable of supporting a virtual networks along with bridged connections to the intranet and internet.

Here is the diagram of the layout of your secure network:

The thinking behind this is to protect your servers from attacks from the internet. By passing all traffic from the first physical nic into a firewall virtual machine and then onto the virtual network prevents many common attacks, yet provides effective access to all resources from the outside and inside your corporation. The addition of a load balancer virtual machine allows the addition of multple http or mail servers to cover the demands. By adding a second virtual network for the database and http server it prevents bottlenecks on the main virtual network and secures the database server from outside attacks.

Some other ideas include having a VPN virtual machine to allow direct access from the primary physical nic to the secondary nic, bypassing the firewall and virtual network.

Here are some great pre made virtual images to use for your secure virtual network:

Firewall Images
Sieve Firewall

Load Balancer Images:
The Loadbalancer.org Virtual Appliance

Hercules Load Balancer Virtual Appliance

Web Server Only Images:
Apache Appliance

Database Only Images:
MySQL Database Server
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition Virtual Appliance
PostgreSQL Database Server

Mail Server Images:
MailEdge Enterprise Messaging Server 2.0
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Virtual Appliance

Network Attached Storage:
FreeNAS

VOIP Image:
Asterisk-Skypho 0.9.1
PBXware - IP-PBX Phone System
VoIPonCD - an easy to configure Voice over IP PBX

Additional Points of Interest:

Network firewalls

Virtual machines are not protected by any firewall software on the host operating system. The reason for this is that the virtual machines are essentially connected to the network at layer 2 while most conventional firewalls operate at layer 3 or higher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSI_model). As such virtual machines should always have appropriate fire walling software enabled. If your guest operating system does not have firewall software readily handy (or you do not want to install a software firewall in the guest operating system) using Shared Networking under Virtual PC (as opposed to connecting the virtual machine directly to the network) will gain you a modicum of network security as - like with most NAT routing solutions - external network entities will be unable to communicate directly with your virtual machine. source

Additional Articles

Virtual PC Guy’s WebLog : Network Load Balancing (NLB) and virtual machines

Network Load Balancing scenarios that are supported for use with Virtual Server 2005 R2

How to build an ISA firewall lab with Virtual PC 2004

Setting Up A Virtual Pc “complex” Network

Microsoft.com: Securing Virtual Server